15/4/2011 We tore ourselves away from the North Sound, and enjoyed a leisurely 17 mile broad reach sail down the Francis Drake Channel, towards Cooper Island. Had a quick look around the crowded buoy filled anchorage at this resort bay, and then continued to Great Harbour, Peter Island, past Dead Man’s Chest. We anchored in 16mts, and chatted to Ti Bay over in Little Harbour, which sounded great. So we moved round to this beautiful little stern line to shore anchorage. What a gem!! It was our first experience of this type of anchoring arrangement, which is required because of the catabatic back winding. 
Only about a handful of boats can fit in, and there are no facilities, apart from a beach braai area made by cruisers out of flotsam and jetsam! No “boat boys”, no Ba Ba Boom music, and no one lives on the island apart from a flock of goats! 
No question about it…the nicest little anchorage we have experienced yet. Nature at its best. From the boat, we swam over to coral reefs, and observed big Spotted Eagle Rays feeding, and a pair of mating Dolphins slowly circling the anchorage, oblivious to the curious snorklers just a respectful few metres back. 
Mike and Lesley,( Extasea), whom we had met down in Ilha Grande Brazil, joined us for a couple of days before they head west. Another interesting cruising boat was a 21ft plywood homebuild painted in Rastafarian colours of red, yellow and green, which had sailed over from Belgium.
The young skipper, who always wore his Rasta beanie, was accompanied by two girls who spent most of their time topless. We christened them Bob, Boobs and Bee Sting for obvious reasons! “Tenacious”, and “Bolero”, two other 80ft plus yachts we had previously seen in St Martin, were also in the anchorage.
The skipper of Bolero, which was built 25years ago in South Africa, was also a South African. He and his wife had just bought a house in Baviaanskloof, Hout bay. They left to rush up to Antigua, to take part in the “Spirit of Tradition” classic races. After an idyllic week, we headed for Norman Island, in the “Bight”, picking up one of the hundreds of buoys, which make anchoring almost impossible! It is a big protected bay, with some nice dive sights, and a couple of well frequented places…..Pirates, a pub restaurant ashore, and the William Thornton, (Willy T), a ship restaurant pub. We managed a beer at Pirates, but the combination of $30 per night mooring buoys, and sudden runaway tummy bugs, forced us to cancel our trip to the notorious Willy T, of the stick-on tattoo barman, and the free drinks to all the ladies who jump topless from the bridge……perhaps it was a blessing in disguise!
Only about a handful of boats can fit in, and there are no facilities, apart from a beach braai area made by cruisers out of flotsam and jetsam! No “boat boys”, no Ba Ba Boom music, and no one lives on the island apart from a flock of goats! 
No question about it…the nicest little anchorage we have experienced yet. Nature at its best. From the boat, we swam over to coral reefs, and observed big Spotted Eagle Rays feeding, and a pair of mating Dolphins slowly circling the anchorage, oblivious to the curious snorklers just a respectful few metres back. 
Mike and Lesley,( Extasea), whom we had met down in Ilha Grande Brazil, joined us for a couple of days before they head west. Another interesting cruising boat was a 21ft plywood homebuild painted in Rastafarian colours of red, yellow and green, which had sailed over from Belgium.
The young skipper, who always wore his Rasta beanie, was accompanied by two girls who spent most of their time topless. We christened them Bob, Boobs and Bee Sting for obvious reasons! “Tenacious”, and “Bolero”, two other 80ft plus yachts we had previously seen in St Martin, were also in the anchorage.
The skipper of Bolero, which was built 25years ago in South Africa, was also a South African. He and his wife had just bought a house in Baviaanskloof, Hout bay. They left to rush up to Antigua, to take part in the “Spirit of Tradition” classic races. After an idyllic week, we headed for Norman Island, in the “Bight”, picking up one of the hundreds of buoys, which make anchoring almost impossible! It is a big protected bay, with some nice dive sights, and a couple of well frequented places…..Pirates, a pub restaurant ashore, and the William Thornton, (Willy T), a ship restaurant pub. We managed a beer at Pirates, but the combination of $30 per night mooring buoys, and sudden runaway tummy bugs, forced us to cancel our trip to the notorious Willy T, of the stick-on tattoo barman, and the free drinks to all the ladies who jump topless from the bridge……perhaps it was a blessing in disguise!
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