Last call in BVI....Anegada.
Chelone's travels.....
John and Susie Blair.
Mon 18 Nov 2013 17:55
|
N18:43.26 W64:23.09
Everyone told us how beautiful Anegada is.....after the disappointment experienced elsewhere in the BVI we had very high expectations! We enjoyed a very pleasant sail 15 miles
across to Anegada and set the
anchor with about a foot of water under Chelone's keel. We'd only a day and a half here so we didn't hang about, Ross launched the dinghy and we were off ashore. Oh dear...it wasn't looking good. Dirty, and with the now familiar garbage everywhere you looked. Scrapped and decaying vehicles of all descriptions right from the start. We hired a scooter and went exploring....the guide book alluded to a "favourite destination for sailors from around the world" with "fields of orchids" and a lake where one can
'Lagoon swim'.
We saw the pictures on the internet and in the
guide book...it looked beautiful.
Worse was to come, basically the whole island was
the same....damaged by
the locals, the opposite of what we'd been
told...'unspoilt'? It was like someone
had given one of the locals a Bulldozer and they'd
run amok with it. We hardly
saw any area of land that hadn't been dug up or
dumped on. The houses and
grounds of the locals were strewn with garbage and
rotting vehicles, they
obviously didn't care a hoot for their
island.
We saw the lagoon and Flamingo's could be seen in
the distance but there's
no way you'd want to even dip your toe in the
filthy water let alone swim in it.
On a brighter note.....!! We stopped at 'Loblolly
Bay' and went for a little
snorkelling....Wow!! now this was something to
behold! I'd even go so far as
to say that it was the best ever for me! The reef
was just stunning and I saw
fish that I'd not seen before including the huge
'Frenchman's Anglefish' (pics)
a huge Barracuda, a tiny Turtle AND a
Lemon Shark!!
The staff at the beachside bar warned us to take
care in the water as there's
a strong rip current that drowns someone every year
and you were certainly
aware of it at all times while swimming around
inside the huge breaking seas
behind the reef.
The next morning we took the bike for another spin
around and came across
more deriliction and dumping in the open
countryside. The main town, 'The
Settlement' was, well just a handful of ugly
buildings so nowt of interest.
Back at 'Setting Point' later in the afternoon and
professional looking fishing
boats started arriving at the dock to weigh in
their catch as there was a
Fishing Tournament currently being held and this
was the final weigh in.
Lots of Wahoo and Kingfish, some Mahi Mahi and a
few small Tuna were
hung on the scales amid a lot of excitement and
booming reggae music.
Oh, I must mention....the Anegada mozzies were the
worst I've
experienced anywhere on the planet, just
unbelievable, I thought we were
gonna be eaten alive.
Ross and myself made some dinner, did a little
reading then hit the sack
as we'd set the alarm for 01.30am to take advantage
of the lovely wind
forecast that would hopefully mean some good
sailing back to Sint
Maarten, 80 miles south.
All was calm when we fell asleep but I awoke at
01.00 to the sound of the
wind howling overhead.....yippee! Let's
go!
Under the glow of a full moon we motored
cautiosly out of the very shallow
anchorage through the well marked (and lit) reef fringed channel into open
water. Extreme caution must be excercised now as we
were navigating
past countless reefs, coral heads and breaking
seas as we made our way
over the top of Anegada and down her east shore to lay of a course south
east towards Sint Maarten.
We took turns on watch as Chelone sailed like a
dream in 15-18knts of
wind from the north east....a close
reach.
All was very straight forward until some hours
after I'd set the fishing line
trolling we had a huge take with the reel screaming
like crazy. I levitated
out of my bunk and grabbed the big knife from the
galley and a camera
before joining Ross in the cockpit where he was
frantically trying to arrest
the amount of line leaving the reel without having
the line or rod snap.
I shut the autopilot down and swung Chelone's bow
to about 30 degrees
off the line just in time as Ross shouted that
there was hardly any of the
300 meters of line left on the spool!!
Rounding up meant Ross could frantically take up
line......was it gone?
OMG...no! I saw a massive splash, oooh, it's
something big! I took over
the winding after a while and Ross steered though
it was some time
before we could see what it was we'd caught.....a
Marlin!! bloody hell!!
Somehow, after a struggle, we managed to land it
though it wa so big
there was no way either of us could lift it (turned
out it weighed 130lb)
It would feed an army but there's only two of us so
we kept it shaded
and as cool as we could by constant watering until
we got to Sint
Maarten where we iced it down until
morning.
It turned out that the flesh has to be smoked so we
went with a local
boat skipper in the morning who sold it to his
restaurant friend and we
recieved a handsome loot though I think if ever
I catch one again I'll
somehow try to disgorge the hook or cut the trace
and release it.
So there you go....up's and downs of the last few
days, we're very tired
today despite a good sleep last night but we're
glad to be back in SXM
Laundry to take ashore, propane, water, petrol
to sort as well as some
groceries to get....and pay another visit to Maho
Beach! maybe see a
Jumbo jet this time.....watch this
space!
Bye for now, JB & R.
|