Saba Rock to Anegada

Finally – we were headed to Anegada!  Located about 15 miles from the north end of Virgin Gorda, we didn’t make it to this remote island on our charter last year so we were looking forward to exploring Anegada on this trip. Since the island has several tricky reefs to avoid, we needed to leave early to ensure the sun was high overhead for good visibility on our arrival.

After a beautiful sunrise over Bitter End, we headed north with 20 kt winds and enjoyed a nice sail. It felt great to see the wide open ocean before us, with land only visible aft. The sail over was great, albeit a bit rough compared to what we had experience inside the protect area you get from most of the BVI.

As we entered the channel, to Anegada’s main mooring field, it was shallower than we anticipated. I kept watch with Jeff at the bow and John was at the helm, we made our way gingerly between the dark patches and secured to a mooring. The shallow water and small/tight mooring field made it a bit tricky.

There was a ball approx. 15′ to our stern and our ball appeared a bit “suspect” with a milk jug and line shortened, however we dove down on it and all looked fine. The shortened line was likely to keep us away from the ball behind us.

No sooner had we set down the boat hook, we had a visitor. “Sam with a capital S” stopped by to offer us his warmest island welcome and an invitation to his restaurant for a grilled lobster dinner.

We were then greeted  by the remainder of the welcome party.

Anegada is an island formed from coral reef rather than volcanoes, and well known for good diving and snorkeling along the north shore at Loblolly Bay. Since it was about a 20 min drive to the other side, we decided a taxi would be wiser than scooters. Good choice since the roads were not smooth, it would have been an uncomfortable ride on a scooter. And our friendly taxi driver, stopped along the way to let us see the flamingo pond and slowed down as we passed several goats and cows, strolling and even snoozing in the middle of the road. They hardly moved as we drove past!

The beach at Loblolly Bay was gorgeous but the wind was really blowing strong, about 25kt.

 

We had to swim out a ways off shore to reach the reef but it was worth the effort. Great coral and fish, however with the strong winds the water was a bit murky. As we waited for our taxi, we had a chance to look around, and even got refreshed with a heavy rain. It always passes quickly though and the sun soon returned to dry us.

After our snorkeling fun, we did some exploring along the bay near our boat. Peggy & I were thrilled to find Pam’s Kitchen, a local bakery next to Neptune’s Treasure that was well-stocked with fresh cinnamon buns!

Advisable to wear something on your feet while exploring…the sand spurs were everywhere and even followed us back to the boat!

The guys enjoyed a beer at Potters by the Sea and we were impressed to spot a Canadian flag.

While enjoying the gorgeous views from Potters, we met an Australian couple with 2 kids who were desperately searching for quarters for the local laundry. The couple had just bought a Lagoon 420 and were learning to sail as they went…what a great idea!

We made dinner reservations and went for a lovely walk on the beach before sunset towards Pomato Point. As we rounded the tip the beach veered north, providing a lovely calm bay on the leeward side, where a large yacht was anchored all by themselves.

back to the boat to get cleaned up for our lobster dinner at potters…VIP seating…

 

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Leverick Bay & Saba Rock
Anegada to Leverick Bay

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