From Gorda Sound to Spanish Harbor is a $24 "taxi" ride over some of the most spectacular scenery you have ever seen. The road winds upward, around, and over the spine of the volcanic mountain range that runs from end-to-end of the island. There are many overlooks where you can see both the Caribbean and Atlantic simultaneously from 800 feet above sea level. I wound up making that trip three times both ways - and never took a picture! I guess I was too awed by the views...
Anyway, when I attempted to clear in at Customs and Immigration, on Saturday morning, I was told that our crew member (Bryan DaSilva - remember him?) could not be admitted! He was travelling with a Guyanese passport, and they told us that as a Guyanese, he would need a visa to legally enter BVI. We thought that if he did not go ashore, staying aboard the boat, that no visa would be required, or that a temporary visa would be issued. That is a courtesy that yacht crew are often extended. We only wanted to stay overnight anyway!
They insisted that I go back over the mountains to fetch Bryan and Susan for personal interviews. I got back to the boat, explained our dilemma, and back we went to Customs and Immigration. When we got there, they took Bryan away to another office, and interrogated him. He told us later that they didn't believe he was Guyanese, because he spoke English with a Hispanic accent, and because he was not Black. Most Guyanese are of African ethnic origin, and are very dark. Bryan "explained" that his father was Venezuelan, and he grew up on the border between Guyana and Venezuela.
The immigration officer also told us that we could not go to the US Virgin Islands, since Bryan would need a visa to enter US Territory.
They finally told us that Susan and I were welcome to stay in BVI, but that we would have to pay to send Bryan back to Guyana by plane! We had a fit! We told them that if he wasn’t welcome, then we would turn around and go back to St. Martin, where we were all welcome! We only asked for a few days grace, because the weather was really too bad for the return run. This was Saturday morning, and we wanted to stay until Wednesday, when there would be a fairly good weather window. No dice!
As a sort of compromise, they allowed us to go back to the boat overnight, in order to think it over, but insisted that if we would not agree to send Bryan back to Guyana by air, then I would have to clear out the next day.
That night, we discussed our options. During these discussions, Bryan told us that he was actually not who we thought he was. We learned that he was in fact Dr. Nardelio Nodal Dominguez, a noted Cuban physician. He told us that he had served in the Cuban Intelligence Service during his military service, and that his father was a general in the Cuban army. He had been sent to Guyana on a medical training mission, under a 4-year contract between Cuba and Guyana to train Guyanese doctors. At one time, he had been Fidel Castro’s personal physician.
He further told us that the Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana attempted to recruit him to undertake a planned infiltration of the US Hospital ship anchored off the coast of Venezuela. Bryan refused to do so, and was then harassed by his government in a number of ways. They finally tried to kidnap him and send him covertly back to Cuba for his disobedience. Eluding capture, he went into hiding, and had been on the run for nearly 18 months prior to meeting us in Trinidad.
In short, he convinced us that his life would be endangered were he to return to Cuba. He had spoken with his father, who told him not to return to Cuba, as he feared he would certainly be imprisoned and possibly executed for his disobedience.
We decided we had no choice but to return to St. Martin and try to figure out what to do next from there.
Sunday morning about 11::00am, I went back over the mountains again, and cleared us out of BVI Customs and Immigration. Officially, we had 12 hours in which to physically leave.
Early Monday morning, we departed Gorda Sound, headed for St. Martin. By mid-morning, we were slogging along at five knots, with 14-foot seas on the port bow, and into 20-knot winds. For the first time in my life, I knew I was going to be seasick! This was NOT GOOD! I knew the boat could safely handle the conditions, but that I could not. There is nothing more useless than a seasick Captain!
I called a conference with Susan and Bryan. I told them that there was no possible way for me to deal with these seas for another 10 or 12 hours, and that I was going to turn the boat around. We got out our charts, and decided to head for the US Virgin Islands, bypassing BVI altogether. We reasoned that if Bryan was indeed Cuban, that landing him on US soil would allow him to formally seek political asylum. Agreed on that plan, we turned the boat around, and literally surfed toward St. John in the US Virgin Islands. With the winds and seas now behind us, we made good time, reaching Cruz Bay, St. Johns, about 2:00pm.
Next installment - Asylum for Bryan
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