Carriacou Island

We have Internet!  We are in Tyrell Bay on Carriacou Island.  There is an organization here, The Carriacou Children’s Fund, broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal to the harbor.  For a donation they will give you the password.  The money is used to raise funds for the school and the students.  It is a win-win, we get internet and they raise funds.

We spent a couple more days in Isle de Saints sightseeing and relaxing.  We joined Bob and Brenda form Pandora for a golf cart tour of the fort and the island.  The views from the fort and a variety of other locations were spectacular.  The fort is well maintained and set up as a museum of the island.  I only wish it had more information about the fort itself.  On Wednesday I decided to address our fuel situation.  We are down to about a third of a tank of diesel and I am not comfortable with running low.  We only carry 80 gallons.  The next bay over has a fuel dock for the fishing boats, it is only accessible from the water: no roads lead to it.  We took our three jerry jugs, borrowed another and a gas jug and motored around to the dock.  It is too small and shallow to go by sailboat.  Back at the boat we added the new fuel to the tank bringing us up to a half tank, enough that we can motor all of the way to Trinidad if we had to.

Thursday, the 30^th, we dropped the mooring and started our way South again.  We have several islands as options to stop but we wanted to get further along.  We figure we will stop at those islands next year.  Cori had her fishing gear out and caught a barracuda that we were happy to let go and a big Mahi that started stripping the line off the reel until he broke the line and left with the lure.  We know it was a big one when we saw it jump after the hook was set.  We really wanted that fish.  The winds were out of the southeast and in the afternoon switch around to the southwest with a lull in between that we motored through.  It was a little rough.  We sailed and motored through the night and then sailed on Friday.  The winds had shifted more from the east and we had a nice broad reach with the waves slightly behind us.  This is how we love to sail, later in the day it dropped again and we went back to motoring.  We were making between 4 and 7 knots and our chart plotter was showing that we would arrive at Carriacou around midnight.  We do not like arriving at night so we decided to change headings and stop at a little bay on St Vincent for the night.  It was the perfect location.  A black sand beach, high hills on three sides to protect from the winds, and we were the only ones there.  We also had a problem with the fuel again.  The priming bulb was collapsed and restricting the fuel to the engine.  We cut our rpm’s and it ran all right again.  In the morning I decided to eliminate the priming bulb and rerouted the fuel line.  So far it is working.

We left St Vincent early, we had not checked in so were technically not allowed there and set sail again.  We had another great day of sailing, the wind on the beam and following seas.  Cori had the fishing line out again and after catching and releasing another pesky barracuda she caught a real nice skipjack tuna.  We decided to stop at Mayroux Island for the night instead of going on.  We could just anchor for the night and if we didn’t go in we wouldn’t have to check-in.  St Vincent and the Grenadines are expensive to check in and out of and we didn’t want to pay.  We will do that next year.  Patrick, one of the local “boat boys” came out and tried to talk us into taking a mooring and visiting the restaurant and shops on the beach but we told him we had not checked in yet.  His advice was to raise the courtesy flag so it looked like we had and then we wouldn’t be bothered.   We ran the generator for a while and the water maker then settled in for a quiet night.

Sunday morning we took our time getting going since we only had about 15 miles to go.  We had stopped so that we would not arrive on Saturday and when we checked in we could say we arrived late on Sunday.  There is an overtime fee for checking in on the weekend.  As we were approaching Tyrell Bay Cori caught and landed another nice black fin tuna.  We are in tuna heaven.  We maneuvered into the harbor and around several boats and dropped anchor.  We were approached about going to a mooring but we are secure and comfortable where we are.  Since we were in early we got to watch the other boats as they arrived.

Monday morning we went to check in.  We had read several reviews in Active Captain about the anchorage and several have negative things to say about the Immigration and Customs officials.  Some of it is right.  When we arrived there was a lady mopping the floor.  She said that the others were outside in the patio area.  There is a television and we got some news but the main report was about the subway bombing in St Petersburg.  I asked a man in a pressed white shirt who I needed to see to check in.  I was answered with complete silence.  About five minutes later he looked up and said loudly “good morning” and stared at me.  It seemed I was one of those annoying tourists that forget to greet before starting with questions.  We had been warned of this in several guide books.  Once he had made his point he gave me the forms to fill out but we forgot to bring a pen.  Not wanting to ask him for one Cori borrowed one from another cruiser that was also filling out paperwork.  We all waited outside until the floor was dry.  One guy got chewed out for going into the office and tracking the floor.  Maybe they should have put a sign on the door telling us where to go.  They then started checking people in.  When it was my turn it turned out that I didn’t fill my paperwork out correctly but with a few changes it passed.  The problem then was I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or the Customs lady.  They had a constant conversation going with short interruptions to ask or tell me something.  Rather confusing.  Then it was time to pay the Customs lady.  Previous reviews had commented on and I have to agree that it seemed an imposition to interrupt her to pay our money.  And of course I didn’t have enough Eastern Caribbean money on me so she had to calculate the amount in US dollars.  It is easier to check in on the French Islands where I don’t speak French then to deal with these two people.  But we were in, passports stamped, papers filed and fees paid.  We won’t have to bother again until we check out in Granada.  We stopped at the restaurant next door to get the password of the Wi-Fi and then back to the boat to log in and get emails and start communicating with the world.  Later we went ashore to see what is there and find out where to catch the bus to see the rest of the island.

Today, Tuesday the 4^th, we had planned to take the bus to Hillsborough, the larger town on the island to check it out.  We got up and decided to do a boat project day.  Cori slept in and once our neighbors left I did a check on the batteries, topped them off and ran the generator and watermaker.  Since we have ample power while the generator is running Cori defrosted the freezers.  Once that is done they run for a long time getting back to temperature so it is best to do it when the generator is running and the batteries can recover.   For the rest of the day we will hang out here but may run into town for an ice cream.  The shop was out of it when we stopped yesterday but said they would have more today.

We plan to stay here for a few days then make the move down to Granada to get ready for the trip to Trinidad.  We hope to find several other boats that are making the passage so we can travel together.

We have been moving along

It has been a month since our last update.  The delay is caused by our having a great time but mostly by not having Internet connections.  Normally we have a data plan on our phones that keep us connected but here in the islands it is much more complicated.  At each island we would have to purchase a sim card for one of the phones and then purchase a data plan for several days or up to a month.  This works except not every port has an office that sells sim cards and it starts getting expensive.  We have opted to try and get Wi-Fi connections wherever we can but then we are limited to low bandwidth, sharing with everyone else at the bar/restaurant and only being able to get connected with our phones.  That’s enough about our problems.

We are no longer in St. Martin but when we last reported it was Carnival and race week.  For Mardi Gras we joined Kim and Dean in a rental car to run some errands and take a tour of the island.  We ended the day at Grand Case, a small community north of St. Martin that has a Mardi Gras celebration.  The streets were filled with vendors and the restaurants were full.  Grand Case is known for the quality of their restaurants and they did not disappoint.  The meal was excellent.  On Wednesday the winds kicked in again and we spent the day relaxing on the boat.  During the night we heard some noise outside and found that the boat in front of us, who anchored much closer then I was comfortable with, had broken their snubber and their windlass had let out more chain bringing them much closer. They eventually got it under control but spent a long night on deck watching to make sure it didn’t happen again.  By first light they pulled anchor and relocated.  This is one of the problems with crowded anchorages. The next couple of days were spent with small projects, errands such as the grocery store and the phone store.  On Saturday we got together with Dean and Kim again with a car to run some errands and to go down to the Dutch side to watch the finish line for the races.  The Dutch side of the island has been hosting the Heineken Cup Races all week and there have been races and activities all week with a lot of beautiful boats.  The weather forecast was for a couple of days of light winds so we prepared the boat and on Sunday, the 4^th, we pulled anchor before sunrise and headed out for St Kitts.

We had a great sail and Cori caught one and a half fish on the trip.  Something got half of her fish as she was reeling it in. Once we got into the lee of St Kitts we had to motor around to the southern end of the island.  We dropped anchor off of the town and settled in for the evening.  Technically we were supposed to check in but there is an overtime fee for checking in on the weekend.  In the morning we went ashore and after visiting three different offices we were checked in.  There were two cruise ships so the vendor area at the dock was busy and we had a short walk around the town.  At lunch time we went back to the boat and decided that this was not the place to be anchored, too rough and rolling.  We pulled anchor and proceeded down to White House Bay which was listed in our guides as being well protected from the forecast winds.  Once again the forecast was right, for the next five days we had winds in the 20’s, 30’s and some gusts in the 40’s.  We took an opportunity during the lull’s to check out the new megayacht marina being built around the corner and bought some gasoline and to get to shore to check out the small restaurant/bar on shore.  The interesting thing about this anchorage was that as the wind blew it would funnel down around the hills and vary what direction it was coming from.  Several times we were turned west with a rocky shore close behind us with about four feet under the keel.  The highlight was after the biggest blow when Cori went out exploring in her kayak.  She found two cushions, one made of closed cell foam that she had an idea how to use.  She brought that back then we went out with the dinghy to pick up the other beanbag type that we thought had blown away from the patio at the bar.  The manager was very happy to have it back and started serving us free beers before they had opened for the day.  As we were leaving he described the other cushion they lost and was very surprised when Cori told him that we had it.  He started offering anything from Champagne on down to get it back.  We went back to the boat, cleaned up and brought it in.  He explained that it would take two months to get a replacement and ordered dinner, beer and wine for us on the house.  It was a nice ending to a windy week.  Also while we were sitting out the weather we had a visit from the St Kitts Coast Guard and got boarded for inspection.  We passed with all of the right equipment and paperwork and they moved on to another boat.

