international cleanup just a few days away.

My cousin Annabel Fuller wrote a good introductory article about International Coastal Cleanup Day in the afternoon release of the Daily Observer (Daily Observer PM) and since then the Observer Group has been trying to gather more info and help promote this important event across our twin island nation. This morning Mitzi Allen, who was hosting the morning show on Observer Radio 911 FM, called me to chat about it and try to get the message out.

She obviously understood the significance of a cleanup and its importance to our type of "Tropical Beach Tourism" as roddy so perfectly described it in a comment on the reef saving blog i wrote several days ago.

I just got off the phone again, but this time with Linroy Sammuel, also from the Observer group. He is doing a news story about the cleanup event and asked how many people would be attending. I told him that i wasn't sure, but with the help of the Observer, there would be many more people conscious of the event. I also gave him Nemo's site http://www.antiguabeachclean.blogspot.com/ which gives more info and angles to the whole concept of maintaining the main engine of our economy....the beach. It looks like many antiguans and visitors are interested and committed to helping out this weekend and more. We should encourage every effort made i think. This photo shows John Watt and Sarah Fuller walking back on the beach after collecting some marine debris.

This time however the things that they collected didn't end up in our land fill, but were used by Sarah in her artistic creations which you can find in her pottery shop in redcliffe quay as well as in the Woods Art Gallery. There is a photo of some of her art in this link. All in all, i think beach cleanups need to be more of a regular thing on an island that prides itself on our unique coastline. Join in wherever you are but for sure if you are in antigua.

lovely weekend...lovely weather

Some of our good friends were leaving yesterday so Saturday afternoon we went for a nice sunset cruise on Xtreme. We snorkeled at Cades reef as the sun set which was fantastic.

Saw a huge barri, a spotted eagle ray, a southern stingray, and a hawksbill turtle as well as all the other fishies you would expect on the reef.

After the sun set many other fish that are normally hiding started to come out. We got back to the boat as it was getting dark which was kinda unusual and nice. My bad knee seemed to hurt more than usual this time though, but the pain was soon forgotten as Big John mixed some lovely rum and gingers up. A very fast boat passed us after it was dark going towards Guadeloupe without any lights on and we all came up with funny stories as to why he was in "stealth mode". The satellites were bright and we even saw a few shooting stars on the way up the coast. We decided to have dinner at Mad Mongoose in English Harbour. The food was great and we ended up getting into Jolly Harbour at 11 pm. Its not often we go boating at night, so it was a lovely experience.

Sunday was a quick Half Moon Bay session as the weather was just too good not to hit the beach for a swim. The water was almost as clear as the stunning blue sky and warmer than the air for sure. September can have some of the most beautiful clear days and bright nights of the year....

I finished writing that sentence at 8:19 am this morning when i had to rush out the door to help JD finish getting the eco tour ready for today's tour. I had put the title in too. Anyway, we had a little cloud mass over Guadeloupe 60 miles away which i looked at earlier in the morning on my trusty local area sat map, and it was moving west as a tropical wave. The day looked like it was going to be nice until about 9:30 am when it started to look a little darker in the south. I said bye to JD, Wan Lovv, and Chris and Tony and i started to do maintenance on the other boat. I had to go to the hardware store to get some paint and other supplies and noticed the black clouds in the South getting closer. I called my mom in the office to check on the satellite loops to see what was going on and while the rain started up she said the mass of clouds had shifted north and was coming our way. JD now at bird island called to say it was raining cats and dogs and needed some more info. The lightning and thunder started and we told him to abandon the tour. Of course nobody was charged anything and seemed to enjoy the rum punch JD had served before getting back in even if not the way the day turned out. That is the one thing about September....When its nice outside, it just can't be beaten, but when it rains it pours. Tomorrow looks good but i think we will have to monitor http://www.weatherunderground.com/tropical/ to see what happens with "invest 91" which is possibly coming our way in a couple of days.

Enhance tourism through reef protection NOW!

I am sure that many of you following my blogs over the past 6 months will have noticed that I bite my tongue when it comes to our island’s environmental policies. I am and have always been passionate about the Antigua and Barbuda environment because living the kind of life I do, one is part of the natural environment everyday. The only way to not go insane is to understand that change is inevitable and that the change isn’t always for the best. In fact almost all change here on the island in my lifetime has taken a negative toll on the islands’ environment. Just about eight years ago I carefully designed my eco tour in a way that the most exciting and interesting childhood experiences could be shared with visitors to the area. Just like on any other eco tour, I tried to ensure that guests learned about the North Sound’s history and ecology and how the many different relationships interact.

