Page 26 - Yachter Autumn/Winter 2022

26 CRUISING REPORTS
arrive off Setting Point about 12.30, just like the pilot book says to have the sun overhead so you can see the coral.With the wind still in the low twenties from the northeast, we anticipated a swift broad reach as Anegada
is northwest of Gorda Sound.Visibility was good but you can’t see Anegada as it is only 5m above sea level.The pilot book talks about arriving at noon, so the lookout can see the coral heads and guide you in the buoyed channel to the anchorage. In fact, the instructions we had with the cat stressed careful pilotage in and around Anegada because of the coral and limited us to staying west of a line from Pomato Point to a mile west of Necker Island. So, when we started after a lazy breakfast and swim there were several yachts and catamarans ahead of us.
So much for the midday sun. Just behind us was a beautiful blue hulled 60-foot yacht, with smart crew aboard sailing her slightly below us. Significantly faster I might add. We creamed along at 7-8 knots enjoying the open sea, steady trade wind and a slight swell. Drift was about 1-2 knots which was surprising but documented in the pilot
book.We had a reef in the main and a roll or two out of the genoa. As we approached, we could see the boats ahead drop sail
and motor into the channel.When we got there, we did likewise with Steve on the bow, looking for coral (there was none)
and the buoyed channel.They were quite
small buoys and the wind now was a solid 25 knots, but we negotiated the channel and turned toward the anchorage/mooring buoys. Saw a free buoy toward the back of the second row of buoys.There were three rows, so the vacant buoy was in the middle row of pristine catamarans all with crew lunching or sunbathing.
“This will be no problem” I confidently said,“we’ll go past buoy then swing round sharply using starboard engine forward and port astern”.
We continued in a straight line, wiggled the morse back and forth, port engine worked, starboard didn’t. By now we are
past the buoy with little steerage, the other crews didn’t seem too concerned. Steve took the helm whilst I raced forward to drop the anchor.The major surprise was that no one on any of the boats jumped up to fend us
off or put fenders out. Steve managed with dextrous use of port engine and steering
to keep us from hitting any of the moored boats.We were now beam on to the wind, accelerating down-wind and slightly out of the buoyed area, but with bow in the middle