Caribbean Compass Sailing Magazine

THREE REASONS WHY NOT TO SAIL
by Mira Nencheva
TO BARBUDA
BIG
or
the corner almost unnoticed, small, shy, and unpopular.
small, noisy or quiet, some very popular and easygoing,
others much more unknown and relaxed, each of
the Caribbean islands has its own unique character, like
schoolchildren. Barbuda is one of those that remain in
Only 25 nautical miles north of Antigua, yet cruisers rarely venture this way. And
why bother? Barbuda is:
1) dangerous for navigation,
2) away from the main Caribbean Cruising Highway,
3) flat, and has very few weather-protected bays.
These are the three main reasons why boaters dread and
avoid Barbuda.
In the times of the sextant, Barbuda, lurking low beneath the horizon with claws
of rock and jaws of coral ready to snatch another careless vessel, was feared as one
only a couple of relatively protected bays, just doesn’t make sense.
Or does it? We decide to check it out for ourselves.
Sailing north to Barbuda on a beam reach from Deep Bay, Antigua in moderate
Trades aboard our 38-foot cat is a sheer pleasure. We get there in less than five
hours and we even catch a small tuna on the way. It’s only 80 feet or less under the
keels the entire time. Usually in the Caribbean when we sail from one island to
another, we can see our destination from many miles away but Barbuda’s shores
remain hidden until we are but five to six miles from them. We carefully approach
the southwest corner of the island, sneak in between the breakers and the shoals,
and keep sailing north along the west coast, very close to shore, between the beach
and the reefs, in 12 to 14 feet of water.
We drop anchor in front of the longest, most beautiful beach in waters as blue and
transparent as the waters in the Bahamas. There are no other boats around. Not a
single soul for miles and miles. In east winds, the sea on this side of the island is
CHRIS DOYLE
DESTINATIONS
NOVEMBER 2014 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 16
of the biggest perils to navigation in the West Indies. Hundreds of boats lost in the
blackness of night found their final resting place near the reefs around Barbuda.
And even those sailing in broad daylight wouldn’t see the island, its highest point a
mere 125 feet above the sea, until they reached the shoals. Today, in the times of the
GPS, many unfamiliar with the area still prefer not to risk sailing there.
Moreover, Barbuda is “off road”. To sail to Barbuda means to take the exit from the
main highway and head in the wrong direction. Coming from St. Maarten going
south to Grenada, the reasonable cruiser stops in Antigua, not Barbuda. In Antigua,
twice the size of Barbuda, the cruiser can chose from myriad big and small sheltered
anchorages and popular hurricane holes, with all sorts of facilities. Next logical stop
would be Guadeloupe, to the south. Barbuda, away from the main road and with
Lighthouse Bay Resort sits in solitary splendor
on ‘the longest, most beautiful beach’
still, like a lake. There are no swells, and the waves that reach the shore are tiny
and gentle.
On the beach, the sand is like white powder peppered with pink miniature seashells
giving it its unusual pink hues specific and unique to this place. There are no
footsteps for 12 miles, only vines with purple flowers, driftwood sculptures, and sea
turtle tracks.
There are no buildings on shore either except for a small hotel, yellow with a red
roof. Lighthouse Bay is a luxurious all-inclusive boutique resort with thousanddollar
suites, where wealthy visitors arrive by helicopter. But at this time of the year
there are no guests, not even staff. We are alone.
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