Saturday, the 11^th, we pulled anchor and headed down to the island of Nevis.  We rolled out the headsail and did about 6 knots for the short trip.  Nevis has set up a mooring field that you are required to use unless they are all in use or you have too large of a boat.  There is a charge for them when you check in but they also charge you the same if you are anchoring.  We picked up a ball and went in to check in.  We walked around a bit, had lunch of “goat water” from a street vendor and then decided to take an island tour.  Goat water is a stew made of mutton (goat), breadfruit and a variety of spices.  It is somewhat similar to thin beef stew but with bones.  We decided to take the tour since there would be a cruise ship in on Sunday and everything would be busy.  John, our driver, took us around pointing out areas of interest stopping at many so we could look around.  Unfortunately we did not see any monkeys.  Sunday afternoon we went back in to town but everything was shut down for the day.  The cruise ship people were being shuttled all over the island with every bus and taxi that was available.  We dinghied back up the shore near our mooring ball and went to shore to check out the beach bars there.  We had $2.00 beers and appetizers at several places then back to the boat for the night.

In the morning we dropped the mooring ball and headed off for Montserrat.  We have several reasons for wanting to get to Montserrat: the English settled it by shipping the Irish there, similar to how they settled Australia and it has an active volcano.  St. Patrick’s Day is a weeklong festival.  Montserrat has an interesting story.  The only port is in Little Bay but there is no town there to speak of.  The capital of Plymouth is further along the island but when the volcano erupted in 1997 they evacuated the southern half of the island for “the weekend” according to Joe our tour guide.  The evacuation is still in effect.  In December of 1998 an eruption sent a blast that in 30 minutes wiped out the villages in the southern section.  The following season’s rains, more eruptions in 2007-2010 and subsequent rains have covered large areas, including Plymouth, with mud and rock slides.  We were fortunate that the day we wanted to take a tour we joined up with Lou, Dave and Will from the boat Syreni.  They had made arrangement for the tour to include Plymouth and the exclusion area, for an additional fee.  With five of us dividing the cost it was more reasonable.  The additional fee is to pay for the police to open the gate and escort you in and out of the area.  It is surreal to be in Plymouth.  Everything is covered from the mudflows up to the second floor.  If it is a single story building you may see the roof.  At the former two story police station the power line connection that is normally overhead was at our feet.  The flow has extended the land far out past the old shoreline, the new at that time pier that could handle two cruise ships is now a third of its length.  It is being used to ship barges of sand to the other islands, their only export.  We were able to drive through areas that are just now being opened up for travel.  They were going to have a twenty year anniversary celebration and were clearing some of the road of the three feet of ash that had covered them so the people could go back to see their old villages.  We are extremely glad we got to go on that tour.

Back to Montserrat and the festival.  We were lucky enough to visit the local museum the only day it was open to learn the history of the island and learned a lot.  In order to go to the festival area in the village of Salem we needed to take a bus.  First we needed to walk to the nearest bus stop area, about a fifteen minute walk, then catch a bus.  It took several tries to learn the way to flag sown a bus.  If you wave to them they just wave back as they drive by.  Once we (Cori) had that down things went better.  On our first try we asked someone if we were going the right way to get to the bus, he told us to get in and he would give us a ride.  He dropped us off and about a half hour to forty-five minutes later drove by, saw us still waiting and told us to get in and he gave us a ride.  The village of Salem does not have much other than a few bars, shops, and small eating establishments.  We met two nice you men that grew up on the island and moved to London but they were back for the festival.  One was helping his mother run the bar during the festival so that became our go-to location.  At one point we struck out on foot to find a nearby bay that would be closer to anchor and come in for the activities.  We (Cori) finally asked a couple working in their yard if we were close and found out we were nowhere near where we thought we were.  He unhooked his boat trailer and gave us a ride to where we were going.  They were farmers from Saskatchewan and were getting their house ready to go back for the summer.  He dropped us off at Hanks Beach Bar which was on the shore of the bay we were considering to move to.  We realized that if we moved we had no way of getting into town.  Cancel that idea.  There were two men walking the beach and agreed to give us a ride back to town with a quick stop at the volcano observatory.  It was a wild ride up where the river used to be, it was covered in about 30 feet of debris that had washed down from the volcano and through small one lane roads climbing up to the observatory.  They eventually dropped us off at our favorite bar and then we caught a bus back to the harbor.  We made several other excursions on the bus to check out other areas during the week.

St Patrick’s Day finally arrived, this is a National Holiday.  We walked with another couple to the bus stop.  Just as we got there a taxi that had offered us a ride at a ridiculous price stopped and told us we would never catch a bus on a holiday and offered us a ride at $5 each.  The bus is $3 so we took the ride.  There is a small empty field in Salem and it was filled with vendor booths selling local food and souvenirs.  We wandered the area waiting for the parade.  The parade was similar to the carnival parades we had seen in St Martin with the difference in the music and the costumes had an Irish theme.  This is the biggest event on the island and it is well attended by locals, former locals and tourists.  At the end of the day we shared a bus with a family of five that are living and traveling on their sailboat.

On Saturday we checked in with Chris, our weather guy, and his advice was if we wanted to sail to our next destination we needed to leave now or wait until Sunday and motor.  We pulled the anchor and headed out.  As we got further down-island the winds shifted to almost on our nose and 15-20 knots.  As we passed by the abandoned city of Plymouth we had some gusts in the 30’s.  We didn’t need to be anywhere that important so we turned around and when back to the bay we had scoped out earlier in the week and dropped anchor.  Several other boats also stopped for the night and it was entertaining to see them trying to get to the beach bar with breaking waves on the shore.  Most gave up or anchored their dinghy near shore and swam in.  We stayed on the boat.  We decided to let the seas calm down and stayed an extra day.

Monday, the 20^th and the first day of spring, we pulled anchor and made our way, motoring, to Guadeloupe.  We stopped at the small town of Deshaies, pronounced Day-ay.  Just as we were entering the harbor the skies opened up.  We spent a while with several other boats circling around waiting for it to stop raining so we could go in to anchor.  We scored a nice spot near to the mooring field with a short ride in.  We went ashore, checked in with customs and immigration, much easier in the French islands, and checked out the village.  On Tuesday we decided to see more of the island so we caught a bus to Pointe-A-Pitre, the largest city and about an hour’s ride away.  Armed with a map and sitting in the front seat we got to see the towns and countryside along the way.  There is still a lot of sugar cane grown on the island so we got to see fields of cane and what the other islands may have looked like back in the days they were producing sugar.  Once in the city we had nowhere to go so we just wandered up and down streets in the business district stopping for lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  We have not had Chinese food in forever.  We caught the bus back but didn’t get the front seat; it was a lot busier on the return trip with more stops.  Wednesday we went to shore to go to the Botanical Gardens since all of the guide books say not to miss it.  There is supposed to be a number that we can call and they will send a vehicle to pick you up.  We do not have working phones but Cori was able to have a couple at the docks try to call them.  It was evidently not the right number.  We were able to communicate where we were going and they offered a ride.  They are from France and speak no English and we speak no French, it is amazing that we were able to get a ride.  The Gardens are spectacular, we ended up getting there at about 10:30 and left at 5:30 on the courtesy shuttle we had tried to use to get there.  While there we met Bob and Brenda from Pandora and had lunch with them.  We are familiar with the boat from his daily calls in to Chris for weather during his trip down.  He came after us and had to deal with some really bad conditions on his trip.  Each day when he checked in we commented that we didn’t want to be out there.  Just a note here on our provisioning: I had my last ice tea at dinner.  I don’t remember how many 12 packs I brought but I am now out.  I do still have diet coke however and we are not running out of anything else.  On Thursday we went in to mail some cards and found out the post office was closed for a Holiday.  No one can tell us what the Holiday is but they are closed.  We did a quick walk up to the cemetery since we could see it from the boat and it looked interesting.  They have a combination of very ornate and fancy mausoleums, a variety of less fancy and just graves with a cross marker outlined in conch shells.  It reminded us of the cemetery’s we visited in New Orleans.  After that we pulled anchor and moved on down the shore.  We stopped at Pigeon Bay since the guidebooks list this as an excellent diving and snorkeling spot.  It is part of the Jacque Cousteau National Park.  Our friends on Syreni were anchored in front of us and while visiting confirmed that the snorkeling was great.  The next day I dropped Cori off to take care of the laundry and I went across to Pigeon Island to snorkel.  Cori does not care for snorkeling so I go by myself but had a good time.  After that I picked Cori up at the laundromat.  Back at the boat and we got things ready to move on.

