Adventures of the Jubilee

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Final Days in the Caribbean for 2013

When asked about our plans we often reply that they’re written in sand at low tide. Wind and sea conditions change. Opportunities appear … and disappear. Along the path of the most carefully laid intentions life happens, planned or not.

After our friends Stan and Linda returned to Minnesota, our plan was to meet Hans and Ruth Deller in Francis Bay, St. John, spend a day together there, and then head down to St Croix for a week before turning Jubilee’s bow toward Culebra and ultimately Fajardo for hurricane season storage.

That plan was not to happen. Instead the weather gods intervened, with very windy, squally weather being forecast for the entire Eastern Caribbean. Our passage to St. Croix would have been a fast one, but conditions in St. Croix’s Christiansted Harbor in strong ENE to NE winds would likely have been very uncomfortable. Plus it was starting to look like we could easily get weathered in there for a number of days.

St. John’s Francis Bay, Saturday April 13 through Tuesday April 16.

The first part of our plan was perfect. We had a great, although short, downwind jib-only sail after clearing out of West End early Saturday afternoon. Ray and Lorna from the Tayana 37 Lorna Doone were already moored in Francis Bay, and on Sunday afternoon Hans and Ruth Deller joined us on their Pentesilea. Aboard Pentesilea for Monday sundowners, and after reviewing the latest weather updates and talking with another cruiser in Francis who had recently spent several uncomfortable days in Christiansted under conditions similar to those now forecast, we jointly decided with Hans and Ruth to nix the St. Croix Plan. It was on to “Plan B”.

Our revised plan was to return on Wednesday to the BVI’s for a final few days of additional exploration before turning our bow west toward Puerto Rico and storage for the 2013 Hurricane season. It was a great plan, but weather outlooks again intervened. Hans and Ruth, along with Ray and Lorna, had a little more time to work with, so they headed to the BVI’s on Tuesday, settling in at Norman Island that evening while we hung around one more day at St. John’s Francis Bay.

St. John’s Salt Pond Bay, Wednesday April 17 through Saturday April 20^th

Enter “Plan C”. Wednesday brought a brisk, mostly upwind, reefed main motorsail in strong winds, rain squalls and building seas around the east end of St. John Island to one of our favorite bays on the island’s south shore, Salt Pond. Once there we were lucky to snag one of the two well protected mooring balls nearest the beach, remaining at Salt Pond for four glorious days while perfectly sheltered from the strong winds and building seas just outside the bay.

One of our favorite hikes at Salt Pond is the trek around the bay’s entrance and up to the top of Ram’s Head, the massive headland that provides such great protection to south shore bays like Salt Pond and Lameshur. The views from atop the head are stunning (see still photo at left), as were the impressive large seas crashing against the rocks below.  Note: those reading this via an RSS email message may not be able to see this and other videos, and instead may wish to view the blog directly at http://jubilee.typepad.com.

 

After hiking the headland, we returned to the Salt Pond beach and worked our way up the trail to the Concordia Camp to take advantage of one of their daily happy hours. The views from their restaurant deck are equally impressive.

On another trip ashore we happened across these sun bathers catching rays right at the beach’s National Park signposts. Watch your step while walking the beach here!

St. John to St. Thomas Sunday April 21st.

Winds and seas started laying down a bit Saturday night, allowing for a brisk jib-only sail to Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. The following seas ensured we kept careful watch on the helm while enjoying our fast westward sleigh ride. The accompanying video hopefully provides some sense of our run that day, although pictures never do justice to the seas.

 

St. Thomas was in the middle of their two-week Carnival celebration when we arrived, and the entire downtown and waterfront were bustling for the festivities. Of particular interest to us were the people riding JetPacks … a device somewhat similar to a Segway or a Pogo Stick on land, except that powerful water jet sprays set downward propel the operator into the air or under the water. The jet spray is fed by a very high capacity pump towed on the surface nearby. The result is essentially a high energy personal hovercraft that allows the rider to ride multiple feet above the surface, go in any direction, and even do loop d’ loops and dive underwater!

We shot the attached JetPack video from our boat in the Charlotte Amalie harbor.

 

Following is a link to another professional/promo video of JetPacks that we found on the internet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Bm3cs9TFo. It might just be time to sell those big sail and power cruising boats and get a JetPac! Kewl.

On the down side, Sunday night of Carnival was not one of the high points of our times in St. Thomas this year. It was concert night at “Carnival Central”, just off the waterfront, and when Virgin Islanders party they like their concert music LOUD. We realize the Caribbean is a loud culture, but this concert was simply unbelievable. Even with all of our hatches closed we were unable to watch a video or even listen to our own music on board. Our cupboard doors were literally rattling inside the boat from the intense bass! … And the concert continued full blast from about 7:00pm until 2:00am. Unbelievable.

Monday April 22^nd – on to Culebra

Monday morning we quickly took care of the things we had planned for our Charlotte Amalie stop: doing a little laundry before heading on to Culebra, and getting Bill’s hair cut at a place he’d used in the past. Those projects done, by mid-day we were out the harbor heading west again under jib alone, this time running directly downwind to Culebra in still-lumpy conditions, albeit with seas having settled a bit from the prior day.

In Culebra we had hoped to have dinner at the El Eden restaurant in Dewey, a place several other cruisers had raved about. However that plan was quickly replaced with a “Plan D” when we found that El Eden was closed both Monday and Tuesday that week. It was to be dinner on board again, followed by the decision to head back to Puerto del Rey the next morning, a day earlier than initially planned, to start prepping Jubilee for storage.

Tuesday April 23^rd – "Back to the Barn" in Puerto Rico

Tuesday brought our third consecutive almost exactly downwind jib-only sailing day in a row. Although the seas remained somewhat lumpy, running these easy-day downwind passages back to Fajardo made us almost forget the up-wind slogs endured while heading east toward the Virgins three months earlier. The chart snap below best illustrates those straight-as-an-arrow downwind runs we were able to take, literally day after day, as we closed out our last few 2013 sailing days in the Virgins.

As we rolled the jib in for the last time to head into our Puerto del Rey slip this year it was hard to believe our 2013 cruising season was so quickly coming to an end. But all was not yet done.

April 24^th to May 7^th – Hurricane Storage Prep in Fajardo

Those who aren’t cruisers probably don’t appreciate how much pre and post-season boat work needs to be done each year. We do virtually all of our own work on the boat, whether it’s changing oil in our two diesels, maintaining our outboard, taking care of our water systems, climbing the 60’-plus mast-head to remove our wind instruments for storage, waxing and varnishing, storing everything possible in the cabin and out of the sun for the summer and fall, or cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. During this final push our days typically started around 7:30 or 8:00am, and ended around 6:30pm, excepting for one afternoon we took off to celebrate Judy’s birthday on the 30^th.

World Cruisers …

This year, more than past years, it seems we met and got to know more cruisers in Puerto del Rey who were planning major passages to close out their cruising season. Four European crews we met had set out earlier from Europe to the southeast Caribbean via the Cape Verde Islands and the Canaries. They subsequently cruised north through the Windwards and Leewards to the Virgins and Puerto Rico. Three of those boats were readying to jump north to Bermuda, east to the Azores, and then northeast to mainland Europe or Great Britain. Those three legs would probably take the better part of a month's time ... or more ... with lots of open ocean miles destined to go under those keels.

The British boat, an older 40-something foot Laurent Giles Yawl, was in the slip right next to Jubilee while her two-person crew readied for their trip back across the pond.

We also met three couple-crews from the Netherlands, two of them with their 4 to 9-year-old kids on board (three kids on one of the boats). Two were readying to return across the pond, while one was preparing to cruise west through the DR and Bahamas to Florida.

It seems that most American couples out cruising are retired folks like us, whereas Europeans seem more likely to be taking a mid-career sabbatical to cruise, often with their kids. Although we didn’t do that when we were younger, we think it the better plan (do as we say, not as we do :-). Life is more than work, as the Europeans seem to know better than we Americans.

While in Puerto del Rey we also reunited with another cruising couple, Shane and Sara from Eden Prairie, MN, who we had briefly met in the storage yard in 2012. Still working mostly from the boat, they had made arrangements for a delivery crew to sail their beautiful center cockpit Bristol 45.5 back to Annapolis to be put up for sale, since they had a new catamaran currently under construction for them in France. Exciting time.

Also, next January we look forward to seeing Gabriel and Kathleen again … catamaran sailors from Montreal who we were again close to in the storage yard.

Cruising is so much about the people as well as the places, as all these Puerto del Rey cruising connections attest.

Haul Out

Haul-out, Thursday morning May 3^rd, was largely uneventful. The one thing that some of our readers might find interesting is the hydraulic-pneumatic trailer used to pack boats closer together in the storage yard. The self-propelled trailer is operated from a “magic box” slung over the operator’s shoulder as he walks alongside the rig, controlling everything with joysticks. Following is a video of some of the action for those who might be interested.

 

There is only so much pre-storage work one can do while in the water. Once out of the water, tasks like flushing engine and refrigeration cooling systems with fresh water, tying things down, greasing the prop, and servicing through-hulls came into play.

Our biggest and most time consuming job this year was the removal and replacement of all head (toilet) hoses, several of which had become almost totally blocked by scale, a function of acidic urine interacting with salt water minerals to build up a thick mineral scale inside the hoses over time. This can be somewhat mitigated by always flushing with copious amounts of water plus the regular use of a de-scaling chemical, but it was clear that we had not done enough of either over the two years since we last undertook this task. All in all we spent almost 16 hours on this one project alone, largely because the builder installed the hoses before the furniture was installed, making access almost impossible. It was not a fun job, but it’s behind us now.

Complicating our last two days in the storage yard were repeated rainstorms, not only making it difficult to do some of the outside tasks, but also making the storage yard a muddy mess for any work on the hull exterior or for trips off from and back onto the boat. Our last couple of days in Puerto del Rey weren’t a lot of fun.

And so it went until shortly after noon on Tuesday the 7^th, when our storage prep tasks were done and we were finally able to lock the boat and head off to San Juan and our Wednesday morning return flight to Minneapolis. It had been an exhausting two weeks.

Epilog … a look back on the 2013 season … and look forward to 2014

It had been a great year down in the Virgins with generally beautiful weather, some fantastic sailing, the company of several long-time cruising friends, and wonderful guests with whom to share some of our cruising experiences. All told we put another 516 nautical miles under the keel this season, crisscrossing our path back and forth among the islands (see below). Plus we enjoyed some of the best sailing we’d ever experienced down this way … or anywhere … especially during that idyllic two-week near-perfect weather window when Stan and Linda happened to be down to sail with us.

