It was an overnight motor from Virgin Gorda to Anguilla, the wind was a bit stronger than we expected for the first couple of hours but by 11pm it dropped off to under 10 knots, and was a little rainy and squally but perfect conditions for the 75 mile trip east, directly into the normal trade winds. We slowed right down to make landfall at 6.30am, anchoring virtually in the same spot as the last time we were here two years ago.
We had a bit of breakfast and then went to clear in. Anguilla gets a bit of a bad wrap from the cruising community as they charge quite a lot if you want to take you boat anywhere other than Road Bay; much of the island is national park and you can visit the park only with a permit. Last time we came we bought a permit and went to the other islands and anchorages but actually ended up coming back to the great anchorage at Road Bay every night. This time we decided to stay and explore the rest of the island with a hire car. The cost to be here was therefore nil and we found plenty to do.
Just cleared customs and look back where we are - pinch myself
Anguilla has amazing beaches but also really good restaurants and super friendly people. It's pretty fancy as a holiday destination and it's cost to cruise around means only a few boats come and many of them are the biggest Super Yachts. First stop was the fabulous Elvis's beach bar for a light lunch, we ran into the Alkemi crew again and shared a few beach games before getting a lift to the main town, called The Valley, from random strangers that were on holiday.
Road Bay - main street
The next day we hired a car for a couple of days and went to explore the south of the island one day and the north the next. We found beautiful beaches, stunning panoramas and several totally abandoned resorts - that made us a bit sad. Abandoned development is widespread across the Caribbean as developers start projects without full funding in place, hoping to finish construction by selling off the plan during the construction phase. It really is short sighted of the government to allow this to happen as it destroys the enviroment for the next generation. We've literally seen hundreds of examples of this on our travels.
We might have taken the car to some off the beaten track spots!
Abandoned resort near Rendezvous Bay
Beautiful Rendezvous Bay with a view of St Martin
Just outside The Valley we climbed up Crocus Hill, Anguilla's Highest point to find the old court house and jail which was destroyed by a hurricane in 1955
Old Court House ruins
Meads Bay - one of many stunning yachts we saw anchored of Anguilla
We ate lunch at the fantastic Blanchards, local restaurant on the beach with this view.
Back at Sandy Ground, the lovely yacht Tradition, out for a sunset cruise
Walking the beach Road Bay - Sandy Ground
On Sunday afternoon one of the restaurants hosted a fund raiser and BBQ for the local sailing club, we met up with the Alkemi crew and had a nice afternoon eating, listening to music and watching the sailing. Wilbur and Sophia went for a sail and got a bit wet.... Wilbur taught Andrew how to make a soft shackle while Nellie dug holes.
learning soft shackles....
music afternoon
We totally loved our time in Anguilla and Andrew only spent one day working on the outboard - the new carb didn't fix the problem so he is now systematically working through all the parts on the outboard. We managed to buy new fuel hose in Anguilla from a lovely man who ran the automotive shop - he offered Andrew a job and tried to sell us his boat.... We were torn about staying or using another light wind period to head to St Barths for some diving and then Antigua by Christmas - the plan won over anxious that the 'Christmas Winds' might set in and we would no longer be able to make it further east.
We had braced ourselves for significant hurricane damage in the BVIs, however we found that some places you could hardly tell the difference and other places were still totally devastated and a few had improved. The thing that was evident everywhere was the impact on the people, hurricane Irma defined everything; many people are still shell shocked, even if you don't mention it every conversation comes back to the hurricane in some shape or form after a few minutes. I do think the community appeared more supportive of each other and perhaps even more welcoming to us yachties.
We spent two nights at Great Harbour in JVD when we first arrived and learned that our outboard was playing up. But after cleaning the carburettor Andrew managed to get it to work and only stop after a few minutes. The weather was so lovely and calm for the next few days we decided boat jobs could wait as we were keen to get some diving in. We dive 5 great dives right from Askari with no need for our outboard.
After a great dive on the Rhone Mail Ship we pulled in to Cooper Island planning to do another dive that afternoon. As it happened the entertainment came to us when a mother and calf dolphin swam right by Askari. At the time we were chatting with David who had swam out from the resort - we threw him a mask and the dolphins stayed - I hopped into, then Andrew, and David's wife swam out. We played with them for about an hour, it was just amazing.
