Statia

Itinerary:
Day 17-19: Sail to Statia, explore the island and dive

The day we left Saba, we were told to expect a full day of sailing, seven hours or so depending on the winds. However, at about three hours past when we had set sail, still early in the morning, we dropped our anchor in the adorable little port of St. Eustatius, or Statia. Around us, like in Colombier, were twenty or so other Broadreach boats, and after being completely isolated in Saba, we were all dying for some socialization beyond the six other people on our boat. The cherry on top of the promise of human interaction, Statia was adorable. In front of us was a picturesque white sand beach lined with palm trees, dive shops, and restaurants. Behind the beach rose a steep cliff with ornate carvings and stairs from Statia’s Dutch colonial past, and a stereotypical shaped volcano stood in the background. That afternoon, we prepped the boat for our stay in Statia, chatted with any group that dinghied by, and snorkeled around the remnants of an old seawall close to where we were anchored.
If Saba is spunky, Statia is quirky and rebellious with a history it’s hard not to smile at. Statia was “discovered” in 1493 by Columbus. Saba, like Statia, is Dutch, but back in colonial times it was a free port, and could trade openly with whoever they wanted. Statia was primarily in it for the money, so they had no restrictions or reservations selling controversial goods—like weapons—to groups the rest of the globe refused to support. For instance, Statia was the primary arms dealer to the patriots in the American Revolution (thanks Statia!) Statia’s support of the US didn’t end there. In fact, Saba was the first nation to formally recognize the US. A group of American patriots, flying the American flag, sailed down to Statia and saluted their navy. Unsure what to do, the captain of the ship saluted back, and then had to go report back to his governor that his fleet had just saluted the rebelling colonies. The Dutch weren’t pleased. But the British were even angrier, so they launched an attack on Statia. The tiny island was property of the British, and then the French, before it came back into Dutch rule—this time as a producer of rum. Their free port legacy is still upheld to this day, but instead of weapons, Statia deals with oil from embargoed nations. Oil that the rest of the world won’t buy, from nations such as Venezuela, comes into Statia, is held there for a while, and then leaves with a label saying it’s Statian oil, and can be sold anywhere. Less than ten year ago, the wealth from the oil led to widespread corruption within Island politics and the Dutch retook control of the Statian government.
Our second day, we woke up around seven for breakfast, and then dinghied ashore to do some community service. There was a bit of miscommunication with the local dive shop, so we ended up heading back to Saphirafter a stop for iced coffee, and did our own community service—snorkeling to clear the shoreline of marine debris. After lunch we dove with a local dive guide from the Golden Rock Dive Center. The dive site was a wreck dive that had been purposely sunk to encourage fishery regrowth. Unfortunately, the fishermen did not like the artificial reef, but fortunately the fish and divers love it. Highlights of the dive were an adorable baby trunk fish, and massive rays. Our afternoon following the dive was low key. We swam, we studied, and then we went back ashore for a fantastic dinner at the Old Gin House. On shore, we watched the Sun set over Saphir, and then passed through a Friday night Caribbean dock party on our way back to being afloat. The night concluded with final review before our upcoming exam.
Though over the past few days we had become accustomed to luxuriously late wake up calls at 7:00, we woke up bright and early at 5:30 the next morning for a quick breakfast before heading ashore to hike the Quill. The Quill is a trail that snakes from the shore, up through town, up the side of the mountain, and then into the caldron of the volcano. All of us were grateful that we woke up early to complete the hike before the heat, and found the top of the trail to be stunning—like something out of Jurassic Park. Because we were a small, fit group, we finished the hike with plenty of time to spare, so our Skipper led us back through town, pointing out more of Statia’s unique history. When we got back to the boat, we completed our exam, ate lunch, and then met up with the dive guide from the previous day. The dive was gorgeous, and our final training dive for the trip—the last deep dive. The coral at the site was oddly color coordinated, making for a very different vibe from the rest of our dives. Highlights included seeing a knife fish and some very elaborate soft corals. That evening, we went back to the Old Gin House for dessert and drinks, and once again watched the Sun set from shore.
With excitement to see our families, and pride in completing all our academics and technical work, the next day we sailed back to St. Martin. But it was not without melancholy hearts that we said goodbye to Statia, the fun little island with a giant personality.