Free NOAA Booklet Charts
In an experimental program, free downloadable NOAA charts, printable on standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper, are now being made available by NOAA. Regional charts for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands can be downloaded and printed using the Adobe .pdf utility from http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/BookletChart/AtlanticCoastBookletCharts.htm. Broadband Internet service is required. You can staple the pages along the left edge to make a booklet; two-sided printing gives the best results.
The experimental BookletChart has been reduced in scale and divided into pages for convenience, but otherwise contains all the information of the full-scale nautical chart. Bar scales have also been reduced in scale, and are accurate when used to measure distances in a BookletChart. Excerpts from the United States Coast Pilot are included, and chart notes are consolidated on a single page for easy reference. Emergency information for the charted area is printed on the back cover.
NOAA wants to know what you think about this experimental service. Would this be a useful product? Why or why not? How can they make it better? Is “print at home for free” a good distribution method? Should they make the entire suite of charts available? Send your comments to BookletChart@NOAA.gov.
NOTE: During this experimental period, BookletCharts are not being updated every week with Notices to Mariners. Furthermore, there are some known errors in the ones posted, e.g. the “Approximate Page Index” on the cover might not match the chart inside. You can tell NOAA about errors you find by using the “Your Comments” link above in the main menu on the website.

New DR Rules Correction
Frank Virgintino reports: There is one correction to the changes in procedures for yachts in the Dominican Republic as given in the July issue of Compass. That is relating to being boarded on arrival. The intent of the new law is to have no more than two officials board a boat on arrival. This is usually M-2 (intelligence) and Department of Drugs. The Coast Guard comes with them but stays on the dock. The announcement published last month indicated that boats would be boarded if there has been a report of suspicious activity. That is not the case. All boats are boarded at this time, which is the way the law is being implemented.

Yacht Chef Murderer Sentenced
According to reports in the Associated Press, the man who kidnapped, raped and murdered yacht chef Sara Kuszak, 36, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico in February was sentenced in June to 105 years in prison. Eliezer Marquez Navedo, also 36, had pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
The pregnant Kuszak was in Puerto Rico to help her fiancé, Cheshire McIntosh, with the delivery of the 90-foot Derecktor Expedition M/Y Minnow. While jogging one morning she was grabbed and pushed into the trunk of a car. She made a desperate cell phone call to McIntosh from the trunk. Within an hour, the car and her body were found. Marquez was soon arrested and he confessed.
According to the AP, Kuszak’s killing was similar to murders that Marquez’s mother was convicted of committing in 1992. Police have since reopened that case to probe whether Marquez may have been responsible instead.
McIntosh said that Kuszak’s loved ones were “relieved to see swift justice served to this violent killer” but that Marquez should never be evaluated for parole. Chief Prosecutor Obdulio Melendez said that Marquez cannot be considered for release before he is 100 years old.

Grenada’s Happy Hour Dock Lime
Anita Sutton reports: The Marine and Yachting Association of Grenada (MAYAG) held its first Happy Hour Dock Lime at Prickly Bay Marina on July 7th. As well as providing a venue for cruisers, marine businesspeople and friends to get together, MAYAG circulated survey questionnaires to provide feedback on Grenada as a yachting location.
“We want to find out more about Grenada’s yachting clients…’’ said Laura Fletcher, Chairman of MAYAG, “…where they go, how much they spend, the facilities they use, and what they like and dislike about Grenada. We have a large summer population and while we all have ideas about why they are here, we have no data. This, along with the Grenada Board of Tourism Survey being conducted at Ports of Entry, will help us influence government and tourism policy in the right directions.
“We hope the occasion creates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere to yachts coming to Grenada and gives cruisers a chance to meet MAYAG members who are trying to improve the industry — we want everyone visiting our shores to feel at home.”
It’s early days in the analysis but a few key factors have already emerged. Overwhelming in the responses are the two major factors that encourage yachts to spend time in Grenada — the hospitality and friendliness of the welcome they receive from locals, and the safety of the island.
The survey generated interest from the Grenada Broadcasting Network, with a half-hour segment on Klassic AM devoted to the results of the survey and the benefits yachting brings to the island. The presenter was particularly surprised by the length of time yachts and cruisers stay in Grenada. While other tourists stay for a week or maybe two, the fact that yachting visitors often stay for over six months reinforces the importance of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique offering facilities, services and support for cruisers.
All boats completing a questionnaire were entered into a draw, with prizes donated by Island Water World, Budget Marine and Camper & Nicholson Port Louis Marina. These were won by yachts Marie Galante II, Astarte and Asseance.
MAYAG would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill in a questionnaire so willingly and enthusiastically, and Prickly Bay Marina for hosting the event. In order to capture a more complete picture of the yachting population, MAYAG will be holding similar events at Le Phare Bleu, Port Louis Marina and in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou.
For more information on MAYAG visit www.mayag.org.