Saturday morning, the 25^th, we pulled anchor and made our way to the islands called The Saints.  They are just off the south shore of Guadeloupe and we would not have to do a check in there.  We had winds in the 20’s and 4-6 foot seas, on the nose as always, so we motored the entire trip.  We were warned that the mooring balls fill up early and so that is why we left early.  We arrived about 2:00 and no mooring were available.  This is a deep anchorage but we found a spot with several others and anchored in 40 feet of water, the deepest we have anchored.  Last year we replaced our anchor chain and installed 200 feet and we used all of it.  We didn’t move overnight but the wake from the ferries rocked us some.  In the morning we put the 15 horse outboard on and went exploring.  We checked out another bay that we were considering and on the way back stopped at Pandora to talk to Bob and Brenda.  There were several moorings free and they convinced us to move onto one.  Back at the boat we pulled anchor and moved to a mooring.  The fee is only 10 euros per day so it is actually a good deal.  We are now much closer to the dock.  We went in to check out the town, it is just like looking at a postcard of a small French village.  We checked out some of the shops, found where to go when we check out and tried to get our phones connected to some Wi-Fi.   We got the phones connected enough to check emails but cannot get a good signal on the boat.  Cori went out with her kayak to check out the beaches for shells and sea glass and hit a beach that no one has walked for a long time and loaded up on seaglass.  We made arrangement with Bob and Brenda on Pandora to rent a golf cart to tour the island so we have seen pretty much all that can be seen by road.   We checked out several beaches and Fort Napoleon.  The fort is in real good condition and the main building is set up as a museum but it is all in French but still interesting.

The weather forecast is not favorable for traveling south so we plan to stay here for a few more days so we will get to see more of the island.

We have a deadline now, the worst thing you can have on a sailboat.  We have committed to being crew on a boat returning to the States in March so we need to get to Trinidad to get Hi Flite ready to be left behind.  It sounded like an adventure we didn’t want to pass up.

St. Martin

I would like to tell you how much we enjoyed St. Croix but that will have to happen next year.  We left St. Thomas on the 16^th and started on our way.  We got about 2.5 miles and the engine started to act up.  It felt and sounded like fuel starvation.  We turned around and headed back to the harbor.  Rather than drop anchor we picked up a mooring ball and I went to work replacing the fuel filter.  It did not look that dirty but you never know.  We dropped the mooring and headed out again, motoring directly into a light wind.  All was going well until about seven miles out the engine did its thing again.  It wasn’t the filter.  Checking things out I found that the fuel primer bulb that is used to push fuel to the filter when changing filters was collapsed.  By dropping the rpm’s it ran fine.  We decided this was a sign we were not supposed to go to St. Croix and we turned and motor-sailed to Great Lameshure Bay on St John.  This is our favorite harbor on St. John and is a great place to relax and get away from all of the other cruisers and charterers.  On Friday I replaced the priming bulb and everything ran fine, again.  I then ran the generator and made water while Cori went kayaking.  Lee and Sharon on Allegro came in and in the evening we joined them and Larry and Barb from Aquilla for social hour.

We decided to make plans for the next week to go to St. Martin.  Chris Parker, our weather advisor, was forecasting an unusual weather pattern.  A low was coming in and the trade winds were to die and we would get a couple of days of winds from the NW moving to NE.  His advice was to wait until Tuesday.  Being as we were where we wanted to be it was an easy decision.  Saturday I decided to find why the priming bulb collapsed.  Was it just old and soft or did something plug the intake to cause excessive vacuum.  I pulled the pickup from the tank but could not find anything, especially with a full tank.  Later Cori went kayaking, paddle boarding, and snorkeling with Lee and Sharon.  I spent the day with a good book.  Sunday we were picked up by Lee and Sharon and Tom and Pat from Lonestar and we rode their dinghies around the point to the sugar factory to hike to the petroglyphs.  From there we took the trail that leads up to The Great House.  During the slave rebellions most of the master’s homes were destroyed but not this one on St. John.  Over the years the park service has made attempts to restore parts of it.

Saturday morning Lee and Sharon came over to drop off a book and give us advice on St. Martin.  Later in the morning we dropped the mooring and headed off to Virgin Gorda to get ready to cross.  We chose to sail on the south side of the islands instead of the Drake Channel and Cori put out a fishing line.  She caught a nice size barracuda but he was set free.  Later she hooked up a nice 10 pound black fin tuna.  Her first tuna.  After that we cut back into the Drake Channel and motored up to the North Bay hoping to get a mooring in Lubrick Bay.  We could use the free water and ice they give when you use their mooring.  With the wind forecast to come around from the west and northwest everyone else had the same idea.  We anchored where we could find a spot and settled in for the night.

The trip from the BVI’s to St. Martin is about 80 miles so sailors have to leave late in the day to arrive the next morning.  Otherwise we would arrive at night in the dark, not a good plan.  In the morning we listened in to Chris Parker and were going to verify his advice when another boat, Callahan, called and asked.  We were a go for a late afternoon departure.  We contacted Callahan just to let them know we would be out there with them and waited.  At 4:30 pm we raised the main and mizzen sails, pulled our anchor and were off.  Once out of the harbor we turned to our heading and put out half of our headsail.  The winds were on the beam at 20 knots, gusting to 25.  Chris forecasted the winds to drop during the night and about 10:30 we were under four knots and started the motor.  We had sailed 30 miles of the trip.  We continued to motor-sail through the night with one rain squall, and when the sun came up in the morning there was an island in front of us.  GPS and the auto pilot did not let us down.

We arrived in St. Martin about 9:30 am and motored around the harbor looking for a good spot to anchor.  We chose a spot with a couple of other boats well away from the pack.  We launched the dinghy just as it started to rain.  Once it was over we got our stuff together to check in.  The rain fooled us and we got soaked.  St. Martin is divided between the French side on the north and the Dutch side on the south.  Where you check in makes a difference.  We chose the French side, Marigot Bay.  I you stay on the Dutch side you have to pay more, there is a charge for going through the bridge and a cruising fee to anchor in their bay or their side of the lagoon.  The French are more lenient, They will charge a cruising fee if you check in at the Customs office near the marina but if you go into town to the Island Water World store they have a computer set up that you use to check in, print your paperwork and one of their employees signs them and collects your $2.00 fee.  Being poor broke sailors we opted for the computer option.  It was my first time checking in using a French keyboard and most of the form in French.  With a little help we got checked in and started to wander around the town.  After a great lunch at one of the bakeries we took the dinghy through the French bridge, through the lagoon, under the causeway bridge and took a tour of the Dutch harbor.  We stopped at the Island Water World store there to check it out and to meet Rene.  Rene is the store manager and a good friend of Lee and Sharon.  We pumped him for information then headed back to the boat.

Thursday, the 23^rd, we loaded the Honda generator into the dinghy and got ready to run back to Island Water World to have it serviced.  It runs but after it ran out of gas once it would not idle smoothly.  I suspected some debris got into the low speed jet.  After waiting out a short rain shower we were off.  They could not promise when it would be done but we could make it through the weekend without it if we had to.  We also talked to Rene about our problem getting the dinghy up on plane.  His advice was that wings would help but a lower pitch propeller would make a big difference.  They gave us directions to the Yamaha dealer and we were off on foot again.  Just down the street is Budget Marine, the other big marine store and we stopped there to look around.  There we ran into Tony and Deb from Exit Stage Left that we had met and traveled with in the Bahamas last year.  Once back on the boat we called a dive service to come out and clean the bottom.  It hadn’t been done since we were hauled out after catching a crab pot up in the Delaware River.  They were just finishing a job and said they would be right over.  We now have a clean bottom again.  By 2:30 they were done and we headed into town to a shop called Shrimpies which offers a number of services for cruisers including Wi-Fi.  We have been without Wi-Fi for almost a week.  Once at the shop we were able to get online and get updates and email.  One email was from the shop repairing the generator.  Due to the rain showers earlier the service tech did inside jobs instead of working on boats.  He cleaned and adjusted the carburetor and it was running fine.  I made the run down to get it, stopped off at Shrimpies to pick up Cori and then back to the boat.  The transfer of the generator onto the boat was successful, we didn’t drop it overboard, and then we headed back to the Dutch side for happy hour with Tony and Deb.

