Little Anguilla Makes Big Splash at E-commerce Conference. . . .
May 1, 1998 - Site Map.

Cayman and Bermuda have made E-commerce special national goals to supplement tourism and finance. But Anguilla proved to be on the leading edge this time. Anguilla may be a small, quiet, rural country with more goats than people but it isn�t backward when it comes to high-tech. Not only did we have more attendees, Vince Cate of Offshore Information Services was the only person present at the conference who had actually done offshore e-commerce, completed a fiscal year and made a profit, although representatives from Guernsey, Bermuda, Cayman, and even Seycheles Islands in the Indian ocean, had big plans.

Vince also presented a paper on his software product he is creating as an infrastructure for secure accounts across the Internet. Sort of a "MS DOS for financial systems."

There were two other speakers from Anguilla who presented papers. Alan Jones and Peter Morgan presented Anguilla's new on-line system for registering offshore corporations.

Who Knew? We had no idea the speakers were so famous until we got home and looked them up. Such as Ian Goldberg of UC Berkeley who broke the encryption of GSM cellphones last month. Or Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard, appointed as technology master in the "DOJ vs Microsoft" case.

Griffin Webster and myself attended to learn about e-commerce in connection with our new tech center on Shoal Bay. Opening soon!

Griffin will be working with me at the tech center. He is an electrical engineer, formerly MIS manager at Cable and Wireless, and currently software engineer with my firm and project manager overseeing construction of the tech center. Definitely an over-achiever.

The On-Line Offshore 98 conference was held in Grand Cayman -- an amazing place that has seen fantastic development. The mean family income is now $75,000 US. It is hard to believe that 30 years ago it looked like Anguilla does today. But... it now has traffic jams and not a goat in sight!

A few days later a worried honeymoon couple asked "We have paid in full for 2 weeks. Yikes! We've also heard about the article from The Wall Street Journal." Again, knowledgeable, recent guests posted replies such as "Just back from Cap today. I can't imagine a better place exists. Go and enjoy and read the WSJ for stock quotes and news!". You can read these exchanges on the Forum. This shows the power of the Internet to instantly respond to inaccurate information.

Tae Kwon Do Club is off to New York to compete. The coach is Emmanuel Laud (black belt) and assistant instructor is Edward Webster (also a black belt). Read all about the club on their web site, courtesy of Danny Laud (Emmanuel's son).

Savannah Savvy is the name of the newsletter of the Savannah Gallery. You many want to to email them about getting on their mailing list. The Spring 1998 issue includes an article on the vibrant art of Haiti, Cuckoo clocks with Anguillian themes, Anguilla and the Solar Eclipse, the "Hardanger Lace" of Irenee Edwards and Stephanie Carty, and Historical Tours of Anguilla during the winter season:

At 10:00AM every Tuesday in Sandy Ground and every Thursday at Wallblake House in The Valley, people gather to begin fascinating tours of these two areas, sponsored by the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society... learn about salt-picking, Homestead Houses, an 18th century ruin of a British fort, among other fascinating gems of information.

New Issue of Anguilla Life. As we were flying back from Grand Cayman, publisher Claire Devener was giving out copies of the Spring 1998 issue of her magazine to startled passengers. This issue has some excellent articles, such as the "Remembering the Beacon", "The Role of Rain in Anguilla's Past, Present and Future", "Cap Juluca Adopts an Iguana", and "Face Painting at Kids N' Karnival 1997" which goes with the great picture on the cover. US$2 in Anguilla or you can subscribe

Haydn Hughes Wins Scholarship. Haydn has one a $4,000 US scholarship from the CHA foundation to attend L'Ecole Hoteliere de Laussane in Switzerland. Haydn has worked at Cap Juluca for the last five years and was selected, along with Douglas Eckel, as candidates for a program to train future managers from the local population.

Skyline Sports have a web page at net.ai/skyline for their rental business next to Uncle Ernie. They rent everything you need for a day at Shoal Bay (umbrella, snorkel, chair, raft, locker, etc.) from booth on wheels or their beach rep. They have been in business since 1987, when Shoal Bay was empty except for Uncle Ernie's bbq grill and the Shoal Bay Villas.

Their prices today are the same as 11 years ago, except that one item has gone down in price! Their motto is "just bring yourself and your suit, we can provide the rest." Telephone: 264-497-8644.