The question facing us now is how do we follow a fantastic year like this? While Bill would like to head a bit further down-island next year (St. Martin, St. Barts, Antigua, and other destinations), Judy is thinking she’d rather make that turn back west toward the states. We’ve always said we’ll continue cruising as long as we’re both primed to keep going. However, if either of us developed any second thoughts, we had also previously agreed way back when we started cruising in 2007 that we would take that as a signal to jointly recalibrate. Our final decisions haven’t yet been made, and we still have several months to sort through the pros and cons of our various 2014 options, so stay tuned ‘til we return in January, 2014, for the next leg of our cruising adventures, wherever they might lead. Until then, thanks for traveling along with us through this blog. Have a great summer and fall!

 

3/30-4/13, 2013 – Glorious BVI Days with Stan Cory and Linda Jerlow

Almost every week during cruising season here in the Virgin Islands can be categorized as wonderful, but every once in a while everything comes together … sun, weather, winds, and company ... into one simply glorious time. Such were our BVI days with Stan Cory and Linda Jerlow.

It hadn’t looked like that at the start. Our anchorage in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, had been squally as we ran our provisioning errands between rain and wind events. Plus it was windy. Very windy. The easterly trades had kicked in with a vengeance.

Those conditions looked to continue for a few days as Stan and Linda flew in from Minneapolis Saturday afternoon. The getting wasn’t going to get any better over the next couple of days, so after a couple Sunday morning squalls we decided to brave the conditions and head out notwithstanding the higher winds, motorsailing eastward into 4-6’ seas. Luckily, once through Current Cut at the easterly end of St. Thomas things settled down as we worked our way behind St. John toward the protection of Francis Bay.

Sunday-Monday 3/31-4/1, 2013 – Francis Bay, St. John

Francis was a good choice. The protection there is superb for easterly winds, so we decided to remain in the bay and make Monday a lay day to explore the island. And explore the island we did. It may not be fair to retrieve your guests from their plane and almost immediately subject them to a steep, 4-mile, cross-island hike in the tropics (see accompanying photo taken on the Johnny Horn Trail), but nevertheless off we went on Monday to Skinny Legs in Coral Bay for their famous burgers (they really are famous … and for good reason). It was an arduous trip in the heat and humidity, but we did make it to Coral Bay’s Holy Grail.

Getting back to the boat from Skinny Legs was easier. When heavy rain moved in around the time we were ready to return, the four of us snagged rides with two good Samaritans who ran us back to the Francis Bay beach and our dingy in their cars. Once at Francis the rain squalls had moved on, providing us a dry dingy trip back to Jubilee. We’re sure Stan and Linda were wondering what possibly could be coming next after a “lunch hike from hell” like that, but they didn’t jump ship. Had we needed to hike back we’re not sure they would have stayed with us.

Tuesday 4/2, 2013 – Clearing in to the BVI’s

 Still facing stiff east winds, we did a short run under motor to West End to clear into the BVIs and stop at Pusser’s for lunch. We also hiked up to the Frenchman’s Cay resort and club house (see photo). Frenchman’s is a very nice resort complex situated on a beautiful piece of shoreline. We’ll have to do dinner there some time. That said, dinner that night was aboard Jubilee while the trades began settling down to their normal levels. Wednesday, and all the days that followed, would prove to be excellent sailing and exploring days.

Wednesday 4/3, 2013 - Soper’s Hole to Leverick Bay, North Sound

The trades had shifted slightly to the SE at about 12 knots, allowing for Stan to steer a favored
starboard tack up the Sir Francis Drake channel once we had worked our way out of the narrower western end of the channel between Tortola and St. John. Once that tacking was over, we enjoyed one of the most pleasant upwind sails we've seen since we’ve been cruising down this way … 30 miles in all between dropping our Soper’s Hole mooring ball around 8:30am and picking up our Leverick Bay ball a little after 2:00pm. Life, and sailing, doesn’t get much better than this.

After doing a little exploring at the Leverick Bay complex that afternoon, we returned to catch Michael Bean’s Pirate Arrh show from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. In addition to the usual set of costumed pirates in the audience, the entire cast of Gilligan’s Island came in costume. The audience seems to make that show as much as Michael does. To cap things off, Bill again won the night’s conch horn contest for another 6-pack of Carib beer. This time, however, he had to work a little harder at it. Bill and the “Gilligan’s Island professor” had tied for the longest conch blow, so the two went on into a “blow off” round. Sorry – no details on what constitutes a blow off, but Bill did win with a 40+ second toot.

Thursday 4/4, 2013 – Lay Day and Rental Car Tour of Virgin Gorda

The Spanish Town Speedy Car Rental agency keeps some of their cars at Leverick for easy access by boaters, so we rented a small SUV to tour the island, hitting all the usual sites. One can only see so much of the island by water, so renting a car for a day makes lots of sense. We’ll let the accompanying photos of Hog Heaven, the Baths, and other scenic stops speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner that night was at The Rock Cafe in Spanish Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday-Saturday 4/5-6, 2013 – Lay Days at North Sound’s Bitter End Yacht Club

After filling water at the Leverick Bay service dock, we motored “all the way” (about 2 miles) across North Sound to pick up a Bitter End Yacht Club mooring, positioning ourselves to further explore that end of the world. Along the way we motored over to take a look at one of the world’s largest and most luxurious sailing yachts, the 289’ Maltese Falcon (http://www.symaltesefalcon.com/index.php) with its three 191’ vertical clearance masts docked at the new Costa Smeralda superyacht yacht club. With accommodations for up to twelve guests plus its compliment of eighteen crew, the Maltese Falcon is the epitome of high tech luxury yachting. For example, its nearly 26,000 square feet of sail are computer controlled at the touch of a flat panel screen menu, and then automatically adjusted to wind shifts by computer – pretty neat for those of us more accustomed to grinding winches to control Jubilee’s scant ~1,200 square feet of sail.

BTW – The Maltese Falcon can be chartered for a mere $550,000.00 per week! Any takers?

After getting settled in the Bitter End mooring field we hiked the Mongoose Trail around to Birais Creek and back. The afternoon hiking was HOT, and we all vowed to do our hiking earlier the next day.

Saturday morning brought a light breakfast on board followed by a trip to shore to hike the steep, rocky Guy’s Trail with its stunning views across from the Bitter End to Birais Creek. Our reward was a stop at the Fat Virgin at Birais Creek for Chicken Roti. Delicious! We’ll have to figure out how to make those at home this summer, as we’ve not seen Roti on any Twin Cities menus.

We capped the day with a pleasant happy hour at Saba Rock's upper lounge area.

Sunday-Monday 4/7-8, 2013 - Run to Anegada plus Anegada Lay Day

Dropping our Bitter End mooring ball by 7:45am Sunday morning, we were off through the North Sound Entrance and on our way in a screaming reach to Anegada. It was just under a 16-mile passage, most of it at hull speed. The sail was fantastic! But it was to get even better. Our relatively early arrival (10:30am) allowed plenty of time to explore the miles of beaches along Anegada’s western perimeter.

Anegada is totally different than any of the other Virgin Islands. Where the other Virgins are steep, volcanic islands, Anegada is totally flat limestone, built up by millennia of coral and shellfish deposits. Its beaches seem endless … and are endlessly beautiful. Sunday was another wonderful day in Virgin Islands paradise.

Monday brought some farther flung Anegada exploring, as we caught a safari taxi across the island to Loblolly Bay to snorkel, walk the beach, and do lunch. Linda even borrowed Judy’s fins and mask to get out with Bill for a short snorkel. That night we took the dingy in to the Anegada Reef hotel for a wonderful grilled lobster feast (Linda had the shrimp , which was reportedly also outstanding). How many ways can we say “Life was good!”?

Tuesday 4/09, 2013 - Anegada to Marina Cay

Tuesday’s 21-mile sail to Marina Cay was every bit as pleasant as our trip out to Anegada from North Sound two days earlier. We literally flew under reefed main and jib at close to hull speed all the way (catch this YouTube video of Linda during our crossing, our autopilot doing the steering ... those viewing via an RSS feed may need to access the web site post to see the video).

 

While we did get in to Pussers that afternoon for drinks and a few supplies, dinner was aboard the Jubilee that evening. Unfortunately (or perhaps we should say fortunately), no fish jumped up onto our canvas dodger that evening as happened when we had moored here with Stan and Linda last year.

Wednesday 4/10, 2013 – Marina Cay to Norman Island

Wednesday’s sail was another one-tack run, this time about 13 miles to Norman Island and The Bight. We continued to be amazed we’d not had to tack the boat once since the very start of our run from Soper’s Hole to North Sound seven days earlier! This time we made the entire run on the port quarter, only hardening up at the very end as we entered the Bight.

The prior year we didn’t get to do any hiking with Stan and Linda on Norman. This year was different. We of course took the “usual” trail up to the hilltop for ridge line photo ops, but then followed the trail west around a 2nd hill and back to The Bight … a new trek for us. All four of us were ready for a hearty meal at the Pirate’s restaurant that evening, most of us ordering their famous Chicken Rotis.

Thursday 4/11, 2013 – Norman Island to Cane Garden Bay

Stan and Linda hadn’t visited Cane Garden Bay before, so we thought we might give it a try. Again, our sail was a one-tack affair for all 13 miles, first running off the starboard quarter to the cut at West End, and then hardening up to reach up to Cane Garden Bay.

The Cane Garden settlement has one of the most beautiful, palm-lined, beaches in the BVIs, with a gorgeous of the adjoining mooring field and Jost Van Dyke in the distance. After a tour of the town, a stop in the grocery, a round of beers at Myett’s beachfront restaurant, and a photo op with the remaining Stanley’s Welcome Bar sign at the now-renamed Tony’s, we returned to the boat for a spaghetti dinner set to opera music. Stan inquired into buying the Stanley’s sign, but was politely told it wasn’t for sale.

We should mention that while in Cane Garden Bay we also took a tour (if you could call it that) of what is billed as the only operating rum distillery on Tortola – the Callwood Distillery. The building and equipment are almost ruins (see accompanying photos of the cane press, bottling room and building), but they say they still run about three cane pressings a year, each yielding about 25 gallons of rum. After seeing the condition of the distillery and its equipment, it’s hard to believe that the rum they sell in their sampling room is really made there, but some just might be to keep the claim of being the only operating Tortola distillery alive. All in all it was an interesting stop … but we weren’t brave enough to buy any of the rum they supposedly produced there.

