St Martin and Anguilla
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Fri 1 May 2015 18:59
18:12.02N 63:05.68W
Tuesday 21 April to 1 May 2015
The first few days back in St Martin were spent doing the usual things,
buying bits from the chandleries, re-provisioning and checking weather forecasts
on the internet. It was a delight buying cheese, pate and other food from
the French supermarkets again. The shops themselves don’t look much but
the quality is always so much better in the French islands.
Two men visited all the boats in the anchorage by dinghy promoting a 50%
off deal for day visitors at the nearby Fort Louis Marina. This made it
very reasonable so after a few days at anchor we took them up on the
offer. Once tied up we made the most of the available mains electricity to
vacuum the inside of the boat, including unscrewing and lifting some of the
cabin sole boards. When the fridge insulation work was done a few weeks
ago a lot of old and new foam had found it’s way between the gaps and had proved
impossible to remove. Lin also washed off all the salt off outside from
our bumpy trip from the BVI’s. Laundry facilities were good and cheap so
their machines took a hammering and we took advantage of their internet as
well.
After a productive couple of days of tidying up we went back out to anchor
in Marigot Bay. Most of the boats hadn’t moved in the last couple of days
and it became clear that many were waiting for the unusually prolonged period of
southerly winds to disappear, as we were, so that they can head south down the
island chain before the hurricane season starts in June. We have booked to
lift out at Grenada Marine, right at the south of the chain, having been
disappointed at the cost and quality of the services in Antigua.
We had been in Marigot Bay for over a week and the southerlies look set for
a little while longer so on Wednesday 29th we decided on a change of scene and
sailed north to Anguilla which is only 6 miles away as the seagull flies.
The island is about 14 miles long and nearly 3 miles wide and the trip around
the western tip along its north coast to Road Bay is about 13 miles. It
was a very pleasant sail in smooth seas and we anchored soon after
11.30am.
Our friends Rob and Rhian from ‘Beyzano’ had sailed up here from St Kitts’s
the day before. Their plan is to sail on to the BVI’s, the Bahamas
and then the US for the summer and the following year. That is on our list
of possible destinations in the next year or two but it is likely to be a couple
of years before we see each other again so after clearing in we met them ashore
for a nice catch up and farewell lunch.
The following day we explored Road Bay and the road at the back. Like
a lot of Caribbean islands there is quite a contrast between the tourist
facilities and the reality under the surface.
This is looking past the dinghy dock along Road Bay:-
and this is beside the road at the back looking towards to salt
pond:-
One of the popular bars on the beach is Elvis’. He advertises the
place with a sign on the side of a van at the roadside. The flat front
tyre suggests the van hasn’t been anywhere for a while:-
Anguilla is making an effort to promote its heritage a little and recently
restored a pump house which was used to clean the salt removed from the
pond. Salt was supplied to the nearby islands until recently and this pump
house was in use until 1986:-
Not much more than a shed really but at least they have made the effort and
tidied up this bit. After a stroll down the lane we returned to the beach
and met an English lady at The Barrel Stay restaurant. Jill and her
husband have lived here for 10 years running the restaurant having come from
Berkshire, not very far from where we lived and worked. She was very
helpful and after a long chat booked a hire car for us for the following day at
a very reasonable price.
Feeling honour bound to support them we booked a table that evening for
dinner. The meal was extremely good, the best we have had all season, but
the credit card was melting under the strain afterwards.
Road Bay viewed from The Barrel Stay during the day:-
On May Day, when all the shops were of course shut, we picked up the car
for our tour of the island. Apart from Road Bay the only overnight
anchoring spot is in Crocus Bay. Our road trip helped us to see that,
whilst nice, Crocus Bay didn’t offer much for a boat.
The next stop was Limestone Bay where a couple of elegant house had been
built on the beach:-
A dodgy man admiring the houses:-
And on to Shoal Bay where a lot of villa building was taking place behind
the long beach, for a coffee stop. Then back towards the west again to
Rendezvous Bay on the south coast. This is the longest bay on the island
but a lot of Sargasso weed had arrived on the beach which was keeping people
away:-
Another view of Rendezvous Bay with St Martin faintly in view in the
background and lots of weed floating beside the beach:-
Then farther west to Maundays Bay which was dominated by the exclusive Cap
Juluca resort followed by a return to the north coast to make our way east
again.
Our dusty chariot for the day:-
Meads Bay on the north coast was next and we stopped for lunch at the Straw
Hat restaurant at the Frangipani Resort. As long as you eat in the
restaurant these beach beds and umbrellas are free so we did the tourist bit for
an hour or two in the afternoon:-
Finally we returned to the boat in Road Bay for dinner aboard.
If you have persevered this far you may have formed the impression, as we
have, that Anguilla is an island of many lovely beaches and high end resorts
interspersed with some scruffy areas. That said, the island has a peaceful
feel to it and from a sailing viewpoint the anchorage in Road Bay is attractive
and a nice place to be. We learnt in various conversations that the 12,000
inhabitants include a number of expats who have lived there for 10 years or more
so it seems also to be an attractive place to live. For us it is a lovely
island to visit by boat but couldn’t imagine living here.
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