Dolphins swim by Askari at Cooper Island
We even had time to grab the go-pro
That night we went for a lovely meal at the Cooper Island resort to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary. We met Case and Sophie who were on an English Cat moored ahead of us - they came back for drinks with us - Case was obsessed with fish so decided to get a boat; this was all totally new to them but they were on a mission to find fish!
Celebrating our wedding anniversary at Cooper Island
Willy T's is an institution in the BVIs. We had such a funny night there with my Mum and Dad. The boat bar was destroyed in the hurricane but they are back with a virtually identical new boat now moored in Peter Island but the antics are still the same.
The all new Willy T's - the rum punch is still as strong and middle aged half naked men with bikini clad girls dancing - nothing changes
Back at Willy T's
The outboard now had to be attended to so we thought we'd sail up to Gorda sound, popping into the Baths on the way for a quick early morning hike - no change there. We actually ran into Jeff from Sky Larks on the beach with new crew - our first Buccaneer catch up. Up in Gorda sound we managed to get fuel cleaner at Leverick Bay and then anchored in the lovely prickly pear island. While Andrew was working on the outboard Steve and Wilbur from Alkemi called by to offer assistance - Wilbur is an auto mechanic from Queensland and quite a character. Andrew had it under control but we joined them for a beach fire and bbq that night together with Sophia who cooked the most amazing whole Aubergine on the fire plus the gorgeous Nellie Dog.
Some progress with the outboard but now parts were required plus we needed cash so we headed to Trellis Bay where we could safely leave Askari and hire a car at the airport. It was quite a shock sailing in to see Marina Cay destroyed and then the last resort on our Bellamy Cay gone and then in Trellis the bay shore is lined with wrecks. Wow!
Paddle boarding with wrecked yachts at Trellis Bay
A feature of our life since we arrived - Andrew on the beach trying to fix the outboard on a beach in various islands
We managed to organise the parts for the outboard ( a new carburettor and gaskets), pick up some other provisions within an hour of getting the hire car, So we took the opportunity to drive around the island. We picked up a local girl who was hitching to Carrot Bay she pointed out the new restaurant at the Sugar Mill - a quick u-turn after dropping her off and we enjoyed a fantastic lunch with an amazing view of JVD.
Lunch during our island tour of Tortola at the lovely Sugar Mill
Cane Garden Bay on our tour of Tortola
Celebrating all things pink - I never thought I'd see the day we had box wine but it does stow well
We then spent a few days hanging around the islands of Francis Drake channel while our parts were shipped. We got to catch up a couple of nights with Julie and Richard on Escapade - they also had parts and then family coming in. Richard cooked us an amazing roast dinner complete with crumble - delicious!
Peter Island
The parts took much longer than we thought so we escaped back to JVD for the weekend and ran into the Alkemi crew again - big hangovers again.... We did however make it for a great walk to the Soggy Dollar Bar and then back over the top of the island to Great Harbour.
Hike back over the top of JVD - good hiking gear!
Walking over the hill to White Bay
Christmas Tree at the Soggy Dollar Bar
Soggy Dollar Bar - big hill to walk over but worth it
We had a fairly good swell so took a detour in to see the Bubbly Pool we hadn't been to before. Sadly the camera battery went flat as it was pretty cool, the swell breaks through the rocks forming a pool of champagne bubbles. It was windy for the next evening so we tucked into Cane Garden Bay for a relaxing afternoon followed by a lovely evening at Paradise Club.
A Bean Bag and an Aperol Spritz - who is this guy?
Paradise Club - Cane Garden Bay
Finally the parts arrived, we scooted in to Road Town and got them plus some provisions cleared out and then made a quick pit stop for a swim at Gorda Sound. Alkemi had the same plan so at sunset we together with a "flotilla" of other boats grabbed a weather window to head East. What a fun three weeks BVI.
We arrived in the BVIs to a fabulous period of settled weather, so we we abandoned all boat jobs following the passage, had a cocktail in Jost Van Dyke and then went diving for the next week in lovely calm conditions. It was super fun to use Askari as a dive boat and take advantage of the marine park mooring all over the BVIs. Every night we fell into bed in a calm spot exhausted but this was just what we had been dreaming about for the whole trip down to the Caribbean.