Friday 4/12, 2013– Cane Garden Bay to Soper’s Hole

 All good things must come to an end, and so it was for our glorious two weeks cruising with Stan and Linda. Linda steered Jubilee back to West End on jib alone, again on a single port tack. Our time together with them had been marvelous … great company, beautiful weather, idyllic stops, and fantastic sailing (see our overall track below), all rolled into one two-week visit. We had definitely been blessed by the weather Gods.

For our final night in West End we took the dingy in to Pussers for a celebratory dinner only to find a packed house. Over our many dinners there we had never seen so many people. Their upstairs area had been taken over by a private party, and the lower deck level was packed too. Luckily we found a family just clearing out their bill, and immediately took their table while we learned why Pussers was so busy that night. Forty five Minnesotans had just arrived in the islands for their annual charter week aboard several Voyage catamarans! Some were from the Twin Cities, others from northern Minnesota and other spots in the state, and all of them related (mostly cousins) except for a few hanger-on friends. Turns out they’ve been doing this for years down this way. What a fun group … and what a coincidence!

But while this Minnesota group was just kicking off their island time together, ours with Stan and Linda was coming to an end. Bright and shiny on Saturday morning, Stan and Linda departed via ferry for Red Hook on St. Thomas to catch their plane home. It wasn’t until a day later we learned they only got as far as San Juan. A mechanical problem was detected during their planned San Juan fuel stop, resulting in the plane being grounded until a mechanic and parts could be flown in from Minneapolis. The equipment gods were speaking. Stan and Linda should never have tried to leave the islands. On the plus side, however, Sun Country put them up in the San Juan airport hotel, gave them vouchers for two round trip tickets anywhere Sun Country flies, and fully refunded their round trip fares for this trip! It’s gratifying when a company truly goes that extra mile to do right by their customers.

And so ends another glorious two weeks in the islands. Later on Saturday we cleared out of the BVIs, heading for Francis Bay on St, John to rendezvous with Hans and Ruth Deller, with whom we planned to do some final buddy boating, possibly to St. Croix or possibly back to the BVI’s, before returning to Fajardo, Puerto Rico to end our southern cruising year. As we always say … stay tuned as the story continues to unfold.

Chilling Out On St. John – 3/14/2013 – 3/26/2013

Part of cruising is moving … sailing, motoring, or motor sailing from one place to another. Another perhaps even more important part is simply enjoying the destinations. Such was our week and a half on St. John, USVI.

We departed Soper’s Hole on Thursday, March 14^th, heading but 10.7 miles to one of our favorite spots, Lameshur Bay on the south shore of St. John. With a significant north swell running, moorings in the south shore bays of St. John were at a premium, but Hans and Ruth Deller were able to nab one for us while we were in transit.  Anchoring is not allowed in USVI National Park waters in an attempt to better protect the delicate coral in the park’s bays, so securing one of the parks sometimes-scare moorings is critical.

Andiamo (Bruce and Susan Harris) arrived a day later on Saturday 3/15, shortly after which Hans and Ruth departed to buddy boat with friends who were chartering in the BVIs.

All tolled we spent 11 days in one spot! So, what does one do while remaining moored in one spot for a week and a half?  

Plenty!

One day we hiked a rigorous (read steep ups and downs) 1 ½ miles to the Concordia Eco Camp bus stop to take the “death defying” bus from the the southeastern end of the line, past Coral Bay and across the spine of St. John, to Cruz Bay on the island’s west-most shore. Our bus driver to Cruz was sensibly competent, whereas our driver coming back liked to barrel down through the curves, blasting her horn each time she careened into a blind hairpin corner. Hans commented that he doubted he would have been able to keep up with that bus had be been riding his son's road bike! Exciting, to say the least. Our reward, however, was a great lunch with Bruce, Susan, Hans and Ruth at one of Cruz Bay’s harbor-facing restaurant decks.

Another day we hiked an even more rigorous (read very steep and rocky) 1,000-foot vertical ascent on the Boredaux Mountain trail. The rewards for that trek, other than the satisfaction of having done it, were some fantastic overlooks near the top.

Each evening we got together for sundowners or to share dinner, as pictured here in the adjoining photo with Bruce and Susan in Andiamo’s cockpit.

On yet another day we hiked about two miles to and past the Concordia bus stop to have lunch at “The Tourist Trap”, a little outdoor establishment that if it had wheels would be considered a food truck in downtown Minneapolis. As we’d been told by others, the food there was outstanding … especially, says Judy, the lobster rolls. If you’re over this way the Tourist Trap has to be a go-to lunch destination (it’s more easily reached via trail from the Salt Pond mooring field, but we and Andiamo weren’t able to get two mooring balls in there while in the area).

Another special treat at the Tourist Trap was the sugar feeding station set up for the Bananaquits there. Bananaquits were everywhere!

We also snorkeled on several days, finding the rocky area at the tip of the little peninsula between Lesser and Greater Lamshur Bays a treasure trove of interesting formations and fish. On one snorkel trip we spent over an hour in the water there.

After Bruce and Susan set off for St. Croix, we made a run at the Reef Bay Trail, turning back after reaching the high crest of the divide between Lamshur and Reef Bay. With little wind and lots of heat and humidity we decided to leave that trek for a cooler day. However we did take a side jaunt to Europa Bay on our return from the peak.

As the photos above suggest, St. John truly is magical ... an easy place to pick one spot and explore for several days. Every place you turn, every trail you take, every snorkel you do, brings new stunning sights. We like it there.

Plus cruising here is very affordable. Mooring balls are $15.00 a night (compared with $30.00 in the BVI’s). However better yet, those like us with a National Park Golden Age Pass pay only 50% of that … only $7.50 per night. Quite the deal!

Taxes:

While out and about enjoying cruising destinations like this, the “real world” goes on. We had been waiting for some final (always late) 1099 supplementary information to arrive on some securities we owned, plus wanted a secure broadband internet connection for completing our taxes. All that came together while we were in St. John. What better place than an idyllic setting like that to complete and file our 2012 taxes!  Wonder if we can write off the cost of our travels as tax preparation fees??

Return to St. Thomas:

We reluctantly departed St. John on Monday, 3/25, to spend a night at Christmas Cove to the SE of St. Thomas, continuing on to Charlotte Amalie the following day. After a stop in Crown Bay for 79 gallons of diesel (our first fill this year) and 125 gallons of water, we relocated to our usual anchorage in the main harbor to start getting ready for Stan and Linda’s arrival by tackling our laundry from the past several weeks, mega provisioning (two full grocery cart loads from K-Mart and Pueblo to be ferried back to the boat via our dingy), plus a few other miscellaneous projects. As of this writing on Friday morning we're finally pretty well caught up and hoping to play a little this afternoon when the current light sprinkles subside.  Stan & Linda arrive Saturday to join us for two weeks in the BVI’s.  Stay tuned for our next installment.

 

 

 

 

Repairs, a Crew Switch, and a Calm Caribbean – 2/24/2013-3/13/2013

Repair First, Then Play

It’s often said that cruising comes down to fixing your boat in exotic places. It’s also often said that these fixes typically involve a B.O.A.T. buck or two (Break Out Another Thousand, for our non-boating readers). The past two weeks have tested those tried and generally true axioms.

With arrangements made to have our boom vang fitting repaired at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, we first needed to make a quick, one-day run to nearby Francis Bay on St. John (checking back into the USVI via phone using our Vessel Reporting System cards) and then depart from there for Virgin Gorda to check into the BVI’s again, as our prior cruising permit was expiring. That side trip offered a chance to catch up with Hans Deller in Francis Bay, where Hans was staying on a mooring while Ruth was back in Denver for a brief visit.  It was good seeing Hans again.

Monday the 25^th brought a pleasant upwind sail to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor on the SW end of the island. Tied up in our assigned dock by 1:30, we were able to meet with Geoff, owner of The Workbench repair facility in the yard, to discuss repair options and set things in motion. We decided to go with a simple, custom bail rather than a direct replacement of the broken fitting, given the history of the original design (we had broken two over the years, and Geoff had repaired dozens). Geoff had the fitting custom fabricated for us in Road Town, Tortola, and brought to Virgin Gorda by ferry the next day.  We were good to go by late Tuesday afternoon … all this for less than half a boat buck! Things were looking up.

Repairs complete, we cleared out of the BVI’s by 1:30 Wednesday afternoon and set sail on the quarter for St. John’s, testing the new vang bail along the way. We ended up on a Lameshur Bay mooring until Tuesday the 3^rd, where Judy set out to polish our external stainless (stainless steel just stains less) while  Bill waxed the house, tasks we hadn’t gotten to before leaving Fajardo. We also got in a little reading and relaxing in between projects. Those projects done, Sunday the 3^rd brought a leisurely downwind sail to St. Thomas to ready for our next guests, Niels and Vicki Jensen.

The Jensen’s Visit – Monday 3/4 to Wednesday 3/13

We met Niels and Vick at the airport Monday afternoon the 4^th, and were back aboard Jubilee by 6:00pm for sundowners and dinner. It was good seeing them again.

We always tell people to expect 15-knot+ easterly trades 24 hours a day down this way with lots of sun, but that was not to be the case for most of Niels and Vicki’s visit. Large frontal trofs were blocking and/or diverting the trades for their entire visit … so much so that we were able to sail east (usually directly into the trades) to Lameshur Bay on St. John on one tack to a NNE wind as we left St. Thomas. That run turned out to be our best sail during their 9-day visit, as we ended up mostly motoring, motor-sailing, or sailing in very light breezes for the rest of their stay while the trades remained stalled.

St. John’s Lameshur Bay -- March 5^th & 6^th

Our first night out we grabbed a mooring ball near Calgary friends Bruce and Susan Harris on Andiamo. With them was their son Michael, who just happened to be in the USVI for a week in his job as a private jet pilot. Our prior schedules hadn’t allowed getting together before this, and we were looking forward to spending more time with them. After sundowners together in Jubilee’s cockpit we set plans to meet again in a couple of weeks. They ended up moving on with Michael to another anchorage the next morning while we remained to explore the Lameshur Bay area a bit, doing some swimming and snorkeling. It was a good start to a good week.

On to Virgin Gorda – March 7^th & 8th

Unfortunately Vicki had begun feeling a bit under the weather Tuesday night. Perhaps it was a bug she picked up on the plane, but whatever the cause, we decided to change our plans for Thursday and head up to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor in Spanish Town, BVIs, for a couple of dock-side days. The cure worked, plus gave us an opportunity to do some shore-side Virgin Gorda exploring via rental car while we were there. That first evening we ate at The Rock Cafe, a unique restaurant with outdoor seating nestled among huge boulders, accompanied by fantastic food to match. If you’re ever in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, don’t miss The Rock Cafe!

