Moving South St. Eustatius, Feb 20-21, 2006

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Statia: The forgotten island of the Caribbean Approaching the volcanic cone of Statia Our first visit to an island is always exciting A bit isolated and not well protected We are the last boat on the left Full Circle is within range of the canon Fort Oranje standing guard Statia holds a significant spot in US history Statia was once the busiest port in the Caribbean Not exactly St. Barts But with its own charm When was he last time you had goat meat? Being confronted by donkeys is a bit unusual You never know what to expect on a new island As we depart St. Barts, we are sorry to leave such a beautiful island, but we look forward to visiting the new island of St. Eustatius (called Statia). It is 0900 and a gentle ten knot breeze has already pulled us five miles toward our destination. The sky is clear as we annoint ourselves in sun oil. From our vantage point, we can see the outlines of six islands and three countries. Statia is off our bow, St. Barts off our stern. St. Martin is off our starboard quarter. Saba is fifteen degress off the bow on the starboard side; St. Kitts and Nevis are fifteen degrees off the bow on port side. St. Martin and St. Barts are French; Saba and Statia are Dutch; and St. Kitts and Nevis are one independent country. All these islands are visible because they have relatively tall volcanic mountain peaks. Saba, Statia, St. Kitts, and Nevis are not much more than volcanic cones rising from the ocean floor. The wind varies between seven and eleven knots, and the point of sail varies from beam to broad reach. Our speed of 4.5 to 5.5 knots, will cover the 23 nautical miles in four to five hours. We consider skipping Statia and sailing straight for St. Kitts, but we have not seen Statia, and it is always exciting to visit a new island. Statia is a very small island, consisting of two volcanic cones and only 2700 people. It is part of Dutch Antilles, which includes St. Maarten and Saba. It is famous for its pristine waters and world class Scuba diving. It is only 25 miles from St. Barts, but is it culturally on another planet. To say that it was quiet is to exaggerate the noise. The most excitement was nearly being trampled by two renegade donkeys. We arrived in the mid afternoon on Sunday, in time for a visit ashore and a swim off the boat. After a pizza ashore, we spent a very pleasant evening on board making popcorn and watching our third episode of Hornblower. He in now a prisoner of war in Spain and is promoted to lieutenant. His star continues to shine. Since customs was closed when we arrived on Sunday afternoon, we had to clear in and out on Monday morning. Once completed, we raised anchor once again and headed for yet another new island, St. Chrisopher (St. Kitts). Previous | Next