C A R I B B E A N On-line C MPASS JUNE 2015 NO. 237 The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore Sailing Tradition Thrives in Antigua & St. Barth See story on page 16 TIM WRIGHT / WWW.PHOTOACTION.COM JUNE 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 2 The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore www.caribbeancompass.com JUNE 2015 • NUMBER 237 HOLIAN VAUGHAN-RICHARDS DEPARTMENTS Info & Updates ......................4 The Caribbean Sky ...............36 Business Briefs .......................8 Salty’s Beat ............................38 Eco-News .............................. 10 Look Out For… ......................38 Regatta News........................ 12 Readers’ Forum .....................39 Destinations ........................... 18 Caribbean Market Place .....41 Bonaire Rebuild Y2A ......................................... 28 Calendar of Events ...............44 Historic vessel restoration ....... 7 Meridian Passage .................31 Classified Ads ....................... 45 FRANKS Seawise ................................. 32 Cartoon ................................. 46 Book & Movie Reviews......... 35 Advertisers’ Index .................46 Caribbean Compass is published monthly by Compass Publishing Ltd., P.O. Box 175 BQ, Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines. JUNE 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 3 Tel: (784) 457-3409, Fax: (784) 457-3410, [email protected], www.caribbeancompass.com Editor...........................................Sally Erdle Art, Design & Production......Wilfred Dederer [email protected] [email protected] Assistant Editor...................Elaine Ollivierre Accounting............................Shellese Craigg [email protected] [email protected] Advertising & Distribution........Tom Hopman See Weed? Pointe Baptiste [email protected] Dominica’s chocolate factory ...22 Caribbean Compass welcomes submissions of articles, news items, photos and drawings. Sargassum has arrived ......... 11 See Writers’ Guidelines at www.caribbeancompass.com. Send submissions to [email protected]. We support free speech! But the content of advertisements, columns, articles and letters to the editor are the sole responsibility of the advertiser, writer or correspondent, and Compass Publishing Ltd. accepts no responsibility for any statements made therein. Letters and submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Hot Coffee Trip Selling Your Boat ©2015 Compass Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication, except short A Colombian farm tour ......... 21 Where does one begin? ......... 33 excerpts for review purposes, may be made without written permission of Compass Publishing Ltd. ISSN 1605 - 1998 Cover Photo: From Folkboats to Tall Ships, Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta has it all — in motion! It’s no surprise that ace race photographer Tim Wright is among the many snapping the action Compass covers the Caribbean! From Cuba to Trinidad, from Panama to Barbuda, we’ve got the news and views that sailors can use. We’re the Caribbean’s monthly look at sea and shore. ‘Compass is the single best information network in the islands. I read each issue cover to cover, and feel as if I have my finger on the pulse of the region. There’s always curiosity about what’s happening just over the horizon. And there’s always stimulation in the eloquence of voices from the fleet.’ — Ann Westergard, S/Y Galivant Santa Marta Cartagena Click Google Map link below to fi nd the Caribbean Compass near you! http://bit.ly/1fMC2Oy these designated cruising ports, such as the next five or six bays either side of Port Morgan on Ile-à-Vache, are less “busy” but still safe and welcoming. NOTE: It is not advisable to visit other areas of the Haitian coast, especially in areas where yachts are not common. Resting after an arduous passage alongside a deserted stretch of coastline is very risky. Yachts should visit ports of entry and make their presence known to cruiser repre- sentatives who keep tabs on yachting activity and can advise of any political situa- tion posing a risk at any time, however rare. There is also an element of safety in Info numbers. In Port Morgan, for instance, for some years there have been four or five boats spending the whole year or being stored for the season. One way to visit an area by boat is to arrange to deliver donated goods and work & Updates with a charitable project as volunteers — thus ensuring goodwill, and having local contacts who can help arrange for your needs (laundry, market visits, clearances, boat guard, etcetera). I am administrator of a non-profit on Ile-à-Vache — Good Samaritan of Haiti, a non-sectarian organization with schools, a microcredit, agricul- ture program, and more — and we welcome volunteers with expertise in a number Haiti Incidents: Serious but Scattered of fields including informal English lessons, music, mechanical repairs, and so on, for Mandy Thody reports: News is filtering out to cruisers of two serious incidents on the short or long visits. Volunteers can arrange to deliver sails, marine gear