Statia - America's Childhood Friend

After a couple days relaxing on the boat in Saba we left this morning for Sint Eustatius, another tiny Dutch island about 20 miles southeast. The island is more commonly known as Statia (STAY-sha) and has quite a history. It was once the most prosperous Caribbean island, earning itself the nickname "the Golden Rock". It was a major free port during a time when some countries weren't allowed to trade with each other due to various wars (Spain vs. England, England vs. France, and eventually England vs. the Colonies). So instead Statia became the middleman for commerce, and foreign merchants could buy or sell anything they wanted here. Everyone got rich. But that all changed the day the vessel "Andrew Doria" came into port and fired a salute with her guns. The Statian Governor returned the salute, not realizing until it was too late that it was an American rebel navy ship. So Statia goes down in history as the first sovereign power to recognize the fledgling nation. The British were none too pleased, and retaliated by confiscating all ships and valuables and sacking the island. And, as if they weren't already involved in enough wars, the English also declared war on Holland for good measure.

Anyway, we arrived just ahead of a flash rainstorm (we are getting used to it being completely clear one minute and pouring rain the next), so we waited until it cleared to go check in with immigration. Being Sunday, everyone had gone home for the day so we took a quick tour of the island instead. There's just one town here, Oranjestad, but it has some cool points of interest including Fort Oranje which has been restored and overlooks the bay. The island is still a duty-free port but now there is just one main commodity being traded: oil. Huge tankers lie at anchor in the bay and the northwestern half of the island is completely given over to a dock with a pipeline and big tanks to hold the stuff. The island promotes itself as being ecotouristy, but it is hard to take it seriously when the oilworks take up half the western shoreline.

Where we are:
Location=Statia
Lat=17 28.921
Lon=62 59.475