Of course, most of the interacting was 100% natural and positive, but there were many aspects of my tour which described the not so positive relationship between the natural world and that of mankind’s.

Anyway, since I started my eco tour I have seen so many drastic changes in the coastline around Antigua and even in The North Sound where the main part of the eco tour is based. Maiden Island was even a stop off point and a major part of my tour. Mr. Allen Stanford “purchased” Maiden Island somehow from the ALP government and proposed in his Antigua Sun news paper that he’d spend US $95 million on the construction of his home there. After spending $9 million in mangrove destruction, heavy dredging of the flats eco systems, laying infrastructure, and building a barrier “reef” to block the traditional landing of boats on the shore there, he decided that he didn’t want his home there. I wrote an article and sent it to the papers about this whole story, but it was never printed. A version of it is here. These photos were taken during the construction/destruction at maiden island. One can only expect the same or similar at antigua's largest island... Guiana Island once he gets that.

In fact, he wanted Guiana Island, Antigua’s largest off-shore island, and home to the most wonderful mangrove, flats, and reef habitat in the area. By the way, both he and the government called what he did at Maiden Island “eco friendly” and suggested that if he got Guiana Island, his US $800 million project would be of the low impact and eco friendly variety. We shall see about that I guess. Anyway, for now it’s still beautiful and interesting and a big part of our eco tour. There have been other changes too which have frustrated me greatly. Spear fishing, trap fishing and gill net fishing is more rampant now that I ever remember and in the same spots that we do our snorkeling it is common to find people doing the sorts of fishing I just spoke about. Imagine how you would feel seeing a gill net right across the very reef that you take guests to on a daily basis. After an assault of net or spear fishing it takes weeks for larger fish to come back to the area. This photo shows two spear fishermen on wednesday with large strings of speared fish trailing behind them.

Spear fishing is supposed to be illegal and net fishing inside or on top of a reef is supposed to be illegal, but it happens every single day around Antigua. Bird Island is the most visited by tourists of all off shore islands and these sorts of fishing practices go on without any government regulation. In fact, as long as you don’t rip up any coral you can lay any amount of gill net. Gill nets are the ones with tiny holes which are able to catch anything. Turtles, dolphins and even whales have been known to be caught around the world in gill nets which is why most of the world has incredibly strict laws regarding such nets and the rules are enforced. Most other Caribbean islands ban all types of gill nets with the exception of surface gill nets used to catch bait fish like ballyhoo.
People often wonder why I don’t run the eco tour, and there are many reasons why, but one of them is that I have a hard time being out there seeing the negative changes slowly happen. Even on the Xtreme tour we see this sort of thing happen too. There are countless areas around Antigua that have been changed within the past 2 years and while out on the tour we see many things that make our stomachs turn. Illegal sand mining from the beaches is another practice that frustrates the heck out of me and my crew and it still happens. The crazy thing is that sometimes sand is actually taken by the Public Works Authority as it was after waves from Hurricane Dean pushed the sand up on to the land next to Darkwood Beach. Government trucks took all this sand and instead of pushing it back on the beach they took it away to be used in construction. This happened after hurricane Luis and Georges when thousands of tons of sand were trucked away. People now sit and try to figure out why the beaches there are having such terrible erosion. I wonder why they wonder.
Anyway there is some good news to all this gloom and doom. Thankfully the old farts that are doing such an awful job of running the environmental aspects our tourism, environment, and fisheries divisions area being helped by a few bright young people. I’ll give you an example. On Wednesday, we were out on a private charter with people who wanted to do some good snorkeling. We got to Green Island and found that there were very few large fish at our regular snorkeling site. A short walk with the guests to the top of a lookout spot there are we saw the problem. Three spear fishermen with dozens and dozens of speared fish (mostly parrots) attached to lines behind them. Anyway, this is nothing new so on we went to my favorite snorkeling spot when the waters are clear. Pillars of Hercules at the entrance of Nelson’s dockyard is within the National Park and there are several dive and snorkeling moorings there so that you don’t have to anchor. Anchored there was a small fishing boat and in the water were several spear fishermen swimming in between the moorings. This is the most visited dive site on Antigua and our Xtreme tour stops there to show tourists fish every day.

