50 Not Out - Day 5. Off to Anegada

Anegada isn't a particularly long trip from North Sound, only about 12 1/2 miles but, because Anegada is very flat indeed, you can't see it so it feels like you're heading off into the unknown.

The guides all recommend arriving at Anegada around noon so that you have a good chance of seeing any coral heads in case you get you bearings wrong. We headed off from Leverick Bay at around 8:30 am to make sure that we managed that, having filled up again with water and managed to purchase ice from the two endearingly incompetent guys who run the fuel dock at Leverick Bay.

We had a great sail up to Anegada with a nice broad reach taking us up there in decent time. Missy was a bit concerned that every other boat was slightly to the West of us, but the waypoints and advice about the current from Walker Mangum's excellent Anegada navigation page proved to be correct and most of the other boats had to turn towards the entrance channel from some distance out.

Anegada gradually appears over the horizon trees-first. They're the only thing that is over 35' high. As you get a little closer, the trees get a little more defined and the water turns from this.














To this.














And then to this.




It really is the most stunning spot and we sat for some time just drinking in the colours (and the Red Stripes of course).

We were a little concerned about the water depth at the mooring here. At low tide we had all of 6" under the keel, but with no appreciable swell and a soft, sandy bottom, there wasn't much of an issue.


There are three restaurants on this side of Anegada: Neptune's Treasure; Potters, and the Anegada Reef Hotel. They all ask you to reserve your table *and* what you'd like to eat by 4pm so that they know how many people they're serving and what they need to throw on the oil-drum grills. They also tell you what time to show up. Our choice for the first evening was lobster at Neptune's Treasure.

Sitting at our table at the water's edge, watching the sunset, drinking wine and waiting for our lobsters to arrive, I realised that, to my surprise, it can actually get better than Leverick Bay.

Wow.