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Seadream I Seadream I Spring Eastern Caribbean Anguilla

Seadream Yacht Club Seadream I

2006 Date: 4/6/2006

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Anguilla

Yacht in Harbor

Welcome to Anguilla ! We dropped the hook around 8:30 a.m. on this island which is just off of Antigua to the northwest.

Anchored at Sandy Bottom

Sugary Beaches

The Seadream I anchored at Sandy Bottom and we tendered into shore.

Cuisinart Resort

Cuisinart Resort

Instead of taking one of the package tours of the island, or just visiting the beach, I wanted to do something unique. I remembered my interest in hydroponics and a special I saw on the Travel Channel about the Cuisinart Resort in Anguilla. Before departing the ship, I inquired at the reception desk where the resort was, and luckily the chef overheard us asking and encouraged us to visit the unique resort. What makes this resort special is that it grows most if not all of it's vegetables and fruits in a hydroponic (water - no soil) environment. This allows the resort to have fresh produce, by growing on-site.

Cuisinart Resort - Anguilla

This exclusive resort caters to health conscious tourists.

The resort is full of beautiful arrays of flowers and tropical plants.

The resort uses water as a architectural feature.

The sugary white beach and blue-green sea make this a world-class resort.

The entire resort is a pleasure to walk through.

The restaurant uses all the hydroponic garden produce for salads and other chef selections.

A wood fired oven provides bread, pizza and grilled vegetables.

Entrance to the hydroponic gardens.

Lettuce is grown on floating flats. Crops are harvested daily.

Vertical trellises provide structure for herbs, and other vegetables and fruits. The space efficient design produces high volumes of produce.

Tomatoes are grown with drip irrigation.

Seawater is filtered and dripped through these evaporator units which cool the air, allowing produce which otherwise would not grow in the hot tropics to thrive.

Herbs provide all of the seasonings for cooking in the resort restaurant.

The most beautiful bell and hot peppers grow in vertical drip irrigation rows.

Bell peppers.

Cucumbers with drip irrigation.

Hydroponic Garden Lunch

Vertical Planters

We tried walking to the resort - but gave up after about an hour and took a taxi for $12 to the resort. The roads from Sandy Bottom are fair for biking, but poor for walking (not much shoulder). Shortly after arriving at the resort, I contacted the hotel director and inquired about a tour of the famous hydroponic gardens. There are set tours every day - which we missed. I asked if we could get a short private tour, which was arranged. Before the tour, we had a few drinks down at the beach and a wonderful lunch. We both had salads prepared with the hydroponic produce and I had a wood-fired pizza with fresh herbs from the garden.

Brochure for the hydroponic gardens in .pdf format.

Howard Resh card - the hydroponics designer and director.

Resort lunch receipt in .pdf format.

Resort General Manager.

Map of Anguilla.

Tour the hydroponic gardens.

Taxi card. The taxi from the resort to Sandy Bottom was $20. Afternoon activities included swimming off the back of the boat.

Giftshop receipt example from the yacht in .pdf format.

View of ship from hill.

Dock where tender lands.

The harbor at Sandy Bottom.

A view of the ship from the tender arriving.

Hydroponic Tour and Dinner

Tenderloin Beef Dinner Entree

The highlight of the island for me was the tour of the hydroponic gardens, and sampling the salads and produce in the restaurant. This is from the resort webpage, " HYDROPONIC FARM The farm contains two lettuce ponds and a bato bucket system for vine crops like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants. A-frames are used for herbs and lettuce, maximizing the number of plants in an area. Raised beds contain herbs, lettuce and peppers, and plant towers are used for bok choy and herbs. HYDROPONIC FARM TOUR Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 11:00 am. Meet at the hydroponic farm entrance. For more information about Hydroponics, visit Dr. Resh's website at www.howardresh.com. HYDROPONIC BOOKS By Howard M. Resh, Ph.D., Farm Manager - Hydroponic Food Production - Hydroponic Home Food Gardens - Hydroponic Tomatoes - Hydroponics: Questions & Answers - Hobby Hydroponics Books available at the CuisinArt Resort gift shop or online at www.howardresh.com, www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com ORGANIC GARDENS The organic gardens is a colorful grove of vegetables and fruit-bearing trees. Caribbean callaloo, black-eyed peas, peppers, pumpkins and okra are joined by soybeans, Chinese long beans, melons and many other healthful selections. The orchards produce avocados, guavas, tamarinds, limes, oranges, and star fruit. " For dinner back aboard the yacht, I had the beef tenderloin (was not on the menu, but can be ordered nightly upon request).

Dessert Presentation

Dessert

The Seadream kitchen staff and chef make the most incredible food presentations - but specialize on the desserts.

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