The roads and overlooks around Virgin Gorda are simply spectacular. We lunched at “Hog Heaven” overlooking North Sound, drove down to Leverick Bay, ran back west on the south side of the island to Spanish Town, visited the famous Baths (shore side boulder formations), and capped all of that with a visit to Virgin Gorda’s historic copper mine ruins. It was a full day … something we wouldn’t have thought of doing had not Vicki been a bit under the weather. Our chance change in plans ended up becoming a highlight of their visit.

Marina Cay

For Saturday-Sunday the 9^th-10^th we motored across the Sir Francis Drake channel to grab a mooring at Marina Cay. There Niels and Vicki enjoyed swimming and snorkeling on the beach while Bill and Judy dove into the genset, which had abruptly shut down as result of an overheat warning shortly after we fired it up that morning. It turned out the raw water pump impeller wasn’t turning. Thinking we’d needed to replace the almost new pump (new last year), Bill removed the pump from the engine expecting to be purchasing a replacement in Road Town later in the week. The good news, however, is that a nut holding the internal drive gear to the pump shaft had simply backed out, thereby disconnecting the drive gear from the shaft. It was an easy fix. No trip to Road Town for parts, and no B.O.A.T. bucks required today, so we quickly jumped into the dingy to join Niels and Vicki for celebratory Painkillers at Pusser’s. Life in the Caribbean was again good.

A pleasant surprise while at Marina Cay was the hail from an approaching dingy. It was Tom Embertson, a fellow sailor (Islander 36 Andiamo) from our home port of Bayfield, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior! Tom was skippering a charter group down in the BVI's, and happened to notice Jubilee just ahead of them in the mooring field. Tom slips Andiamo just down from the Jensen's Freelance in the Apostle Islands Marina. It was great seeing another friendly face from our home waters!

Norman Island and Dinner at the Pirates

One of our many favorite spots in the BVIs is the Bight at Norman Island, where we grabbed a ball to do a little exploring before dinner that evening at the Pirate’s restaurant. Niels and Bill hiked up to take in some of the spectacular views from the island’s ridge line, while Judy and Vicki stayed behind at the beach. Dinner at the Pirates is always a treat … good food in a picturesque beach-side setting. We chalked up another great night for Norman Island.

Soper’s Hole

All good things must come to an end, and so it was with Niels’ and Vicki’s visit. We motored back to West End, grabbed a mooring ball there, and did a little shore-side exploring and gift shopping. Via email exchanges, Bill & Judy knew that a Local Minneapolis Cruising Group friend, Claudia Dengler, would be at West End that week between two weeks of captain certification courses. It was fun getting together that afternoon on the Pussers deck. Later that evening we returned to Pussers for a parting meal out with Niels and Vicki, who left West End for St. Thomas by ferry the next morning. The week was not quite what either of us had planned, given the stalled trades and all, but nonetheless we had a great time together and were going to miss their company.

Below is a chartlet showing our course through the Virgins over the past nine days.

One of the joys of cruising is spending time with longtime friends like Niels and Vicki while also getting to know new boating friends better. Art and Beth Bauer on Adagio, who Bill had first met in Puerto del Rey when he brought Jubilee there in 2011, were also in the mooring field at West End. They joined us aboard Jubilee for sundowners that evening. Unfortunately they planned to begin heading back to Puerto Rico and home in a day or so, having been cruising down this way since December. Hopefully we’ll catch up with them again next year.

We plan to chill out exploring various St. John harbors the next couple of weeks, hooking up with Dellers, Harris’s, and others, before we meet our friends Stan and Linda on the 30^th for two weeks of cruising with them. The trades are forecast to remain subdued for several days, only returning again around the weekend. Of course we strongly suspect Niels and Vicki will never again believe us when we say the trades always blow 15 knots or more, 24 hours a day, down this way. We'll let the rest of you take that on faith

That’s it for now. See you all again with our next posting in a couple of weeks.

Enjoying the BVI's - our First Visit This Year!

“There are good ships, and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are the friendships, and may they always be.”

There can be no more fitting quote to open this blog posting. We first met Ted and Jane Bispala while in college, and have been close friends ever since. In fact, it was Ted and Jane who got us firmly hooked on sailing in the first place, leaving their X-Boat in our care during the late 60’s while they travelled to Australia on a two year work stint. This time we connected at the St. Thomas airport on Valentine’s Day, as they arrived fit and tan after enjoying the prior three weeks in the Florida sun. It was great being together again.

The weather as forecast turned out to be almost perfect for their stay, albeit with the easterly trades a bit breezy for the first half, peaking during the middle of their stay, and then easing back as they prepared to return to the cold world of Minnesota after spending a few final days in Florida. We shaped our planned itinerary around the forecast … first heading to West End to check into the BVI’s, working our way east to Norman or Peter for our second stop, heading further up the Sir Francis Drake channel to Marina Cay for a night, then sailing further east to our turn-around point, Virgin Gorda’s North Sound, where we would spend a few days during the highest winds, followed by a leisurely downwind sail in slightly easing winds to the western end of Tortola.

February 15, St. Thomas to West End

As usual, it was a motorsail slog to windward from Charlotte Amalie to Current Cut at the SE end of St. Thomas. Luckily the seas in the partial shelter of St. Thomas and St, John weren’t too onerous for Ted & Jane’s first day. On clearing Current Cut we had a great sail between St. Thomas and St. John, continuing up the North Shore of St. John to Tortola’s West End. We were off to a perfect start.

The signature rum drink of Pusser’s restaurants everywhere is their Painkiller. They’re available almost anywhere down this way, but were invented at Pusser’s. After clearing customs we had to “officially” check Ted and Jane into the BVI’s with a round of Pusser’s Painkillers. Now officially on Island Time, they were ready to head further east with us into the BVI’s.

February 16, West End to Norman Island

One of our favorite islands in the BVIs is Norman to the south of Tortola and east of St. John. Winds were in the higher teens and above -- not uncommon here -- with apparent winds in the 20’s for the entire trip. We had pre-reefed the main (shortened the sail) way back in Fajardo, and will likely leave that reef tied in for our entire season. Last year we sailed only one day with a full main. We find there’s more than enough wind to drive the boat hard with the reefed main in these waters, and often, when heading upwind, with a reefed headsail too. Plus sometimes we run with only our small staysail up front. Wind is not a problem in these parts.

But it can cause other problems. Fittings on these boats carry tremendous loads, and sometimes even the strongest looking parts can fail. As we were heading out of Super’s Hole downwind around the point to begin our upwind tacking course to Norman our boom vang let go with a loud BANG! It turns out the 3/8” stainless steel boom vang fitting simply exploded. Luckily there was no harm done, but we would need to sail the rest of the week without the vang. Upwind that’s not an issue at all, but off the wind or downwind the vang keeps the main sail in shape and the boom from lifting too high. Our interim solution would be to use only the jib downwind (plenty of wind for that), and then get a new fitting fabricated next week. Such is the joy of cruising … improvising, and then fixing your boat in exotic places!

Norman Island treated us to a great hike up to the ridge with views of the harbor ("the Bight") to the north, and miles of Caribbean Sea to the south.

The Pirates Restaurant at Norman had been totally redone since our visits last year, right down to all new furniture, more space, a new bar, and a better area for the band and dancing. Chicken Roti’s all around were the order for our table that evening … a first for Ted and Jane. Ted tried to compare them to Iron Range pasties, but we don’t think that comparison holds at all (ever had a pastie with delicious hot curry gravy, beans, rice, vegetables and meats inside?). Sorry, Ted, that Finnish & Cornish miners food just isn't the same as East Indian cuisine!

February 17 – Norman Island to Marina Cay

One of the prettiest little spots down this way is Marina Cay, a small Pusser’s-owned island with an adjacent beautiful and protecting reef. Again our sail was almost directly upwind, so tack, tack, tack we went into a fresh Caribbean breeze. Tacking aside, it was a great sail. It doesn’t get much better than this! The accompanying photo shows Ted and Jane with the Marina Cay mooring field in the background.

February 18 – Marina Cay to Virgin Gorda’s North Sound

Still reefed down, we tacked our way further east past the Dog islands to what would be our turn around point for this trip …Virgin Gorda’s North Sound. It was yet another spectacular day in the tropics. While daytime temperatures remain in the low 80’s, the constant breezes while underway or at anchor make things quite comfortable. Sleeping is also comfortable in the mid-70’s as long as one isn’t stuck in a marina out of the wind (we seldom visit marinas).

Upon arrival in the Sound, we first took a mooring at Leverick Bay to catch the Michael Beans Pirates Happy Arrrr show, but found the mooring a bit rocky as winds were building across the Sound. Instead we moved east across the sound to moor directly behind Saba Rock with its protecting reef further to the east. It was a good choice, allowing us to return to Leverick to take in Michael Bean’s show a couple days later after the winds and waves in the Sound had settled down a bit more.

February 18-20 – North Sound Area

Saba would be our first of three mooring areas during our stay in North Sound.  On the 19^th, with the winds picking up and shifting a bit, we decided to move to the south end of Bitter End’s mooring field, and as the winds eased down on the 20^th we moved back to Leverick for our last night in the Sound.

One could spend a week or more in the Sound and still not run out of places to go and things to do. We started at Saba where we had moored for our first night. The Happy Hours at Saba Rock are always lots of fun (especially the 5:30pm Tarpon feeding, the salt water aquarium feeding, and visiting the Toucan rescue birds on the hill).

After moving moorings to the Bitter End (only about a ¼-mile move), we proceeded to take the moderately strenuous hiking trail (Guy’s Trail, leading to Alacia’s Trail) above the Bitter End Yacht Club and resort. The hike is always worth every bit of effort for the spectacular views you’re rewarded on top, but do bring plenty of water.

 We caught Ted chatting up this gal in the Biter End Yacht Club registration building while Jane was hitting one of their shops. He didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

Our final stop in North Sound was Leverick Bay, where Ted, Jane and Judy made use of their fresh water pool that afternoon. We took in Michael Beans high energy Pirate’s Happy Arrr that night, and capped the evening with dinner at Jumbies. Bill won that night’s conch horn blowing contest again this year, winning a six-pack of Carib beer (last year the prize was a bottle of Mount Gay Rum – but we won’t complain about the Carib).

Part of the fun of Michael Bean’s fast-paced 2-hour Happy Arrr concert is the crowd he draws. This year we were joined by large group of Pirate wannabes. Lots of fun!