Recently there have been net fishermen there monthly setting nets along the dive site. After seeing the guys at Green, I guess the sight of these guys harvesting fish in this particular area upset me even more. I spoke with one of the dive operators who was on his way to the mooring there and the Ministry of Environment was called. We wouldn’t waste time calling the Ministry of Tourism or the National Parks Authority because those organizations wouldn’t be able to do anything at the moment. Ministry of Environment told us to call the fisheries department…..same old story of nothing getting done. …..or not. The well spoken man who answered the phone apparently said that they would launch their boat and investigate as soon as possible. Their boat!!!???!! I was surprised to hear this and very impressed. Imagine that only now in 2007 the fisheries department has gotten a boat. This boat was not provided because of foreward thinking form the government, but actually was part of a international grant. Thank god people outside of Antigua and Barbuda care that much. Of course there are people within the fisheries ministry and here in Antigua who have been urging the Gov to set fisheries up with a boat. Finally it has arrived and is in use! Apparently, the boat did arrive 2 hours later as it’s quite far from St. Johns, and inspected the boat. The boat had gill nets too and told the fisheries boat that they were not spear fishing but in fact only setting nets (across the dive and snorkeling site). Since nets are legal, the boat turned around and sped back to st. Johns without doing a complete of the fishing boat or inspecting the speared fish. I guess one could be upset and frustrated with the outcome of this story, but to me it’s a giant step in the right direction and one that will send a clear message to fishermen. Our fisheries department has new blood inside it and they want to make a difference. The only way for a fishery to survive in this day and age is through careful management and enforcement of regulations. Up until now there has been almost no management or enforcement, but I have a feeling that this may slowly begin to change. Next time I hope that the fisheries boat will check to see the net’s hole size and check the fish for holes too! Nets don’t cause holes in fish. Also, it would be nice for Ms. Appleton who is in control of the Fisheries dept. to read up more on gill nets and how damaging they are. It is her opinion that they do no damage at all and she is unaware that they are banned in many islands all over the Caribbean. This photo shows an extemely endangered hawksbill turtle that was killed as happens very very often here in Antigua inside gill nets. The little turtles can not escape when they meet the nets. On my tours we have freed live turtles from nets like this one and seen many that didn't make it. This photo was taken by my sister Fran, who by the way has just started working with the Environment Ministry. Another positive step for sure. I just hope she can be more patient than i am being.

It is hard to fathom why Ms. Appleton, the person in charge of fisheries here in Antigua, can not see how the rampant and unregulated use of net fishing is a problem. She thinks and says its fine and dandy. This type of net: http://www.cccturtle.org/velador.php?page=velart68 is being used extensively here in our waters at depths of up to 70 feet. An interesting report on gill net fishing can be found here. Other islands nearby have had proper scientific studies done on gill net fishing and the world wide concensus is that gill net fishing is extremely harmful in shallow waters. A complicated but scientific report on St. vincent's fishery can be found here. The tall and short of it is that unless something is done both the fishery and the tourism industry will continue to face problems.

I hope also that I can get Ms. Hodge from National Parks to help get something done to protect the Pillars of Hercules site. Let’s not forget the Hon. Mr. Lovell minister of Environment as you would think that he would be interested in speaking with the relevant people about helping to protect a few key areas for Antigua’s visiting snorkelers and divers. For that matter we should think that our Prime Minister Hon. Baldwin Spencer would be interested in protecting a few tiny areas as fishing free zones so that our tourism product could be enhanced without a big investment. That’s the thing that I can never understand. It doesn’t cost much to protect the few key snorkeling and dive sites, but no Gov. Official wants to do anything about it. What a difference it would make for our tourists and tour operators. Maybe there would even come a day when video and photos of Antigua’s reefs could be used in promoting our country instead of using video and pics form St. Lucia and the like…..
If you are in contact with people “in high places” please urge them to do something to help protect our key tourist snorkeling and dive sites. It won’t take much and it will help all involved in the long run…even the fishermen since anyone who knows about fishing and regulations knows that almost always its the fishermen who benefit most in the long run.

