We met a great Ambassador

Author: Brad and Elisa Caribbean Escape. We anchored just off the coast in the main town of Oranjestad. What a quaint little town! It was fortified during the golden years, so there are remnants of stone walls lining the shore, and even under the water, as much of the land has sunk over the years or been destroyed by hurricanes. There is a beautiful beach in front of the town, bordered by a steep hill. Most of the town is located on top of the hill, so you need to hike up the road to get to anything.Our first encounter with the locals was typical of the people we met in Statia. We were in the process of locking the dinghy (we always use a cable lock – dinghies are popular theft items) to the town dock, when a man comes out of his shop at the base of the pier and shouts out, “You don’t do dat here”. “Great”, I’m thinking, “this place is empty, and this guy isn’t going to let us park the dinghy here…fine, I’m outta here..you can take your poor little off-the-beaten-path rock and rot on it!” I must admit that sometimes the "belonger" attitude gets the best of me. He walks up to us, looks down from the dock, and says, “You don’t need no locks here, mon…everything is safe here.”. Then he helps us up onto the dock.His name was Rodney, and he’s a great ambassador for the island. He owns a small boat repair shop at the base of the pier, and like so many of the people that live on these islands, he’s a jack of all trades. He can fix your engine, catches lobster and conch for the local restaurants, can arrange a tour, etc. etc. He’s a busy guy, but not too busy to spend a half hour talking about how busy his day is. He gave us the lowdown on everything going on around there, and was a great resource and a really nice guy.