The Islands of Paradise
by 
Guy Matthews

In order to understand the life and times of today’s Caribbean cruiser, one must know something of what is arguably the world’s best cruising waters.  The Caribbean Island Chain extends from the South American Continent, with Trinidad and Venezuela in the south, to the Greater Antilles  - Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hisponali in the north, and includes hundreds of islands of widely different sizes, cultures and geography in the 500 miles between. Notwithstanding the unrelenting onslaught of the jet propelled tourist and a steady march of concrete as condos, marinas and shopping malls appear on these once pristine shores, virtually all of the islands can still be accurately described as beautiful as a Bottecelli painting.

Their location in the Southwest North Atlantic Ocean and their distance from the American mainland and cruising areas, such as the Bahamas and the Mexican Rivera, are for the cruising sailor all to windward, thus insuring that only the most committed of the cruiser species make it to the boundaries of this unique island paradise.

These magnificent islands were long ago at history’s center stage, but are now relegated to a subsidiary role in the current course of world events.  It is hard to conceive that at one time the happenings in these islands directly influenced the course of western civilization. The Caribbean  - then as now - attracted seekers of adventure and wealth. The early settlers imported the African slave and indentured the workers from the Indian subcontinent, in their effort to recreate a European style of life.  Ultimately, the importees became the masters of their own destiny and now dominate the public affairs of the islands. While today there is little wealth and much poverty, the noble descendants of these settlers are a proud lot. Virtually all of the inhabitants trace their roots to sources outside of North America, but focus their life’s expectations and goals in an attempt to imitate the life and style of the North American.

Cruisers are often astounded by the contrasting variety of societies that can be found after a short, but sometimes terrifying, sail between islands.  The populous of the islands reflect the results of the past European conflicts with the original islanders—the Caribs and the Arawaks—virtually exterminated either by internecine warfare, the hand of the early settlers or by the western plagues which were brought to the island paradise. The influences of the Spanish, French, British and American societies are clearly discernable, as are the societal results of slavery and indentureism.

Life moves at a different pace in the islands, without the sense of urgency found in the western mainstream societies.  It is said that each island tomorrow will be like yesterday, which is, like that of today.  In the Latin countries, this pace is called “manana” – in the island chain it is called “ island time.”

For most of the year the islands – green rain forests on the east side of mountainous terrain, with arid conditions on the western shores – enjoy what might be the best weather in the world.  The temperatures never require a wrap for warmth, and the wind always blows from the east either – as is said – hard or harder.  Fogs or other visibility restrictions do not plague the island waters, except for the brief periods during the occasional tropical rainsqualls.  However, for a few months each year during the hurricane season, the islands sometime experience for a period measured in days what may be the most frightening and worst single weather condition that can occur to the populated world—the West Indian hurricane, which can produce death and destruction on an apocalyptic scale.

This paradise has it all – mountains, waterfalls, volcanoes, rain forests, deserts, secluded beaches and coves, amenities of every kind, and the best and worst of the modern world. The mix of inhabitants in the limited area of the island chain includes people and cultures from every corner of the world.  Anyone who has ever experienced island time in the islands will forever remember the beauty, the people and the atmosphere, and will probably be forever changed. After really experiencing the Caribbean islands chain, nothing is ever again the same.  Life for most cruisers after the Caribbean experience is often at best described as mundane. The island experience is as indelible as it is life changing.