Clean up our act

In less than two weeks there is a special international event to help clean our planet’s coastlines. Antigua and Barbuda are unique here in the Caribbean because we have so much coastline and so many beaches. Many of them are in need of some major cleaning and maintenance. All of us in the Atlantic are connected by a huge circular ocean current which I spoke about in one of my most popular blog entries and we get garbage (both flotsam and jetsam) floating up on windward beaches all the time.

There are no national beach clean up programs and its up to the general public to do the job.

Unfortunately the general public isn’t that good at cleaning up the beaches themselves and there is a huge amount of garbage around our coastline that has ended up there because of careless people here on the island. Saturday September 15th is International Coastal Cleanup day and there is a growing group of people here on the island that plans on making a big difference on that day. What I have been telling people to do is to use it as an excuse to have a beach day. Just take your buckets and spades, fishing rod, cooler of beer, or whatever it is that you take to the beach when you go, and enjoy a lovely day at the beach with the goal of taking home more than you brought with you.

Just pack an extra garbage bag and scoop up a few bits and pieces. That way you had a great day at the beach and helped clean up a bit of our planet’s coastline. I am not 100% sure what our adventure antigua group is gonna do but we may do a bit of Barbuda's coastline which would be fun too.

For more info on the whole thing please check out http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=9221.0&dlv_id=12381&JServSessionIdr005=c8eajwtb94.app1b Also, if you are into facebook there is an event for the Antigua Coastal Cleanup and you should sign up. It can be found in the Antigua network event calendar.

The "unique" Carlisle Bay Hotel

Well we are back in Jolly Harbour to our version of the "real world" after a lovely mini adventure to enjoy the luxury of the Carlisle Bay Resort.

Leni Miras and Bruno De'Oliveira are department managers at the lovely hotel and were kind enough to get a night there for us. Mykl also does environmental consulting for the hotel helping it to be recognized as "green" by the international organization Green Globe.

Carlisle Bay is the kind of modern five star hotel that tries to make sure that guests enjoy every second of their stay without them having to worry about a thing. As we approached the hotel, security called the front office and our bartender was even alerted. Can you imagine? Our own welcome drinks were being prepared as we got out of the car and our bags were being whisked away by hotel staff. Now i have had welcome drinks before many times, but this wasn't like the ones before. One of my good friends who i have travelled with just celebrated his 17th year as a recovering alcoholic and i remember him complaining about the alcoholic welcome drinks that many resorts shoved in your face. Anyway, this lovely refreshing cocktail was non alcoholic and delicious. Right there in reception our bar man welcomed us, told us what it was and was gone. Bruno showed us the hotel explaining everything as we walked towards our suite. Although i had been to the resort before, i had never seen Carlisle Bay's grounds during the day and was quite impressed with how nice they were. Our hotel room was 314 quite far up the beach in an area that had a lovely view of the bay and the volcanic island of Montserrat off in the distance. I was quite surprised by how massive the rooms were, and as you can imagine the layout was lovely.

I have seen the hotel described as being "new age" but as a friend remarked on my facebook page the other day....... "Carlisle Bay, sweet, asian minimalist. bold and refined." haha well i am not sure if they like it described that way but it isn't your typical Caribbean resort and although not what you would expect to find down here, its unique modern style and chic character enhances our tourism product without a doubt. If you think you have seen it all and done it all here in the Caribbean then a holiday at this place would change your mind. Antigua's hoteliers have been re-inventing the tourism product over the past ten years and couragous concepts like Carlisle Bay, Coco Bay, and Hermitage Hotel are helping Antigua attract a new generation of holiday makers. Anyway enough of that kinda writing. You guys may start to think that they are paying me.

One of the important genetic traits i have retained from my mother's side of the family is the physical need for a good cup of tea in the afternoon, and Carlisle Bay hotel not only provided for my tea craving but in their usual unique way, they enhanced the fix. Up until 5.30 pm you can order tea and have it anywhere you like. Now my good buddy Ed who worked on the Eco Tour with us during his gap year told me that if i really wanted to be proper i wouldn't "have tea", but would "take tea". So as if we were posh movie stars enjoying a luxurious "chic" holiday we "took" tea on the third floor suite with a view. It was magnificent. I bet you don't normally hear "taking tea" and magnificent in the same breath, but the little bites that they included with the tea made the whole experience while sitting in our robes.......quite unique. Just looking at the pic i took makes me want to go back tomorrow.

