Ile La Vache – 18° 23'0" N and 72° 36'0" W off the SW coast of Haiti. That is where some of the humanitarian aid from St. Maarten is headed on cruising yachts taking part in the supply run.
Harry Birch, "Capt. Harry," from yacht Fairwind out of Tortola is recruiting cruisers from St. Maarten to take medical and other supplies from the St. Maarten Red Cross to Ile La Vache from where it will be taken by motorboat to the mainland. The main focus will be on the outer areas of the earthquake zone where the international relief agencies are not getting to.
The island is reported to have a safe anchorage from which to offload much needed supplies for people affected by the earthquake that devastated the city of Port-Au-Prince in January. Once the supplies have been offloaded, Pastor Papie Jean from the foundation Coeur Pour Haiti will take over the distribution, making sure it gets to the people who need it most.
Donna Lange, a Director of Oceans Watch North America, a NFP organization which links cruising yachts with needs in islands worldwide, is coordinating yachts from the Caribbean and internationally wanting to take part in a humanitarian run and can be contacted through the website www.oceanswatch.org, donna@oceanswatch.org.
Michael 'Beans' Gardiner, singer/songwriter/entertainer from Tortola and co-founder of the Good Samaritan Foundation on Ile La Vache can help with Customs clearance questions and any other information that you require about Ile La Vache. He can be contacted on 284 545 5595 or emailed at captbeans86@hotmail.com.
Kerry Biddle-Chadwick is a freelance writer on St. Maarten who has been writing for magazines in the Caribbean and online newspapers since 2006.
