I was stuck in a fake tropical village built at the cruise-ship docks near Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. Four huge ships were parallel-parked, each spewing thousands of passengers into the gated duty-free jewelry stores and rum bars.

I had two hours to kill before boarding Sagitta, the 120-foot three-masted sailboat that would be my home for twelve days on a tour of some of the Leeward Caribbean islands. Time for a tab of Dramamine.