Anguilla 3-25

Start the day in Road Bay of Anguilla. It looks much nicer in the daylight, with a beautiful sand beach ringing the bay. After breakfast we dinghy in to clear customs. This is not a fast process, but the kids are happy, they get to play on the beach the whole time. Anguilla has the strictest regulations in the Caribbean. There are only 2 anchorages that you can stay overnight. Going anywhere outside of Road Bay requires a cruising permit at $80 per day. We sort out the details and finalize our stay for 3 days, including one day of cruising for $100. If needed we can always add more days of cruising to see more of the marine parks, but time is running a bit short for our trip to St. Barts and back to the USVI before next Friday.

Once back at the boat, we bend the rules a bit to sail over to Crocus Bay (the other overnight anchorage) to see if it is worth paying the extra $$ for a night there. It’s scenic, but no beach, and only a couple of buildings on shore. We decide we aren’t missing out on much by staying in Road Bay. By the time we return to Road Bay, many of the boats have left and we are able to get a prime anchoring spot right up near shore, close enough for the kids to kayak in. Tracy and I take the dinghy in, and meet them on the beach to have lunch at Roy’s. Roy’s is a semi famous place on the island, with R0y and his parrot Roberts running the place. There are bird feeders everywhere and lots of goldfinches. Delaina is in her bird watching paradise. On closer view, the parrot in the cage is fake. There’s a sign on the wall explaining that Roberts was getting old and needed more peace and quiet, so he stays elsewhere on the island.

Lunch is surprisingly uninspiring. Bland sandwiches on hot dog buns. Maybe we are just spoiled from the great food on St. Martin. So the food isn’t great, but the drinks are good and the beach chairs and umbrella make up for it.

 

Back on the boat we have a perfect view of the sunset. There are some clouds on the horizon, but I manage to see the last of the sun disappear into the water, and for the first time actually see the green flash as it sinks!