DEEP BAY Antigua - Sat 16th Feb 17 07.59N 061 53.25W
Barada
Paul Downie
Sun 17 Feb 2008 13:18
from the Marina dinghy dock - we actually beached Tinker near the headland
of Jolly Bay and walked the mile in. Jolly Bay is uncrowded with white sand
and turquoise waters perfect for a swim to cool off in the afternoon heat
and beach chairs in the shade of palm trees are a welcome resting place to
dry off and watch the world go by......mongoose, humming birds and pelicans.
That is after carting back stores on our faithfull trolley.
We have enjoyed a few 'sundowners' with our neighbours Anna and Louis on
'Big Bird' and today bade them au revoir as we weighed anchor at midday to
commence a short passage of approx 5 nmls via the Five Islands Channel to
Deep Bay. This narrow channel 5m deep passes between 2 of the 5 small
islands off the headland outside Jolly Hbr, but there are further submerged
rocks to pick our way between - better on the constitution than a bag of
prunes, but the skill of 'eyeball navigation' has to be developed in order
to reach anchorages amongst the coral on some of the islands! There are two
more islands further out to sea and the large hull of a ship is clearly
visible on one of them - wrecks galore here.
Very strong easterly winds have held us back a few days, but they are more
normal today, and after avoiding a fleet of larger racing yachts in Five
Islands Bay and passing Hawksbill Rock (a large 25' rock which looks just
like a giant turtle head staring out to sea) we anchor between the beach and
the wreck of the Andes in time for lunch.
There are two reported snorkelling sites here, one over rocks and the other
over the Andes a 3-masted iron barque which sits upright on the sandy bottom
in the middle of the bay, now encrusted with sponges and coral. The bow and
a few mast stumps just break the surface of the water, and we have already
seen one large turtle swimming in the bay. We aim to stay here a few days .