We hear from folks back home in NJ that it is very cold, that the mornings are frosty, etc. The weather here in the Virgin Islands has been absolutely picture perfect the last few days. We finally left St Thomas after completing some mechanical repairs and receiving needed parts. We made our way eastward to a beautiful cove called Christmas Cove on St James Island and then to the island of St John. Our first stop on St John was Caneel Bay, a beautiful anchorage, and dinked around the corner to Cruz Bay where we expected to pick up our mail at the US Post Office. A bit disappointed, however, to learn that it has not yet arrived. After spending the night in Caneel Bay, we sailed to Francis Bay, also St John, where we have settled in for a few days awaiting the arrival of our mail package.
Before leaving Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas, we topped off our fuel tanks. Fuel at St Thomas costs $2.00 per gallon but at some of the out islands it cost over $3.00 - so we got a real bargain. Water must also be purchased or made. It costs $.11 at the dock so our water maker is a real asset; we carry about 400 gallons of water in our water tank. We can make 15-18 gallons per hour and use only 18 amp hours to do it. The water maker draws in seawater and forces about 10% through a membrane that converts it into fresh water. It tastes as good as any bottled water we've had. We first fill our plastic water bottles for daily drinking and put the rest into our water tank for showers, cooking, etc. With the heat here, we drink a lot of water and lemonade that we make using our water and a mix. Here on Zelda when we're making water, we have a strict rule, "ALWAYS DRINK UPSTREAM OF THE HERD."
There were approximately 50 or so boats when we arrived in Francis Bay, St John; sounds crowded but the harbor is quite large. It is a beautiful anchorage nestled at the base of lush green hillsides, rock formations and lovely beaches. Most of St John is part of a National Park. In fact, to preserve what is left of the coral, the Park Service has installed moorings, currently free anyway, available on a first come basis. The hope is that boats will not anchor but use the moorings.
Upon arriving, we learned that there is a traditional "dink drift" held on Christmas Eve, of which we participated. Basically over 30 dinks (inflatable boats) arrived at the designated buoy, we all tied onto one another and we set adrift in Francis Bay singing Christmas Carols, sharing snacks, etc. One sailor brought her electronic keyboard and one of our friends, Gene, brought his trumpet. It was great fun; we had a chance to make new friends, again. As we drifted along, a porpoise swam around in the harbor. Many of the boats were decorated with Xmas lights and such. On Christmas Day, one of the large motor yachts, Noble House from Hong Kong, had Santa aboard its tender circling the anchorage sending Christmas wishes. We shared Christmas dinner with two other couples, also cruising like us. Terry made a delicious duck and rice dish.
We have been doing a bit of snorkeling, basically each day. Folks here have seen rays, turtles, and barracuda in this Bay. Today, Terry did see a barracuda (glad I missed it); I spotted a yellow spotted snake eel; we did not hang around that one too long. There are lots of colorful fish, both large and small to see.
The days fly by. We have caught up on our long lost enjoyment of reading novels. We enjoy going ashore to find book swaps so that we can continue to keep our library fresh with new books to read.
We will sail to a few of the other popular harbors on St John. At some point before mid January, we will probably go back to St Thomas to provision the boat prior to my son Cory and his girlfriend Carrie arrive in about two weeks on Tortola.
Time flies by before I realize that we have been a bit delinquent in our web updates. Today, we are in Coral Bay, St John. Today was the first day since we arrived in mid November where it has rained all day. Since I last wrote (post Christmas); we enjoyed a quiet New Years in one of our favorite coves—Christmas Cove on St James Island; not far from St Thomas. We had a wonderful dinner and the traditional black eye peas for good luck (Oklahoma tradition). It must have worked its magic because we had been waiting for our mail to arrive in St John for almost a month; it finally arrived right after New Years; we were convinced that it was lost.
Until my son, Cory, and his girlfriend Carrie arrived in mid January, we spent a good deal of time circumnavigating St John; we visited Caneel and Cruz Bays, Francis and Leinster Bays, Coral and Lameschur Bay on the south side of St John. Lameschur Bay is also part of the National Park and provides free moorings; there were only two other boats in the cove when we were there; snorkeling was great. This cove is by far my most favorite for privacy. We saw turtles, rays, lots of fish, barracuda; we also snorkeled for conch. We found a few but learned after Terry brought them up that they were hosts to hermit crab.
January 12 finally arrived bringing Cory and Carrie to the Virgins to spend a week aboard Zelda. We picked them up on Beef Island, Tortola, and spent the night on a mooring in Trellis Bay. The next day, we moved a short distance to Marina Cay (where the famous Pussers Store is located). We anchored off of Great Camanoe Island where snorkeling and beach/shell hunting was good. The next day, we went to Virgin Gorda and anchored in front of the famous Baths; snorkeling was again the big event. We took the dink toVirgin Gorda Yacht Harbor and walked around Spanish Town, nothing to write home about. After a nice lunch and a bit of provisioning, we headed back to Zelda for the evening. Cory, Carrie and I became entrenched in a nightly tournament of Spades, of which Carrie was the end-of-week tournament victor. From Virgin Gorda, we went to Coral Bay, St John, had lunch at the famous Skinny Legs café and then went to Lameschur Bay for the night. Cory did some late day snorkeling and we settled in for the night. Before nightfall, we took the dink to the beach and found a haven for conch and other beautiful shells. In the morning, we threw some old bread in the water and were amazed to lure rather large mahagony snappers to the boat; they are beautiful. Our next destination was the Bight on Norman Island, BVI where the famous Billy Bones café is located. Before dinner, we snorkeled and once again saw a great assortment of fish including a Trumpetfish and ray. From Norman Island, we headed to Roadtown, Tortola. We took a taxi to the north side of the island to a famous surfing beach called Apple Bay. After watching a few surfers (yes they have some waves in the Virgin Islands), we walked along the beach and roadway and landed upon a beautiful lunch spot right on the beach called Sugar Plantation Cafe. Back to the boat where we spent the night in the Roadtown harbor. The next day, Cory and Carrie left for the airport on Beef Island and we checked out of the BVIs. We had a great time and miss them already.
After checking back into US Customs, we hooked up again with our newly found sailing friends at Francis Bay, St John. We have been busy snorkeling, reading, baking, doing boat projects etc. I have finally begun to teach myself Spanish and to learn to play the Recorder, including how to read music. I am quite surprised as to how quickly the music is coming; in high school I used to play the Clarinet (certainly not yesterday); I guess some of that knowledge hangs around the brain even after a long time of not using it. Terry has been picking up his harmonica from time to time and wishes to get back into playing it. He has designed a fantastic candle holder which he has cut fish figures out of a coffee can and then painted it; it is great!! This may be his next occupation; he is looking for another coffee can to begin something else. There is a talented glass blower in Francis Bay who uses recycled bottles to create wonderful glasses, vases, etc. and sells them, of course.
Our next travel plans involve sailing south to St Croix for about a week. We will head that way after completing some projects on the boat. There are always projects on the boat it seems. We expect visitors in late February and others in late March; we will look forward to their arrival. We do not get onto the internet very often, but know from Cory and my sister, Liz, that many folks have visited and checked in. We expect to catch up on the webpage checkins in the next week or so when we go to St Thomas to do some provisioning and to pick up boat parts.
Until next time, stay well and stay in touch via email at KC2GPH@winlink.org.