Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5943/-1/223/
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You Meet The Most Interesting People
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It’s funny who you meet, isn’t it? One of the nicest things about writing this column is that you encounter all kinds of people from every walk of life. This week I have been meeting sailors and sailing enthusiasts. Those who know me well know that I have a penchant for the sea, having been married to a matelot for the last twenty five years!
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Hearts Desire in Full Sail
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Take American Glen Schroeder for instance. He is the owner and skipper of the 1925 forty three feet long, Alden Schooner, Hearts Desire, which has been visiting Anguilla for the Anguilla Regatta. She is a pretty sight on the ocean; a gaff rigged vessel with traditional square sails, she has no modern pulleys or winches. All the halyards are pulled by hand, hard work which makes you appreciate sailing her.
Glen has been enthralled by her for five and a half years. She is the latest in a love affair with the sea that began when his father bought the family a boat when he was a year old. “I bought Hearts Desire because she is a Schooner,” he explains. “When I was at school I used to draw pictures of schooners and I would get in trouble. My teacher finally said, ‘Why don’t you draw pictures of schooners for everybody?’ I was 7 years old.”
Glen met salty sea dog, Jack Curley, in Antigua when he took Hearts Desire to compete in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April. “I sailed 234 miles to sail in the Classic Regatta and I did not want to race my boat, so I looked around for a boat that could use some crew. Hopefully a pretty one,“ chuckled Jack. His 34 years of experience on the sea was an asset to Glen and they decided to sail to Anguilla for the Anguilla Regatta after the Antigua Classic.
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Salty Sea Dog Jack Curley
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Another interesting person I met briefly was Julio Vallejo. He was sitting in Johnno’s, on Sandy Ground, watching all the proceedings while supping a refreshing beer. “I live in New York and every year they talk about the Anguilla Regatta and so I came to see what is going on here,” he said during our conversation. This made me think. I wondered how many other people had come to Anguilla because they heard how good the regatta is. I am sure that the Anguilla Tourist Board will be monitoring visitor numbers over the Regatta weekend to see if the event increased the figures.
Jim Hearn, a member of the St Martin Yacht Club, whose business is “elevators,” but confesses to the “spectator sport” of “sitting in a chair and watching everybody else,” was another character I met in Johnno’s. He, and his companions marina owner Michel Deher and Commodore of the St Martin Yacht Club, Frank Hoedemaker, were sailing the aptly nicknamed, Rub a Dub Dub. Jim had been thinking about the financial implications of the Regatta on Anguilla’s economy and his thoughts made interesting listening. “How much money is being spent by people from St Martin, here in Anguilla?” he wondered. “Five thousand US dollars? Six thousand? Eight thousand? Money the local merchants would not have gotten before. Do locals realise that? I mean, the three of us came over here and paid $100 for a hotel room. That is local infrastructure funds that we are paying and yet we are leaving it all behind. Look at all the food that is being consumed, how much extra revenue is the local industry receiving? You have to take in the fact that tonight Pumphouse, for example, will probably get an extra six or seven thousand dollars. The Heineken Regatta brings into St Martin four to five million dollars, [spent on] hotels, rental cars, food, and nine million dollars in the two weeks the participants are there! That is foreign funds that contribute to the local infrastructure. Yet here, does the local individual still yell because we are using their dock? There was an altercation yesterday on the jetty. Someone could not bring in the white boat because someone else parked his boat there, so the local population does not realise what they are benefitting from.”
This view certainly got me thinking. I wonder if people do stop to think about how much the island benefits from foreign expenditure during big events such as the Regatta, Moonsplash, or the Carnival?
On the Press Boat over the Regatta weekend I was privileged to meet Carl Thomas, videoing some of the races for local television station, KCN. It was Carl’s first time at a Regatta and he confessed to me that he had not really known what he was getting himself into when he took his camera to the event. The Press Boat was skippered expertly by Damian Carty and both Carl and I were able to take the shots we needed for our respective commissions. At the end of Saturday Carl said, “Now I know how much fun the Regatta is, and just what goes on in the races, I will go back to my office and to my family and spread the word.” It was good to hear.
I was very lucky to meet these people, and many more I do not have space to write about today, and I hope you find these little snippets into their lives and thoughts as interesting as I do.