Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - November 2021

— Continued from previous page
• JOHN FULLER
Prominent environmentalist John Fuller died on September 27th at his home in
Hodges Bay, Antigua. Although he
was a well-known lawyer, his son Eli
told a local newspaper that,
outside of the courtroom, his father
had a love for nature and his
native Antigua. “He grew up
spending a lot of time on the water
and I think first and foremost he
was into nature and conservation
and the environment.”
Eli posted on Facebook: “John
Fuller was a fisherman, a sailor and
an ocean explorer. He grew up on
a beach and as a teenager he
worked on wooden freighters
sailing between the islands. He
raised his children with a love for
the sea and he spread that love
for the sea far and wide with his
efforts in whale and sea turtle
conservation. He was a dedicated
member of the sports fishing
community of Antigua & Barbuda
and for decades he and his crew
spent almost every Sunday out in the deep. He was a man of the sea.”
John’s fellow environmentalist Lesley Sutty wrote, “John was the one who
discovered the large number of nesting hawksbill turtles on Pasture Bay beach and
was key in getting the University of Georgia to document this; from this the Jumby
Bay Hawksbill Turtle Project was born. It is the longest-running hawksbill turtle project
in the world.”
John was an author of the UNEP CEP SPAW Protocol, a regional agreement for the
protection and sustainable use of coastal and marine biodiversity in the Wider
Caribbean Region. He served as Antigua & Barbuda’s representative to the
International Whaling Commission, and successfully fought against captive “swim
with dolphins” project proposals.
John’s father, Nicholas, came to Antigua in 1941 as US Vice Consul. He and his wife
remained in Antigua after the war and raised seven children there. He built the Lord
Nelson Beach Hotel in the late 1940s. In 1960, he bought the Tobago Cays in St.
Vincent & the Grenadines from the local Eustace family. In 1999 the St. Vincent &
the Grenadines government bought the Cays from him at a price drastically below
market value, with the agreement that henceforth the Tobago Cays would be
dedicated to use in perpetuity as a National Park. The Tobago Cays National Marine
Park is now known worldwide.
John, after finishing secondary school in Antigua, went to the UK where he studied
law. After passing the bar exams he returned to Antigua to start a family. He is
survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and extended family.
• JANE FINCH
Jane Finch was killed during a break-in at her
home in Antigua on October 4th. The police
detained a 21-year-old mentally challenged
woman in connection with the break-in.
Born in Canada and raised in Victoria, BC,
Jane was introduced to sailing in the mid-
1970s in Malta, and she sailed throughout
the Mediterranean on the 1936 Fife ketch
Eilean. She then crossed the Atlantic and
chartered throughout the Caribbean island
chain as first mate and chef on board
Eilean for eight years. She moved ashore in
Antigua in 1982 and worked at the Antigua
Yacht Club as restaurant manager until the
birth of her son in 1986.
Jane made significant contributions to events such as the Antigua Charter Yacht
Show, the RORC 600 Race, the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, Antigua Sailing Week
and the Talisker Whisky Transatlantic Challenge. She was highly recommended for
island tours in both French and English. She wrote and researched for the annual
Superyacht Services Guide’s Antigua & Barbuda chapters.
She is survived her son Jareese, family in Canada and many friends in Antigua.
• GARY E. BROWN
Long-time St. Maarten resident Gary E. Brown died on October 7th.
Born in the West Riding of Yorkshire, UK, Gary attended Eastwood Secondary
Modern School where he earned adequate grades to obtain CSEs in History and
Geography. Hating school with a passion, he never returned to pick up his diplomas.
A life spent traveling, much of it under
sail, brought him to St. Maarten. After a
stint as assistant editor of a small
magazine, he formed his own publishing
company and printed weekly and
bi-weekly newspapers for the sailing and
tourist industry. He contributed several
articles to Compass in the early 2000s.
Moving into broadcasting, he produced
and hosted a series of popular maritime
radio shows along with a prime-time
daily music/news/chat show that earned
him the name “The Voice of the
Caribbean.” He was part of the St.
Maarten Heineken Regatta’s media
team “for as long as any of us can
remember.” He was editorial director of
All At Sea magazine for ten years, and
wrote sailing adventure novels including
Caribbean High and Caribbean Deep, and several children’s books.
He is survived by Jan, his wife of 40 years, and many friends.
See a story by Gary on page 23 of this issue of Compass.
NOVEMBER 2021 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 7
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