Golden
Age
With
the movement to the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and
Curacao in the early part of this century, the schooners
and sloops reached their Golden Age. The trips to
and from San Pedro de Macoris were times of sorrow,
danger, and excitement. Like the fishing boats, the
schooners used to travel together, especially on the
downward trip to Macoris. They would all leave Marigot,
St. Martin, which had the Embassy for the Dominican
Republic, on the first or second day of each year
with their decks chock full of men and baggage. An
average schooner would carry up to two hundred men
on every trip and Anguilla was left for the first
part of the year, a society of women and children.
The
voyages back from Macoris to Anguilla were always
the most exciting time for racing. It was a constant
beat to windward lasting anything from four to twenty
days. Perhaps one of the reasons for the keen racing
spirit that developed here was that it was something
that could help to ease the extreme discomfort of
the passage. It was on these voyages that the Warspite
and the Esmie became legendary antagonists and the
name Captain Joe Romney, an example of a racing hero.
But
this was not all. It is very important to understand
the hundreds of Anguillian women who flocked to Sandy
Ground or the Forest every June or July to welcome
their menfolk were spectators to the finish of that
race. Thus there was a mass involvement in the races
especially at the end which, cultivated through the
years, made boat racing a national sport. Until the
collapse of the Santo Domingo trade and the advent
of the diesel engine, the opportunity for racing the
schooners gradually diminished and the sport began
to be concentrated on the fishing boats.
August
Monday became a natural day on which to race because
it was the biggest holiday apart from Christmas. A
lot of Anguillians returned home at that time and
the weather was almost always very good. Owners and
Captains of the tall schooners were usually the ones
behind these races, painting up the fishing boats
and getting them spic and span for August Monday.
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