Anguilla, West Indie
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At Latitude 18 degrees North and Longitude 63 degrees West, Anguilla is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands and on the most outer extremity of the arc of the Caribbean Islands. Only 8nms to the north of St Martin it is a very easy passage to this low lying island looking like an eel, hence being named by Columbus, Spanish for eel. From here on we go west, trade winds from astern, nothing too difficult.
A coral reef extending out for miles protects Anguilla from the Atlantic waves, inside surrounded by aquamarine, sapphire and turquoise seas and then the whiter than white fine sand beaches. Ashore luxury hotels and very good restaurants but that’s where the paradise island ends. Perhaps development has been too fast and the infrastructure and local needs forgotten.
Anguilla was one of the English Islands and when the British decided to decolonise all their islands, they lumped Anguilla in with St Kitts and Nevis 75 nms south. They revolted and after a few little skirmishes the Colonial Office made them an autonomous colony but the island still has direct ties to the mother land.
Hurricane Omar which passed through the Caribbean October 2008 tracked through this island, no one complains, they just rebuild quickly and move on. The beach in Road Bay was apparently littered in yachts and fishing boats but due to the soft sand surrounding the bay they were all easily dragged off.
Road Bay Harbour is one of the nicest harbours and is no charge to anchor in. If you visit other bays and the islands offshore you need to buy a daily permit, for us US$50. Some cruisers get upset about paying and it doesn’t hurt to pay sometimes, especially when the fees go towards protection of the coral and sea life.
Returning by hire car for another day we have to revisit Shoal Beach to reaffirm it wasn’t a dream. Anyone seeking tranquillity to heal the mind, body and soul, this would have to be one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. All wrapped in blue, the air is clear and breezy, the sky is bright and the water inviting. Also enjoying this special part of the world is Italian windsurfer Tommaso Wirz and girlfriend, who has many friends amongst the windsurfers of NZ and Australia.
As someone once quoted, “Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints”.
Anguilla is our departure point for the British Virgin Islands 80 nms to the west, for us a day sail as we can average 8 knots in a good wind. We have two weather web sites we check regularly, one is www.windguru.com used mainly by the surfers and kite boarders showing the windiest places. It suits me, at a quick glance I get wind strength, direction and most important wave height and direction. Ian prefers www.bouyweather.com; which shows the whole area of where we are sailing too. At the moment we are looking for wind so we don’t burn diesel fuel even though it is cheap at US83c a litre. Saturday shows the perfect picture with just enough wind to keep Ian happy and a following two metre wave height which makes me happy.
A day trip to the marine reserve Prickly Pear Island is a paradise of coral and crystal clear water with only two bars ashore. Saturday has arrived and with dawn breaking at 0630hrs the anchor is up, hoist the mainsail and a tropical storm passes over. A quick glance to ensure we clear the very low Sandy Island to the north as visibility is nil and a beautiful day follows, by 1100hrs we are half way. Rolling along and dreaming, our quiet surrounds are interrupted by zinggggggg and the forgotten fishing line we are trolling takes our attention. Out comes the fish books and it’s identified as a 10 kilo Wahoo a first for us and yes we can eat it. With all the coral around, fish can be contaminated with Ciguatera a poison. Two methods of telling if a fish is poisonous according to the locals are if ants don’t crawl over the fish it. The only problem being I don’t have ants on board. Another is to place a slice of potato in the flesh; if it goes black then it’s poisonous. My theory; if in doubt let it go.
But the Wahoo did have a small win; when flicking him in to the inflatable dinghy which we always haul up on the transom, the hook managed to puncture one of the tubes and it deflated very quickly. Just another job when we anchor.
The weather sites are both correct and we have a perfect crossing sailing all the way taking 9 hours.
BVI’s and yes this is very different, we pass Necker Island, Richard Branson’s private paradise island complete with imitation palms on the small sand cay in the lagoon; helicopters come and go from the cruise yachts and beautiful lush islands greats us.
We are here for over 6 weeks so we have plenty of time to explore the many islands of the Virgins which many cruisers consider equal to the Ionian Islands of Greece.
