Beware, Paradise has teeth!
We are back in English Harbour once more, having taking Ben and Steph on a nine day whistle stop tour of Barbuda and the wilder anchorages of Antigua. We had been worried that by recommending they meet us in Antigua they would not have such a good deal as our previous guests but this proved to be far from the case. Our first stop was in Nonsuch Bay , anchoring in the lee of the perfect little palm fringed beach at Green Island , with miles of turquoise water fringed by reefs in which to swim and explore. Next stop Barbuda , 40 miles to the North , where we had 11 miles of classic tropical sandy shore to ourselves ( if you don’t count the turtles and the pelicans) and the colours of sea ,sky and sand were simply unbelievable.
| From great bird island |
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| From great bird island |
The Trade Winds are back , and indeed for a day or two were really quite fresh , so that our next port of call required two anchors to keep us in place. Great Bird Island is among a small archipelago on the fringing reef to the East of the main island of Antigua , and separated from it by 3 miles of coral studded water . One of the pilot books suggested that if you didn’t navigate through here with your heart in your mouth you would probably come a cropper , and with 25 to 30 knots the water was difficult to read so we were palpitating nicely ! We made it without incident and were rewarded with a shallow bay formed by 3 little islands and protected on each flank by reefs. Great Bird island itself consists of a long thin cliff to the East and a hillock to the West , connected by a low lying palm covered spit with perfect sandy beaches on each edge. Best of all , perhaps because of the wind , we had it all to ourselves !
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| From great bird island |
The first birds we met on our trip across the Atlantic were the elegant Tropic birds , first seen many hundreds of miles from land ,so we were delighted to see that they too had made a landfall and were nesting in large numbers on the seaward side of the cliffs . Half a mile away by canoe are two other islands where a big colony of pelicans were nesting , and soaring high above them all , frigate birds watched greedily for any scraps they might pick up. Under the water the reefs teemed with fish , whilst stingrays patrolled the sand and turtles fed on the sea grass. By the second day the wind had moderated and for a few hours in the middle of the day several boatloads of tourists came to wander over “our “ island (!) and snorkel over “our “ reefs , but by mid afternoon we once more had the place to ourselves . Rum punches at sunset on the cliffs , looking west over the anchorage and the turquoise sound beyond was our best days end so far.
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| From great bird island |
It is amazing how quickly nine days pass, and all too soon we were waving goodbye. Steph remarked that it wouldn’t be long before we met again back in England and the instant reaction of Lynda and I ( “Oh no , we don’t want this to stop!”) was interesting , and made us realise that the Caribbean has so far exceeded our expectations . Both of us had imagined it might be dirty , overcrowded and full of hassle , but as Great Bird island proved , nothing could be further from the case.
Our previous sojourn in English Harbour coincided with the early finishers of the Transatlantic Rowing race , and in the intervening nine days , many more have arrived. The fresh winds claimed one victim as a tired crew were driven ,at night , into a bay just 3 miles east of English harbour. Like many a vessel before them they were embayed , swept over the reef and capsized amongst the inshore coral heads . The much battered boat is now moored up with the rest and judging by the damage, must have been pounded upside down on the reef for some time before rescue craft , alerted by the EPIRB ,arrived to tow them home. It is a salutary reminder that if you relax too much , Paradise has teeth!