C A R I B B E A N On-line C MPASS OCTOBER 2013 NO. 217 The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore Destination St. Pierre: OLD PORT — NEW RULES See story on page 16 MARC VERSTRAETE VAN DE WEYER BOAT IMPROVEMENT HOW TO... Regardless of what job you are POWER POLISHER KIT doing while in the boat yard, we STARTING AT: are here to help! Okay, so we RECIEVE A $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE US $829.71 won’t actually come to your boat TOWARDS YOUR NEXT PURCHASE FOR EVERY and do the jobs for you, but we * are here to answer your questions $500 SPENT ON THESE INTERLUX PRODUCTS! FEI/WPO1415E and share our own experiences Save your back! Get the job done working with the products that faster and better with this outstanding sander/polisher. we sell – and use. for cash. Gift Certificate • More torque and power than all $50.00 (Fifity Dollars) of its competitors. Certificate is valid only with authorized signature. Authorization by:_____________________ Date of issue:____________PROMOTION • Save time cleaning, polishing, Valid at Budget Marine St. Maarten for one year from date of issue. Not redeemable sanding or sealing. Budget Marine N.V. 25b Waterfront Road Cole Bay St. Maarten Phone: (599) 544-3134 Wet/Dry Dust Extractor Less mess means less work. The powerful OCTOBER 2013 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 2 vacuum cleaners of the FEIN Dustex FEI/9202 range are the ideal compliment to the power tools of the FEIN Marine range with their low levels of dust production. STARTING AT: Fein Tools are available in 110 and 220 volts also ask about US $419.13 our wide selection of accessories. TORTOLA ST. THOMAS NANNY CAY ST. MAARTEN/ ST. MARTIN *Gift certificate is valid at location it was received. ST. CROIX Not to be combined with additional discounts. ANTIGUA Caribbean Duty Free List Prices. Check your local store for final pricing. ARUBA GRENADA BONAIRE CURAÇAO TRINIDAD ANTIGUA • ARUBA • BONAIRE • CURAÇAO • GRENADA • ST. CROIX • ST. MAARTEN • ST. MARTIN • ST. THOMAS • TORTOLA • TRINIDAD The Caribbean’s Leading Chandlery www.budgetmarine.com DEPARTMENTS Info & Updates ......................4 The Caribbean Sky ...............33 Business Briefs .......................7 Book Review ......................... 35 Eco-News .............................. 11 Cooking with Cruisers.....36, 37 Regatta News........................ 12 Readers’ Forum .....................38 Sailor’s Horoscope ................ 30 Calendar of Events ...............41 Island Poets ...........................30 Caribbean Market Place .....42 The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore Cruising Kids’ Corner ............31 What’s On My Mind ..............45 Salty’s Beat ............................31 Classified Ads ....................... 46 www.caribbeancompass.com Meridian Passage .................32 Advertisers’ Index .................46 OCTOBER 2013 • NUMBER 217 Caribbean Compass is published monthly by Compass Publishing Ltd., P.O. Box 175 BQ, Bequia, SOUTHERN YACHT CLUB DAVID MORGAN St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Tel: (784) 457-3409, Fax: (784) 457-3410 [email protected] www.caribbeancompass.com Martinique: Ad Sales & Distribution - Isabelle Prado Editor...........................................Sally Erdle Tel: (0596) 596 68 69 71 Mob: + 596 696 74 77 01 [email protected] [email protected] Assistant Editor...................Elaine Ollivierre [email protected] Panama: Distribution - Shelter Bay Marina www.shelterbaymarina.com Advertising & Distribution........Tom Hopman [email protected] Puerto Rico: Distribution - Sunbay Marina, Fajardo Art, Design & Production......Wilfred Dederer Olga Diaz de Peréz, Tel: (787) 863 0313 Fax: (787) 863 5282 [email protected] [email protected] Accounting............................Shellese Craigg St. Lucia: Ad Sales & Distribution - Maurice Moffat [email protected] Tel: (758) 452 0147 Cell: (758) 720-8432 Hail, Colombia! Compass Agents by Island: [email protected] A perfect pit stop .................. 18 Antigua: Ad Sales & Distribution - Lucy Tulloch St. Maarten/St. Barths/Guadeloupe: Tel (268) 720-6868, [email protected] Ad Sales & Distribution - Stéphane Legendre Barbados: Distribution - Doyle Sails Mob: + 590 690 760 100 Canal Lessons Tel/Fax: (246) 423-4600 [email protected] What Matira learned ............. 