Trinidad’s SSCA Station Says Welcome!
Seven Seas Cruising Association members arriving in Trinidad are invited to visit the official Trinidad SSCA Cruising Station co-hosted by Jesse James (Members Only Maxi Taxi Service) and Jack Dausend (Boaters’ Enterprise Ltd., publisher of the Boaters' Directory of Trinidad & Tobago). Visit the SSCA Trinidad Cruising Station Office at Members Only Maxi Taxi office at Tropical Marine in Chaguaramas to find out what is going on in Trinidad relating to SSCA activities; to replace your worn-out SSCA burgee that has been over-stressed on your Seven Seas sailing adventure; to get a copy of the current Caribbean Compass; to pick up a free copy of the “world’s best” Boaters’ Directory of T&T (including maps); or just to say hello. Jesse and Jack would love to meet SSCA members, as well as to welcome all other cruisers arriving in Trinidad.
For more information contact Jack.Dausend@Gmail.com.

Learn-To-Swim Programme in Barbados
Norman Faria reports: As many as half of Barbados’s population of 270,000 people can’t swim and the government is trying to improve the situation with an eight-week Learn to Swim course over the long school holidays.
Held under the auspices of the National Conservation Commission (NCC), which oversees the island’s lifeguard service, the outreach is targetting both adults and youngsters. The instructors are lifeguards. The classes are held on the Carlisle Bay Beach where visiting yachts anchor, and in Folkstone n the west coast. The first course (another will take place next year) attracted 200 students from age ten to 65. The participants will also learn basic beach etiquette such as recognizing and obeying lifeguard instructions.
In his opening ceremony address on June 15th, NCC chairman Tyrone Lewis conceded, “For a small country like Barbados, we do not have enough swimmers.” The Commission’s General Manager Keith Neblett said that about 40 to 50 percent of the population is unable to swim properly; they would drown if they ventured into deep water.
Mr. Neblett said that the island has a relatively good record in water safety — he thought that fewer than ten persons died each year from drowning — and praised the lifeguard service as being “very significant”.

Cruisers’ Site-ings
Marina ZarPar at Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic has funded an internet site for the Cruising Guide to the Dominican Republic written two years ago by Frank Virgintino and now in its third edition. The site is www.dominicanrepubliccruisingguide.com.
This is the only guide to the entire Dominican Republic and it is absolutely free. It is currently offered free at www.noonsite.com and www.ssca.org (the Seven Seas Cruising Association has recently named Marina ZarPar as a Cruising Station), but now can also be downloaded at www.dominicanrepubliccruisingguide.com in either English or Spanish. The site will evolve to include additional supports for those cruising the Dominican Republic.

Selected Upcoming Events
If you’ve got any steam left after the Carriacou Regatta Festival, head to Grenada for the culmination of that island’s very special carnival — Spice Mas 2009 — on August 10th and 11th. Masquerading on the Monday opens with J’Ouvert, with old-time costumes, jab-jabs and more. After J’Ouvert, there is only a small window for rest and relaxation before it’s off to Monday Nite Mas on the Carenage. On the Tuesday is the magnificent Parade of the Bands.
For more information visit www.spicemasgrenada.com.
In September, check out the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival from September 16th through 19th. The event presents a wide range of films made by Caribbean and Latin American people (including those within the Diaspora), and by international filmmakers whose films are about the Caribbean and Latin America. Films will be shown at various venues including MovieTowne in Port of Spain.
For more information visit www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com.
The Montserrat Cultural Centre will be the venue of that island's first-ever Alliouagana Festival of the Word Literary Festival, to be held November 13th through 15th. The festival will feature more than a dozen prize-winning and internationally recognized authors. Literary enthusiasts will be treated to a weekend of presentations, readings and signings by important authors including Austin Clarke, Merle Hodge, Rachel Manley, Pauline Melville and Montserrat’s own novelist and playwright Edgar Nkosi White. Open-mike sessions coordinated by Professor Carolyn Cooper, workshops by experienced facilitators including Professor Funso Aiyejina and Cherise Davis Fisher (editor-in-chief at Plume, the online arts and culture magazine), storytelling and dramatic presentations, are all part of the activities planned for the weekend. A calypso review to be led by Professor Gordon Rohlehr and a calypso extravaganza featuring songs from Montserrat’s past including the work of Arrow, internationally recognized King of Soca, will be part of the celebration of the word in its many manifestations.
For more information visit www.litfest.ms.

Welcome Aboard!
In this issue of Compass we welcome new advertiser Corion Boat Services of Carriacou, in the Market Place section, pages 43 through 45. Good to have you with us!