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DECEMBER 2011 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 4 Info & Updates Snorkeling Park Opens in Guadeloupe Joining the existing Cousteau Reserve at Ilets Pigeon on the leeward side of Guadeloupe is the new Snorkeling Park of Ilet Gosier on the south shore. Ilet Gosier is one of the favourite anchorages in Guadeloupe: a tiny island just off the coast with An information buoy being placed in Guadeloupe’s new snorkeling park at Ilet Gosier. You can now take a self-guided snorkeling tour a lighthouse, coconut trees, iguanas, and a reef with gently breaking waves to protect the anchorage. On the beach, there is a sign with a map that explains the safe conduct in the Snorkeling Park. Three big, bright orange-pink buoys labeled 1, 2 and 3 show the loca- tion of remarkable underwater sites such as coral heads and turtle grass to snorkel above. The park is included in a safe zone marked by four yellow buoys and a surface line, where no engine craft are allowed. A white mooring buoy is available for tenders. If you’re at the Antigua Charter Show, see a presentation on the new park on December 9th at 7:45AM at the Copper & Lumber Store Hotel — all are welcome. For more information contact Ariane Graf at info@guadeloupeyachtconcierge.com. Simpson Bay Bridge Times Now Year-Round As of November 1st, there are no longer different High Season and Off Season bridge opening times at Simpson Bay, St. Maarten. The bridge opening times now are: 9:00AM outbound, 9:30AM inbound, 11:00AM outbound, 11:30AM inbound, 4:30PM outbound, 5:30PM inbound. Contact the bridge operator on VHF Channel 12. Change in St. Maarten’s Immigration Policy The St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) informs the yachting community that nationals from many countries are now exempt from obtaining a visa to enter the island by air or sea when they are in possession of a Dutch Caribbean visa; a multiple-entry visa for the US, Canada or the European Schengen region; or a residence permit for the US, Canada, the Schengen region, the UK, French St. Martin, Bonaire, St. Eustatius or Saba. —Continued on next page CHRIS DOYLE
— Continued from previous page For professional yacht crew on the visa-required list without one of the abovementioned visas, entry is granted with a Seaman’s Discharge Book and an Agent Guarantee Letter that a local agent will prepare. For yacht guests on the visa-required list without one of the abovementioned visas, a 48-hour transit exemption to go from the airport to the vessel or the vessel to the airport can be arranged with a local Agent Guarantee Letter. The SMMTA hopes that this new change will encourage yacht crews and yachting tourists from around the world to visit St. Maarten and enjoy what the island has to offer. The changes come just in time for Spotlight St. Maarten, a month-long celebration of education and recreation that began November 11th and continues until December 17th and includes seminars, concerts and various outings. Spotlight St. Maarten also offers discounts at participating marinas, chandleries, restaurants and more. So come to St. Maarten and start the season with a blast! For a complete list of countries that require a visa to enter St. Maarten visit www.smmta.com. Trinidad Curfew Lifted Katy Young reports: The curfew that was in place in Trinidad has now been lifted, along with the maritime curfew, so yachts are free to move as before. On August 21st, Trinidad & Tobago was placed under a “limited State of Emergency” (SOE) by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in order to deal with gang-related crime in some areas of Trinidad. The SOE reportedly had little impact on visiting yachts in Chaguaramas except that a curfew was in place from 11:00PM to 4:00AM. After September 14th, the curfew extended three nautical miles seaward from the coastline. Tobago was not subject to any curfew restrictions. On November 7th Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar announced the immediate lifting of the curfew. She added, however, that the State of Emergency remains in effect. “So the curfew is lifted both on land and on sea immediately. We will review that as well from day to day as we continue to monitor the situation,” she said. The State of Emergency in Trinidad & Tobago is up for review by the Government on December 5th. Weather Causes US-Caribbean Passage Havoc The 12th annual North American Rally to the Caribbean’s [NARC] Newport-to- Bermuda leg was hammered by a week-long low-pressure front followed by the late season Tropical Storm Sean after the NARC set out from Rhode Island on October 30th. On November 6th, the cargo ship Oleander picked up four people from the 46-foot Elle and the sailboat was abandoned approximately 200 miles northwest of Bermuda. According to a report in the Bermuda Royal Gazette, crewman Jim Schweitzel, who suffered cracked ribs when a large wave hit the boat, said, “The winds were 40 to 90 knots, with waves bigger than I’ve ever seen them. They looked like houses. We decided to take a rest and hope that the storm would die down, but it was like sitting in a tomb. Eventually, we decided to call for help.” The boat’s owner-skipper also reported that they were low on fuel after motoring against currents in the Gulf Stream. The following day, the Bermudan pilot boat St. George came to the assistance of another participating vessel, the 49-foot Riot, but the vessel’s 23-year-old captain, Coleman Bowen, was eventually able to steer his damaged vessel through Town Cut into St. George’s Harbour. Echoing Don Street’s recollection of a similar incident in the November issue of Compass, the skipper told the Royal Gazette, “We came through in a sort of ‘S’. We were maybe a hundred feet off the rocks and it was dark, so we didn’t really know what the lay of the land was. We could hear the The crew of the sailboat Elle being taken aboard the container ship Oleander waves crashing against the land, so we knew we were close.” According to various reports, both Elle and Riot had reportedly suffered steering difficulties among other problems. On November 11th Jan Anderson was washed overboard from another NARC yacht, the 38-foot Triple Stars, by a wave estimated at 30 feet about 285 miles northwest of Bermuda. The Coast Guard received an EPIRB signal from Triple Stars and a radio distress call from Jan’s husband, Rob. The Coast Guard directed merchant vessel High Jupiter to the area, which removed Rob from Triple Stars. The unsuccessful two-day search for Jan that followed covered 1,735 square miles. The annual NARC rally attracts veteran offshore sailors and professionally crewed boats and is described as “a grass-roots” affair for seasoned mariners. In Bermuda the St. George’s Dinghy & Sports Club hosted NARC participants who were then scheduled to head to the final rally destination, St. Maarten. The crew of a yacht not entered in the rally, Spring Moon, was rescued 550 miles southwest of Bermuda on November 6th by the cable ship Ocean. Along with Elle and Triple Stars, Spring Moon was also reportedly abandoned. Australians Don’t Require Visas for St. Lucia! After reading Chris Doyle’s interview with St. Lucia’s Yachting Director in the Ministry of Tourism, Cuthbert Didier, in the November issue of Compass (“New Rules to Encourage Yachting in St. Lucia”), which announced that Australians would no longer need visas to enter St. Lucia, an Australian cruising family was dismayed to arrive in Rodney Bay where the Immigration official demanded visas. News of this new ruling had spread quickly through the Australian cruisers’ community, but it apparently hadn’t reached St. Lucia’s Immigration officers quite as fast! —Continued on next page CHRISTOPHER MELROSE / BERMUDA ROYAL GAZETTE DECEMBER 2011 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 5
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Page 31 and 32: BOOK REVIEW BY J. WYNNER The Duppy
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