Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - March 2020

Doyle’s
Deck View:
Way Back Then
and Now
Happy 25th Birthday Caribbean Compass!
When, 25 years after writing it, I reread my very first
Compass article, which was published in Compass’s
very first issue, I was amazed. Believe it or not, 25
years ago the chief of police arrived in a coastguard
launch at Hog Island in Grenada and made every
yacht move out!
In that article I think I managed to describe how a
lot of locals felt about the yachting community in Hog
Island at that time, and how anger at the yachts had
been building for various reasons, some real, some
imagined. I remember trying to communicate some of
this on the morning VHF net at the time, especially
noting that it could not go on that way: cruisers not
only offering their work skills illegally to other yachts,
but also even going to businesses in town and offering
to work. I was quite unpopular with quite a few cruisers
as a result, but even I was shocked and angered
when the police action was taken. (A few cruisers
thought it was my doing.)
In hindsight, I was clearly wrong about Roger’s Bar,
which has become a major establishment and very
popular. The VHF net has also proved its worth. Back
then it was not a credit to the cruising community and
it was things overheard on the net that annoyed many
locals in those days. Now the VHF net is much more
carefully run and works as a means of communication
between those on yachts and those offering services
ashore, and is a huge success.
On rereading my first Compass article I am encouraged
by the very positive changes in 25 years. Yes, Hog
Island is still a kind of “cruiser’s suburbia,” but that is
fine: it is no longer viewed the same way. Many of
those on yachts are no longer so insular: they make
local friends and integrate themselves into the local
community, taking part in all kinds of local activities
ranging from running with the Hash House Harriers to
reading to kids to giving free swimming lessons for
Grenadians (see article on page 34). Both the number
and the variety of businesses catering to yachts have
expanded hugely. In 1995 there was not even a good
chandlery on the island! Now we have three haul-out
yards, several marinas, and several chandleries. Best
of all we have excellent technicians running businesses
and helping provide yachts with the services
they need.
Over 25 years, cruisers and locals together picked
up the ball and made it all come out brilliantly.
It has been a great pleasure to write for Compass
for the last 25 years as the yachting scene grew.
There is no question to my mind that the presence of
Compass has had a lot to do with the gradual integration
and acceptance of the yachting industry into
the local community.
PS: What happened to all those noisy wind generators
that used to drive some of us mad? The windmills
are still out there, but they are now quiet. That is
another change I have been delighted to see!
Compass Isn’t About Us,
It Is Us
Caribbean Compass is a literary miracle.
Its power and prestige reach far
beyond its modest circulation. It’s
more than a marine fishwrapper. It’s a
chronicle of our cruising lives — of the
sea gypsies, yachties, live-aboards,
charterers, sailboat racers, bilge bunnies
— all the lush tropical vegetables
that populate its pages.
Plus, it nurtures future marine writers in
a way no other publication does.
More cruising inkslingers have
launched their literary careers upon
these pages than anywhere else. This
is no small thing, to be the local incubator
of literary talent.
Is it profitable? Perhaps. But that’s not
the point. It is us. It isn’t about us, it is
us, in all our awkward, sun-kissed,
rhum-soaked cantankerous glory.
I knew Sally back-in-the-day, long
before printer’s ink ran in her veins.
Okay, I, too, used to have a crush on
Sally between Vinnie and Tall Tom —
still do, I guess. She’s like the water she
writes about: soft on one hand,
uncompressible on the other. When
she knows we can do better, she tells
us, as a friend. The fact is, whether
Sally is circumnavigating or scribbling,
she believes in us. We’re her wayward
children. She cares about our hopes,
our fears, and our petty tribal tribulations.
She doesn’t view this publication
as hers, but rather ours.
The reason this publication has succeeded
all these years isn’t about dollars
and cents — nor logic and sense —
it is about our watery community; it is
about our shared aspirations. And, yes,
love. Affection, even. Respect, certainly.
Long may we continue to nurture each
other upon these hallowed pages.
Cap’n Fatty Goodlander, Author
S/V Ganesh
fattygoodlander.com
march 2020 CARIBBEAN COMPAss pAGE 23
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