Now for all the regular would be tourists out there i am sorry to tell you that we didn't go for a sunset walk on the beach followed by a funky drink with the little umbrella. Being from here, we decided to enjoy the lovely room. Some BBC news, a bath in their huge tub, a complimentary sushi tray from the GM, and some more relaxing in the comfortable bed all nearly convinced us to miss out on everything else that evening that the carlisle bay had to offer.

However, dinner at East wasn't to be missed. At the main Pavillion bar, we met up with Bruno and Leni who was the MOD that evening. Of course we thanked them again for the lovely birthday gift and let Bruno pick a drink for us.

The bar man was the same young man who had come up with the lovely welcome drink and Bruno suggested that we try his specialty, The Barbuda Smile. This rum based drink had all sorts in it but the basil gave it a lovely unique flair. The bar man was talented and friendly and didn't just mix the usual suspects (or thats what it felt like anyway). I bet he invented new drinks as often as the check in and check outs came and went. Perfect!

East is described as an asian fusion restaurant and as the name suggests has a wonderful mix of all the delights one would expect with everything from Sushi to Pad Thai.

Lets not forget about the desserts with things like "the molten chocolate lava" or the "salty caramel ice cream"... lets move on shall we as i haven't had dinner yet tonight.

On the way back to the room from the lovely dinner we looked in their very fancy and unusual library with all kinds of photo "coffee table books", novels and masterpieces. There is something there for most people and they even had the book i am reading at the moment by Carl Hiaasen. We then passed by Carlisle Bay's huge pool for a few pics as the light from the almost full moon was breathtaking.

The photo is nice but it was way nicer that night. After several bottles of champagne that day and all the other luxuries that one would expect from a five star resort, room 314 didn't have to try very hard to send us off to a comfortable sleep.

Although the room was dark with the thick curtains drawn closed, behind the wall which separates the main room from the bathroom, the light coming in over the tub got me up fairly early. The view of the healthy mangrove estuary and farms nestled between hills in the distance was a nice contrast from the colourful bay and coconut trees on the other end of Room 314. As Mykl ordered breakfast and more tea from room service i watched a white heron feeding from a red mangrove root below. Green Globe would have been so proud. Thanks to the people who run Carlisle Bay and through mykl's expert advice, important steps have been taken to ensure that the resort's evrivonmental imact is kept to a minimum. I am sure that there are few hotels in Antigua that are trying harder than this one to be eco friendly. If you stay there you may not notice all the green aspects to the whole operation as many are behind the sceens, but things like eco friendly soaps and lotions in the bathrooms are things that you will notice. It was very interesting reading the eco friendly body wash label while i ran the bath for a second time. The quality of it all was very high end indeed. Recycling is big in this hotel as well as eco friendly lighting, water systems, and careful waste management which even involves local pig farmers! Our time came and went so quickly that we didn't have time to have lunch at the Indigo beach side restaurant which i hear is very nice. Next time!

By the end of it all we felt very relaxed and grateful to have been given the chance to stay at this very luxurious resort even if it was down the road.

The hotel closes this weekend for the usual end of season "fix up" and Leni and Bruno will be leaving the island after four years of service. They move on to more of the Campbell Gray properties abroad and Mykl and i will not be the only people on Antigua that will miss them. The rest of the management and staff at the luxury Carlisle Bay resort will miss them for sure too.

Carlisle Bay Hotel for a night....

Last week Thursday August 23rd was my 35th birthday and we ended up having some family and friends over for a little dinner party at my mom's house. Its a beautiful place above Dutchmans Bay and the former Lord Nelson Beach Hotel. I think i got more pressies than i have gotten in years and felt pretty spoiled afterwards. One of the lovely presents i received was a one night stay at the five star Carlisle Bay hotel. Hoteliers Leni Miras and Bruno D'Oliveira who have been working at Carlisle Bay since it opened up four years ago gave me the lovely gift with certain conditions. A gift with conditions is something new, but at 35 i will take whatever i can get. One of the conditions is that i take lots of photos and post them on my flickr photo site and another is that i take a certain woman with me. This actually sounds like another gift and not a condition. Anyway, we tell our guests on Xtreme as we zoom past the Carlisle hotel that it's a lovely hotel which is not all inclusive and is over $1200 a night. I don't know that much about it but will fill in all the blanks after i get back. I have eaten at their East restaurant which was lovely so all in all i am very excited about being a tourist. I am not that worried about the weather though.....:) I don't have any photos of Carlisle bay at the moment for this blog, but that will change soon.

