Today a small handmade wooden boat sailed into the Georgetown Harbor carrying three Haitian men. Over the years, illegal Haitian immigration has caused considerable turmoil in the Bahamas. Bahamian Immigration was predictably excited by their arrival, but frustrated because this trip is sponsored by a Dutch citizen, Geert van der Kolk, accompanied by an American writer, Mary Houghton. At first, I was wondering why such a sad chapter in history needs a sequel. It turns out that Geert was sailing in the Bahamas several years ago with his family. One night the Coast Guard unsuccessfully trtied to rescue a sinking Haitian boat. Geert sailed to the area to assist, but could not get their in time. All forty people onboard drowned. Geert’s group started building the boat a year ago and they spent the last two weeks sailing towards America, where the boat will be placed in a Palm Beach museum. Labelled the “Si Priz” Expedition, look for an upcoming article in Outside Magazine. Late in the afternoon, the Haitians were engaged in protecting their boat from the barnacle-crusted dock pilings. Simply moving the boat to the downwind side of the dock would have solved the problem, but they refused to move the boat without word from “Le Capitan”, who had eaten, showered, and retired to better accommodations. When I left, one man was squatting on the boat holding it away from the dock, presumably for the rest of the night. The other two Haitians were content to watch him work, but my guess is they
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