For years he plied the waters of the Caribbean, sailing many of the major winter regattas on the racing circuit with a crew consisting ONLY of high-school age kids from the islands (mostly St Croix).
For the kids, it was a dream come true, and an opportunity to see a world they never knew existed. Here is his latest progress report on hoping to find a lovable J/105 to be donated to their cause for youth development in St Croix and the Caribbean islands.
Commented
Stanford, “we finally have our fiduciary account open at the St. Croix
Foundation for Community Development. As a result, we have a 501c3# for any potential donor (Team Paladin Youth Sailing), learn more about us here.St. Croix Foundation is in no way a traditional community foundation. While our portfolio does include strategic grant making, the core of our programmatic format is as an operating foundation. You can learn more about the St. Croix Foundation here.
Also, my book is out on Amazon- “Eighth Flag- the untold story of the Caribbean and the mystery of St. Croix’s Pirate Legacy- 1493 to 1750”!
It is #14 for Caribbean History on Kindle so far, all 5 star ratings!! It is a great summer read.
I
found a famous pirate shipwreck, which then took me on journey of
discovery, finding many fascinating stories of a Caribbean long
forgotten. As soon as Netflix buys the rights, we'll get a new J/112e!”You can get Stanford’s book here on Amazon (Kindle or Paperback).
Here is the description of the book:
“Cannibals. Conquistadors. Buccaneers. Pirates. Visions of cartoon characters dancing around a cauldron with an explorer tied inside. Balboa gazing on the Pacific Ocean. De Leon and the fountain of youth. Pizarro conquering the Incas. Henry Morgan, in red, drinking spiced rum. Smoke curling around Blackbeard as his cutlass slashes through the air. … all children's tales that mean nothing.
Today, we do not know who any of these people were, how they came to do what they did, or why they did it. The struggle for power, freedom, and wealth that shaped the Caribbean for two and a half centuries has, since John Barrie created Peter Pan, been relegated to the same literary section as Barney the Dinosaur; yet, underneath the soil of the modern world, the roots are still there. I started pulling them up on St. Croix, and the roots led to more roots, and more. Islands connected, nations connected, and legends came to life.
Officially, St. Croix has flown seven flags over the last 500 years. Before the American flag and the Danebrog, the Spanish came for gold, the Dutch to trade, the English to raid, and the Knights of St. John to be in charge. The French built a colony only to watch it die of fever. During all of those years, Pirates, Conquistadors, Freebooters, Filibustiers, Corsairs, Buccaneers- whatever you call them- ruled the Caribbean and called St. Croix home, stealing at sea whether they had 'permission' to do so or not, and paying no attention at all to whatever European flag was flying. It is time to recognize our eighth flag. It was black. This is the untold story of St. Croix and a Caribbean long forgotten. Come. Sail with me.” Stan
