February 25, 2011 In a puff, spring a luff; In a lull, keep em full.

Too windy to sleep out on the tramp last night, but because I do enjoy sleeping outside so much I decided to spend the night in the cockpit.  With all the wind, I sat up until around 1am convinced that our anchor was slowly dragging, and after dozing off for about an hour I woke with a start at 2am and realized we really hadn't moved at all.  It was just my eyes playing tricks on me in the dark and the wide swing of our boat in all the wind.  

At 7am Mike R. went ashore by dinghy to check us out of customs.  When he returned we pulled anchor and went just around the corner to Anse de Colombier, which we passed by yesterday on our way to Gustavia. Colombier is a beautiful little cove, only accessible by boat.  There is, however, a small goat trail (Extremely rugged, rocky and narrow) that one can walk by foot from Gustavia to Colombier.

We set our anchor and stayed there for a couple hours.  First we had some breakfast prepared by Mark and Jen. They made a very delicious and tasty egg dish with sauteed onions, tomatoes and seasonings. It was so good!  After that Gabe and I were quick to don fins, mask, and snorkel and get in the water.  This would be our best snorkeling adventure yet!  As we made our way from the boat to shore, we saw a large sea turtle in just 20' of water.  I took a breath and dove down right next to it, so close I could touch it!  I took a photo and just thought it was so incredible to be alongside this very graceful animal.  I've never swam with a sea turtle like that before -- what a treat! As we continued our swim in to shore we saw from a distance 3 forms underneath the hull of another anchored boat.  

As we approached and visibility allowed them to come more into focus Gabe started shouting something excitedly through his snorkel.  It's very hard to understand "snorkel talk" but I could tell he was saying, "Are those sharks?! Are those SHARKS!?!?" I was laughing so hard! He was too. I nudged him and he poked his head up.  I told him yes they appeared to be 3 very small sharks we should be fine.  How exciting!  Personally I hate sharks probably more than anyone you know, but as with most things I try to embrace my fear.  I waited until we reached the shore to ask Gabe where does he suppose their parents are? I had brought a small mesh bag with our sandals so we could do some exploring once on shore.   We put on our sandals and stowed our snorkeling gear up on the rocks.  We then hiked up and over the hillside, found the goat trail that leads to Gustavia, and also an expansive view spanning beyond 180-degrees exposing the huge channel of ocean we would be sailing into and across later today.  Gabe and I hiked down the easterly side of the point. "X's" on the map sketch  indicate where we traveled down the hillside to the water.  To get down to the bottom of the hill we had to navigate through bushes and cactus on rugged rocky terrain - great thing we brought our sandals!  Once down the hill, huge rocks lined the shore with big ocean rolling waves crashing up and over behind them.  There were lots of tide pools with snails, crabs and fish.  We would've liked to explore more, but time constraints required us to get back to the boat so we could get underway.

We sailed today like we've never sailed before -- winds of 30kts and the largest swells yet!  We were literally surfing down most of these waves, it was thrilling!  Our top speed on the knot-meter hit 14.0!  Far faster than I've ever moved under sail before.  We sailed for almost 6hrs across the St. Barthélemy Channel, up around St. Martin, and all the way up to Anguilla.  We approached Anguilla on its east side, went by Phillipsburg, and anchored in Road Bay.  We anchored at 3:50pm and customs closes at 4:00pm.  So as soon as our anchor set, we launched the dinghy and Mike R., Gabe and I went ashore.  While Mike was clearing customs, Gabe and I walked the beach. Anguilla has a lot of coconut palms naturally growing.  While walking the beach with Gabe he told me he learned how to climb coconut palms in Jamaica.  He showed me how to leverage your feet against the tree by bending your body and extending your arms straight out in order to climb.  He made it clear to the top of the tree! I was very impressed.  This was at the north-east part of the bay.   Gabe told me how delicious fresh coconut water is, and about 50yds down the beach was "Elvis' Bar"  They didn't have coconut water, but they did have excellent rum punch! Talking with a local at the bar, we're told Elvis' Bar is the most popular bar on all Anguilla.  I'm not sure about that... I asked about celebrities and was told, yes, it's not uncommon to spot them here because the locals don't bother them.  Mike finished at customs and came walking down the beach so I gladly got him a rum punch too. 

Gabe and I walked the beach south to "Sand Bar" and the bartender gave us a freshly picked coconut from his tree.  We're looking forward to cracking into that for some fresh coconut water!  We then returned to the boat and prepared for dinner.  It's Gabe, Mike R., and my turn to cook so the first order of business was firing up the BBQ.  Steak, potatos, and salad are on the menu!  It appears the match-light charcoal got wet while underway, and lighting them was very near impossible. We tried using some vegetable oil, but that didn't work.  Then we used some rum (it pained us to do so!), but still the charcoal wouldn't take.  Eventually I hopped in the dinghy, disconnected its gas tank (yes, you know where this is headed!) and dumped a liberal helping of gasoline on the pile of charcoal.  One match strike later our BBQ was ablaze!  I can only imagine how this fireball must've looked from the many other boats moored near us.  After that there was no problem at all getting some red hot coals to cook on.  Following dinner I became so tired from all the day's activities that I crashed around 10pm.  Tomorrow we're off to Prickly Pear Island and Crocus Bay, Anguilla!