Culebra, PR to US Virgin Islands

March 19 - April 4, 2014

22 - San Juan, 23- Fajardo, 24 - Culebra, 25 - St Thomas, 26 - St John

It was 5:15 AM when I awoke.  The local roosters were crowing telling Culebra it's time to get up. Too early for me.  I rolled over and suddenly it’s 7:00.  The roosters were still crowing but at a much more civilized hour!  The doors to the cockpit were open and I could look from the bed all the way through the boat.  Since we are anchored, I got a panoramic view of the bay as the boat slowly twisted on it's anchor chain.  Another beautiful day!  We enjoyed three days in the Culebra harbor without leaving the boat.  It was good to relax after having company for a week.

Charlotte Amalie Harbor from a lookout on our way to Magens Bay Beach.

Exploring alleys and streets in Charlotte Amalie.

On Tuesday the 25th, we set off for St Thomas -- a short 4.5 hour cruise.  We had briefly visited St Thomas several times before, but only as a flight layover on our way to St John or the BVI.  This time we wanted to explore the island.  Our first day was a dingy ride around the bay and a walk around town.  The second day we rented a car and drove to Magens Bay (their best beach) and Red Hook.  Well, sadly, our opinion after two days of exploration was the same as we had on our stopovers.  Too busy, too crowded, too commercial, too many cruise ships.....  The best part of our stay was meeting Krogen owners

Lavinia and Richard on Partners.  We invited them over for a drink and had a wonderful evening discussing the finer points of Krogen ownership and these beautiful islands.  They have been down here for 18 months and were a wealth of information.  After a trip to visit family, they will return to sailing the islands with Trinidad as their summer destination.  We know that we will cross paths again and look forward to it.

Magan's Beach.  There was an outcropping of rocks
at one end.  I told Brian we should have our picture
taken as I sat down.  I immediately rolled off the
rock and into the water.  I came up yelling, "Brian grab
my phone".  It was floating in my waterproof purse!

These ships looked really big (259 & 279 feet) until
David Geffen's 453 foot ship pulled in.  Yowza, that's
only one of his two super yachts!

Lavinia and Richard's Krogen, Partners.

Night view of Charlotte Amalie from our cockpit. 

A - Great Lameshur Bay, B - Saltpond Bay, C - Coral Bay

First views of St John

Three nights and two days was long enough in St Thomas.  We were ready to move on to St John, one of our favorite destinations in the world.  Two-thirds of the island is a national park with NO airports or cruise ship docks.  There are only two towns and very few large resorts.  St John is where our daughter, Jennifer, married Ian 12 years ago.  55 guests spent a week celebrating with us.  I still hear from some of those guests saying it was one of their best vacations.    

Another day, another beach!
Great Lameshur Bay

Our weather guru had sent an email warning that a large storm with hurricane type winds had hit Nova Scotia earlier in the week.  That storm was sending large swells our way and we needed to get into a protected bay before it's expected arrival on Thursday.  Email friends that have been down here for years recommended Great Lameshure Bay on the south side of St John.  It was just two hours from our anchorage in Charlotte Amalie.  Thanks to Barb and Chuck on Tusen Takk II (another Krogen) we are tucked into a beautiful protected hideaway.  

Every night there is a beautiful sunset.  Luckily I
remembered to take a photo this time.

The weather prediction was correct. Thursday night, right on schedule, the winds picked up with intermittent showers throughout the night and the next day.  Our secluded location protected us from the swells and wind.  Even the best locations can have a drawback or two.  We are suffering with very limited WiFi and poor phone reception.  Luckily the water is 80 degrees, clear, a beautiful blue and calling me to take a leap.... a good daily diversion.  Brian is being much more productive by putting additional coats of varnish on the cap rail.  The last time he worked on it was in Stuart, Florida.  Bugs, rain and ash from the sugar cane

burns were a constant menace to his smooth finish.  Down here we have neither bugs or ash and the rain is infrequent.  It’s looking great.  

Most of the bays in St John have mooring buoys.  Anchoring is only

The weather has calmed.  Time to leave Lameshur.

allowed in specified locations.  The park service is trying to preserve the coral and anchors can tear up decades of growth.  The buoys are only $15/night which is a great deal.  But, even better — if you have a senior pass for the national parks the fee is cut in half!  Luckily we have the pass and, even better, we could actually find it.  Fabulous!!!  This bay is where the Tektite aquanaut program was located in the late 60s and early 70s.  Four men lived in a chamber 60 feet under water for two months.  Saturday, March 29th was the 45th anniversary of the program.  Three of the aquanauts spoke at a program and showed slides of their life under water.    

Saltpond Bay
The beach was an easy swim from the boat.  Snorkel
off the swim platform and some BIG FISH.

Monday, March 31st, we moved to the next bay, Saltpond.  There are only six mooring buoys in this bay and we were warned to only stay if we could get on one of the two that are closest to the beach.  The other four get too much wave action from the reef.  We came over on Sunday and no buoys were available. Tried again on Monday morning and JACKPOT — we got one that was next to the beach!  This is a classic location. 

It is exactly what one imagines.  The white beach, the blue water, hills in the background, very quiet.  We snorkeled off the back of the boat, swam to shore and walked the beach for two days.  Having the boat where we are snorkeling is such a treat.  Climb back on board for lunch.  We didn’t have to pack a cooler….!

Coral Bay

Wednesday, April 2nd, we moved to Coral Bay.  No beach here, but a small town and dingy dock.  There are probably 75 boats anchored with us and all but three are sailboats.  Motor vessels are really the minority since we left Miami. 

On the ferry for a 15 minute ride from Cruze Bay,
St John to Red Hook, St Thomas.

Thursday was a busy fun day.  We used the dingy to go into Coral Bay.  Met Roger at the dingy dock.  He had the full scoop on this small town including where to catch the island bus.  The bus is a full size city bus that takes this two lane, steep road like it’s a Miami freeway.  It was exciting!  Especially when it turned to one lane and a van was coming at us in that one lane.  Our bus driver didn’t back down, she had size on her side — both the bus and the driver!  Next was a ferry ride to St Thomas to pick up

Walking into the Cruze Bay shopping area.

parts.  A quick lunch and we were back on the ferry and in just 15 minutes docked again in St John.  The rest of the afternoon we shopped in some of the cute stores of Cruz Bay.  Cruz Bay is a must visit stop while here.  It is the one real town on the island.  It has most of the shopping and restaurants.  We were tired after more than our quota of walking so we headed to the bus stop for another hair raising ride back to Coral Bay.  One place we had

'Fine dining' at Skinny Legs.

promised ourselves we would visit on this island hopping trip was Skinny Legs.  Skinny Legs is a landmark bar/restaurant in Coral Bay.  About 50 of us came to Skinny Legs for Halloween to launch the wedding fun.  By the time we finished dinner and got back to our dingy it was dark and raining. 
 I carried my computer this whole day hoping to find a restaurant with WiFi.  No luck.  If this blog gets longer it's going to crash computers that try to open it. 
  

Gotta smile — we’re lovin the ride!