Anguilla

We spent four days in Anguilla doing a charter with a lovely family who was vacationing there. The parents and six adult children who all lived spread across the US had gathered together with all their various significant others and 2 young kids to spend a few weeks reunion in this beautiful location. The villa where they stayed was gorgeous, very modern and sort of futuristic looking in white with darkened glass, towers and angles, balconies and bridges, windows everywhere, a hot tub on the fourth story roof... The whole back wall was of glass looking out over a coral infused patio and an inset pool set to 90 degrees. The pool was surrounded by a garden of greenery over which you could see the ocean a mere fifty yards away, reached by little raked paths of sand winding through the shrubberies. Out front there were cushioned beach chairs under umbrellas, with nearby kayaks to explore the reef only yards away. The cove there was of that powder blue mixed with turquoise that is often found in the vicinity of a reef. Blue like the sky only greener. Blue like the Tobago Keys blue, glowing with a light that seemed to come from below. It was a gorgeous location. They would set up long tables out on the patio so the whole family could eat together by candlelight under the dusky sky. It was a very peaceful place and the perfect spot to lie in the hammock near the patio and just let the tensions and anxieties of everyday life slip away.


Several members of the family were interested in sailing and had done a little bit on their own in the past. Hence our presence anchored in the cove outside. For our first adventure with them we took the whole family and sailed from Anguilla across to St Martin, a nice few hour sail. We had beautiful sailing weather for beginners - 2ft seas, a moderate amount of wind, clear blue skies. Considering there were 17 people on the boat and the deck was littered with sun bathing beauties it was the best possible conditions. We didn't want to do any really hard core sailing so the boat would be heeled over or it would start to be uncomfortable for the number of people on board. With Ben and Francis on board as well we had a crew of four to do all the sailing which was so smooth with all the extra experienced hands. We could anchor under sail and have the sail down and flaked in minutes, or haul anchor and have the sails up in no time. Tacking and jibing was smooth as butter. Everyone was interested in learning more about sailing, so it became like a sailing school with each captain surrounded by little pods of students scattered about the boat.

Our second adventure was to take Zenaida to the north side of Anguilla to Road Bay where we met the family and took them on a day trip to Prickly Pear Kay. This was a small desert island north of Anguilla with nothing on it except two restaurants. It is tiny, isolated, uninhabited and surrounded by coral reef. We had a lovely lunch there and the 2 young girls in the family really enjoyed the birds that would eat sugar from your hands. We also finally got a good look at those large lizards I had seen down in Bequia as the girls chased them all over the beach. Some people went snorkeling and others just lounged on the beach watching us bury the youngest girl to the neck in sand. We took the whole family sailing back around the island to the villa and watched the sunset on board amidst rum punch, cold beer, and excellent conversations. We anchored under sail in the dark in a cove we were now quite familiar with and arrived just in time for the older girl's birthday party to begin. There was live steel pan music on the patio, and piles of lobster, giant prawns, mahi mahi, and ribs being grilled to perfection by the chef, Sylvester. He was an intriguing Sagittarian rasta with dreads piled up inside his chef's hat and plenty of stories to tell. It was a great evening full of succulent seafood, fine wine, Caribbean music, and great company. At one point at dinner one of them was telling a story and using his hands to gesture illustrations of his tale. His brother in law came up behind him where he sat at the table and started mimicing his movements grossly exaggerated. We all started laughing and the guy telling the story thought we were laughing at his story so he got even more animated thus causing his mimicer to increase in amplitude as well and reverberating back to the audience whom were all dying laughing unable to contain ourselves, falling out of our chairs. Mostly we were laughing because the crazier it got we couldn't believe that he thought we were just laughing at his story and yet he never turned around... Finally as we were all red in the face, about to pee our pants and choke on our wine, he gestured largely enough that he caught a glimpse of his unknown tormentor out of the corner of his eye and the gig was up. His realization of the situation only made us laugh the harder. I don't think I have laughed so hard in my life. My sides ached for days after. We had been welcomed into the fold like family and felt extremely comfortable spending time with this exceptional group of people.


Some friends of theirs arrived during the party who were on another boat. Much shit talking ensued and challenges were made. There was supposed to be some racing out in front of the villa the next morning, but unfortunately the owners of the other boat were not particularly excited to join our little party. For the next few days we took a number of people out on several hour sails broken up by meal breaks and nap breaks. There was usually between two and eight guests on board for these sails and they were more sailing school oriented, going on short tacks back and forth between Anguilla and St Martin, practicing making turns and going around objects and maneuvering in close quarters. At one point we were under full sail, going about 8 knots, halfway between Anguilla and St Martin, about 3 miles out from anything. Ben was on the bow with several people pointing out sail shapes and tell tales. Francis was in the cockpit with a guest at the helm. He was tutoring him in the finer points of steering a close hauled course but at that moment had 2 beers in his hands and was using them to gesture and express his points. Sam was midship lounging under the boom chatting with some guests while I was out in the bosun's chair swinging off a halyard. As I climbed back aboard, he glanced up at Francis who was just opening the 2nd beer with his hands completely full and a rookie at the wheel. He looked at me and said "Jump off the boat." I was like "Are you sure?" He said "Jump off the boat." Without another word I took a runing start and dove off the windward side. When I tell people that I did this they look at me like I'm crazy. Even seasoned sailors. What if the boat left you behind? Weren't you scared of sharks? What if they didn't find you?


I didn't feel one ounce of fear jumping off that boat. Nor was I afraid watching the boat recede in the distance ahead. I do admit that for a few seconds I did think about sharks and I actually stopped treading water and just floated still as I had heard that sharks usually only attack humans by accident mistaking them for seals splashing about. But I had absolute confidence in my 3 captains. In any case, it was an impressive show. I wish I had been on board to see Francis' face when I first jumped off with his hands all full. But the reaction was instantaneous. They used it as a student drill and everyone was quickly in motion. They had the jib down before I even noticed and then spun around in their figure eight and were heading back towards me in no time. All told I might have been in the water 2 minutes. A successful drill. Sam likes to tell this story while boasting about what a dedicated crew he has. The whole thing was quite a rush.


The charter as a whole was great fun an I think the entire family really enjoyed their sailing experience with us. We said our goodbyes and sailed back to St Martin feeling very satisfied.