Statia

Saint Eustatius (known as Statia here locally), is an amazing place. It has a very rich history for a place that most people have never heard of. It was a center of commerce for the Caribbean back in the days of the American Revolutionary War and played a pivotal role in supplying arms to General Washington and the American military supplying almost half of all the military supplies used in the war. The Dutch controlled the island at the time and were the first country to recognize the American 13 colonies' sovereignty by firing a salute to an American fleet in November of 1776. The British subsequently declared war on St Eustatius and sent 15 ships of the line and 3000 men to stop this trade. This effort was led by British Admiral George Rodney. Unfortunately for the British, due to the standard at the time of the crown sharing war spoils with the conquering Admiral, Rodney was so busy looting the wealth of Statia and persecuting the Jews that resided here that he neglected requests to send his ships and troops to support Cornwallis which contributed to the naval defeat of the British fleet in the Chesapeake and the end of the war.

The island is quite nice with lots of stone structures being restored and very friendly people probably due to so few tourists that visit. On the unpopulated northwest portion of the island are a bunch of massive fuel storage tanks and are used as a central fuel bunker for fuel deliveries throughout the Caribbean. A constant flow of massive tanker ships and tugs operate in that area to facilitate that commerce.