Conditions out in the channel between Anguilla and St. Martin looked just right, so when we all got aboard Zanshin today I set a couple of reefs in the mainsail and two reefs in the genoa and we set off on a sail to Anse des Pères via a detour to Anguilla. As soon as we’d passed Creole Rock the winds picked up and Nick, Sascha and Corinna took turns at the helm of Zanshin while we were zipping along at 7-9 knots with a bit of heel. After the exhilarating sail we cruised into the bay and joined a single solitary anchored boat and soon the paddle-board was inflated and seeing use. The waters in Friar’s Bay aren’t quite as clear as I expected, but it is still warm and clean water. We spent the whole day anchored out, eating a small lunch of baguettes and (very smelly ripe) Brie and consuming copious amounts of ginger ale and water between bouts of swimming and reading e-books.
We returned to Grand Case and anchored just in time to catch the setting sun before we opened up a bottle of bubbly to mark the end of the day. My attempts to point out satellites crossing the heavens were foiled by some clouds moving through the anchorage as well as just bad timing, but we’ll have a chance to see that tomorrow or the day after, when we should be safely ensconced in a quiet anchorage with no light pollution coming from shore.
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