February 21 – North Sound to Cane Garden Bay, Tortola

All those miles of upwind sailing were paid back in one fabulous day with a beautiful, relaxing, run downwind along the north shore of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay. We even got Jane behind the wheel for a while (we’ll let her tell you what it’s like steering a cruising boat in the trades).
And to add to our downwind pleasure, a small pod of dolphins joined us for several minutes to swim alongside and play in our bow wave … always an exciting event.

Cane Garden Bay is a beautiful little spot at the western end of Tortola. Surrounded by high hills on three sides and some protecting reefs, its only negative is the chance of northerly swells curving around into the harbor. Luckily swell action was minimal while we were there. A trip to shore brought a visit to the glassblowing hut, a walk on the beach for Ted and Jane, and this memorable moment while enjoying a round of Caribs during happy hour at Myett’s restaurant on the beach. Life was good … as it always seems to be down here.

February 22, Cane Garden Bay to West End, Soper’s Hole, Tortola

All good things must come to an end, and so it was with our 9 days with the Bispalas. We had heard on the VHF of whale sightings off the SE shore of Jost Van Dyke on Thursday, so headed across to see if any were still cavorting there on Friday morning. Unfortunately, luck was not with us – no whales for us this trip. So after briefly checking out the waters around Jost we reluctantly turned our bow toward West End to close out this trip with a little more grand-kid shopping for Ted and Jane and a leisurely dinner at Pusser’s that evening, all finished with a little Courvoisier that evening in the cockpit.

The next morning Ted and Jane (waving from top deck) departed West End via ferry for Red Hook, St. Thomas, where after a bit of exploring and lunch they caught a cab across the island to the airport and their flight to Florida. The ferry connection is a slick way to end a trip, as it saves a long downwind day for us, a more complicated USVI check-in at Cruz Bay, and then the resulting windward slog to return east again. We each have Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS) permits, which allow us to clear back into the USVI’s with a simple phone call as long as no one without an SVRS is on board. Pretty kewl! No stop in Cruz Bay, no mechanics of getting into and out of customs, and no clearance expense. The ferry connection also gives our guests the treat of a faster boat tour of the north end of St. John and Red Hook … a good deal all around.

All told we had put just short of 100 miles (97.8 nautical miles) under Jubilee’s keel since we picked up Ted and Jane nine days earlier. It had been a fantastic sail … great friends, wonderful weather, and beautiful islands, as can only be found down here in the Caribbean.

We plan to split the following week and a half between St. John and a short visit to Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda to repair our boom vang attachment, followed by a trip back to Charlotte Amalie to meet friends Niels and Vicki Jensen who will be flying in from Minneapolis to sail with us for a little over a week. As we always say … stay tuned. See you on your next blog site visit!

Underway Again ... 2013

We’re writing this tonight from the harbor at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Yes, we’re finally off on our 2013 adventures.  It might seem excessive to take a full three weeks in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, getting ready to leave the dock, but it took all of that again this year.

So … what’s really involved in readying a boat for the season? When Bill arrived in Fajardo late on January 15^th, our contractor had already completed bottom painting and waxing the top sides (hull sides). By Friday the 17^th, Bill had picked up from there and had generally readied everything needed for launch. On Friday afternoon Jubilee was splashed and in her transient slip. We were making good progress.

We’re often asked about pirates down this way, and always respond that those concerns are way overblown. Maybe we’ll reassess that answer after seeing this boat in Puerto del Rey (see photo at left). Yes, it’s definitely the Black Pearl of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. Turns out she was in Puerto del Rey in prep for another sequel, rumored to begin shooting sometime this February (the last films were shot nearby too). We’ll have to get a figurehead on our bow like that!

But back to the Jubilee. By the time Judy arrived on Wednesday the 23^rd two of our  three sails had been bent on the boat, our water systems were flushed and running, the refrigerator/freezer and stove were operating, and numerous other miscellaneous projects were completed. Then, on the way to pick up Judy at the San Juan airport, Bill dropped off our life raft in for its long-overdue service, a project that turned out to be this year’s “long pole”.  

Bill was present when the canister was opened, and things didn’t look good. Salt water had gotten into the canister since the last repack, and tropical heat did the rest. A fungus was growing on some of the fabric, seriously weakening it, plus some of raft's seams were loosening. In the end, repairs to our 26-year-old raft couldn’t be cost-justified. It was time to look for other options. We also certainly couldn’t argue with the value we had gotten out of our old raft. 26 years on a life raft is almost unheard of. Its time had come.

It was also a good thing we had taken the raft in for repack, otherwise we wouldn’t have known we were relying on a dangerously degraded raft had we needed it in an emergency.

Ultimately we purchased a used but never emergency-inflated 6-person Avon with a used but re-painted fiberglass canister and stainless steel mounting cradle, all for well less than half of the cost of new. For those of you familiar with life rafts, also remember that these things are sized for “survival conditions” with little thought to comfort. Our 4-person was adequate for the two of us, but would have been very minimal for four. The six-person raft is a much better raft for our purposes. And considering that we now wouldn’t have to be paying a re-pack fee for our old 4-person raft, the actual out of pocket cost to us for the new raft was less than 1/3 of new. It was definitely money well spent.

In parallel with the raft exercise we focused on provisioning with countless trips to local grocery stores, plus completing other boat projects (bending on the main, some brightwork, stainless cleaning, the dingy and outboard, rebuilding the head, etc.). We were also working with the local canvas shop on our other “long pole” … new side curtains for our bimini for additional sun and rain protection while at anchor, and a new awning over the foredeck to allow the foredeck hatch over our bunk to be left open through tropical squalls when at anchor.

In time everything did come together, plus we were able to work in a little enjoyment while in Puerto Rico too. We went out to dinner several times with boating friends Jim and Ellie Watson from Breckinridge, CO -- s/v Last Tango. One particularly special restaurant find with them was La Parrilla in neighboring Luquillo, where Bill will argue he had his best-ever meal down this way ... shrimp-stuffed grouper.

Puerto del Rey is the largest marina and boat yard in the eastern Caribbean, attracting some pretty interesting boats. The accompanying photos are of the stunning and highly successful 1954 offshore racing yacht Bolero, recently fully restored in 2010. The boat virtually revolutionized yacht design back in the 50’s, while also marking the high point as well as the waning days of wooden yacht construction, as fiberglass began to quickly take its place. They definitely don’t make them like Bolero anymore … either construction or lines. What a beauty! And what a thrill it was to see a working yacht like that in such pristine condition at almost 60 years of age.

Finally, by Thursday, February 7^th, we were ready to cast off the lines and head east for the Virgins into the teeth of the trades. Thursday found us at anchor just inside the entrance to Ensenada Honda on Culebra, Spanish Virgins. We thought about a longer stay in Culebra, but decided to continue east while the trades remained relatively subdued.  By Friday night we were safely anchored in St. Thomas, secure for an expected blow to come Sunday evening through Tuesday. And on Sunday we were welcomed by several bands and other youth marching units parading down the main harbor-side drive ... pretty kewl. It was finally time to kick back a bit and enjoy our first sundowners of the season in Jubilee's cockpit with friends Jim and Ellie while at anchor on Saturday night (they arrived on Last Tango from Culebra Sunday afternoon, anchoring near Jubilee). After a few days of chilling out here on St. Thomas while attending to a few remaining boat projects, we should be ready for our first guests for the season, college friends Ted and Jane Bispala, who arrive later this week.

So with that we’ll leave you for now. Do join us again to check out our upcoming week in the BVI's with Ted and Jane. Watch for that blog post in about two weeks or so ... or  ... better yet ... register for our web site’s RSS feed, which will send you an email whenever we put up a new posting.  ‘Til then, keep warm if you’re still up in the Northland, or keep kewl if like us you’re enjoying yourself in the southern sun.

Winding Down our 2012 Caribbean Cruising Season

Our original plan after St. Francis Bay was to head to Culebra, one of the Spanish Virgin Islands, to explore a bit there before returning to Puerto Del Rey in Fajardo to button the boat up for hurricane season. We also planned to start some of our boat decommissioning tasks while in Culebra. However, while a great plan, it was not to be.

4/19/2012 – St Francis Bay, St. John, USVI, to Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, USVI

Instead of jumping all the way to Culebra in one day, we decided to break the trip into two parts. Thursday we went to check out Brewers Bay, one of Hans and Ruth Deller's favorite harbors on St. Thomas.  This well protected harbor on the west side of St. Thomas lies near the St. Thomas airport, but airplane noise is minimal and the beach there is superb. Like Hans and Ruth, we found Brewers to be a very nice alternative to the hubub of Charlotte Amalie. We'll definitely be trying it again.

However, it was also here that Bill started having problems with his left eye.

On our last day in Virgin Gorda Bill noticed his left eyelid was swollen.  He suspected a bug bite or a possible blocked eyelash follicle, so he didn't pay too much attention to it. However instead of improving, with each day the inflammation seemed to increase. Finally at Brewer's Bay he started experiencing some slight double vision in that eye. He tried both cold and hot compresses on the eyelid and they seemed to help a little, however vision for close-up work with that eye remained blurred. The only external symptom seemed to be the swollen eyelid, so we decided to keep trying the compresses while forging on.

4/20/2012 – Brewers Bay to Culebrita's Playa Tortuga near Culebra

On our initial path to the US and British Virgins we had spent several days in Bahia Honda, Culebra's well protected deep bay, anchoring near the island's main town of Dewey. For this trip we were eager to explore some of the more interesting anchorages surrounding the island, particularly behind the island's eastern reef system and the small nature reserve island of Culebrita. We were able to clear back into Puerto Rico by phone with our Small Vessel Reporting System registration (a pre-clearance process set up for frequent travelers between US and selected other ports), so we set off exploring possible places to anchor or grab a mooring ball.

One might ask why we “cleared in” to Puerto Rico, a US Territory, having just come from another US Territory, St. Thomas. Good question. The answer we received from Customs is that since St. Thomas is a Free Port and Puerto Rico is not, everyone entering Puerto Rico from St. Thomas needs to clear customs between these two different parts of the United States. Whatever the reason, the phone-in clearance process was straightforward and quick.

After checking out a few possible anchorages we dropped the hook at Playa Tortuga, a small bay and beautiful beach almost encircled by land and reefs on the northern side of Culebrita (see accompanying chartlet and photo of the beach). And yes, we did find turtles in the bay named after them in Spanish. Playa Tortuga (Turtle Beach) is a favored breeding area for Leatherback and Hawksbill sea turtles. It's a beautiful little spot. But as wonderful as that little bay and the several other anchorages on Culebra and Culebrita might be, Bill's eyesight continued to worsen. Reading had become almost impossible. It was clear we needed to get back to Puerto Rico for medical attention. We departed for Fajardo the next morning.

