We had a lovely sail up to Anegada on Thursday. The wind was fairly light, about 12 – 14 knots on a close reach, but it was a lovely way to enjoy the sunshine and fantastic sea colour. Temperatures are in the low 30s, just warm enough for Avril, a little too warm for Peter.

 

As we approached Anegada initially the only things we could were trees. The land, and the buildings, are very low lying.

 

   

 

We set anchor off the beach in quite shallow water, with coral reefs off to either side. The whole of the Eastern side of Anegada is protected by a huge horeshoe reef, on which hundreds of boats have grounded over the years. Chartplotters nowadays make things somewhat easier, though it is still vital to keep a close lookout for uncharted coral heads that have sprouted up.

 

 

We dinghied ashore and had a walk around, hoping to get to see the salt marshes where a flock of Flamingos allegedly reside – unfortunately we did not spot any.

 

On Friday we decided to dinghy across to the reefs to snorkel.

 

   

 

   

 

Unfortunately our camera does not do justice to the beauty and colours of the coral and the fish living amongst it.

 

On our way back to the boat we were reminded about the forces that nature can unleash.

 

   

 

There was a housing development just off the beach. Unfortunately during a storm the foundations had been washed away or undermined. Two houses had collapsed, and quite a number were seriously listing, though still lived in. We were speculating how the owners would have had to cut down chair, table and bed legs to try to level them up. A large number of sandbags had been deployed to try to prevent further erosion, but alas, it is too late.

 

Our plans are to travel back to the main BVI chain, and spend a further few weeks travelling from island to island.