Sunscreen: preventative care or poison?

Since spending all that time on my last blog entry...i have had a major dilemma on the whole sunscreen issue. It was my girlfriend who helped me find some of the interesting info on the importance of certain chemicals inside Sunscreens. She had read that there were only so many that helped block harmful UVA rays and that of these chemicals, only one or two were naturally occurring physical UVA barriers. Now i have known for years and years that many people thought that high SPF sunscreens did more harm than good and since writing about sunscreens i became troubled that i didn't include info on this side of the topic. After all, is it better to block out the damaging UVB and UVA rays with all sorts of chemicals that could cause health problems, or just cover up and avoid these chemicals and the possible health risks involved?

This has been bothering me for a few days now and i have looked online quite a bit to get a better idea on how dangerous the average bottle of sunscreen is. What a bunch of garbage there is written about the possible health effects of sunscreen and their chemical ingredients....OMG. BUT.... if you pick your way through the garbage there are some sensible articles which help to clear up the down side of protecting your skin with the average sunscreen. Many of the most common chemical sunscreen ingredients are "possible" carcinogens. "POSSIBLE"....... Hmmm.....an ingredient in the stuff that i cover my face in may give me cancer. GREAT!!!! Read this article to find out more: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/62132 or this one too: http://www.katescaringgifts.com/wordpress/?p=24

One thing that i did notice from other articles is that many of the chemicals are absorbed by your skin which is why they possibly may do more damage to your body overall. One of the articles above speak about common chemicals in the sunscreen causing more ROS to occur in our own systems......like we are supposed to know what ROS is. Anyway that's why wikipedia was invented. According to wiki, "ROS are generally very small molecules......that form as a natural byproduct of the normal metabolism of oxygen and have important roles in cell signaling. However, during times of environmental stress ROS levels can increase dramatically, which can result in significant damage to cell structures." Sooooo i guess you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that this isn't that great for you. Its a dilemma though because getting burnt from the sun not only hurts but is sure to help send you on your way to the skin cancer doc....

Although very simple in its approach and quite old, this BBC article is quite interesting http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/411226.stm. From googling left and right and all over the web i think that i am going to make a few suggestions.

1. Do your own research on the subject as i think there will be more and more info on the whole sun and sunscreen health effects.

2. Try to get as little sun as you can.

3. When in the sun, cover up rather than lather up.

4. IF you can't cover up then put on some high factor "broad spectrum" UVA and UVB blocker that is sweat/water proof. You don't want to keep putting that stuff on over and over again.

5. Grow a beard.....and let it take the sun....it worked for the cave men.

6. Don't use PABA based products, or products with OXYBENZONE (BENZOPHENONE).

SH%T....there goes my favorite sunscreen Bullfrog since it has oxybenzone in it. Now i know i don't get sunburnt using Bullfrog, but is not getting sunburnt worth a little Oxybenzone on my nose? Jeez, i dunno......what do you think?

I have never worried about any of this health stuff before, and even after seeing that movie "Super Size" i would have gladly gone out and eaten a big mac. That's just me, but this does make ya think though. Why are there not more studies about the health risks of sunscreens? Do you think that the multi billion dollar cosmetics industry has anything to do with it? Maybe the FDA and other organizations are just too slow. Who knows?...for now its a hat and long sleeve t-shirt when i am out boating.....nothing new for many of us i guess. Please post any good links on the subject on the comments section. This sunscreen is now on my new wish list too: (wink)

The most dangerous thing on your Antigua holiday....

Ever since I can remember, our visitors have been asking questions about dangerous things that you may meet while out on the water. I started competing in regional windsurfing events when I was twelve and that was after years already spent out fishing and messing about on small boats. So many people would worry about sharks and other “nasties” out there in the unknown.