4/21/2012 – Culebrita to Puerto del Rey, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Our last sail of the year was another downwind motorsail in fairly light breezes, putting us dock-side at Puerto Del Rey by 2:00 in the afternoon. A quick call from Bill to our insurance company's nurse hot line resulted in a recommendation to immediately go to a local ER rather than waiting to visit a clinic on Monday. We subsequently made arrangements to pick up our previously reserved rental car several days earlier than originally planned, and proceeded to Fajardo's Caribbean Medical Center Hospital ER for the customary 4-hour ER trip (most of that time in the waiting room).

The good news is the ER doctor was quite certain there was no eye damage or infection. Rather, he was reasonably sure that the infected and swollen lid was putting pressure on the eye and causing the distorted vision. He put Bill on a heavy dose of oral and topical antibiotics plus an anti-inflammatory, kicking that regimen off with two shots in the ER that evening. After the ER visit a stop at a local 24-hour pharmacy, we finally “dined” at McDonalds at around 10:30 PM Saturday night. It had been a long day, but we both felt relieved with the positive outlook. (Improvement was slow, but after a week of meds, Bill's vision improved significantly. Nonetheless he's planning follow-up medical and eye appointments as soon as he returns home.)

4/22 to 5/2/2012 – Slip-Side Boat Prep for Hurricane Storage

To those who haven't owned a cruising boat, ten days to prep a boat for storage may seem excessive. It isn't. Our days were filled with changing oil and filters (both our main engine, gen set, and outboard), climbing the stick to remove the wind instruments and inspect the rig, waxing the topsides, removing the sails and canvas and having a local sail maker attend to some minor repairs, re-bedding the chain plates, re-bedding two pilothouse windows that had developed pesky leaks, sanding the rub rail, wiping all interior surfaces down with vinegar water, flushing and re-filling water tanks (including a good dose of chlorine), polishing and waxing all the stainless steel, laundering everything, storing everything in moisture proof plastic bags, defrosting the freezer and thoroughly cleaning the galley, giving away food we wouldn't be using, … the list went on and on.

But between chores we had some fun too. Judy's birthday was Monday the 30th, so we took most of the afternoon and evening off with a late outdoor lunch at the Conquistador, a beautiful Waldorf Astoria-owned and run resort, ocean-side in Fajardo. The property and views there are simply breathtaking.

We also enjoyed spending time and sharing drinks or dinners with several wonderful people during our lay-up activities. We're particularly looking forward to seeing Jim and Ellie Watson from Last Tango again. Jim and Ellie hail from Breckenridge, Colorado, and also plan to return to their boat next January. We were only about 4 slips apart while in the water, and once on the hard we could literally step from our boat to theirs, less than two feet away!

5/3 to 5/6/2012 – Haul-Out and Final Storage Prep

The weather while we were working in our slip was mostly favorable – clear skies with daytime temps in the 80's, punctuated with the occasional and generally short-lived tropical rain squall. However the night before haul-out it rained hard. It made for a very muddy yard, but the skies cleared prior to our 1:00 PM appointment in the well (see photo). We were now out of the water. Progress.

Unfortunately that good weather was not to last. Every day but Sunday after we hauled was rainy, interrupted by brief gaps of clearing skies. The boat yard became a muddy mess while we madly juggled our storage tasks around rain showers.

Plus … there was one other issue. Bees.

We as well as Jim and Ellie on Last Tango noticed a swarm of extremely aggressive African bees swarming around the anchor locker of a nearby boat. Clearly they had established a hive in that anchor locker. Since Ellie is allergic to bee stings, we reported the situation to the Marina who in turn contacted an exterminator to check things out. He arrived in a bee suit, and without warning or first moving the offending boat, started dealing with the bees. Judy was on deck a good ten feet off the ground when the angry swarm arrived. In no time she received about ten bee stings before she was able to descend the ladder with the help of a man who lit a cigarette and blew smoke on her as they worked their way down. Bill received about three stings. So much for our first day on the hard. Luckily Ellie and Jim had already left. And luckily Judy and Bill aren't allergic to bee stings.

First thing Friday morning the yard crew and exterminator moved the offending boat to some far location in the yard. We still saw the occasional bee while there, but moving the offending boat largely addressed the problem. Now we just needed to deal with the rain.

By Sunday the continuous run of wet weather was getting pretty old. However the skies finally cleared for part of our last day, allowing us to get everything wrapped up for departure. On Sunday afternoon the 6th we finally bid Jubilee, our home since January, a fond farewell 'til next January when we'll be returning for the 2013 winter cruising season.

2012 Cruising Reflections

All told, 2012 has been a very good cruising year. As the chartlet below shows, storing in Fajardo brought our year's cruising destination right to our doorstep. For the first time since we left Bayfield on Lake Superior in 2007 we haven't covered at least 1500 to 3000 miles in a year (this year's odometer reading came in at only 577 miles over the course of four months of cruising).

Ninty percent of our cruising was done in a relatively small area of islands. Between St. Thomas and the BVIs we're looking at a 45-mile by 27-mile area of only 1,200 square miles, but those miles are literally filled with interesting and beautiful places to explore. As you can see in the chartlet to the right, we covered a lot of ground in that small area. But even considering the areas we've already visited, we still have many, many, wonderful places down this way begging a return exploration.

This past season we also enjoyed having more guests join us this year. Flying into the Virgins is relatively easy, plus the area makes for such a great cruising destination to share with friends. We're looking forward to having more friends  join us next year.

Finally, as those of you who have followed all of our postings this year well-know, we had so much fun cruising with several close boating friends who are also keeping their boats down this way ... particularly Hans and Ruth Deller and Bruce and Susan Harris. We can't wait to meet up with them again next cruising season.

So ... just what's in store for the Jubilee in the 2013 cruising season? We're still having fun living this life, and definitely plan return next year. In addition to more time in the Virgins, Bill would like to visit Guadalupe, St. Martin, and Antigua further to the east, and possibly St. Croix to the South. However those decisions will have to be made somewhat "on the fly" based on next year's weather, time windows, guest arrivals, and the like. We'll also have to see which way next year's winds blow ('tho we're willing to bet they'll still be blowing from the east, we just don't know how hard and when :-)

With this post, and as we wing our way back to the Twin Cities by a somewhat faster mode of transportation than sailboat, we bring to a close this year's blog postings. To track when we re-start the blog next season, do consider registering for the blog's RSS feed. Once registered you'll receive an email copy of each article as it's posted. With the RSS emails the formatting won't be quite as clean as in the blog, plus you'll still need to visit the blog to view any videos we may have embedded in our posts. Nevertheless it's a good way to automatically be notified of postings.

'Til next January we wish everyone a wonderful summer and fall. We hope to see all of you again in this space next winter.

4/5/ to 18/2012 – Two Glorious Final Weeks in the BVIs

Those who have followed all of our posts this year know that thus far we'd already made three trips to the BVIs with guests. Each of those trips was special, as visits to the BVIs always are, but time in the BVIs tends to be pretty limited when flying in and out of Charlotte Amalie. Flying in an out within a week quickly translate to only four days spent in the BVIs, after allowing for transit and customs time to get to and from the BVIs. And with fewer days available, one either has to spend longer times exploring fewer places, or put lots of miles under the keel each day.

Of course the trade winds are a big factor also. Starting and ending at St. Thomas adds several sometimes-tough up-wind miles to each BVI visit.

But this trip would be different. We vowed to get as far as Anagada, if possible, and to spend more time exploring fewer places in depth. It turned out to be a good plan. Come on along. We think you'll agree.

4/5/2012 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, to Soper's Hole, Tortola, BVI

Against a relatively tame 10-knot easterly we motorsailed from Charlotte Amalie up through Current Cut, near the SE end of St. Thomas, and then enjoyed a beautiful sail tacking up the north side of St. John to reach Sopers Hole, West End, Tortola. After we checked in, we met our Calgary friends Bruce and Susan on Andiamo. Kevin and Mirian, aboard another Outbound 46 (Parati), were there too – we had first met them at Marina Cay about a week prior. That night the six of us were joined by Chris and Robin Blair aboard the catamaran Toucan Dream, and Carolyn and Bill (another catamaran couple originally from Edmonton), for a glorious dinner at the Jolly Roger in West End. If you get a chance, order their seafood pasta. It's outstanding!

4/6/2012 – Soper's Hole to Long Bay, near Trellis Bay and Marina Cay at the easterly end of Tortola

With an 8-10-knot ESE breeze, conditions were favorable to tack up the Sr. Francis Drake channel toward Marina Cay (see photo of Jubilee at left, taken by Bruce Harris on Andiamo). Sailing upwind gave us 12-15 knots apparent, plus after one tack out toward Norman Island (see video of Andiamo sailing across our bow near Norman) we found ourselves on an almost perfect single tack up the channel until we rounded Beef Island and eased the sheets for Marina Cay. The only fly in the ointment was that there were no available mooring balls and no reasonable remaining anchoring space at Marina Cay, even given our relatively early 2:00 p.m. arrival. Trellis Bay across the way was similarly packed to the gills. It was full moon party night in Trellis that evening, and it seemed everyone in the BVI's was there and ready to party.

Andiamo and we decided instead to head to nearby Long Bay, which proved a perfect spot for the night. Shortly after we were joined by three other boats also seeking an alternative to Marina Cay and Trellis, but Long Bay is a fairly large, so there was plenty of space for all.

4/7/2012 – Long Bay to Anagada … plus 4/8-9 Anagada Lay Days

Thinking that the crowds at Trellis and Marina Cay might also be looking at a hop to Anagada after the prior night's full moon party, we decided to raise anchor at 6:00 a.m. to ensure we could secure a ball on Anagada just as cruisers leaving Anagada from the prior night started vacating the limited mooring field there. The strategy worked. After a delightfully pleasant close reach in a roughly 8-knot easterly (12-15 apparent), we were secured in Anagada by 10:00 a.m. 

Unlike the other Virgin Islands which are volcanic in origin, Anagada is a 15-mile-long very low lying coral island, with its highest point a scant 28' above sea level. The island is surrounded by miles of reefs where between 250 and 300 vessels are said to have sunk. Luckily we can report that Jubilee did not become wreck number 301. Many charter companies prohibit their boats from going there at all, and those who do come need to exercise care when navigating the area – e.g., see chartlet to right - while entry into the main anchorage area is very well marked and reflected by our blue track, the charted channel (dashed line) doesn't coincide with the actual reefs, shoals, or buoys.

