The currents were up — but the locals said the waters were actually, finally, calming down. These were some of the hardest dives I’ve done in a long time, if ever. I sucked oxygen like I haven’t in years, if ever.
They were also some of the best dives I’ve done. Sharks, rays, turtles, eagle rays, eels and all manner of smaller fish, all in one dive.
Almost everyone on the dive boat got sick. Except for us.
The people that got sea sick may disagree, but these are the dives you really look forward to.
This is Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. (That’s New York. It is a long shot, but the man conceivably knew my ancestors there.) Previously he’d run things in Curacao and then tried to take St. Maarten back from the Spanish in 1633. It offered a strategic harbor and salt, and the Dutch failed miserably in getting the Spanish off the rock. But Stuyvesant took 13 ships, landed in March of 1644, notified the Spaniards and planted his flag. The Spanish fired on the flag and Stuyvesant was wounded and his right leg ultimately was amputated. He’d become known as Peg leg Pete and he’d watch his comrades sail away from St. Maarten in defeat a month later.
After surrendering New Netherland to four ships of 450 British troops, he stayed on in New York as a private citizen, dying there in 1672. He was a strict Calvinist and a big believer in education. Everything I’ve read about him makes him seem rather harsh, but the 17th century often was. He’s buried in The Bowery — which is, apparently, an anglicization of Bouwerij, which is Dutch for farm, and also the name of Stuyvesant’s 62-acre property that stretched up to Harlem. (I’m going to have to read a history of New York City now, aren’t I?)
Anyway, diving in St. Maarten was a challenge, the visibility wasn’t the best because of the currents and the silt, but the views were great. Great place to dive. Watch the video.
