Oranjestadt, Sint Eustatius (Statia)
Date 1430 – 4 April 2011 With trepidation I fought my way through the disembarking cruise ship
passengers to the terminal where the customs and immigration are housed. Let
it Be tell me that the following day they had a somewhat bruising experience
clearing out. I had no problem although it was queried why I had not fully
cleared in. Fortunately I was bale to play the local rivalry and blame it on Squeezing gently out between our posts we made a quick passage north
again to Statia. Statia is an outpost of the Customs had knocked off early, however the port security officer
managed to persuade a charming young Dutch “gal” to come back and
produce a form. It was totally impossible to clear in and out at the same
time. Welcome to Dutch bureaucracy – a whole new experience.
Everything here is orientated around commercial shipping and huge oil tankers,
yachties just get swept along with the rest and I suspect are both a source of
interest and inconvenience. The engine is still overheating and the generator has decided to join
in so while Elizabeth and Kate went off to do the sights I stayed on the boat
to “play” while Elizabeth and Kate had a good walk around Oranjestadt, most of which is
built on the top of the cliffs overlooking the harbour. Statia has from early
times been a major trading post and the route up to the town and the market
square is known as the The town is totally different from anything that we have previously
seen in the The fort forms the centre of the ancient defences And provides good cover over the anchorage: |