On Friday we started out early by bringing a propane tank in to be filled and to catch the shuttle to the grocery store.  We met up with Tony and Deb again.  Once the groceries were on board I collected the tools and supplies I thought I would need and we set off with the dinghy to find a beach we could use to change out the prop.  The new prop gets us up on plane in half the distance and we don’t notice a loss of speed.  We are happy.  We went back to town and stopped at the Tourist Center and they were having an event for the Carnival: free snacks and pasties and a variety of music and dance acts.  We wandered back to the main town center and ran into Dean and Kim from Dream Catcher whom we met last year while we were in Nassau.  From there we stopped at a phone store to get a sim card for the phone and then over to Dream Catcher for dinner.  We now have a data plan for as long as we are here and on a variety of other islands.  We can again communicate with the world.

Saturday started with music for Carnival at 5:00 am blasting out into the harbor.  Later as I let the generator run we went into town to check out the market.  Lots of stalls selling everything they think a tourist should have and more.  There were also stalls selling fresh fish, meat and fruits and vegetables.  The weather forecast is for the winds to increase and be in the 20’s out of the east for the next week so we opted to pull the anchor and move closer to the shore with the others to be better protected.  On the second try the anchor set and we are now part of the herd.  In the afternoon we headed back to the Dutch side for a fishing seminar at Island Water World and then to a party at the Buccaneer Beach Bar being put on by Outpost Magazine.  Outpost Magazine is the latest of Bob Bitchin’s endeavors.  Bob became famous or at least well know when he started and ran Latitudes and Attitudes magazine and wrote a couple of books about cruising.  We spent the evening visiting with old and new cruising friends and talking to Bob.  It was a long slow ride back to the boat in the dark but we didn’t hit anything and we didn’t get hit by anyone else.

Sunday was the adult parade celebrating Carnival; the kids’ parade was earlier in the week.  We went to town early and took the climb up the Fort Louis. The fort was built around 1780 and there isn’t much left of it other than the walls but it is a spectacular view.  We met up with Dean and Kim again and moved down by the sports stadium to watch the parade.  The parade was set to start at 12:00 but would take a couple of hours to get to us.  We made use of the time at one of the vendors sitting under their sunshade drinking beer and eating.  For $16.00 we got ribs, chicken, rice, macaroni and a salad that fed all four of us and the beer was $2.00 a bottle.

Let me describe the parade: slowly coming down the street is an 18 wheel truck with a flatbed trailer.  On the trailer is a generator, as many BIG speakers as they can stack and either live of recorded music playing loud enough to make your ears bleed.  Behind that is a dance group with elaborate feathered costumes dancing.  This goes on for a little more than an hour but the party doesn’t stop.  It is reported they will be doing another pass.  We wander up and down the street partying with everyone else until we decide to go home.  We got back aboard about 6:30 and I lay down for a “nap” that lasts all night.

Today, Monday, we made a run into town and walked up to the grocery store for more fresh provisions.  On the way back we stopped at one of the sidewalk cafes for lunch and to use their Wi-Fi.  As Cori made a trip down the block to pick up some bread at one of the bakeries the people at the next table must have noticed my tee shirt from Oriental and announced they were from New Bern NC.  It was Hal and Marsha on Eagles Wings and Rick and Peggy on Vision Quest.  Back at the boat I am running the generator since it is mostly cloudy and the solar panels are not producing much electricity and the water maker is also running.

The weather forecast is for winds in the 20’s out of the east for the rest of the week.  When it looks like it will drop off we will move to another island.  Which one we still have not decided but it will be hard to leave St. Martin.

Enjoying the BVI

We have enjoyed the BVI.  We have been moving every couple of days staying on moorings some nights and anchored others.  We are trying to anchor more but a lot of the bays are either real deep for have a bottom that will not hold an anchor or we would be causing damage to coral if we anchored.  On Friday, the 20th, we moved over to Cane Garden Bay.  There is a beautiful beach but it is on the list for the cruise ships that visit Tortola and a lot of tourists are bused there for the day.  In the evening they all clear out but then the three beach bars start competing who can have the loudest music.  With the tourists being bussed in it feels very touristy, even the local rum distillery.  They promote that they make the best rum in the islands but if you go there all you get is four VERY small samples for a dollar.  No tour, no seeing the facilities, just them hawking their wares.  They even have signs up that photographs are prohibited until you have bought a bottle.  I don't need photos that bad, but I took one anyway and was told to stop.  When we arrived we took a mooring but after riding the dinghy around the harbor we chose a spot and moved there to anchor for the night.  During the night the swell off the ocean shifted and the harbor was a rolling mess.  In the morning we joined the exodus out.  We then followed the north coast of Tortola to find a new location.  We had decided on White Bay on Great Camanoe Island and headed for there.  On the way we topped at Monkey Point to check out the snorkeling.  This is part of the BVI National Park system so we had high expectations.  Cori launched her kayak to go exploring and I swam in to check it out.  There was a lot of different kinds of fish including the school of little ones that surrounded me.  Thousands of little two inch fish everywhere, then as you move along you are suddenly out of them, just a wall of fish along the edge of the group.  We continued on to White Bay but there were several boats there and not a lot of room so we continued on to the other side of the island and picked up a mooring in the area between Great Comanoe, Marina Cay and Scrub Island.  On Sunday morning Cori took off with here kayak to go beachcombing.  I stayed aboard and ran the generator to charge batteries and run the water maker.  When Cori got back we dropped the mooring and moved to anchor next to the mooring field.  After that we took the dinghy out exploring and I checked out an area that is reported to be good snorkeling.  A big variety of fish but the coral was a bit disappointing.  In the early evening a boat came by selling fresh fruit and tee shirts.  Cori bought some fruit we have never had before.  Interesting stuff.

As we meet other cruisers we are always asking where we should go and almost all say we need to go to Anegada.  Monday morning we pulled anchor early and headed out.  We had been told we needed to get there early and since the weather was cooperating everyone was going to make the trip and the harbor would be full.  We motored against the wind for the eighteen mile trip and joined a line of boats going into the harbor.  We maneuvered around for a bit until we were able to pick up a mooring.  The harbor is on the south side and the winds and waves were from the north so it was a comfortable location, which is why everyone was coming here.  There isn't much to the town, several small resorts, a few restaurants that fill up early so you need a reservation and preorder since everything is made to order.  No walk-ins, no just showing up.  What they do have is some of the best beaches in the BVI.  After walking around a bit and riding through the harbor we called it a day.  We are competing with hundreds of charter boats everywhere we go but we found a good use for them.  There is one company that has equipped the boats with their own WiFi, and not locked it down.  If you get close to one of these you get free WiFi and we have started to take advantage of it when we find it.
Getting WiFi means we get connected again to the rest of the world.  That is good and bad.  While here and connected Cori got an email from Francine on Both Sides Now.  She and Ken were the first people we met when we were in the Bahamas our first year.  We have met up with them several times and it was their sailboat we delivered from St Augustine to New Bern last year.  On their way south for this winter they stopped off at Matthews Point Marina and spent a couple of days with us.  This was not one of the emails we wanted to receive.  While spending their time in Florida, they decided not to go to the Bahamas this year, Ken passed away from a battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis.  Ken was a great guy and will be missed.  Another sad day on Hi Flite, we hate losing friends.  The other side of the coin is how friendly everyone is and how many new friends we make.  On the ride to Loblolly Beach we shared a ride with a family from Argentina.  At the beach I went swimming and snorkeling and Cori walked the beach looking for "treasures".  At the appointed time our driver "Lawrence of Anegada" picked us and the Avellaneda family for our ride back to our boats.  We learned that the family was on summer break and were checking out sailing for the first time, with a crewed charter.  When we got back to our boat Cori got out here box of jewelry and we made a trip to their boat to give the girls their choice of some Bahamian shell and glass jewelry and Dimas got a pair of sunglasses since Cori didn't think he would want jewelry.  Of course his little sister immediately claimed his sunglasses.  That is for him to work out.  Cori now has four new Instagram followers.  We need to also mention the locals on the island.  Everywhere we went we were greeted with "welcome to our island" and when the guy came out to collect for the mooring ball his greeting was "thank you for being my guest".  They have a small island and they are very welcoming.  A note on Anegada Island.  It is different then the other islands in the area.  It is very much a low limestone island very much like the Bahamas instead of the higher volcanic islands that make up the island groups.

On Wednesday morning we dropped the mooring and followed the herd out.  We set sail and headed for the eastern end of Virgin Gorda.  We tried sailing but after several tacks called it quits and motored our way into North Sound.  We chose a spot off of Prickly Pear Island and set the anchor.  We launched the dinghy and headed of to The Bitter End Marina to check it out.  BEM is a large resort and marina operation and we found out how expensive it can be.  We checked to see if we could buy milk and they had it available, at $12.95 for a half gallon.  We are still drinking the boxed milk we brought along.  No way will we pay that.  From there we moved over to the Saba Rock Marina for happy hour.  Several painkillers later we were back on the boat.  On Thursday morning Cori went kayaking and I stayed to listen to the generator run.  I am thinking we need a wind generator.  I spent the day in the hammock suspended from the boom and got myself a real unusual sunburn.  Later we took the dinghy to explore the bay.