and other Haitian coast in the last five months. As a frequent visitor to Haiti running a small charity project there, and as a long-term cruiser who was able to assist in investigat- ing both in a small capacity, I’d like to try to reassure potential visitors. THODY The facts: In January a French family on their yacht were boarded in the middle of the night by a group of 13 armed “officials” reportedly including police and the mayor of the small town of Corail (on the northern coast of Haiti’s southern peninsu- la), who behaved very threateningly. The boat was robbed of US$1,000 and some equipment and “allowed to proceed” to Pestel, the next town. This was not reported to authorities, but reconfirmed as true in April by an investigator who visited the town. In April, a Dutch couple were seeking shelter from weather more than 90 miles away, across the Golfe de la Gonâve on a very remote part of the coastline near Anse Rouge, northwest of the city of Gonaives. They were boarded at dawn by a group of six armed men, who stripped and beat the (older) captain and his wife, causing serious injuries, and stole much equipment and goods. The attack was com- pletely unprovoked and might easily have been fatal. The couple were taken ashore by a local official some hours later and hospitalized in Gonaives where an American aid worker (a friend of mine) was able to find them, put them in touch with their family and ambassador, and get them a phone, clothes, etcetera. Their boat was later taken by volunteers to Ile-à-Vache in the south of the country for safekeeping, and the couple flew out. [A report by the victims to Noonsite can be found at www.noonsite.com/Countries/Haiti/haiti-violent-attack-on-cruising-couple.] Local craft and visiting yachts at Port Morgan, Haiti Considerable information on Haiti as a new cruising ground is available online, notably from Frank Virgintino (http://freecruisingguides.com/blog/author/frank). cargo from previous ports on their travels by contacting us online at www.goodsa- There are also several local harbor guides appointed by the international Seven maritanofhaiti.com, or on Facebook. Seas Cruising Association (see www.noonsite.com) such as at Port Morgan on Ile-à- The same is true for many church-led or other types of charities. Sister Flora’s Vache and on Ile-à-Gonâve. These harbors are as safe as any in the Caribbean: orphanage on Ile-à-Vache is a popular choice. local people are accustomed to yachts; small businesses serve food and sometimes If you do choose to visit Haiti, remember there have been incidents similar to and have internet, entertainment, etcetera. You will not find aggressive boat-boys, worse than those described above on the coasts of many other Caribbean islands though there will be many, many dugouts full of kids and some adults offering to and mainland South America — in fact, much more commonly than in Haiti (which work, to sell you fruit, assist you as guides, etcetera. Most are very polite; occasional- is a very large island with a huge population), hence the risks are in your favor so ly older children will be too lively and you need to ask them to leave. Many can long as you are sensible. speak English or Spanish to a degree, which is rare in other areas. Harbors near —Continued on next page JUNE 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 4 Our OCEAN PLUS sails are guaranteed for five years or 50,000 miles. Built by sailmakers dedicated to building the finest, most durable and technologically advanced sails possible. Antigua & Barbuda Panama USVI St Croix British Virgin Islands Star Marine Regency Marine Wilsons' Cruzan Canvas Jolly Harbour Panama City Christiansted Doyle Sailmakers BVI, Ltd Road Reef Marina Curacao Puerto Rico Jamaica Road Town, Tortola Zeilmakerij Harms Atlantic Canvas & Sail PJG Tel: (284) 494 2569 Kapiteinsweg #4 Fajardo, Puerto Rico Kingston [email protected] Dominica St Lucia Bonaire Dominica Marine Center Rodney Bay Sails IBS b/v Barbados Roseau Rodney Bay Kaya Atom Z Doyle Offshore Sails, Ltd Six Crossroads, Grenada St. Vincent Turbulence Sails Barefoot Yacht Charters St Philip, True Blue St George Blue Lagoon Tel: (246) 423 4600 [email protected] Martinique Trinidad & Tobago Voilerie Du Marin AMD Sails 30 Bld Allegre Chaguramas www.doylecaribbean.com — Continued from previous page provides sponsorship for Caribbean youngsters taking sail training courses. You will be able to see much that is different, or no longer current in the rest of the Caribbean Sail Training Foundation president Jan Roosens noted that St. Martin has West Indies — a life lived on foot and by mule, where fields are plowed by oxen, seen an increase in the number of sailing training vessels visiting the island — more fishing is done from dug-out canoes or beautiful hand-adzed boats under sail, and than 35 port calls to date. almost nothing is imported except plastic buckets! Visit www.CaribbeanSailTraining.com for more information. It is often difficult to arrive at a price in advance for any service or goods ordered — it’s best to insist firmly on this and write it down for anything over about US$10.