Captain's Log Page 16

Tideline Yacht Sales
17 Lockwood Drive
Charleston, SC 29401

PHONE: 843.813.3711
FAX: 866.467.8840
Email: glen@tidelineyachtsales.com

      Once we had done this, we decided to explore the town. Once again we found the contrast remarkable. There was obviously poverty, but the stores were what one would have expected to find on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. We strolled past these designer stores and found a Supermarche. We opted for our staple when in France, and bought a bottle of wine, some cheese and a baguette. This was to be repeated many times.

The time had arrived for my wife's aunt and uncle to visit. We went to the airport to pick them up. The runway is a landing strip that complies with international standards, but is most unusual in that it starts just off the beach and ends just before the edge of the lagoon. Not much margin for error.

Their flight landed on time, and we went over to the airport by dinghy. I am sure it must have been amusing for them to have flown from San Diego to Chicago, and then to St Maarten, and have to load their luggage, and themselves, into a dinghy. They took it in their stride, and we headed out to the boat.

After a good nights rest we showed them around the island as much as one could in one day. We decided to go to Anguilla for a couple of days, to give them the experience of sailing and cruising. Anguilla is a British island that is very close to St Maarten. We dropped anchor in Road Bay, the main town, and cleared into customs and immigration. After that we decided to go to the next anchorage and snorkel. It is a popular destination for day tours, but we had the bay to ourselves. On the way we decided to go to a small "island" called Sandy Island. It is a beach no longer than 300 yards, and probably not wider than 100 yards. Aside from the snack hut that is on the island it is completely uninhabited and uninhabitable. We swam and snorkeled there for a while, which gave us the feeling of swimming in the middle of the ocean. In certain respects that's exactly what we were doing.

After a while we sailed to the bay adjoining Road Town. It was a short dinghy ride to the snorkeling area, and we spent many hours enjoying the beach, the pelicans and the fish. The next day we decided to go back to Road Town to find lobster and fish. Anguilla is known for its lobster, and we were fortunate enough to find the vendor who sold to the restaurants. He had a shack on the beach, and opened a large sack for us to choose the lobsters. After picking some lobsters and Red Snapper we picked up anchor and went back to the anchorage. We had the entire anchorage and beach to ourselves, and went ashore to clean the fish and lobster. That meal, with the wines we had, is still fresh in my memory. continue to page 17 >>