Friday we decided to treat ourselves and went to Leverick Bay Marina for the night.  We thought of getting one of their mooring balls and dinghying in for dinner but a mooring ball is $30 and a slip is $1.00 per foot  which works out at $42 for the night with 100 gallons of water and a bag of ice included.  Electrical is an additional $20 but our batteries loved it.  When we finished tying the boat up there was a smaller boat pulled up to our finger pier to drop off some people.  It turned out to be Richard Branson and his people.  He seems a real nice person, greeted and shook hands with everyone before moving along.  He has a house on a neighboring island and was there with his guests the Obamas.  We checked out the facilities, made our reservation for dinner and Cori did a load of laundry.  Walking out of the laundry Cori thought she recognized someone.  Tom Emberson was sitting there waiting for his group to get out of the showers.  Tom is the guy we sailed with and then bought his 29' Ericson, "Carina" from up in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior.  In the evening we went for the all you can eat BBQ buffet.  We both ate far too much but it was all good.  Later as the music played we retired to the boat and crashed.  In the morning we pulled out and started making our way along Virgin Gorda.  We put out the headsail and sailed around the point and aimed for Savanna Bay.  We pulled into the bay, tucking inside the reef and set anchor with several other boats.  Cori went kayaking, met a  group from Ohio and then on Sunday she did a little maintenance sealing the teak toerails and  polishing the stainless steel.  We had some rain showers off and on both days but nothing that amounted to much, mostly a dark cloud coming over the island and drizzling or outright raining for a few minutes and then the sun would be out again until it happened all over again.

Monday morning, it is the 30th now, we pulled the anchor and went around the bend, about two miles, to Spanish Town.  We picked up a mooring and headed into town.  First on our list was a haircut.  We both have not had one since we left the US.  The beauty shop was closed but we came across a barber shop and both got haircuts.  This was evidently his first experience cutting a woman's hair.  It looked pretty serious when he went at it with a pair of shears.  From there we found the Flow telephone office and topped off our data.  I have internet on my phone again and we can use it as a hot spot for our other devices.  Back at the boat we decided to take the dinghy down to the area called "the baths".  This is an area with very large granite rocks with pools of water between and through them.  It is very popular and we had planned to go early the next morning.  Approaching through the moored boats there we spotted the boat our new friends from Argentina had been on and we stopped by to check.  There was a new group on board and the captain told us the family had departed over the weekend and were off to go skiing in Colorado.  Instagram posts show they are having a great time.  We tied the dinghy to the dinghy line and swam in to check out the baths.  There are several nice beaches with paths through and around the rocks, up stairs and along rope lines getting you from one end to the other.  A very impressive display put on by Mother Nature.  In the morning we dropped the mooring and continuing past the Baths we stopped at Fallen Jerusalem Island.  We had been told that the rock formations were similar to the Baths and there was better snorkeling.  We dinghies in but it was too rough to beach the dinghy so we threw down an anchor and I jumped in to check out the snorkeling.  Not bad but there was a lot of wave action that bounced me around a lot so we gave up and continued on.  We stopped at Cooper island and again, picked up a mooring.  Cori took the kayak out to some remote beaches to look for shells and sea glass and later I took the dinghy out to find her.  She tends to stay away longer then I am comfortable with, and since she is out of sight I have no idea if she has had problems or not.  By mid afternoon the moorings were filled and boats were either moving on or anchoring further out.  It is a very popular spot.  In the morning, Wednesday, Cori was off on her kayak again and I got some quiet time on the boat.  By noon Cori was back and we dinghies around then went in to grab some WiFi from the coffee shop.  At 4:00 we went back in for happy hour then a quiet evening on the boat.

Thursday morning Cori got a message from Bo and Allison on Selah that they were on their way and after checking into the BVI would meet with us at Peter Island.  We dropped our mooring and set the headsail to make the downwind run to Peter.  We pulled into Deadmans Bay and set the anchor among a number of other boats.  Later Selah arrived and dropped their anchor.  We had a discussion, while other boats continued to try to anchor around us and we decided to leave to move to Great Harbor.  There we met up with their friends Mike and Melanie on Moonshine, friends of theirs from Ohio.  Friday morning the other two boats left early to dive and snorkel on a nearby wreck and then we met up with them in Cooper Island.  We hung out on Moonshine for the afternoon and then in for happy hour again.  In the morning Cori was ready to head off with her kayak to another remote beach but this time I towed the kayak there and she transferred over to head in.  This beach was open to the open water and had four to five foot swells coming in and breaking on a reef before calming down and hitting the beach.  Cori decided not to give it a try and paddled back to the boat.  We dropped the mooring and set our headsail and mizzen sail for a relaxing sail to Norman island and picked up a mooring in the bight.  We rode around on the dinghy for a bit, checking out Willie T's bar boat and watched some of the clients jumping off the roof and upper deck.  Willie T's is world renowned and we needed to check it out.  Just going by in the dinghy was enough.  From there I dropped Cori off at a beach and I went over to one of the points to check out the snorkeling.  After that I picked her up, dropped her off at another beach and I went snorkeling again.  After that we got cleaned up and just made it for the last 15 minute of happy hour to meet up with Bo and Allison and some of their friends.  We made plans to meet at a rock formation called the "Indians" to snorkel in the morning.  We decided to take the boats there instead of the dinghies so we headed out first thing in the morning to get one of the limited moorings.  After breakfast of fresh caramel rolls we went snorkeling while Cori went to the beach for treasures again.  The snorkeling was outstanding with a lot of varieties of fish.  Unfortunately I don't know what any of them are.  From there we moved to Privateer Bay for the rock formation called "The Caves" which is a series of caves cut into the rock.  Cori was off on her kayak and I dinghied over to the dinghy line to tie up and get in.  I swam around a bit looking at the coral and fish, didn't see any turtles although others said they did, and then swam into the caves.  The cave vary from small and narrow then opening up to large chambers, and another that curves around to another opening.  It is pretty interesting snorkeling and very different when you come above the surface and you find yourself in a cave.  An interesting experience I would like to do again.  That evening, not having any interest in the super bowl we decided not to go back into the bight and moved around the island and dropped anchor in Benure Bay with a couple of other boats.  We had a nice quiet, non-rolly night.  In the morning Cori went off in her kayak again and I charged the batteries and ran the water maker.  It was so peaceful we decided to stay another night.  By the time we left Tuesday morning Cori had collected more shells and sea urchins then she could count.  As she cleaned them and prepared them for travel she quit counting at 600.  That is not a typo, 600 and didn't bother to continue counting.

When we left Benure Bay we were planning to move up to Beef Island and anchor for the night but when we got there it was a bit rolly with the sea swell and when we dropped anchor and backed down on it we were too close to Selah and pulled it to move.  We checked out another spot but it looked too rocky so we moved back and dropped again, this time a bit further away.  Bo went out with their dinghy to check his anchor and was not happy with it.  We decided to move on.  We motored around Beef Island, straight into 20+ knot winds and waves crashing over the bow and made the decision to stop at Marina Cay again.  We picked up a mooring but by the time Selah arrived they were all taken so they anchored for the night.  We went in for happy hour at the Happy Arrrr Bar and then had dinner on Selah.