When I started my tour company Adventure Antigua the questions or worries were even more common about “nasties” in the sea. People would ask about sharks and jellyfish, stingrays, moray eels, barracuda, fire coral, urchins, currents, waves, pirates, poisonous plants…and the list keeps going on an on. You name the worry and I have heard of it or been asked about it. The Italian guests that visit Antigua seem to be the biggest worriers with “squalo?” and “medusa?” being words that I learned very quickly through constant repetition. When working in this business you sometimes are challenged to reply to common questions in different ways just to keep it interesting and not annoying. I know that if you had to answer the same squalo question every week in the same way, you would get tired pretty quick. I mean how would you answer the question; “Do you have sharks in Antigua?”

I have at least 10 versions of answers to that one just so the crew doesn’t get annoyed with the same answer each day. One of them may be silly like “there are loads of sharks, but they are all walking around on two legs in St. Johns.” The answer could be more serious like… “Yes, but there has never been a shark attack in Antigua’s recorded history.”
Most of the time if someone is asking about unknown nasties that may attack them and ruin their eco tour or xtreme tour…I tell them that the most dangerous thing that they will encounter today is the sunshine.

It’s not a joke at all and is the core of today’s blog. Each year in the USA over one million people get skin cancer with over eight thousand deaths a year because of the disease. This crazy statistic is something that worrys me more than any thoughts of the other "nasties" that i may encounter while out on the boat. In the USA there are on average 60 shark attacks a year with 4 being fatal. Antigua gets none. In fact most of the Caribbean is shark attack free. With over 8000 dead with skin cancer and 4 from shark attacks you can see what the main “nasty” is.
This past week the USA has finally followed Europe’s lead when it comes to sunscreen regulations. Apparently the actual new classification and labeling of sunscreens which is the same that they have in England and in Europe will not come into effect until 2009. I don’t know why it’s going to take so long to show people that their sunscreen isn’t protecting them against possible skin cancer death, but at least the new labels will come in 2009. Europe and Canada has been using it since 1993. If you live in the USA now I guess you can always just remember a few things spoken about on this blog when buying sunscreen.
For a long time it was mistakenly thought that UVB rays were the harmful rays radiated from our sun which is why the SPF classification came into being. The FDA used the SPF as a measure to show how well you were being protected against these harmful UVB rays which undoubtedly can cause skin cancer. Anyway, long after many studies proved that the other UVA rays are also dangerous and can cause skin cancer the FDA has decided that they should let the general public know. The new classification will have the SPF rating as well as the UVA rating which will be a 5 star rating system like Europe’s system. A great article on it all is: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/24/health/24sunscreen.html?ref=health
I think if you really want to be a geek (aka “smart”) you could check the chemicals that are in your sunscreen. In order to block both UVA and UVB sun rays there are certain ingredients that you should look for in your high SPF factor sunscreen keeping in mind that the SPF by itself is just blocking the UVB rays. These UVA blocking chemicals are avobenzone (also called Parsol 1789), titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or Mexoryl SX (or Tinosorb outside the U.S.).

Now I am no scientist so I don’t know which of these chemicals are better for you than the other, but there are loads of articles on the net that you can research the topic more. I know that many people think that some of these chemicals may do more harm than good. A good start explaining the benefits is found on this link where i took the quote below from: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/family/sunscreen/index.html#intro :
"Dermatologists say that Mexoryl SX is the most effective UVA-blocking ingredient currently available. It has been used in Canada and Europe since 1993, but was just approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. in July 2006. However, sunscreen products containing Mexoryl SX (a trademark of L'Oreal) have been slow to enter the U.S. market. Right now, only a handful of products are available containing Mexoryl in the U.S. LaRoche-Posay Anthelios SX (*est. $30 for 3.4 ounces) is a facial moisturizer that contains Mexoryl SX. More widely available is Lancôme UV Expert 20 (*est. $35 for 3.4 ounces), a face and body lotion with Mexoryl SX. If you want the best possible protection, Lancôme UV Expert 20 an ideal mix of ingredients, but it's very expensive.
Helioplex is another advance in sun protection. Developed by Neutrogena, Helioplex boosts the UVA-blocking power of avobenzone, which otherwise begins to degrade after a couple of hours. (Mexoryl SX doesn't degrade in sunlight -- another reason why reviews say it's such a good ingredient.) There are actually two kinds of UVA rays -- short and long waves. Avobenzone protects against long-wave rays. Several ingredients, including the commonly used oxybenzone, can protect against short-wave UVA rays. Many sunscreens contain oxybenzone, but don't contain anything to protect against long-wave UVA. By including oxybenzone, companies are allowed to say their product protects against UVA, but unless it also contains avobenzone, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or Mexoryl SX, you are not protected against long-wave UVA rays. That's why skin-care experts say you should look for "broad spectrum" UVA and UVB protection. "

