Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine April 2015

APRIL 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 6
— Continued from previous page
Don Street has spent more than half a century cruising, contributing to charts and
writing guides that were instrumental in opening up the Caribbean to the cruising
yachtsman. His presentation included highlights of his experiences over all those
years (most of which were while living onboard his 1905-
built, 46-foot engineless yawl, Iolaire), which he often
illustrated with anecdotes that ranged from humorous
to hair-raising. Street also talked about his favorite
islands and anchorages, many of which aren’t included
in other guidebooks, and provided his formula for
sailing with the most favorable currents during interisland
passages, which is delineated on the back of
each Imray-Iolaire chart and is supported by the
Street and Royce
Caribbean Compass, which publishes the Meridian
Passage of the Moon each month [see page 28].
Following the talk, PCYC’s newly appointed
Commodore, Dave Royce, thanked Don for sharing his lifetime of sailing adventures
with the group, and presented him with a club burgee.
Visit www.pcycgrenada.com for more information on PCYC events and membership.
Cruisers’ Site-ings
• Noonsite, at www.noonsite.com, is a directory of essential information on all matters
of interest to sailors planning an offshore voyage anywhere in the world, whether
already underway or still in the preparatory stages. You can access country specific
information such as immigration and clearance details; find ports, marinas and
docking facilities; check the location of businesses and services you need as a cruising
sailor; read reports and comments from other cruisers; explore the general cruising
pages with information about security, cruising information, cruiser networks,
equipment, weather links, books and charts and much more. Login to add your own
comments directly to pages and share your feedback and cruising experiences.
• Bruce Leeming of Friends of Ile-à-Vache, Haiti reports: I re-did our website, www.
friendsofileavachehaiti.com. Have a look under “donors” for some photos and
video. I will be updating it monthly with new photos and video. There is also a blog
to keep people informed what is happening during the month.
• Although months of work remain before the upcoming book about the Wildlife of
Statia is completed, wildlife lovers can enjoy some of the fruits of this project today.
Les Fruits de Mer has launched an online image gallery and a curated set of wildlife
images designed to be used as desktop wallpapers and screen savers. Both are free
to access and can be found at the project’s website: www.statiawildlife.com. The
desktop wallpaper and screen saver image collection is available for free download
in the Extras section of the site (http://www.statiawildlife.com/extras/). The images
are available in three different sizes, optimized for different computer screens.
• The Caribbean Security Index (CSI) at www.freecruisingguides.com helps cruisers
assess risk of crime at ports of call in the Caribbean. It provides a straightforward
means of assessing the odds in a given area and tracking changes in probability.
CSI ratings are developed from the examination of the relationship between crime
and socio-demographic factors such as unemployment, education levels and literacy,
as well as the presence (or absence) of security, infrastructure and history of
crime in a country/island. The CSI is not simply a list of crimes in an area; it helps
identify the odds of being a victim of, or being free of, crimes against yachts.
Responsible skippers play close attention to weather forecasts and take advantage
of weather windows; the CSI allows skippers to assess “crime windows”.
• The Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN) announces new Social Media
Features building on the highly successful CSSN E-Mail Alert system: Now you can
Follow Us/Like Us on Facebook, Twitter and RSS Feed to get all CSSN News and
Incident Reports delivered to your social media accounts as we post them. From the
CSSN website you can now share any page or post with anyone on all social media
and e-mail. Additionally, Facebook Cruisers Groups administrators can get automatic
CSSN News and Incident Reports posted or pushed to their group’s timeline. Visit
www.safetyandsecuritynet.com for details on Alerts and our social media capabilities.
Remember, Follow Us and Share so cruisers can “Know before You Go!”
SVG to Host Eastern Caribbean Yachting Conference
The first Eastern Caribbean International Yachting Conference will be held on April
28th and 29th in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. This new event aims to expand the
appeal of the region, which encompasses some of the best sailing waters in the
world. Planned as an annual event, it seeks to project the region’s attractiveness to
the industry while providing a platform for efforts aimed at marketing and harmonizing
the “Many Islands, One Sea” concept that can generate increased economic
activity through investments in the yachting sector.
This initiative, launched by the joint Embassy and Mission of the Eastern Caribbean
States in Brussels (representing St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent &
the Grenadines) in partnership with Quaynote Communications, hopes to dramatically
increase the flow of both megayachts and cruising yachts to the region and,
in the process, attract international high-net-worth individuals and groups with the
ability to invest significantly in yachting services and infrastructure.
Additionally, a major study is underway that will seek to capture the current inventory
of yachting services and infrastructure available throughout the Eastern
Caribbean and will simultaneously present investment opportunities for those seeking
to do business in the region. The results will be presented for the first time at the
Conference. This event will therefore be an ideal platform to assess the state of the
region’s industry while discussing investments in areas such as dockside services and
maintenance, administrative services, port management, shipping registries, insurance
and regulation and other corporate and ancillary services.
The Eastern Caribbean International Yachting Conference is a must-attend event
for senior-level yachting executives, captains, insurers, service providers and investors
as well as yachting enthusiasts interested in learning more about the growth
potential of this region. With plenty of time allowed for networking and debate with
senior government officials and industry insiders, the conference will offer a unique
meeting place for all stakeholders away from the usual round of industry events and
with emphasis firmly on new business development opportunities.
The event is jointly sponsored by the Tourism Authorities of Dominica, St. Kitts &
Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines as well as corporate sponsors.
Visit www.quaynote.com for more information.
Welcome Aboard!
In this issue of Caribbean Compass we welcome new advertiser Sparrow’s Beach
Club of Union Island, on page 38. Good to have you with us!