Anguilla
If it’s Saturday, it must be Anguilla, or so it has turned out on this expedition. With an unusual heavy swell from the north - the aftermath of unseasonal storms in the orth Atlantic - we sought an anchorage in what under normal conditions would have been the more exposed side of the island of Anguilla. This long, low island that evidently reminded the first Spanish explorers of an eel, has some of the finest beaches, and cuisine, in the Caribbean. Its rocky terrain inhibited the development of the plantation system with the result that patterns of land ownership and social deference on the island contrasts markedly with other Caribbean islands. Its recent political history is also anomalous. A British colony since the seventeenth century, Anguilla became independent in 1962 as part of the new nation - entirely the product of a bureaucratic mind in the Colonial Office in London - of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. The three islands were mutually suspicious of each other from the start, to such an extent that the so-called Anguilla Revolution took place on the 30th of May in 1967; the local inhabitants forced the St Kitts police force off the island and demanded to return to direct rule from London. There are few examples of anti-decolonisation in modern history, so for a historian, this fact provided a frisson of interest to add to the morning beach visit.
But sand, surf and snorkeling are what a visit to Anguilla is all about. We were able to land at Cove Bay by Zodiac and take full advantage of this Caribbean beach paradise for the entire morning, before returning to the ship for a final afternoon's sail towards Antigua. As an end-of-voyage rendez-vous, Smokey's Bar could scarcely be bettered. A chance to share the highlights of a memorable week under sail in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.
If it’s Saturday, it must be Anguilla, or so it has turned out on this expedition. With an unusual heavy swell from the north - the aftermath of unseasonal storms in the orth Atlantic - we sought an anchorage in what under normal conditions would have been the more exposed side of the island of Anguilla. This long, low island that evidently reminded the first Spanish explorers of an eel, has some of the finest beaches, and cuisine, in the Caribbean. Its rocky terrain inhibited the development of the plantation system with the result that patterns of land ownership and social deference on the island contrasts markedly with other Caribbean islands. Its recent political history is also anomalous. A British colony since the seventeenth century, Anguilla became independent in 1962 as part of the new nation - entirely the product of a bureaucratic mind in the Colonial Office in London - of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. The three islands were mutually suspicious of each other from the start, to such an extent that the so-called Anguilla Revolution took place on the 30th of May in 1967; the local inhabitants forced the St Kitts police force off the island and demanded to return to direct rule from London. There are few examples of anti-decolonisation in modern history, so for a historian, this fact provided a frisson of interest to add to the morning beach visit.
But sand, surf and snorkeling are what a visit to Anguilla is all about. We were able to land at Cove Bay by Zodiac and take full advantage of this Caribbean beach paradise for the entire morning, before returning to the ship for a final afternoon's sail towards Antigua. As an end-of-voyage rendez-vous, Smokey's Bar could scarcely be bettered. A chance to share the highlights of a memorable week under sail in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.