Opus II is located in a neighborhood called "Sea Rocks", which is between Shoal Bay and Island Harbour -- sort of a United Nations enclave of luxurious homes owned by people from Britain, America, Canada, Greece, and Anguilla! The villa is fully appointed, including dinner setting for 12, because this is her home in Anguilla.

Read more about it on the Opus II web page. Or take a look inside. Or imagine sitting on the verandah for a late afternoon cocktail.

Rates: 2 bd $260 per day ($180 in off-season), 3bd $310 (or $210). Plus the normal 8% tax. Molly Goodnow, [email protected] 603-352-7568.

May 1st is a public holiday in Anguilla. Don't forget that May 29th is Anguilla Day (when there is an "around the island" boat race), as is June 1st Whit Monday.

Start planning your visit to Anguilla for Carnival and boat races this summer. Read all about last year's events. Carnival opens on Thursday, July 30th with a free show at the Carnival village and continues with activities every day until August 10th:

July 31. Band-O-Rama	Aug 3. Afrika Revisited	Aug 7. Parade of Troupes
Aug 1. International Night	Aug 4. Boat Race, Talented Teen	Aug 8. Food Fair, Kids N'Karnival, Calypso Contest
Aug 2. Youth Nite.	Aug 5. Boat Races. Calypso Monarch	Aug 9. Champion of Champions Boat Race, Grand Finale
Aug 3. J'Ouvert Mornin. Boat Races	Aug 6. Boat Races. Miss Anguilla	Aug 10. Last Lap street dance

The Link Cat was navigated from Florida to Anguilla by Lans Connor. He flew to Florida, added extra barrels of fuel on the roof, filled the cabin with purchases such as refrigerators and headboards, then took Link Cat across to Bimini, then Nassau, Exuma, down to South Caicos, across to Grand Turk. Then a 400 mile run to San Juan. The Link Cat made San Juan in a single 25-hour run, rested, and then on to its new home in Anguilla.

News Flash! The Link Ferries web site has an incredible picture galley of the crossing between St Martin and Anguilla!

Franklyn's original Link ferry hasn't been retired. It now does a daily sheduled service between Blowing Point and Julianna Intl. Airport in Saint Maarten, leaving Anguilla daily at 12:10am, (12:30 during winter months). Telephone: 264-497-2231. More details on their web site.

Did it ever appear to you that the ferry and another boat appeared to be racing? Well, you're right. Sort of a drag race between Anguilla and St. Martin. Often if one of the charter boats is getting ready to leave, it will stall, waiting for the regular ferry departure, and then the race is on.

Update on Big Jim. The walls are up for Big Jim's new bar and restaurant at the ferry terminal. If you want to taste his award-winning BBQ ribs while he still cooks them leaning out the window of his temporary place, don't wait too long.

AT&T Direct in Anguilla. Here is an update to our article on Communicating from Anguilla. AT&T offers a service called AT&T Direct in many countries. This allows you to connect to an AT&T operator in the USA. You pay an initial surcharge for the operator-assistance, but if then you pay regular USA rates. This could be a big savings from Anguilla. The number, 1-800-872-2881 works from Anguilla, but only the pay phones at the points of entry (the airport and blowing point ferry terminal), and from hotels that have requested the service.

Feedback on Shoal Bay Villas.

"Thanks so much for the recommendation of Shoal Bay Villas. It was exactly what we were looking for. My mom and I visited the island for 8 days. It was spectacular, and the people have not changed a bit!!! It is truely a special place, and I found that you don't have to stay at an expensive resort to have a relaxing vacation. Everyone at Shoal Bay Villas made sure we were comfortable and enjoying our visit. We especially enjoyed Ronnie. We hope to return again and again." Regards, BBC

The Super Warriors has been competing in domino tournaments throughout the eastern Caribbean, the latest being in Nevis where they won two games out of three against the two clubs that they played. The club is organised like most social clubs in Anguilla, with an elected executive and various committees including a fund raising and discipline committee. The funds for this latest community effort were donated by "Jiggy" Gorge of North Side and Watkin Hodge of Stoney Ground. The club also collected donations from anyone driving by while they worked.

Guest article by Griffin Webster.

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