Our position is 18:12.078N 63:05.637W

As planned, on Monday Ted worked on the watermaker (changing the oil and fitting a new membrane in an attempt to fix its lack of productivity) and we checked out the charts and pilots for the Bahamas and USA that Richard and Alison didn’t need any more. I finally made it to the Post office when they were open to buy stamps for my postcards. It was slightly disconcerting to be told they only had 2 but eventually I managed to get the lady to understand I didn’t mind 2 that were slightly more expensive (only 10c each) There was also time for a farewell ti-punch in the evening  with the Vulcan Spirit crew so consequently we didn’t manage to get away in time for the 9:00am bridge opening on Tuesday. After filling up with water, doing some last minute shopping in the chandlery, recovering our plank (used by Richard to bridge the gap at Vulcan Spirit’s transom while loading many replacement batteries on board) and clearing out at customs, Richard and Alison helped cast off our warps as we left the marina berth and set off across the lagoon for the 11:00am opening. Vulcan Spirit is next heading for the Pacific and New Zealand so we are not likely to meet up with them again anytime soon. The bridge opening was delayed as an important convoy was expected along the road, but after 10 minutes of all of us milling around, the Port Authority got impatient and opened it anyway, telling us all to go through quickly. Fortunately we were near the front because, after 5 or 6 boats had gone through, we heard sirens wailing and he quickly closed it again, with several boats still inside. By this time we were too far away to ascertain the nature of the important convoy, which only appeared to consist of a normal car and a few motorcycles. When the excitement had died down we put up some sails and set a course for Anguilla.

The winds were lighter than we had been experiencing but it was a pleasant enough sail, although we had to beat up the West coast of Anguilla, which grew tedious after a while so we took the sails down and motored into Road Bay. I had noticed an oily smell below decks in the morning, so Ted investigated the engine when we started it again, only to discover that there was a small leak from the fuel pipe, which tightening the joint didn’t resolve. There was a fracture in the injector return pipe which  caused  some anxiety as it could lead to a more catastrophic failure and we had just left the place which seemed to offer the best opportunities for getting things fixed, but we were soon anchored in one of the most idyllic bays we have seen, certainly this season. Chris Doyle, in the pilot book, says in his opinion it is one of the most beautiful anchorage in the Caribbean, a sentiment I would echo based on our experiences. We were soon ashore to clear in and track down someone who could braze the pipe.

Clearing in was a lot less of a hassle than in some places and considerably faster as a result. Customs weren’t there but, as she stamped our passports, the immigration lady said it didn’t matter.  This may have been because we had pre-advised our arrival using the electronic e-sea clearance, but it probably wasn’t as more often than not the customs offices we visit don’t seem able to deal with it even if they are supposed to be able to. Ted enlisted the help of Dennis (AKA Mr Personality!), a taxi driver, to find him someone who could do the fine welding we required. Dennis took us to Elroy. He didn’t seem very promising at first as he advertised himself for fabricating gates and also muffler work (I think that means he welded vehicle silencers) but he assured us he could do it if he could get some gas so he was left with the pipe, which he promised to have ready by 10.30 the next morning.

Life in the anchorage was enhanced by the local youth sailing club, who were out every day in Optimists. They were impressively keen and fiercely competitive, with much shouting at each other. It’s good to see that they are being given the opportunity to develop their skills and they also compete in regattas against similar groups from other islands, giving it an international flavour. It was noticeable however that they were all boys, and I did wonder whether the girls were discouraged, disinterested or were just too busy working.

We were struggling for an internet connection so I thought I would try and buy a Digicel top up for the phone from a shop, so we could ring Elroy as necessary. The shop near the dinghy dock directed us to another shop just down the road (about a quarter of a mile), however when we got there the guy at the nearby beach bar said it had been shut for about a month. We couldn’t but wonder how the competition had failed to notice this, but it could have just been a case of the local people hating to disappoint visitors.

On Wednesday we had to enlist Dennis’s help to track down Elroy, who wasn’t answering his phone. Dennis couldn’t have been more helpful and collected our beautifully repaired pipe while he was in the area on another job, delivering it to us at the beach, where we were lunching at Johnno’s beach bar and watching a pelican dive for fish in incredibly shallow water. How it didn’t get its beak stuck in the sand I’ll never know. Dennis also discounted his government regulated fares, but it was still quite an expensive place to get around. In fact it was an expensive place to be generally. If we’d wanted to anchor at one of the off lying islands for the day there was a cruising permit fee to pay and over-nighting was only allowable in 2 places on the main island. The food and drinks, even in the beach bars, reflected the fact that the hotels that there are were costly. We chatted to an American, who ran a TV company in the States, who was entertaining 55 of his customers and advertisers for a week at just such a hotel. We could only assume it was a very successful TV company!

In the afternoon Ted fitted the pipe and declared the leak well and truly fixed. This meant we could now test the watermaker as in order to do this we needed to run the engine. Disappointingly the production rate was still low and before long the pump stopped working altogether, so it was with mixed emotions that the day came to a close.

The next day we went ashore to have lunch (and get an internet connection) at Roy’s beach bar. We were planning to leave at around 9pm to sail to Virgin Gorda (about 80Nm) overnight so wanted to have a sleep in the afternoon. We also realised we needed to clear out but had left the ship’s documents on the boat, however when Ted asked if this was a problem he was assured that they were unnecessary and was issued with the relevant piece of paper.  Not much sleeping was done as when we got back to the boat there was much preparing to do – deflating the dinghy, taking down the sunshade, changing the wind head of the generator for the water one, and all the stowing to make sure several days of accumulated stuff doesn’t fly all over the boat as soon as it rolls a bit, not to mention having a good laugh at some people's attempts to anchor nearby.

 Eventually all was ship shape and at 21:15 we were able to pull up our anchor and manoeuvre out from among all the other boats, in the dark, without mishap. I had a feeling of regret that we had probably not made the most of being on this beautiful, interesting island, which I would have liked to see more of, but we needed to move on and so to sea!

Waiting for the bridge to open and then hurrying through when it did.

         St Maarten airport from the South coast, but it also adjoined Simposon By and the lagoon.

Strange rock formations on Anguilla's West coast                     We tacked away to let this one pass ahead!

   Ted, Dennis and Elroy discussing the job to be done

The West end of Road Bay                                                  The view from Johnno's beach bar

View of the anchorage and the bay from Roy's beach bar