Anguilla is only about ten miles away from Saint Martin, yet it seems to be one of the least visited places by other cruisers. I think a big part of the reason is that the costs of clearing in and out of customs, as well as the cost to anchor tend to be arbitrary in most Caribbean countries and Anguilla is sometimes rumored to be the most expensive place around.
Turns out that is both true and false. One spot, called Road Bay (Sandy Ground) is completely free. Zero dollars to anchor, zero dollars to clear in, zero dollars to check out. Every other place, however, would have cost us $209 per day and at the end of the day, we still would have had to come anchor overnight in Road Bay. Essentially the entire island and all the small surrounding islands are a massive marine reserve.
All that really meant was that we spent most of our time in Sandy Ground and had to rent a car to get anyplace else.
Friend Boats
We managed to convince two friend boats to join us for the trip north. Again, it’s only a few hours and the sailing is pretty good since it is north/south and the wind here is typically out of the east. This meant fast, comfortable sailing. One boat, Out and About, was also needing to make sure some repairs were good as well before they got too far from the capabilities of Saint Martin. We kept leaning on our friends aboard Curious (whom we met in Sainte-Anne right after their Atlantic crossing) to join us as well, and the morning we departed, they finally decided to join us.
This is in no way meant to disparage any other friend boats we have had so far cruising, but the kid matches between our three boats were amazing. All three boats have a boy two years older than their girl, and all of the kids were within a year or so of each other. Additionally, all three boys are interested in Dungeons and Dragons and all of the kids get along remarkably well.
Our first night in the anchorage, we had the crew of Curious on the Sea Hoss for a few hours awaiting the arrival of Out and About (they had a few small issues getting underway). The kids played like lunatics down below while us adults hung out topside. Then, it was decided that all six kids would be sleeping over at Curious for the night. It was both of our kids first sleepover, so they were pretty excited. The boys all slept on the main saloon drop-down table while the girls slept up on the trampoline (until it rained then they moved back to the cockpit).
We stayed over hanging out with the other adults until 1am or so and then everyone was back on Curious around 7 or 8 the next morning for gluten free waffles :) The boys and Geoff (the dad of Out and About) all played some D&D in the morning as well, and it was very clear that Dublin was having one of the best times he’s had in his life.
They were such amazing hosts and all of us, kids and adults alike, had a really great time. I felt kind of bad that we only hosted a little bit on the first day, but SV Curious can probably fit 2-3 SV Sea Horses inside so it was the natural fit. In addition to having a huge catamaran that is great for hosting, Kirke seems to have unbounded energy and unless she was really good at faking, is an excellent host. The next day, we hung out on the beach most of the day. Right near the dinghy dock is pretty crowded with fishing boats on little moorings, but a short walk down the beach it was wide open with soft sand and a cool shipwreck.
We hung out with our friends every day we were there, which was an amazing addition to an already cool place. The final day there Dublin invited the other boys over for board game time since the three of them have such a huge overlap in interests.
Anchorage
The anchorage was really pretty calm. Not a ton of traffic and since the entire island is a marine reserve, there were no jet skis, etc. chopping up the water. It was just windy enough though that the visibility wasn’t great so even though there was a cool sunken floating bar (irony, anyone?) right next to us, we never bothered to snorkel it. There was a silly boat right near us called the Damit Janet 5, so we got a good laugh out of wondering how long the owner and Janet have been divorced.
One evening we saw a couple of tiny sailboats at the outside of the anchorage, we all realized that it was a group of guys who build and race these little boats for fun. They were really proud of their boats and wanted to share the joy with us so they encouraged us all to dinghy around the boats as they raced for an hour or two until the sun set.
Rental Car
Since we weren’t allowed to explore the island by boat, or even by dinghy, we rented a car. Actually, we all pitched in and rented a van. I’m super glad we did because the weather was pretty hit and miss and not everything on our little island tour went to plan. When you are 12 friends crammed in a van though, somehow the worse the weather gets and the worse the road condition gets, the funner it gets.
We stopped at a fishing village on the north shore and saw the sea just pounding the shore. The wind was really intense and we were all really happy with how well protected the small bay of Road Town was since being at anchor up here would have been dangerous. You can see everybody’s hair blasting back on the fishing pier.
They had a cut-out thing and we all took turns putting our faces in. The moms clearly understood the assignment best though.
Apparently, unlike virtually every other island in the Caribbean, Anguilla was not a sugar island but rather a cotton island. We stopped at the now defunct museum of the island’s history. They had some small cannons and also the gas-powered cotton gin that apparently was one of only a few that processed all 100,000+ pounds per year that the island produced in its peak.
We also stopped at the Wallblake House, the oldest structure on the island.
On the same property was a really cool old stone church that had the look of a community building project, rather than a massive money-grab.
We planned to do some hiking early on on the east end of the island but the pounding rain and poor road conditions sent us the other way. Around lunch time, we stopped off at what turned out to be a really good grocery store. They had a huge gluten free aisle so we got some pancake mix and other snacks. They also had blue plate specials for about $10 that were enough food for two, so we sat down at the picnic table out front and enjoyed some local eats.
A little ways down the road we stopped off at a small, somewhat overgrown cemetery. There was a headstone of someone who lived to be 101, and the oldest headstone was over 90 years old. I’m not sure how it was so overgrown though because it was packed with goats when we got there. Clearly the grass wasn’t to their liking.
We got a few minutes away and heard, as well as saw, an ice cream truck! If you know me, you know that I put the pedal to the floor and chased that truck down. We caught up to it and boy howdy!
The last stop on the island tour was the massive arch on the west coast. I recalled seeing it from the water on our sail up from SXM, but it was more beautiful up close.
The cliff-lined coastline all along the northwest peninsula of Anguilla was really beautiful as seen from the Sea Horse on our way in, as well as from the side of the road while driving around. I really think far more cruisers need to make this place a stop.
On the way back to the boats, we stopped at Meades Bay for a couple of hours to play in the waves and have a few cold drinks on shore. It’s a beautiful beach with a crazy shorebreak but somehow no rip currents, so the kids had a blast getting smashed around and we didn’t even have to be worried the whole time.
Sombrero Island
The trip from Anguilla to the British Virgin Islands is an overnight passage since it’s a bit too far to sail between sunrise and sunset. So, we decided to take a chance and stop en route at a super remote island that pretty much no one ever goes to. The reviews that we were able to find made it sound pretty cool with some abandoned buildings and nesting Boobies.
The sail up was a good sail, though the sea state was a bit sporty and uncomfortable. We made it to Sombrero and could tell right away that the little ladder needed to climb up the cliffs was beyond our capabilities as a family. The swell was about 1.5 meters and the ladder was over a meter above the waterline over some rocks at the peak of the swell and 2+ meters above the waterline at the troughs.
So that was a little bit of a bummer. However, we dropped the SUP boards in and paddled over to get a closer look at the shoreline and buildings. The place is kind of eerie since it is so remote and untraveled. The landscape looks like the moon with some crazy old carnival rides on top. Pictures don’t capture the strangeness.
The kids had an extended swim call off the back of the Hoss while I made us dinner and tried to get a little rest before our planned 8pm departure for the BVIs.
Well, as the weather started coming on, the eeriness continued to build and it was a little bit scary at times. The lightening bolts and flashes were within a mile (using the 4 seconds per mile rule) and were coming every few seconds. The rain kept on coming as well and a quick look at our radar screen seemed to always just show the storm sitting on us.
We did finally get underway with a rough, yet swift passage to the BVIs, but it was a few hours late since we were waiting for the worst of a squall to pass us by. All’s well that ends well and I would make the same decisions again in hindsight.