Private jets and Superyachts

We left Barbuda at around 5-30 pm for another overnight sail. We wanted to go quite slowly in order not to arrive before daylight so we set off under headsail with the wind aft of the beam. However, although we wanted a slow sail, 3 knots was too slow and felt like we were wallowing. We decided to put up the reefed main and actually still managed the slow pace we had hoped for. we enjoyed a very pleasant sail and arrived off the island in the early morning. The wind had gone dead aft of the beam so a last minute gybe was needed to correct our final approach.

The anchorage appeared very crowded so we called up the port authority to ask if we could pick up one of the buoys we could see. Unfortunately, they were all private so we anchored way off the town. Also unfortunately, the anchorage was extremely rolly, as we had been told it was. There were private planes flying in all the time and there were huge numbers of super yachts, some bigger than cross channel ferries and one with two tenders bigger than Erica.

We went ashore and into the harbour office, where we were charged 18 euros for the privilege of staying on this rolly anchorage for two nights. At least there was a book swap and there were free showers too. A walk round the town was an eye opener. Most shops did not display prices on the "if you need to ask you cannot afford it" principle. We even found a supermarket with state of the art stainless steel shelves and no food prices. I did find one shop with a sale where I could have bought a swimsuit for a mere 150 euros.
We did manage to find a relatively normally priced supermarket, thank goodness, as well as the downmarket bar and cafe so we were able to eat and drink.

What with the price, the roll and the distance into town, we  only spent one full day there. We managed to find a lovely small shell beach just out of town where we had a swim and a picnic lunch.

We have met a couple later who told us of a secluded (though quite busy) anchorage just round the corner from the capital, where we were anchored. They enjoyed their stay there but we were anxious to press on to St. Maarten/St. Martin so, although we knew of this anchorage we decided to move on.