We had been planning to attend the full moon party in Trellis Bay so in the morning we moved across and picked up a mooring there.  Bo and Allison had been there, done that so they moved on.  Trellis Bay is right at the end of the runway for the Tortola airport but it was not really very annoying.  What was annoying was all of the charter boats coming in and circling around trying to find and pick up a mooring.  They are usually motoring too fast, can't turn in a short radius, have too many people giving orders, over-drive the mooring, drop their boat hook and overall entertain and scare the heck out of everyone else.  The full moon party was to be held on Friday evening but the advice was to get there a couple of days early to guarantee getting a mooring.  We arrived on Wednesday.  We made a short trip to shore to see what all was there and later Cori went in with a garbage bag and picked up trash.  She was rewarded with a free drink at Jeremy's Kitchen.  On Friday we went in to try to get attached to someone's wifi but it was too slow so we moved out to The Island Last Resort Bar and Restaurant to try there.  It was a bit better and the entertainment was better.  They have afternoon hermit crab races.  It is a lot more entertaining then it sounds.  In the afternoon we went to Avventure to visit with Rob and Cindy.  Cori met them previously while on shore picking trash.  Friday evening we went in for the festivities.  There are several bars and restaurants along with a variety of shops and an art center.  There is an artist that makes steel fire rings and fireballs.  They fill them with wood and light them on fire.  The designs he cuts into them are then highlighted by the flames.  They are really well done.  The other attraction is a steel statue of a man with his hands up in the air that is also filled with wood and set on fire.  The statue and two of the fireballs are set out in the water so you also get the reflections off of the water.  There is food served everywhere so we had a variety of choices to eat.  There were several music stages with a variety of music being played. If you didn't like what you heard you just needed to move along to find something else.  All in all it was a good night, and the full moon over the water was spectacular.  We planned to leave Saturday but when the money collector came on Friday we were told that we could have the fourth night free, so we stayed another night.  Most of the boats had left on Saturday so we had a quiet day with me running the generator and Cori polished more stainless steel.  Again, in the afternoon more boats came in to pick up mooring balls and the entertainment started again.  Just a side note but when we came in and picked up a ball Cori got applause from several other boats because it went so well.  We have developed hand signals so she is able to tell me what to do from the bow without yelling.  We are getting better.  Docking is another story.  On Monday morning we went across to Marina Cay to top off the fuel.  We circled for a while until the fuel dock was free then we made our approach.  The wind caught me and we had to go around and try again.  Again, the wind caught me and we had to try again.  This time I overadjusted my angle and just about took off the bow of the ferry that was parked there.  With a bit of help from the ferry crew on our lines we got tied up.  We got our fuel and then headed off to meet up with Bo and Allison at Jost Van Dyke.  We tried sailing but the wind was too light and from right behind us so we motored there.  Once there we anchored in the same spot we had on our previous visit and joined Bo and Allison for a trip to the bubbly pool.  The sea swell was higher then last time we were there so there was a lot more activity when the waves broke into the pool, enough to knock us off our feet and toss us around a bit.  A very good time.  From there we moved out to the Bee Line Beach Bar for happy hour.  We visited with a couple from St Paul's MN and with Bunkey, the bar owner.  Being the social animals they are Cori and Allison soon made acquaintances with Ricardo and Signe on Privileged.  He is from Portugal, she is from Latvia, they live in France and are spending their first time in the Caribbean after having their boat shipped over from Europe.  Later, Bo convinced them to just stay anchored where they were and join us for dinner.  We ended up bringing the meal to their boat and spent an enjoyable evening comparing cultures and telling stories.

Monday morning we picked Bo and Allison up with our dinghy and we made a run around the point to Little Harbor for lunch at Sidney's Peace and Love.  Later we all met up at the Bee Line for happy hour and again met a number of other boaters.  Thursday morning we moved to Great harbor to check out of the BVI.  We had been here 29 days and only had a 30 day cruising permit.  We checked out and motored to Charlotte Amelie on St Thomas.  Once anchored we went in to have lunch and find our way to Immigration to check back into the US.  Once that was done we did some grocery shopping then back to the boat for the night.

The reason we wanted to come back to Charlotte Amelie, other then check in was to find Cori's marker.  In 2007, Cori's dad was here with a NOAA survey crew.  When he placed one of the benchmark markers he changed the number on it to Cori's name.  He then sent a picture of it and the GPS coordinates for it to her for her birthday.  It has taken us ten years but we have finally made it here to find it.  This morning we took the dinghy across the harbor to the marina it is located at and got some pictures of Cori with her marker.  You can find a photo at her Instagram: https://Instagram.com/p/BQioND8gdNo/

We are planning to leave St. Thomas tomorrow and make our way to St. Croix for a few days before venturing further east to St. Martin and begin working our way down the Leeward and Windward Islands.

Sorry there are no photos, I am still trying to get them uploaded so they can be added to the photo galleries.

In the BVI

We have moved on to the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

After several days at the marina it was time to move, marinas are expensive.  We had taken a day trip to Charlotte Amalie via a Safari.  A safari is a form of a taxi but in reality it is a pickup with rows of seats in the back with a covering.  They are the main form of public transportation on St Thomas and are inexpensive, $2 per person.  We wandered around the downtown with all of the other tourist off the cruise ship.  We learned a number of things.  The shops want your business and will go all out to get it including inviting you in for a beverage (water, soda, beer, etc), free samples and vary aggressive sales techniques including price reductions every time you start for the door.  You can also take your beverage out in the street and drink it as you walk along (including the beer).  After wandering the main streets we started checking out the small alleys connecting them and found a number of unique shops.  In one we came across an oasis, a small bar with a comfortable sitting area, air conditioning and wifi.  While having a drink the bartender explained the concept of an "island pour" when mixing drinks.  Since everything needs to be shipped in everything is expensive.  Rum is made locally, cola is imported, therefore they switch the proportions: a lot of rum and a little coke.  He demonstrated the technique several times for me.  We had been given a suggestion for where to have lunch and we were not disappointed.  From there we were looking for a safari to take us back to the marina when I spotted a small open air bar with swings instead of stools.  They were comfortable, why don't more paces offer this, and the bartender was familiar with an "island pour."  We finally caught a safari and back at the marina had a light dinner and I crashed, but with a smile on my face.  One of the interesting things that happened was when one of the clerks in a store noticed my Ocracoke shirt and asked if we were from the area.  We explained where we had lived on Clubfoot Creek and it turned out she grew up four houses down on the other side of the creek.  It truly is a small world.

We left the marina but unfortunately had an incident with the boat next to us.  We needed to back out of the slip and get the boat turned into the wind once clear of the dock and other boats.  The wind, from behind, caught the stern and pushed it the wrong way and once clear of the dock we were pushed into their anchor bowsprit.  They were backed into the slip.  After clearing our rigging from them we were out of the marina.  The captain of that boat was very helpful and understanding.  Once out of the harbor we turned right and proceeded downwind using the headsail to sail to the harbor at Charlotte Amalie.  Several other cruisers have given us suggestions where to anchor and after checking them out we chose a spot and dropped anchor.  The next morning we went ashore to take care of business.  We had already done enough of the touristy stuff so we made a trip to K-mart for a few supplies and the grocery store.  Once back on the boat putting things away we got a message that Lee and Sharon from Allegro were on their way and did we want to do lunch.  As they were coming into the harbor we went back to shore to wait for them.  After a great lunch with them and meeting some of their cruising friends, one with a Pearson 422, we headed back to the boat while they went off to do laundry.  The anchorage had been very rolly and uncomfortable so we decided to move.  First we needed to top off fuel, we pulled into a marina, got fuel and we were off again to find a place to anchor.  The suggested anchorages were very full of boats and anyplace we could choose was too deep so we decided to move over to Brewers Bay.  This anchorage is right next to the airport with the runway acting as a break wall knocking down the waves.  The only drawbacks are the airplanes taking off and landing and the music from the public beach.  In the evening it quieted down and we had a peaceful night.

This being Monday we had planned to sail to St Croix.  There was a weather change forecasted and we would have a great sail there.  The "BUT" that follows that statement was that the winds and swell was going to shift and be from the north for a week.  A lot of wind and big swells 9-12 foot.  The anchorages on St Croix are on the north side of the island and we would be exposed to them for the week.  We decided not to go, we will get there later.  With the forecast for wind and waves from the northeast we decided to go back to the south side of St. John.  We pulled into Great Lameshur Bay and picked up a mooring again.  While Cori was off kayaking a neighbor came over to invite us over for sundowners. People from two other boats were there so lots of advice was given.  Tuesday morning we went ashore and went for a hike, first stopping at the VIERS center.  We had missed this the first time here and the others were telling us how interesting it was.  VIERS stands for Virgin Islands Environmental Research Station.  They host collage student who are doing research in the area.  The site was originally built as the center for the Tektite research.  Many of us are familiar with the Sealab experiment in the late 60's and this was a follow up by researchers, including NASA, for extended underwater and close quarter living.  There was a "habitat" anchored to the sea floor just outside of the bay and during 1969 and 1970 there were a series of experiments conducted, the most notable was the first crew who lived there for 59 days venturing out with diving equipment to conduct research and study the underwater environment.  Google it, "Tektite", it is very interesting.  From there we  hiked the Tektite Trail, not one of the easy trails but to a very nice overlook looking down at where the Tektite dock had been.  We spent a couple of days on the mooring while the winds blew but we were very protected.

Thursday was a sad day on Hi Flite.  Cori received an email that notified us that George, the previous owner of Hi Flite had died and his memorial service was to be held on Saturday.  George loved his boat and selling her was an emotional experience for him.  After we bought the boat and I was spending time on her in Florida trying to learn all I could before bringing her up to North Carolina, George would come down most days to help me get familiar.  One of my favorite George stories was the day he looked at me and said "well, she is yours now so maybe I should show you where the leaks are" and proceeded to point out where there were leaks that he had not gotten to yet.  There weren't many but it was funny to me since most previous owners will never admit to any defects in their pride and joys.  We spent a lot of time together, him telling me stories and giving advice and he showed me a lot about the boat and went out sailing with us when Cori was there to make us more familiar.  He and Barbara even hosted us to Thanksgiving dinner while we were there, and it is through them that we became familiar with the Cuban sandwich.  One of his stories stuck and years later when faced with a fuel problem on a boat we were delivering his advice was foremost in my mind and we got the boat to her new home port by feeding fuel from jerry jugs when the fuel tank pickup was fouled.  We also did this the summer we had our fuel tank replaced.  While waiting for a new one to be delivered we continued sailing and using the boat by using jerry jugs again and the hoses I used for that are onboard ready to use again.  We have thought of George often and his spirit still lives with us on Hi Flite, the boat that he loved.

