Last weekend Javier and I sailed ‘Fwa!’ to Half Moon Bay. The conditions were perfect for the 4 mile trip to one of the nicest beaches on the island. We loaded a dry bag with a few essential items and headed out across Willoughby Bay in light winds. The sea inside the reef was flat which helped as we picked our way around shallow areas, coral heads and out around the breaking surf. Once outside the reef, we encountered the large, regular swell of the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Fwa!’ sailed smoothly over the waves even though we lost sight of the horizon when we dipped into the valleys. We got bounced around a little when we sailed close to Hudson Point and encountered the clapotis caused by reflecting waves bouncing off the steep cliffs.
After about an hour, we came around Soldier Point and entered Half Moon Bay. We were holding off on the decision to beach the boat to see what the surf looked like. There were 3-4 foot waves breaking in the center of the mile long bay but on the southern end, under the lee of Soldier Point, there was just a gentle surge. With both blades up, ‘Fwa!’ skidded to a stop in the soft, white sand. Sails were dropped and we headed over to Hungry Harry's where we dined on parrot fish with a cold beer. The return trip took longer as the wind had switched and dropped forcing us to tack back and forth several times. We came across one large sea turtle lazing at the surface. Future outings are planned as we just got a glimpse of only a small fraction of the more than 100 miles of coastline that Antigua possesses.
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