Greetings from the Leeward Islands! We have now embarked on
the next major leg of our trip. The Leewards begin at Anguilla and head south
to Dominica. Martinique begins the Windward Islands, which end at Granada. From
there it’s on to South and Central America. We’re making some serious progress!
We just completed an 85-mile overnight crossing from the
British Virgin Islands to Anguilla. We waited until the weather was forecast to
be calm, and it paid off. Our motor sail crossing last night was relaxing, a serious
change of pace from most of our other crossings. Hanna got her sea legs, and we
all took shifts at the helm overnight. We made fantastic time and got into Road
Bay in Anguilla just after sunrise. We’ll spend a couple days here then on to
St. Maarten.
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Anguilla! |
Leaving the BVIs was bittersweet. Although the sailing is
top notch and the beaches are picture perfect, the islands are crowded and have
a spring break atmosphere. While all cruisers like to have fun, most of the
yachties in the BVIs are on chartered boats and are there for only a week.
Hence, everywhere you go, people are up for a serious party. Don’t get me
wrong, the crew on Eventyr is always up for a fiesta, but it gets a bit
draining day after day :-)
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Chopping coconuts with my machete |
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Day time leisure activities |
One of the fun spots we took in was Willy T’s. Between rum
punches, we happened upon the crew of the Amistad living it up before sailing
further in a long cruise. The Amistad is a replica of the slave ship that was
captured by slaves being brought to America who then sailed it to New Haven, CT in 1839.
The replica is typically in New Haven and seeing it in the British Virgin
Islands was quite a sight. Dana and I went on board in Philadelphia last summer
when the boat was touring the east coast. We had a drink with the captain,
Greg, at Willy T’s and a toast to New Haven.
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Captain Greg from Amistad at Willy T's |
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Amistad in Philly last summer |
After Willy T’s we headed on to Virgin Gorda, where Hanna
and I did some serious hill running. We also got to attend the Happy Arrrr,
where local pirate Michael Beans puts on an amusing interactive show with the audience
at the outdoor bar. Virgin Gorda sound is a beautiful retreat and marks the
Bitter End of the Virgin Islands. We checked out through customs and made a
couple day excursion to the much more isolated and flat coral Island, Anegada.
We chose to wait in Anegada for our weather window because
we learned the Dark ‘N Stormy Anegada Regatta would finish there the next day.
We all agreed that it would be fun to see these racing sailboats come in and
meet those salty sailboat racers. While
waiting for the race to finish we biked across the island and did some
snorkeling at picturesque Loblolly Beach. Hanna and Dana demanded I catch a
lobster, and I partially came through. I speared a red grouper and a slipper
lobster. Slipper lobsters are strange creatures in the same family as the spiny
lobster and their meat is said to be sweeter. That afternoon we dined on fresh
seafood and watched the sailboats race in.
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Have spear, will travel |
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Loblolly Beach |
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The three amigos |
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Red grouper (I think? Tasted good, whatever it was) |
The night of the regatta was a fun time celebrating with the
racers and folks on charter boats who were also there to take in the scenery and
camaraderie. We spent much of the evening with a group of guys from Buffalo spending
a week on a large catamaran. Heading for home before things got too crazy from
so many dark and stormies was a wise choice. We had a long sail the next
afternoon and we’ve learned our lesson about too much rum prior to a major
sail. That said, I was able to take a fun ride on a tire swing that I’m sure
was assisted by a dark and stormy or two.
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Mooring field at Anegada post regatta |
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No more dark and stormies |
Our journey from Anegada to Anguilla last night was
magnificent. Not only was the weather in our favor, but we also got our share
of excitement. I caught a yellowtail
snapper and hooked two other large fish. The larger fish escaped after brief
battles, but we still had fresh seafood for dinner. Then, the sunset was
amazing! Moments before the sun set behind Virgin Gorda, and I had just lost a
fish that was jumping repeatedly out of the water during the struggle, Hanna yelled, “Whales!” We
looked out and two Humpback whales came to the surface. They lingered momentarily before
flipping their huge tails up into the air and diving deep into the ocean. After
the sunset, Hanna got to witness the bioluminescent creatures in our wake that Dana
and I have been admiring during our overnight sails the past couple months. It
was an evening we won’t soon forget.
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Yellowtail snapper: dinner! |
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Watch out for that lobster trap at 11:00! |
I don't know how you could improve on this trip...except to have me there!
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