As an additional consideration, depths in the mooring field run about 8' at best, and some moorings lie in but 6' or less at low tide (Jubilee draws about 6'). Anagada can be a bit tricky.

But cautions about reefs and shoals aside, those same reefs and shoals are part of what makes the island so special. There are nine miles of pristine beaches around the island, all protected by the extensive surrounding reef. Those same miles of reef provide a haven for the plentiful and famed Anagada lobsters … the main staple at each of the island's restaurants. For “Easter Dinner” that Sunday, Judy and I split a huge 3 pounder. What a meal!

Saturday brought beach exploring along the west side of the island; on Sunday we took a safari bus (pick-up truck “bus”) to Cow Wreck Bay (left) and beach for a swim; and on Monday we grabbed another pick-up truck “bus” to Loblolly Bay (Right) for some snorkeling there. The photos provide a sense of how stunning Anagada's beaches are - and of how few people come there. The island's views are simply breathtaking.

 

 

4/10/2012 – Anagada to Virgin Gorda's North Sound and Leverick Bay; 4/11 and 12 lay days at Leverick

 With winds slightly south of east we had a brisk close reach (See video of Andiamo charging for the Sound) for the 15-mile run down to Virgin Gorda's North Sound area. The North Sound is literally surrounded by Virgin Gorda and adjacent smaller islands, and where not protected by land it's protected by reefs. It's arguably one of the most protected and beautiful spots in the Virgin Islands.

Our first afternoon at Leverick was spent exploring the Marina area and then joining Bruce and Susan on Andiamo for pizza and a movie that evening (Arthur – a fun flick). Wednesday Bill started stripping and re-greasing our cockpit winches, while Judy did a load of laundry, so by that evening it was time to party. That afternoon Tom and Irma on Farasha arrived in time to join us for the Micheal Beans Happy Arrr show at the Marina's open-air bar.

Michael Beans, a self-described pirate troubadour, is no doubt the best known performer in the Virgin Islands, playing to full houses whenever he performs. His shows are packed with sailing tunes (his own and others'), spirited audience interaction, pirate lore, and more, for an almost not-stop two hour, high energy performance. See the attached clip for a sense of what one of his shows is like.

 Every show has several contests, one of which is a conch horn competition. Bill entered and won 1st prize with a 52-second toot (he almost expired holding the note that long – it's been a long time since he played trumpet in high school).

And the 1st place prize … drum role please … a bottle of Mount Gay rum! Not bad booty for a pirate wannabe, don't you think?

We learned that in the summers, Michael "Beans" Gardner has recently been playing at Beaver Island in Northern Lake Michigan. Great Lakes boaters might want to try making one of his shows there. Click http://www.beansmusic.com/ for more information.  He is also one of the two founders of the Good Samaritan of Haiti Foundation, which aims to to enrich lives and bring sustainable programs to the people of La Vache Haiti. For more information on this worthy charity, click  http://www.goodsamaritanofhaiti.com/.

The following day Bruce rented a pickup truck safari van (opposing bench seats in the bed with a canvas roof) to pick up his boat storage cover in Spanish Town at the other end of the island. Along the way, Bruce and Susan, Tom and Irma and the two of us made a full day of it, exploring Virgin Gorda from one end to the other.

We started with a hike up to Gorda peak,and the observation platform on top (photo at right).

Later we worked our way along the spectacular eastern shoreline toward Spanish Town and beyond, to the historic copper mine, and to Sandy Bay near the Baths for a swim among the boulders. Our return to Leverick followed the west coast of the island, a road paved only that prior year. At one of the highest points in the road we stopped at “Hog Heaven”, a restaurant-bar overlooking North Sound far below, before winding our circuitous path back down the hillside to Leverick. It had been a full day.

4/13-16/2012 – More North Sound Exploring from the Saba Rock Area

Friday brought a 2.5-mile motor across North Sound to grab a mooring ball near Saba Rock. The small island there is almost totally taken over by a restaurant, bar, and gift shop in the middle of two reef-strewn openings east to the ocean (see accompanying Saba Rock photo taken from the “Guy's Trail” hike at Bitter End a few days later). We couldn't resist Saba's $2.50 happy hour Pain Killers, so sundowners were at Saba on Friday night.

Saturday turned into a work day – finishing the cockpit winches for Bill and major cleaning for Judy, before the skies opened up and the wind piped up for a major wind and rain event throughout the night. Everyone stayed put on their boats for the evening.

On Sunday the two of us, Bruce and Susan, plus their Canadian friends Joyce and Dave aboard Autumn, took our dingys to the near-by Bitter End Yacht Club and quickly set off to hike the “Guy's Trail” (extremely steep and rocky), followed by the more reasonable Orchid Trail, which looped back down to the Bitter End. The views were incredible. We returned just in time to dingy over to Saba, where our motley hiking crew expanded to ten for happy hour there.

Monday brought another hike, this one starting at Biras Creek, a short dingy ride from Saba and the Bitter End. There an ascent team of nine climbers successfully summited the Alvin's Heights trail. The walk takes your breath away in more ways than one … the hike and the beautiful views all along the way.

Seven days may sound like an extended amount of time to essentially “stay put” in North Sound, but it wasn't. There is so much to do and see there, so many beautiful, if sometimes-rigorous, hiking trails to explore, plus the entire island of Virgin Gorda to check out ( e.g. swimming in Sandy Bay at right). But unfortunately time was marching on, so we reluctantly had to start moving along again.

4/17/2012 – North Sound to Norman Island

After stops at Autumn and Andiamo to say our goodbyes, it was finally time to depart the North Sound. It was particularly hard to say goodbye to Bruce and Susan. We'd had so many good times together this winter, just like we had when buddy boating with them back in the Bahamas for two seasons. But our time in the Virgins was coming to an end for this year, as was theirs. They decided to remain in North Sound one more day, while we headed out the channel and turned West.

Just before we were about to leave we noticed a boat card in our cockpit … Galamar, with Gail Bowdish and Barry Lyon, were in the anchorage! Gail is an ER physician, very active sailor (has single handed the length of each of the five Great Lakes), owns and sails Shanti as their Great Lakes boat (previously owned by our late friends Derck and Shirley Amerman and the boat Bill did his first Caribbean 1500 on), and is the immediate past GLCC Fleet Surgeon. We had originally met Gail years ago at a Lake Superior GLCC dinner in Minneapolis when she was practicing at the Hennepin County Medical Center. Small world! We quickly dingied over to say hello, but unfortunately we wouldn't be able to spend time together on this trip. Gail and Barry were about to jump east to St. Martin on their way to Trinidad for hurricane storage, while we were heading the other direction to Puerto Rico for the same reason. Nevertheless it was great seeing them, albeit briefly.

Our sail to Norman Island was gentle and mellow, flying only our headsail downwind all the way. Our ulterior motive in stopping at Normans for our last night in the BVI's was a final visit to the Pirates Restaurant, where each of us wanted one last chicken roti. The Pirate's rotis are some of the best we'd found in the islands. Delicious!

4/19/2012 – Back to US Territory

From Norman we sailed on the quarter the short seven miles to Soper's Hole to clear out of BVI waters, went on to Cruz Bay on St. John to check back into the USVI's, and finally motored back upwind the short distance to St. Francis Bay to spend one final night together with Hans and Ruth Deller. It was so good spending time with them this season, but as we continued west the next morning, they headed east for their final days in the BVIs for the year. It was hard to imagine our first winter in the Virgins coming to a close so quickly.

We apologize for the very late posting of this blog update, but in our next post covering our return from the USVIs to Fajardo we'll explain that. 'Til then keep watching this space!

3/28/2012 to 4/4/2012 – Return to the BVIs with Susan Setter

3/28/2012 – Preparations in Charlotte Amalie

Our good friend Susan Setter's plane arrived from Minneapolis-St. Paul mid-afternoon on Wednesday. After quickly “settling in” on the boat, the three of us were off to the Fat Turtle in Yacht Haven Grande for appetizers and dinner with friends Bruce and Susan Harris and Tom and Irma Brinkley, a cruisers gathering that helped Susan quickly switch onto island time.

3/29/2012 – Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, to Soper's Hole Tortola, BVI

Winds in the 15-knot range weren't light enough to ease the seas from the prior few days, so Susan got to experience a lumpy upwind motor-sail indoctrination to the Virgins. Once we were able to duck behind St. John the seas eased a bit, and by the time we reached Soper's Hole we were out of the waves and well sheltered for the evening. As it turned out, our windiest, roughest day for the week was now behind us. After quickly clearing in with BVI Customs and Immigration we headed for the local Soper's Hole shops, however, many had closed earlier that afternoon, purportedly because their high season was now over.

They must have a different definition for the end of high season than we have. Every mooring in Soper's was taken that night, with several boats anchored in the deep water behind the mooring field. In a word, they were “full” … there was no more room in this inn. Guess we just don't understand retail.

3/30/2012 – Soper's Hole to Norman's Bight, BVI

On Friday morning the seas in the Sir Francis Drake channel remained a bit choppy, so we decided to motorsail the short upwind distance to Norman Island to keep things as smooth and quick as possible. It turned out to be an easy passage, and by 11:30 we were on one of Norman's inner mooring balls ready to start exploring the island.

Normans offers some spectacular ocean views from its high ridgeline, so off we went to take a look (see photo of Judy and Susan to the right). Later that evening, Bruce and Sue Harris arrived on Andiamo in time for sundowners aboard Jubilee and dinner with us ashore at the Pirate's Restaurant (btw – the Pirate's chicken roti is outstanding – the best we'd had down this way). It had been another great day in the BVI's.

3/31/2012 – Norman's Bight to Marina Cay, BVI

Saturday morning brought an almost perfect 10-15 knots from the ESE (mostly E of course) for a comfortable upwind sail and favored starboard tack to Marina Cay. Susan was really getting into the swing of things, trying a little winch cranking and a little steering as we worked our way up the Drake channel. The prize at the end was of course the beautiful Marina Cay, its gorgeous beach and reef area, and Pussers, where we stopped mid-afternoon for some appetizers and pain killers as well as some souvenirs from the store. It was a near-perfect day, but there were more days like it to come. We were on a roll!

4/1/2012 – Marina Cay to Cane Garden Bay, BVI

For a change of pace, after leaving Marina Cay we snaked out between Hawksnest Point and Monkey Point for a gentle off-the-wind eleven mile sail down the north shore of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay. The seas had largely laid down, the wind had tamed, and the off-wind sailing was so peaceful Susan could hardly believe she was in the same ocean as our prior days.