We decided it was to move since we had heard good things about Salt Pond Bay just further long the coast.  We dropped the mooring and motored two miles to the bay.  We were lucky, we arrived in time to pick up a mooring ball that just came free.  Salt Pond Bay is small with only five moorings but the beach is very popular with tourists and locals.  Cori went kayaking and I went snorkeling. There are a couple of rock piles in the bay with good snorkeling and there are several turtles that were hanging out between us and our neighbors, very easy to see when snorkeling or when they come up for air.  It turned out our neighbors and their company were from Sioux Falls SD.  Cori got back from kayaking and wanted a garbage bag and off she went to one of the beaches to pick up the trash that had been washed up there.  On Friday we went to shore to hike the Ram Head trail.  Ram Head is a narrow peninsula that makes up one side of the bay.  It is an easy hike, compared to the others we have been on, and once to the end there is a beautiful panoramic view of the island and the surrounding area.  Once back from this hike we took the Drunken Bay Trail across the peninsula to Drunken Bay.  The attraction there, besides the view is the rock sculptures people are making.  Besides the standard rock towers people are using rocks to make human figurines and some of the washed up coral to spell out messages.  Photos will be posted later.  All of these days we had strong winds coming over the island and short rain squalls passing through.  We saw more rainbows this week then any other time.  Saturday Cori went kayaking again and I spent the day reading and relaxing (napping). Sunday was a repeat, with Cori off in her kayak and I stayed back to run the generator and water maker.  Later we swam over to the neighbors to hang out in the water and visit.  We discussed our plans to go around the island and spend another day in Waterlemon Bay before making the jump to the BVI (just a couple of miles away).  Their response was "why wait"?  We made arrangements with our friends on Voyager I to let them have our mooring and when they showed up Monday morning we dropped off and headed around the island.  There was still a lot of wind, 15-20, and waves on the nose until we got around the island and started downwind.  We pulled out the headsail and sailed down the channel, around the edge of Tortola and across to Jost Van Dyke island.  We pulled into Great Harbor, picked up a mooring ball, had lunch and then went in to meet with Customs and Immigration.  We were cleared for 30 days.  We have again left the country.  We did a short walk along the waterfront to get familiar and had a beer at Foxies.  Foxies is an institution in the area.  If you are in the BVI you almost have to stop there,  We were there in the afternoon but their evenings and holiday parties are legendary.  Back on the boat we watched the boats come in look for a mooring and leave or find a spot to drop anchor.  We spent the night but it was a little rolly.

In the morning we decided to move around the corner to White Bay which we are told is one of the more beautiful beaches.  We grabbed one of the moorings and went to shore to take care of phone business and the required stop at the Soggy Dollar.  The Soggy Dollar is where the painkiller was invented and it is a requirement that you stop and have one.   We also needed to stop at the little store to get a SIM card for my phone.  ATT works but as soon as we leave the US islands we are using international roaming fees.  Once that was taken care of we used their suggestion for a lunch spot.  The interesting thing at lunch was if you ordered their signature drink they gave you a cup of ice and put the two bottles of rum and the fruit juice on the counter and you mixed your own drink.  While at the Soggy Dollar we met a fellow sailor from Booth Bay Harbor Maine.  We had an enjoyable time talking with him and exchanging stories, all sailors have stories.  Once again we rocked and rolled through the night so in the morning we moved on to the east end of Jost Van Dyke and picked up a mooring ball.  One of the attractions here is the "Bubbly Pool".  We made the short hike over and soon the group that was there left and we had it to ourselves.  The pool is where the water has broken through the rock shore and formed a shallow pool and when the waves hit the entrance it funnels the water in and turns the pool into a sort of a jacuzzi.  The bigger the waves the more pronounced the effect.  We only had five footers so the effect wasn't as dramatic as it could have been.  Earlier in the week with the north wind and swells they had been hit with thirteen foot swells and the pool was too dangerous to go in.  Photos and video to follow.  On the way to the pool we went under two sets of yellow tape with the message "Crime scene, do not enter".  When the boat arrived to take our money for the mooring he explained that just a few days before someone had been climbing on the rocks at the pool and fell and died.  It truly was a crime scene.  Speaking of the moorings, here in the BVI there is a boat that comes out about 5:30 to collect the $30 to stay on the mooring overnight.  It adds up quickly.  This morning we decided that when Cori got back from her kayak trip we would move the boat to another area by a sand beach and anchor for the night.  When we got to the anchorage it was more rolly then we like so we moved back closer to the mooring field and dropped anchor. We are still rolling but not as bad.  Since we are out here with just a couple of other boats I fired up the generator to charge the batteries and make more water.  I don't like running the generator when someone is close because I don't like hearing anyone else's generator and am sure they don't like mine.  I spent the rest of the day reading and Cori sorted through provisions and did some cooking.

St. John US Virgin Islands

We have WiFi again.  We have been in some isolated anchorages and have been lucky if we get one bar with our phones and no data to speak of.  Fortunately, isolated anchorages are what we enjoy.

We left Culebra with a forecast of reduced winds and seas.  Reduced is relative, when it blows 20-25 everyday dropping below 20 is a reduction.  We have been experiencing what is called the "christmas winds".  The christmas winds continue until some meteorological event shifts the high pressure that sits up north of the islands.  Eventually something moves and the winds calm down.  We have had almost constant 20-25 knot winds from the east since we arrived.  The forecast called for several days of moderation and we took advantage of it to motor, against the winds and waves to the island of St John.  Oh yea, the waves.  The forecast called for them to drop from 7-9 foot.  Depending where we were in relation to an island they did drop but we still saw a lot of 7-9 footers.  But it could have been worse, it was a short trip, 35 miles or about six hours.

We use an online program called Active Captain to help guide us.  People write reviews and rate such things as marinas, anchorages and make notes about different hazards you may encounter.  Using this we chose a bay on the south side of St John to anchor when we arrived.  Once we got in we found that it wasn't a real good choice so we tried the next little bay.  It was a bit less crowded so we dropped anchor to see how we would ride.  Not good, too much roll.  We decided to continue along a couple more miles to Great Lameshur Bay and pick up a park service mooring.  Most of St John is a national park and most of the bays in the park have mooring balls provided by the park service.  You are also not allowed to anchor in the park waters to protect the coral and bottom structure.  This sounds like a nice service but nothing is free.  Until this year there was a charge of $15 per night for the mooring but this year it was raised to $26.  Fortunately, I have a senior access pass that reduces my cost by 50%.  I only have to pay $13 a night.  If you or anyone you know is over 62 and travels to any US National Park this is a good card to have.  It costs $10 and gives free admission to all National Parks for the person and everyone with them.  I have used many different parks.  The bad news is that there has been a proposal to raise the cost to $80 in the new budget.  Still a good deal if one visits several parks.  The card is good for the rest of your life.  I have saved well over the purchase price in just a few years.  Anyway, back to St John, most of it is wilderness and thy have developed a number of hiking trails and that is one thing we tried to do.  Our first attempt at hiking was called the Bordeaux Mtn. Trail.  This turned out to be anything but a walk in the park.  The trail is 1.2 miles long and climbs 1277 feet, and then you have to walk back down.  I thought my knee hurt going up, coming down again was ever harder.  We made it and there were some breathtaking vistas along the way.

  The nest hiking excursion, after a day of rest, was the Petroglyph Trail.  This was only about three miles with a diversion to the  Reed Bay Sugar Mill ruins, then three miles back.  This did not climb as high but we still had to climb over a major ridge line to get there, and back.  The petroglyphs are some  carvings in rocks from the original natives of the islands back several thousand years.

  The sugar mill ruins were the remnants of the last sugar plantation in operation on the island closing in the early 1900's

Another bright idea we had was to hike the Brown Bay Trail until it met up with the Johnny Horn Trail that ended in the town of Coral Bay.  From there we planned on following the road back to where we left the dinghy.  About a six mile hike across the island and back crossing several ridges with some grades almost too steep to climb and descend.  Once in Coral Bay we stopped at Skinny Legs bar for a cold one and met Rick and Nancy from Colorado and accepted a ride back to our dinghy.  Back at the dinghy we found that we had been visited by a park ranger and he left a notice that we were not allowed to leave the dinghy where it was and that it is against the rules to tie it to a tree, or anything else for that matter.  It was just a warning, not a citation so there was no penalty.  We also got a warning the nest day when we got back from a day trip to Cruz Bay.  We were not supposed to stay two nights on a day-use mooring.  We moved to an anchorage outside the park for the night in case he came back to check on us.  We made several more hikes while around the island, mostly short ones to a ruins of some sort.