20 Colombia: Distribution - Marina Santa Marta St. Thomas/USVI: Distribution - Bryan Lezama www.igy-marinasantamarta.com/en Tel: (340) 774 7931, [email protected] Curaçao: Distribution - Budget Marine Curaçao St. Vincent & the Grenadines: OCTOBER 2013 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 3 [email protected] Tel: (5999) 462 77 33 Ad Sales - Shellese Craigg Boat Backpackers [email protected] Tel: (784) 457-3409 Dominica: Ad Sales & Distribution - Hubert J. Winston Distribution - Doc Leslie Tel: (784) 529-0970 The new sea nomads ............ 24 Dominica Marine Center, Tel: (767) 448-2705, POLLY PHILIPSON [email protected] Tortola/BVI: Distribution - Gladys Jones Tel: (284) 494-2830 Fax: (284) 494-1584 Grenada/Carriacou/Petite Martinique: Ad Sales & Distribution - Karen Maaroufi Venezuela: Ad Sales - Patty Tomasik Cell: (473) 457-2151 Office: (473) 444-3222 Tel: (58-281) 265-3844 Tel/Fax: (58-281) 265-2448 [email protected] [email protected] Caribbean Compass welcomes submissions of articles, news items, photos and drawings. 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. Havana Race, 1952 ©2013 Compass Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication, except short Desiderata excerpts for review purposes, may be made without written permission of Compass Publishing Ltd. Sailing into a coup ................ 14 Refit for an Alden ketch ........ 29 ISSN 1605 - 1998 Cover photo: Marc Verstraete’s portrait of quaint St. Pierre at sunset. At the northwestern end of Martinique, St. Pierre has long been an attractive stop for yachts 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. ‘Caribbean Compass has proven to be the premier guide to yachting in the Caribbean… the magazine does a great job of keeping readers in-the-know on destinations, yachting news and trends.’ Christy Recaii, writer St. Lucia Click Google Map link below to fi nd the Caribbean Compass near you! http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=112776612439699037380.000470658db371bf3282d&ll=14.54105,-65.830078&spn=10.196461,14.0625&z=6&source=embed area, especially at night. The matter has been reported to the relevant authorities. Buccoo Reef is a protected marine park and yachts should not venture inside it unless for shelter from a hurricane. For more information contact [email protected]. New Caribbean Marine Association Member John Duffy, President of the Caribbean Marine Association, reports: The newly Info formed Martinique Yachting Association (MYA) has become the ninth Eastern & Updates CHRIS DOYLE Carriacou Port of Entry Relocates to Tyrrel Bay On August 9th a new yacht clearance office opened in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou. The clearance office is a brand new, purpose-built building located at Carriacou Marine Boatyard & Yacht Club (formerly Tyrrel Bay Yacht Haulout) on the south side of the bay. Tyrrel Bay is better protected than Hillsborough, the former port of entry for yachts on Carriacou. Tyrrel Bay is a sheltered anchorage within easy reach of restaurants, bars, supermarkets and dive shops. Customs and Immigration office opening hours are normally 8:00AM to 4:00PM Monday through Friday (closed for lunch from 12:00PM to 1:00PM) and 9:00AM to 2:00PM on weekends and public holidays. Telephone (473) 443-7273. Carriacou Marine, the new location for the Customs and Immigration office, offers many services including haulout, dockage, dinghy dock, minimart, café/bar and a chandlery stocking a good selection of Island Water World goods. President of the Marine and Yachting Association of Grenada (MAYAG), Anita Sutton, has also issued an update on Grenada’s participation in the SailClear online clearance system: “The Government of Grenada, Grenada Customs, Immigration Department, Grenada Ports Authority, Grenada Board of Tourism and MAYAG are working together on a project funded by the Caribbean Development Bank to ease yacht movement. The implementation of the SailClear online clearance system is underway and a team is looking at how we can progress towards a single yachting Martinique, which boasts the Eastern Caribbean’s largest charter fleet at Le Marin, space making Grenada more attractive to visiting yachts.” is the newest member of the CMA For more information contact [email protected]. Navigation Notice for Tobago Caribbean country to join the Caribbean Marine Association and the first of the As this issue of Compass goes to press, the last remaining cardinal marker alerting French islands. sailors to the position of Buccoo Reef in Tobago has been reported missing. John The MYA was formed in July this year under the Presidency of Douglas Rapier, a Stickland of Store Bay Marine Services, Tobago, says the cardinal marker