Cane Garden is often listed as one of the prettiest bays in the BVI's, which is saying something given the many spectacular anchorages here (see view upon entry to the bay at left). The surrounding hills tower over the small settlement, with steep switchback roads leading down to the bay for people visiting by car. Home to several restaurants, beach bars, small resorts, a small grocery store, a school and more, the settlement has everything one might need without becoming too touristy. We met Bruce and Susan there and explored the town together (see photo taken from beach bar on right), followed by appetizers and dinner with them aboard Andiamo to close out another Virgin Islands day.

4/2/2012 – Cane Garden Bay to Jost Van Dyke, Cruz Bay, and Christmas Cove

Wanting to show Susan bit of Jost, we dropped our mooring ball at Cane Garden Bay a little before 8:00 a.m. for the short six-mile run to Jost's Great Harbor and a shore-side breakfast there. After breakfast we strolled over to Foxy's and were lucky enough to catch the man himself. Quite the guy and quite the talker, that Foxy.

Tired out from her engaging conversation with Foxy, Susan had to take a little nap in one of the restaurant's beach-side hammocks before returning to the boat. Cruising can be exhausting.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. we motored in near-calm conditions over to Cruz Bay to clear back into the USVI's. After clearing, we then jumped the short distance across to Christmas Cove just off St. Thomas for our last night out prior to returning to Charlotte Amalie first thing Tuesday morning to begin wrapping up our week together.

4/3-4/2012 – Christmas Cove to Charlotte Amalie Harbor

After anchoring in Charlotte Amalie Tuesday morning, we quickly launched the dingy and headed for town where five cruise ships worth of tourists were all shopping for souvenirs. After a little shopping ourselves, we grabbed the dollar bus (quite the contrast from riding an MTC bus in the Twin Cities) and headed across the island for Red Hook to catch some tasty late afternoon happy hour appetizer specials while overlooking Red Hook harbor at Fish Tails. Wrapping up our land explorations on St. Thomas, we returned on the dollar bus for dinner at the Green House in Charlotte Amalie to close out another full day. It was almost dark when we took the dingy back to the boat after dinner.

We found it hard to believe that Susan's visit was so quickly drawing to a close. Our week with her had been nothing short of fantastic, but there can be no rest for the wicked. After Susan's departure for the airport, the two of us quickly switched gears to again ready the boat for two more weeks of BVI exploring. Laundry, groceries, ice, a little souvenir shopping for ourselves, and even haircuts for both of us were all packed into our Wednesday afternoon. By evening we were ready to head out again the next morning. Watch this space as we return to the BVIs to explore many of the spots we missed in our prior shorter trips there this year. See you on our next adventure!

3/19/2012 to 3/27/2012 – Return to St. John, USVI

3/19 – 3/20/2012 – Turn-around in St. Thomas

Ron and Kate's taxi left for the airport at about 11:30 on Monday, after which we started getting ready for a quick return to the BVIs before our next guest, Sue Setter, was to arrive. It was a good plan, but as is often the case with our plans, this one was written in sand at low tide.

Timing is everything. On Tuesday the clouds opened with rain squall after rain squall. Bill came back to the boat after a quick trip into Yacht Haven with his errands accomplished but wet to the bone. Everything inside his billfold was even drenched.

With more squalls forecast for Tuesday, we decided to switch to plan-B: stay in Charlotte Amalie on Tuesday, work on our taxes, and head out Wednesday instead. We also decided to forgo returning to the BVIs this week, now that we'd lost a day in our turn-around and with the forecast calling for intensified trades and frequent squalls for the next couple of days. But all those reasons aside, plan-B turned out to be an excellent choice in its own right.

2/21/2012 – St. Thomas to St John's Salt Pond Anchorage, USVI, and 3/22-24 Salt Pond Lay Days

We hadn't been to Salt Pond as yet, and at just a short distance east of Lameshur Bay on the south shore of St. John we decided to give it a try. We motorsailed the relatively short 15.4-mile distance almost directly up-wind, as seems to always be the case in the Virgins which run east-west in line with the trades.

On our arrival we were lucky to find a couple of open moorings … plus, as a bonus, Andiamo was already moored there. That afternoon we snorkeled off the boat with Susan, her daughter, and granddaughters, and then joined Bruce and the rest on Andiamo for sundowners. It was another great day in paradise.

Exploring Salt Pond

Thursday brought some local exploring. For lunch we hiked to the Concordia resort (another Eco-Camp) up the hillside adjacent to Salt Pond beach and anchorage. It was a good plan, but unfortunately they no longer serve lunch. Dove bars turned out to be a very attractive alternative.

Drunk Bay

Returning from Concordia we took the short hike over to Drunk Bay to view the rock and coral “sculpture garden” there. With washed up pieces of coral, rocks, and seaweed in abundance on the beach, visitors have exercised their creativity to the extreme, creating a myriad of rock and coral people and animals across a hundred yards or so of rock-strewn beach. See accompanying pictures for a few of the better examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Bay Side Trip

On Friday we decided to take the island bus from Salt Pond to the settlement of Coral Bay for lunch at Skinny Legs plus a little souvenir shopping. The bus here is actually a well-used city-type bus that runs a somewhat irregular schedule between Salt Pond, Coral Bay, and Cruz Bay. That bus trip was more like a state fair thrill ride than anything we can imagine. As the road winds around the hilly edges of the bay, the bus struggles up the steep grades and then careens around sharp curves when heading downhill, regularly crossing into the oncoming traffic lane while rounding the frequent hairpin turns. It was quite the ride for a mere dollar each way (as senior we could have ridden for 55 cents, but decided to pay “full fare”, having gotten so much more from the ride than we ever expected).

BTW – the burgers at our destination, Skinny Legs, are every bit as good as everyone reports – thick, juicy, and the winner of the “best burger on St John” competition for more times than they can count.

Restaurants here are pretty casual, and Skinny Legs is no exception. We loved this sign posted near our table (a waitress shoo'd a chicken out of the restaurant just minutes after we took this shot).

On our return to Salt Pond we got off the bus at the “Tourist Trap”, a visually uninviting little joint that supposedly serves up excellent food. Still full from our Skinny Legs visit, we had to pass it up this time. Perhaps we'll stop for lunch during our next visit. (note - we don't know if they put up this sign for the bus driver to read or not, but it's darned good advice for him in any case)

Ram Head

Saturday brought a moderately strenuous (rocky trail with lots of ups and downs) but not too long (two-mile round trip, but if felt much longer than that) hike out to the Ram Head overlook. The trip was well worth the effort, as the accompanying photo shows.

After our sweaty return we jumped in the water for a 30-minute snorkel, seeing some nice sized reef fish plus a couple of rays. Unfortunately we never were able to photograph the turtles that regularly visited our boat. Each time the camera came out they ducked down; each time we jumped in the water they left. Maybe on our next visit we'll get to swim with them.

And oh, yes, while in Salt Pond Judy final-reviewed our tax return and we filed electronically. Can't think of a better place to tackle a not-so-welcome task like that. Plus we'll now have a few refund $'s coming to help pay for this vagabond lifestyle. Quite the deal!

3/25/2012 – Salt Pond to Leinster Bay, St. John, USVI

Conditions calmed considerably on Sunday, making for a beautiful, though short (11.3-miles) trip around to Leinster Bay on the east side of St. John, almost directly across from West End, Tortola, and Soper's Hole.  Leinster, known on some charts as Watermelon or Waterlemon Bay, is the bay we walked past and photographed in a posting about three weeks ago after an over six mile round trip hike from St. Francis to Coral Bay for breakfast. Leinster's 16 moorings (not counting three more at the other end of the bay) are much more protected than a casual glance at the chart might indicate. It's a wonderful stop.

3/26/2012 – Leinster Bay to St. Francis Bay, St. John, USVI

Continuing our counterclockwise circumnavigation of St. John, we motored the short hop “around the corner” from Leinster to St. Francis, where we again caught up with Bruce and Susan Harris on Andiamo. While there we got our kite out for Bruce and Susan's granddaughters to fly. Unfortunately the wind was too fickle to keep it aloft, but it was a fun giving it a try.

There are lots of things to like about St. John, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stops there this week. Most of all, St. John is far less commercial than the BVI's, primarily because it's mostly National Park land. Instead of beach bars, one finds an abundance of hiking trails and pristine scenery. And to protect the coral, the park service supplies well-maintained and reasonably priced moorings in most anchorages. At $15.00 a night those moorings are a bargain, but factoring in the 50% discount that comes with our National Parks Senior Pass it's an unbelievable deal… only $7.50 a night. Plus the park provides garbage drops in each anchorage, a service covered with your mooring fee.

The whole mooring fee process is low key. The park provides convenient places to drop mooring payments – often in pay boxes on floats within a mooring field as in the adjacent photo. You can pay for several nights at a time, and you don't have to pay in the mooring field you're using (e.g. - we paid for our Leinster night along with our St. Francis night in the St Francis pay box). There might be some abuse give the very informal set-up and very light park oversight, but we suspect almost everyone conscientiously pays their fees. It's a great system … as well as a fantastic bargain!

Overnight Monday the winds continued to drop until we woke Tuesday morning to a virtually dead calm. A trough to the north was significantly moderating the trades, and lighter winds were set to remain for the next couple of days.

3/17/2012 – St. Francis Bay to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI

With the trades moderating on Tuesday to an almost unheard of less than 4 knots, our final leg back to St. Thomas was under the iron jenny. We didn't even take the sail cover off. Before anchoring in Charlotte Amalie we stopped at the Crown Bay Marina to top water and, while we were at it, to take on a little diesel. Even though the port water tank wasn't totally empty, the meter said we had taken on 96 gallons of water! The tank is supposed to be 75 gallons. We've long suspected it was a little larger … but this much larger? Hmmm … who knows? BTW – water is 16 cents a gallon here – a nice change from the 50 cents per gallon we paid for reverse osmosis water back in the Exumas last year.

Once finally anchored in Charlotte Amalie harbor we were exhausted from the heat coupled with the lack of a cooling breeze. After recovering a bit with some cold drinks, we dingied in to Yacht Haven for a late afternoon shore-side snack followed by a grocery run before returning to the boat. Our re-provisioning for the coming week done, tomorrow we'll tackle genset oil, filter and fuel filter changes and do a load of wash before meeting Sue Setter at the Airport for our next trek east to the BVI's. See you there with our next posting!

Below Photo Taken From Top of Ram Head