Cruising World – August 2019

Waypoints

34

C

ruising the Caribbean as an Australian is somewhat of

a novelty because it’s not a region that Aussies typical-

ly visit. Flights to the Caribbean are arduously long, and

prices are eye-wateringly expensive. However, Grenada is where

our new-to-us Moody 47, Roam, was located, so that was where

we commenced our journey. Before our family (myself, Dave, my

husband, and our three boys) set off from Adelaide and fl ew to

the other side of the world, I had never even heard of most of

the countries we have now visited. It wasn’t until we arrived in

Grenada and started speaking to cruisers and hearing of their

plans that I became familiar with islands such as Bequia,

Guadeloupe and Saba. Slowly, as we inched our way north, the

once-unusual names became familiar, and each new island

became home for the days, weeks or months that we graced their

shores. Now, having lived on our sailboat for more than

15 months, the Caribbean lifestyle is no longer foreign.

Of all the places we have visited, to me, the island of Barbuda

has felt like the most far-fl ung and unspoiled. Located 30 nautical

miles north of Antigua, Barbuda forms part of the nation of

Antigua and Barbuda, and the 15-mile-long island is unlike any I

had visited. It’s famous for its pink beaches and shallow turquoise

waters, and when approaching the island from the sea, the land

is so fl at that the only clue telling you it’s there is the turquoise

shallows refl ecting on the clouds like a mirage. A close look at

the charts, in conjunction with Chris

Doyle’s Guide to the Leeward Islands,

helped us to safely make a nerve-wrack-

ing entry and drop our hook about

100 yards from the stunning 11-mile

beach that Barbuda is famous for.

Barbuda was all but decimated by

Hurricane Irma in 2017, leaving 1,800

people to rebuild their homes and

livelihoods. Yet the Barbudan people

are nothing if not resilient, and today,

nearly two years later, the island has

rebuilt well enough, and the hurricane

is now a bad memory many locals have

tried to suppress. George Jeffery, the

owner of Garden of Eden Tours, spoke

of the horror that was Irma: “I was in

my home during the hurricane; I had

nowhere else to go. The sound outside

was like nothing I’d ever heard

Beautiful BARBUDA

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Of all the places we have visited, to me, the island of Barbuda has felt like the most

far-flung and unspoiled.

BY ERIN CAREY

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The sunsets are exquisite from

the open-roadstead anchorage

off Barbuda’s famous 11-mile

pink-sand beach.

A visit to Barbuda is all

about nature, and beauty

abounds on this incred-

ible island. Come with

your boat provisioned

and your tanks full.