Caribbean Island Won't Let Gay Cruise Ship Dock
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A gay and nudist cruise was barred from stopping at the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis (search) on Wednesday after authorities said the group would offend local customs.
A police patrol boat stopped a Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (search) ship carrying 110 passengers on a six-day cruise as it was approaching Charlestown, Nevis, the ship's captain Cornelius Plantefaber said.
Plantefaber said three officers boarded the ship and demanded he accompany them to a meeting onshore that lasted an hour with port authority, police, customs and immigration officials.
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The Nevis port authority confirmed that they barred the ship from docking. The ship's name is the S.V. Polynesia (search), a 248-foot four-mast schooner, and most of the passengers aboard are Americans, the captain said.
"We don't want it to be a part of our culture," said acting general manager of the Nevis port authority, Oral Brandy. "It's not a practice society likes here."
Gay cruises, however, have been to the former British colony before and no problems were reported, government spokesman Erasmus Williams said.
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The two-island country of 40,000 has a federal government whose capital is in St. Kitts. The smaller island of Nevis is semiautonomous.
"We welcome all visitors," Williams said, speaking for the federal government.