We did make one trip to the town of Cruz Bay, taking a Safari Taxi to town and then the bus back.  Safari Taxis are pickups with seats in the back and a roof over the passengers heads.  We climbed aboard and quickly found we were with a former resident of New Bern NC and a resident of Ocracoke Island.  They were on their way to the ferry to return from their vacation.  While perusing shops we also met a former resident of Beaufort and while waiting to board the bus met a family from Cary NC.  They all noticed that my T shirt was from Oriental NC and struck up a conversation.

Aside from the hiking Cori took several opportunities to get out on her kayak and explore some of the beaches and I got in some more snorkeling.  I saw a variety of coral and fish, again taking too many pictures of where a fish had been.  One site had a number of squid to check out.

We worked our way counter-clockwise around the island staying for a couple of days in different bays.  Our last night the winds and waves shifted and we started to roll.  We had plans on moving along a short distance to check out an underwater snorkeling trail but it was too rough to want to stay even for just the day.  We checked out several other bays, even taking a mooring on one to see how it felt but still was uncomfortable so we moved on.

We moved across to Big James Island and picked up a free mooring in Christmas Cove.  The story is that it is called Christmas Cove because that is where Christopher Columbus spent a Christmas.  The unique thing in this cove is the pizza boat.  There is a boat anchored that is set up with a kitchen to make and sell pizzas.

We had a great time on and around St John and will be back.  We decided to take a couple of days and give Hi Flite some love.  We moved to Red Hook Bay on the east end of St Thomas and are tied up to a dock.  I need to give the electrical system some attention and need to be on 110 service for a couple of days.  We were here only a couple of hours and Bill and Andrea from Voyager I stopped by to say hello.  We met them in Culebra.  We have been meeting a lot of others along the way, even a family from Fargo while waiting for our pizza at the pizza boat.

In the midst of this we spent a quiet Christmas and New Years Eve.  We hope everyone had a nice Christmas and wish all of you a Happy New Year!

Leaving the Spanish Virgin Islands

We are getting really to leave the Spanish Virgin Islands and head over to the US Virgin Islands.  I really don't know what the difference is.  We left Fajerdo on Wednesday, the 14th around 1:00 and motored about five miles to Isle Palamino and picked up a mooring.  We could have waited another day but we're getting eager to get out of the marina.  It is too easy to get used to the comfort of a marina, it was time to move.  We had stayed more days then we had planned but it took longer to get everything ready then we had thought.  The repair shop that was working on the generator was having problems.  Honda does not make a marine version of their generator and corrosion is evidently a problem.  It took them a day to just get the screws to release so they could disassemble it.  Several times when I talked to them they were thinking they were not going to get it disassembled.  They promised it on Monday but when I called them they said it was apart and they had the parts but it would take longer.  On Tuesday morning our new friend Cato gave me a ride in and they promised it by late afternoon.  In the afternoon we made another trip in and they had it running and powering a fan to test it.  They had it running for three hours without a problem.  Evidently the problem was that some of the wiring got corroded and lost it's ground and thought it was low on oil.  They gave me the invoice and I ended up paying them a whopping $76.10.  I didn't have any change so I got away with only paying them $76.00.  I had expected it to cost me a lot more.  We brought it back to the boat and continued to get ready to go.  The winds were supposed to moderate a little on Thursday but we left early and staged at a near by island to make the run to Culebra.  We spent the evening relaxing in the cockpit watching the full moon rise over the island.

Thursday morning we dropped the mooring and motored against the wind.  The winds had dropped a little and was only blowing in the 15-20 knot range.  It had been blowing in the 20's all week.  We worked our way around the island and pulled into the harbor and dropped anchor.  We launched the dinghy, it had been riding on the bow since we left NC and mounted the 3.3 outboard and went exploring.  We tied up on the dinghy dock and walked into town.  We must have looked lost and a lady stopped to enquire if we were looking for anything in particular.  It turned out she was from Steamboat Springs Colorado and theyspend their winters in Culebra.  She pointed out several places to check out and told us of a school musical performance that evening.  After dinner on the boat we made our way to the school for the concert.  They were also selling deserts.  The students had a project where they studied a different country and reported on a desert specific to that country.  They, with their parents, made deserts and were selling them before and after the performance.  We expected to not be able to understand the songs since we do not know Spanish but it turned out they performed in several languages dependent on where the song was from.  They did a real good version of Silent Night in three languages.  This was our introduction to Culebra.

On Friday we swapped out the 3.3 outboard for the 15 horse and went exploring.  We had been told that the snorkeling near Tamarindo Beach was supposed to be good and we headed over there.  We tied the dinghy to a mooring and I dropped into the water to swim over to the reef.  I turned around for some reason and returned to the dinghy and Cori told me that the workers on the beach said we needed to leave.  We are not sure why but we moved further up the shore and dropped the anchor and I went snorkeling again while Cori swam to shore to look for shells and glass.  I had my new underwater camera but when I switched it to the underwater setting it gave a message I couldn't understand so I left it on the boat and continued.  The reef was great with a large variety of fish and coral.  At one time I had a ray swim under me and I followed it around for a while.  I wish I had the camera.  Finally we called it quits and headed back to the boat.  Instead of stopping at the boat we continued on and took a tour of the harbor.

On Saturday we were making a run into town when we stopped at a boat with a home port of St. Paul MN.  It turned out they were from Minnetonka and Maple Grove, true Minnesotans.  It rained off and on all day but we headed back to the west side of the island and I snorkels on the reef while Cori walked the beach looking for more shells and glass.  This time I brought the camera and shot over two hundred pictures and videos.  I will get them sorted and uploaded when I have good wifi signal.  When the camera battery died we made our way back to the boat.  We also did a good deed when we went by a group of kayakers and towed the last kayak to shore.  They were tired and one of them was not feeling well due to the motion of the ocean.

Sunday we woke up hearing some disturbance outside.  We looked out to see one of our neighbors had dragged down on another boat and they were trying to get their anchors untangled.  Once they were free the boat went to anther part of the harbor to reanchor.  The winds were blowing over 20 knots again so we spent the day on board until evening when we thought the winds had died a little and we made a run into town.  We were planning to move on Monday and needed to get rid of our garbage. We dropped it off at the collection bins at the dinghy dock and then when to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  When we were through we found that my wallet had been left on the boat.  By now the wind had picked up again and by the time I made the run to the boat, back to the restaurant and back to the boat we were wet from the splashing waves.  The very thing we wanted to avoid by staying on the boat all day.

Monday we left the harbor to check out one of the small islands nearby.  We motored out into 20+ knot winds and worked our way to Isla Cullebrita.  There is a very pretty harbor on the northwest side of the island but to get there we had to go around and out into the big seas.  The waves were running about six foot when we went around the island and worked our way into the anchorage.  We picked up a mooring and went to shore.  On shore we met another cruiser who pointed out the different things to find on the island  The first thing we wanted to see was the area called the "jacuzzi".  It is an opening in the rocks that let the waves come in and flood a shallow area.  This day the sea was running too high and the water flooding in was a bit too violent.  We opted to just take pictures and head back to the boat.  There was a swell from the waves working it's way into the harbor and was causing a lot of uncomfortable rolling.  We decided to leave.  While getting back into the dinghy after pushing off from shore the lanyard on Cori's inflatable life jacket caught and all of a sudden her jacket inflated.  A big surprise and it didn't help getting into the dinghy any easier.  At least we know it works but now we need to get another re-arm kit for it.  We had more waves breaking and splashing into the cockpit until we got around the island and then moved to a protected anchorage for the night.  it was interesting to feel the wind blowing 20 knots and watch the waves break on the reef but we were sitting in perfectly calm water.  Once again we had rain showers overnight to wash the salt off the boat.

Tuesday morning we went back to the island, this time staying on the calm side and went ashore.  There is an old lighthouse on the top of the hill and we wanted to check it out.  There are trails leading to other beaches and up to the lighthouse.  We climbed up the hill checking out the plant life, lots of flowering plants, the little and not so little lizards that hurried out of our way, the hermit crabs slowly climbing along and finally got to see some of the goats that live on the island.  They are shy of people so we only got momentary sightings as we climbed.  We heard them in the brush more then saw them.  Once to the top of the hill we were not disappointed in the lighthouse.  We shot a lot of pictures and will post them in our album when we get a better connection.  Once to the lighthouse we found the rest of the goat herd.  I walked around a corner and came face to face with two goats.  I am not sure who was more surprised.  As we checked out the facility we saw the rest of the herd hanging out at the old helicopter pad.  More then a dozen were there and they were not to happy to see us.  As long as we kept our distance they put up with us and then decided to leave.  As we were looking out at the surrounding area we could see small groups of goats on the hillsides.  On our way back down we came across several more with their young.  They would stare at us for a bit then decide to make a run for it into the brush.  Once back to the boat we headed back to the harbor at Culebra for the night and to get ready to make the jump to St. John.  We are going to bypass St. Thomas for now and will visit there when we need supplies.  The winds are supposed to moderate a bit and since it is an upwind motor trip we will try to take advantage of it.