Excellence through discipline!
Oriole
Sat 12 Jan 2008 14:38
Falmouth Harbour Antigua 17:01.00N
61:46.40W
On Monday we sailed due west to Nevis which has one of the longest beaches in the Caribbean, sadly the authorities have laid 50 rather unsightly moorings for the use of visiting yachts and the palm trees behind the beach have lost their tops with some strange fungal disease - the usual cause is a hurricane, but they have not had any recently.
On Monday we sailed due west to Nevis which has one of the longest beaches in the Caribbean, sadly the authorities have laid 50 rather unsightly moorings for the use of visiting yachts and the palm trees behind the beach have lost their tops with some strange fungal disease - the usual cause is a hurricane, but they have not had any recently.
Light downwind weather to St Kitts and
Nevis.
Flat calm for the return to Antigua
We engaged a tour guide from Leeds
and Sheffield to take us round the island. She was very entertaining and
knowledgeable and it transpired that she had lived next door to John's
grandfather's house in Sheffield at 1 Burngreave Road. Nevis, dominated by
its extinct volcano, has several old sugar plantations which now are small
upmarket hotels and would make a great place for a quiet holiday.
upmarket hotels and would make a great place for a quiet holiday.
The developers have not got here
yet.
But just round the corner its open season.
Across the Narrows is the larger twin
island of St Kitts also dominated by its extinct volcano. Until two years ago
the majority of the cultivated land was sugar cane but the government closed the
processing plant for economic reasons and the large areas of cane lie
untended. However the Kitticians are unlikely to go hungry as the
developers have arrived and the unspoilt south end of the island is sprouting
large and expensive houses and the Marriott Hotel 'boasts' 800 rooms!
St Kitts and Nevis have one of the highest literacy rates in the world, the reason is not difficult to find. There is a small population with a tightly knit family structure. The school children are very smartly dressed and discipline is strict and a little gentle corporal punishment used to enforce it. Indiscipline in school is not tolerated and one of the schools we passed had this great motto on its sign board: 'EXCELLENCE THROUGH DISCIPLINE', and it works. Capital punishment still exists for murder, gaol
terms for swearing in public and the last hanging was only 9 years ago. The UK has a lot to learn from its ex-colonies and the UK modernist, do-good social engineers should pay a visit. The only indiscipline we met was in the mosquito population which invaded the boat during the night we were in the little marina on St Kitts. John sustained over 100 bites and is waiting for the onset of malaria or dengue fever! Maybe they were hoping for a nibble of the excellent meal we had ashore.
St Kitts and Nevis have one of the highest literacy rates in the world, the reason is not difficult to find. There is a small population with a tightly knit family structure. The school children are very smartly dressed and discipline is strict and a little gentle corporal punishment used to enforce it. Indiscipline in school is not tolerated and one of the schools we passed had this great motto on its sign board: 'EXCELLENCE THROUGH DISCIPLINE', and it works. Capital punishment still exists for murder, gaol
terms for swearing in public and the last hanging was only 9 years ago. The UK has a lot to learn from its ex-colonies and the UK modernist, do-good social engineers should pay a visit. The only indiscipline we met was in the mosquito population which invaded the boat during the night we were in the little marina on St Kitts. John sustained over 100 bites and is waiting for the onset of malaria or dengue fever! Maybe they were hoping for a nibble of the excellent meal we had ashore.
Statia and Saba
(Netherlands Antilles) from Brimstone Hill Fort St
Kitts. Back
in Antigua - sunset over the Kingdom of Redonda.
All the while the wind has
disappeared and we were able to motor the 40 miles back to Antigua in a flat
calm. In the usual trade wind weather this can be one of the worst
passages in the Eastern Caribbean with a strong westgoing current and big seas
and 20-25 knots of wind right on the nose, even the superyachts try to avoid it!