^{Photograph © Jeffrey Cardenas 2024}

Meet Ike Albert, unofficial yacht ambassador, accomplished net fisherman, and grassroots conservationist. He’s 15 years old.

When foreign-flagged boats arrive in Saint Lucia’s Anse Cochon, Ike is there quickly in his tiny yellow kayak to assist with mooring lines or anchoring help. He will bring mangoes and avocados and freshly baked bread. Unlike other boat boys who aggressively swarm new arrivals with demands for beer and money, Ike knows that a soft sell is more effective.

“Welcome,” he says. “Tell me how I can help you.

Ike lives in a nearby fishing village called Canaries. On this day, when his family’s relatives arrive in Anse Cochon to fish from a small wooden net boat called Respect, Ike dives in to help. He is the point man pulling the rope of a net that is weighted with boulders. Several hundred feet of net are set to catch sardines, small jackfish, and ballyhoo. This fishing uses no winches or pulleys; it is an art of pure manual labor.

An hour later, when the net is finally at the boat side, it reveals a subsistence catch. The family is delighted. They will eat fresh fish tonight, and maybe have a little extra to sell in the market.

Afterward, covered in fish scales and sweat, Ike climbs back onto his kayak. But before he embarks on the long paddle home to Canaries, he dives back into the water and surfaces with an armful of empty beer bottles, Coke cans, and plastic bags thrown into the water by day trippers on the tourist catamarans.

“The people on these tourist boats think that when they throw garbage into the water, it just goes away.”

That’s progressive thinking for a 15-year-old.

Be like Ike.

^{All images © Jeffrey Cardenas 2024}

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As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way are equally important.

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Text, Photography, and Videos © Jeffrey Cardenas 2024

Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives – Rev. John C. Baker