Anegada sits off by itself, barely above sea level, and water. he stopped and announced that this was the
surrounded by reefs. Fortunately, the trade winds were highest point on the island.
a bit south of east, so we were able to crack off our With few other sailboats in the anchorage, we had
sheets slightly and have a fantastic sail at 9 knots. much of Loblolly Beach to ourselves and had another
Another personal milestone was achieved en route – fine afternoon of snorkelling. For dinner, Anegada
see photo. We caught our lunch! We managed to land lobster, of course, at neptune’s treasure.
this monster cero – a cross between a mackerel and After a somewhat uncomfortable night in the
a tuna apparently – and thoroughly enjoyed our first exposed anchorage and much muttering about hotels
sushi of the trip. that don’t move during the night, we retraced our
Without Glenn aboard, however, we never would steps back towards sir Francis Drake Channel, caught
have attempted the tricky navigation and the shallow our lunch again, snorkelled one last time and spent the
channel given Valour’s 8-foot draft. As we closed with night in splendid isolation anchored off Cooper Island.
Anegada’s charted position, we couldn’t see a thing. saturday was boat cleaning in the morning before our
As I began the conversation with Glenn about his new friend Glenn dropped us at the airport for our
navigational error and the Gps showed us reaching flight back to Antigua.
the outer reefs, we saw a solitary tree. Within a few not only was the week aboard Valour an incredible
minutes Glenn had guided us in through the narrow gift from my friend, hal, but Glenn, our skipper, was
channel, and we were ashore exploring an incredibly good company, too. equally important, he did a great
flat island. At one point, the taxi driver went over a job of keeping the pressure off me. Usually I’m the
bridge that was elevated maybe four feet above the skipper, and as my racing crew knows, I’m not a
particularly quiet one – something my family has little
Scenes from a sailing holiday (top to
tolerance for. If I’d been the skipper, no doubt I would
bottom):
have been preoccupied and nervous at times, probably
Bethany received advanced steering
making me grumpier than usual! Instead, I was relaxed,
tuition.
thoroughly enjoying the sailing on such a pedigree craft
lunch!
and, with Glenn in charge, my family was happy to be
more adventurous than they might have without him,
Ian’s first snorkelling adventure.
sailing for longer stretches, anchoring in out of the way
Ian and Sam get swept away by the
places not found in many charter guides and making
bubbling pool in Virgin Gorda.
the crossing to Anegada and back.
laser regatta at Bitter End Yacht Club.
In the past, I would never have thought I would
Two skippers debating the world’s finest
want to be aboard a boat without being in charge. But
sailboats over a sundowner
after this experience, I can assure you, if the Caribbean
has been calling your name, you would do well to
consider hiring a crewed charter yacht. Your crew
will no doubt be happy with the result. even if you’re
set on a bareboat charter, power or sail, but you’re
a little unsure of your capabilities, you can reassure
both yourself and your family by hiring a skipper for a
couple of days to get you started.
I won’t know for a little while if another Caribbean
cruise is in the cards for next year. But I’m pretty
confident that I have figured out the formula so I might
make it happen again. n
Ian Atkins lives in Titchfield, UK, and is managing director
of YachtWorld.com and Boats.com.
MAY 2009 YACHTWORLD.COM 43
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