Windjammer Ships and Pirate Adventures: Anguilla

Day 7: Anguilla February 23, 2007 The Best Beach in the World & The Diver Kid I’ve been so busy reviewing books for our upcoming school year, I forgot to conclude the story of our trip on the S.V. Polynesia. Anguilla has the best beach I have ever seen. There is one stop light on this island and lots of goats. There’s also an Ace Hardware, in the middle of nowhere - no where near the stop light.

Anguilla is a place I’d like to explore more.

Shoal beach is an incredible stretch of land that I hope not too many people ever find. It is the real Caribbean. Desolate to the point that you can still find a patch of pink sand all your own, but populated just enough that you can get a decent cheeseburger if you really wanted one.

We rode on one of the local school buses to get to Shoal Beach, that’s the thing about Windjammer, you really do get to feel like your part of the island culture. We spent several hours strolling the beach, but as luck would have it, we had to find our own way back to the ship as we were leaving the beach earlier than the rest of our shipmates. The Kid was going to try scuba for the first time. The taxi ride back from the beach was an interesting one. We shared the cab with one of the other three beginner scuba students and boy did we have a ball with the cab driver. He was very proud of his island, he said he would take us the best way back to the ship -- and he did. Apparently, Brittany Spears did one of her rehabs on this island and this was a big stop for the cab drivers to show non-locals. Our cab driver was no different. He also showed us many interesting places, that weren’t on paved roads and we eventually ended up in close proximity of the Polynesia.

The Kid had a rare opportunity presented to him earlier in the week. Windjammer had 3 dive masters on this ship, one was the resident dive master and the other two were new to Windjammer and were learning where all the great dive spots were from Tomas, the dive master on the Polynesia. There were three beginner divers. An interesting and rare ratio, so The Kid decided it was time. Floored the heck out of me because this is a kid who doesn’t like to swim, has had every swim lesson under the sun, but won’t swim. But I remembered this was also the kid who snorkeled with Nurse sharks at Hol Chan in Belize (that story for another day), so I signed the consent papers and let him have his adventure. The class was 4 hours, preceded with a safety video. It was an awesome opportunity in an amazing place. The Kid got to do a 20-40 foot dive in some of the clearest water in the Caribbean, an adventure he won’t soon forget. I wrote “He was all smiles when he got back from his dive” in my journal.

Anguilla is another place in the Caribbean that I would like to explore more. I think if I had to settle on a place today where I'd check-out in the Caribbean, Anguilla would be on my short list. Bequia is at the top, followed by Anguilla, then Mayreau. St. Vincent, Guadeloupe, Nevis, Statia, Dominica and several of the Grenadines are also places I’d explore further if I had the time and the sailboat. Our Windjammer adventure ended in St. Marten, where it began. It was a great trip and I would recommend a Windjammer adventure to anyone taking their homeschool on the road. We’ll do it again. And now it’s time to plan our Not-Back-To-School-Trip....we’re thinking the beach in September....

Windjammer Ships and Pirate Adventures: Statia - The Real Caribbean

Day 6: Statia (Saint Eustatius) - February 22, 2007
The Real Caribbean and Crab Number 3

The real Caribbean is one you won't ever see from a cruise ship. The Windjammer fleet is rare and so are the attitudes aboard. Shipmates are just as interested in the real Caribbean as we are and that's what I like about sailing like this. You are on a huge, beautiful antique sailing ship with other sailing nuts going places only sailors - and - pirates know about.

Saint Eustatius, or Statia, as the locals call it, was my favorite place on this trip. It is also what you would call the "real Caribbean".

	So What is the "real" Caribbean? Well, it's awesome people, black beaches, dormant volcanoes, history, hidden beaches all untouched by commercialism. No cruise ships..... The journal entry I wrote in my diary: "Statia is my favorite stop so far. It is what the Caribbean is really like for a traveler. The people are friendly. The buildings are old, historical and tidy. Black beaches and a dormant volcano. Blue beads once could be found on the beaches. The first country to acknowledge the new American flag after the [North] American revolution."
The blue beads of Statia were fun. Many of the locals had them, and the bartenders had the best ones, and the best tales. It was hot in Statia, remember it was February, and we snowbirds were very happy to be there. In the morning, I got to explore by myself, a rare treat. The Kid was interested in the book he was reading...I suppose that's what I get for raising a bookworm...sigh. But it gave me the opportunity to get to know the island on my own. There is a museum on Statia that is filled with very awesome artifacts and documents of the long and colorful history of this island. The day we were on the island, one of the local schools was having a bake sale...good, good, good - if you like coconut. It wasn't until afternoon, and it was well into the 100's that The Kid actually came ashore. Needless to say, I dragged him to the museum, past the bake sale [that was cleaning up to head to the beach] and The Kid got to see the famed blue beads [though later that day, the bartender had better ones than the museum!].
	Though as remote as Statia might seem, it was there I had camera malfunction. Call it bad planning, bad Karma, or an invitation to really discover this island. I have a Nikkon that is far more complicated than I ever imagined and it went "haywire" tha day on Statia. The batteries died. Amazing as it might seem, we found in a small local shop, much like what you might find in Mayberry, batteries and a photographer who knew just what I needed. He also told me how to find the film I needed as well. That was an interesting walk through the "suburbs" to a local superette, run by an old Chinese guy who was happy to see us and very helpful as well....
	The film was very important that day as that was the evening of the famous Windjammer Crab races [no crabs are harmed or treated badly!]. many of the crabs are celebrities on board. We won $16USD on crab #3. You'll just have to go on a Windjammer adventure to find out what that is all about! Next Stop: Anguilla

Windjammer Ships and Pirate Adventures: Nevis

Day 5: Nevis -- February 21, 2007

Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery

	As we saw in St. Barths, with the Mick Jagger imitator, a mirror image of something great is just that, or is it? Nevis, though in the French West Indies, is British, and looked to us anyway - a lot like Dominica. There was a rain forest, few people and the people were incredibly friendly - the ones we met anyway...Like Dominica, it teased us to explore further. It seemed to be a place where nature prevails and commercialism is prohibited. Twenty years ago in St. Maarten a guy named Rainbow gave me a pair of bracelets he made of beads from natural plants on the island. He told me that they would bring me luck. They have. It wasn’t until a medicine walk in Nevis this year that I discovered this is true and what the name of the beads are. The bracelet has brown beads and red beads, both of native plants, the red beads are called Jumbie beads and are used in a tea to calm colic, or just about anything else that ails you.After our morning Medicine walk, a three hour moderate hike up the dromant volcano on Nevis, we relaxed on the deck of the Polynesia all afternoon. Normally we travel with our Teva sandles, but were told that Chaco's were far superior. Well let me tell you, I'll take the Teva's anyday up the side of a volcano! Nevis is an Island I would return to. We didn’t get to spend enough time there and I really liked what I saw. There is a Four Seasons there that looked wonderful along with a few bars and restaurants. It is the kind of place to homeshool for a few weeks in the winter to be sure! The Travelin’ homeschooler and The Kid will return to this place for sure! Next Stop: Statia