Our Own Desert Island

Road Bay, Anguilla

Looking at Gem's photos taken some 30 years we were really impressed with Prickly Pear Cays and Dog Island off Anguilla. So when we heard that nowadays they are part of a National Park and a permit it required to go visit them, it didn't put us off. When we cleared into Anguilla, we were allowed to clear out at the same time if we left the island within 24 hours. With this in mind we opted to stay in the capital, Road Bay for a night then spend the day at the two islands before doing a night passage to the British Virgin Islands. Price of a day cruising permit is EC$40 or £10 /$15 – well worth it.

Orion at anchor

Approximately 5 miles away from the mainland, Prickly Pear Cays is a big reef open to the swells and easterly winds providing no shelter. Luckily when we arrived the wind was just under 20 knots making the bay bearable and we picked up a mooring. That in itself was some mission as the wind was blowing right on the nose, pushing us off the minute Dylan slowed the engine and I went to grab the mooring ball with the boat hook. After 3 attempts I hooked it and quickly cleated it off. There were no other boats in the bay when we arrived but just as our joy subsided we clocked a day charterer catamaran cruising in. O well – the cruising guide had warned us of this.

Dropping some snacks, sun tan lotion and camera into a dry bag we jumped in and swan through the swells to shore. A lot further than we estimated we were most proud of ourselves when we waded ashore and looked back at Orion. Navigating some sharp rocks in our bare feet, we covered ourselves up and opted to go the opposite way to the day charter boat, straight into a bird colony. These birds didn't like us being there very much, but not perturbed by their squawks we plodded on, looking for nice shells and appreciating the isolation on this tiny island. We eventually hit dense vegetation and after a few cactus scratches, we gave up and tried the other side of the island. Dylan being an avid Ray Mears fan clearly should have brought his gerber!

Exploring over at Prickly Pear Cays we slipped the mooring line and motored a couple of miles to Dog Island. Now this is some place. A little further away from the mainland this is a sailor's dream. No boats in sight, long sandy beaches and the promise of being a modern day Christopher Columbus. This 'bay' is totally in the elements, poor Orion was tossed from side to side as we dropped the anchor and battled with 30 knot gust winds. Although a little tricky and uncomfortable to stay on the boat, it is totally worth it. We again swam ashore and were rewarded with a whole island to ourselves. Even Richard Branson on Necker Island is never alone due to his army of staff running around him and probably does not get the same experience as us.

A fine sandy white beach runs along the south side of the island, a salt lake is in the middle and then a rock strewn coast to the north. A couple of shacks were dotted about the place which looks like some environmental research is done here – although what we don't know as we didn't spot anything worth studying.

I was overwhelmed with the amount of shells to collect. Everywhere I looked there were shells worthy of being in my (albeit small) collection. In the shallows the water was crystal clear providing an unrestricted view of the ocean floor strewn with undamaged cone shells, olives, conch, sand dollars. I got to work straight away donning the mask and snorkel and bobbing up and down collecting handfuls of shells, depositing on the beach and then going back for more. Dylan, amused at the sight of my ass constantly in the air diving down then bobbing back up again came to join me which was great as it meant I could also fill his pockets! I felt like I was a contestant on the crystal maze when they shove you in a plastic booth and blow out £20 notes to see how many you can collect. The swell was quite big and so with every crashing wave the sand was thrown up covering the layer of shells that you were just looking at, you had to move quite fast to rescue your find else it was lost to the sea.

My shell collection

Dylan interrupted my fun by spotting a particularly large ugly dark cloud coming our way, with our hatches open we swam back to the boat heavily laden with our finds just in time before the heavens opened and we were treated to a natural fresh water power shower.

Ourselves and Orion squeaky clean we ate some din dins and prepared for a night passage to the BVIs.