I went and looked at all my sunscreens and was happy to find that they all had chemicals which blocked both types of rays. I have had quite a few skin cancers burnt off and a few cut off all of which I am sure came as a result of burns I got as a kid. Back then the sunscreens were not that strong and none were waterproof which is another thing that I think is essential when you are coming on holiday. This is even more important for kids too since they are always in the water and never reapply on their own.

You want to find high factor, broad spectrum UVA and UVB sunscreens that say something like “all day waterproof” or even “6 hour waterproof”. This is where I think the USA does a better job that the UK. Most of the UK stuff washes off as soon as you get in the sea and unless you are always putting the stuff back on you will get burnt.

My sunscreen of choice for years has been Bullfrog since I can put it on once in the morning as I am leaving the harbour and that’s it for the day. The stuff stays on after loads of snorkeling too. Epicurean in Jolly Harbour has it for sale.

There are more and more waterproof sunscreens on the market and recently someone left us some Coppertone kids 50 waterproof spray which is so good that I think you only need to apply it once a holiday!! My mom and brother have had more serious skin cancers than I have had and it’s no joke at all. Buy the right stuff and put it on. Even the people with nice dark skin can get skin cancer so be prepared. It’s a lovely place to be and it can be safe with the right preparations. I think that good education about sharks, stingrays and the same sunshine that many ancient civilizations (who are no longer with us) have worshiped is key to a happy trip to Antigua and the Caribbean. I hope you enjoyed the words or at least my photos. c ya!

hot and sunny....whats the weather like where you are?

Busy busy in Antigua. Usually August is a fairly slow month for us in Antigua with nice weather in general in North American and in Europe. This August has been very busy here on the island with many of the hotels being quite full. I know after speaking to my Grandmother who lives in England, that the weather there has been terrible. She said its been the worst summer that she can remember up there which is why so many people have been coming here looking for sun. We took a group of people out on a private birthday charter and so many were moaning about how awful the British weather had been. And apart from a few days in August it has been an incredibly sunny summer here in Antigua and Barbuda with drought on the islands being a big problem until recently. People all over the world are so obsessed with weather and when you have put up with rain, snow, cold and clouds for most of the year I guess you would be kinda worried that your Antigua holiday may not be sunny. I always see people on the internet forums worrying about the possibility of rain and clouds ruining their upcoming Antigua and Barbuda vacation. Way way way too many people look at the animated forecasts which I have spoken so much about on other blogs (here). I often wonder how many people cancel their travel plans because of these misleading low tech forecasts and keep telling people to look at satellite photos in motion to see where the clouds will be coming from. A good link is:
For hurricane info there is http://www.weathercarib.com/ or http://www.stormcarib.com/ for reports, but for general weather a good link is always http://www.windguru.com/int/index.php?sc=52075
I have a web tracker on my Antigua blog and look at it often to see where the hits are coming from, which sites referred the hit to mine, and which key words were used in searches. After Hurricane Dean passed by missing Antigua and Barbuda I had hundreds of hits a day. The busiest day was nearly 700 hits and so many of the hits came from google or other search engine queries. The typical search on google was “Did hurricane Dean damage Antigua” or simply “hurricane Dean Antigua”. There were quite a few specific hotel requests like “jumby bay damage Hurricane Dean”. Anyway, I am so happy that my little blog could show people that we had no hurricane damage other than some beach erosion on the south of Antigua and set them at ease. Funny how things work with these blogs but with the web tracker I can see how Antigua internet searches in times of uncertainty can be of great help.
This week has been a busy one for me with work on the boats and many birthday parties including my own little one last night. I took this photo at the end of a very good friend's 40th on sunday night. That was a lovely one on the beach which as a matter of fact got more sand on it during the storm.

I think this weekend will be a chilled out one with possibly a little fishing and windsurfing. I am thinking of doing several blog reports with photos about learning how to windsurf so that people can almost have a lesson during their lunch brake back in the big city office.

Keep checking for updates and have a good weekend.