Sailing the Caribbean – St Maarten & Anguilla March 2012

St Martin & Anguilla March 2012
We were only 2 up on Ibis for the last week of the season, but that didn’t stop Christine and I having a blast in Anguilla and St Maarten…

A Swell Start for Christine

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ur trip started out a bit shaky, Chris arrived in Marigot in some of the worst anchor conditions I’ve ever seen in St Martin… there was a 3 metre swell rolling in and the wind was howling. At around 1 in the morning we hauled anchor and headed into deeper water as the swell picked up, [pullquote_right]”Some of the worst anchor conditions I’ve ever seen in St Martin”[/pullquote_right]but even the deeper water in a more sheltered corner didn’t help as the wind picked up to over 40 knots that night and the waves lifted the bow so high that even our trusty Bruce anchor had trouble holding.

Thankfully it had mostly blown over by morning but we headed round to the Southern lee of St Martin to spend the next day or so out of the worst wind and swell conditions. We sailed along as far as Philipsburg, where the Disney Cruise Ship was docked, and which played “when you wish upon a star” on the horn as it motored out in the evening! and then came back along the coast to Simpson Bay before heading over to Anguilla to finish the week. After that first blustery couple of days we were rewarded with perfect weather, perfect sunsets and perfect sailing for the rest of our trip. And we even caught a fish!

Sailing to Anguilla

Anguilla was great fun, although it started late, the band playing in the Pumphouse were rocking the place and a chance sighting of Michael Jackson made our evening….what do you mean he’s dead??!! Rounding off the night at Elvis’s Beach Bar made for a late night and we sailed over to Prickly Pear Cay [pullquote_left]”a whale jumping almost out of the water”[/pullquote_left]the next morning to recover, chilling in the stunning blue water. As we sailed past Sandy Island we looked back to see a whale jumping almost out of the water as it swam East towards Shrub Island…whilst it would have been nice to get a bit closer, an animal that size demands a wide berth!

Our final Anguilla stop was at Cap Jaluca for lunch, some of the bluest waters and whitest, powdery sand to be found anywhere in the Caribbean and then a wonderful sunset sail to Simpson Bay to catch a beer in Buccaneers Bar.

Great trip and great memories, Christine, thankyou!

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