This morning, we got up and started a few more chores while we had hydro and free (yes, free!) water. By 11:00, we threw off the dock lines and headed toward St. John. The winds are very light today, 5-6 knots, so we are motoring. We've had strong winds for so long that this is a little strange. The ocean is about as flat as we've seen it, with only 1-2 foot swells. About halfway across, the ocean got even flatter and the wind was down to 1-2 knots. We had a smooth ride across, like gliding over molasses. Since it was so smooth, Carey used the time wisely and worked at obliterating the rust from all of the stainless on the boat. Big, thankless job that has to be redone frequently. I watched for other boat traffic while Carey worked. Hey, somebody has to do it! Teehee.
When we were about an hour out, we could see a dark cloud over St. John and it was pouring. We changed course from due north to west for awhile, which seemed to work. By the time we turned back toward Lameshur Bay, it was clearing, although there was a very black sky to our east. Fingers crossed that we miss both storms.
It was supposed to take about 4 1/2 hours to get to Lameshur Bay on St. John, but, with our detour, it took more like 5 1/2 hours We didn't mind, though. It was a lovely day to be out on the water, and we missed almost all of the rain.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Okay, here's something that's a bit different. Bioluminescence is the emission of light by living organisms like plankton, deep sea fishes, bacteria, etc. When we're sailing along at night, we often see sparkles of light all along the water where our boat has stirred it up. That's bioluminescence. Here's the eerie part. Our toilets use sea water, so at night with the lights off, the water sometimes glows in the toilet. Eerie!
We had a lovely leisurely breakfast this morning, and took our coffee on deck to watch the sea life wake up. The fish were jumping and there are lots of big turtles here. You can hear the turtles exhale when they come up for air, just like a whale spout. The air is very still this morning, hardly any wind.
We left Lameshur at 10:15 and motored to Cruz Bay. We need to buy provisions for company this week. But, first, we stopped for lunch at the Ocean Grill in Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay. We just discovered this place. It's a really nice restaurant, clean, and they have good food. The building is all natural rock and very beautiful.
We walked to the Starfish Market in Cruz Bay. We are going to take Jeff and Gail there to provision next week, because they've got some specialty stuff that he'll like and that isn't available at other markets around here. We filled our bags with lots of good food, caught a taxi back to the dinghy dock, dinghied to our boat, and lifted anchor.
Once again, the winds were very light, so we motored over to Christmas Cove, with a short detour to check out Sapphire Bay Marina. The entrance there is extremely narrow and poorly marked, so we won't be going there. We dropped anchor at Christmas Cove at 4:00 pm and had a peaceful evening.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Today, we got ready for our friend, Beth, to arrive. Cleaning, straightening, making beds--all that good stuff.
We picked up Beth at 5:10 at the fuel dock of American Yacht Harbor. Poor thing; her first night out and the anchorage was very rolly. Usually, here at Christmas Cove it's pretty calm, but not this evening. We had dinner, chatted and had an early night.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
What a terrible night! Carey and I got up at 7:00 am and moved the boat over to the bay by the Ritz. It was blowing and the swells were big, so it hadn't been very comfortable for sleeping. We thought it would be better to have breakfast in that bay.
After breakfast, we motored over to Trunk Bay where they have an underwater snorkel trail by Trunk Cay. Beth and I went in and snorkelled for awhile. They actually have signs underwater about what you're seeing. Pretty simple info, but it was different. The only problem was that it was a snorkelling traffic jam. There were so many people there that I kept having to detour out of their way or risk being flippered to death. I think I'm a snorkelling snob. I like to snorkel by myself, not in crowds.
Later, we sailed to Jost Van Dyke to clear into the BVIs, then anchored at Little Jost Van Dyke.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
What a calm night! Quiet, calm, no rolling. Good sleep.
After a peaceful breakfast, I went snorkelling. There are shallow reefs here, so you can get quite close to the fish and the coral. It's great for seeing their brilliant colours.
Once back at the boat, we dinghied over to land and walked to the Bubbly Pool. The tide was out, so it wasn't as spectacular a splash when the water gushes through the rocks, but it was still a good show.
We decided to sail to Brewers Bay for the night. We were looking for an ideal place to anchor. Carey was on the bow and I was on the helm. I ALWAYS keep one eye on the chartplotter to make sure I don't run into anything underwater. Unfortunately, that doesn't always mean you're safe with the Caribbean charts. We hit rocks!! Grind, crunch, scrape, ugh. These were uncharted rocks in the middle of the bay. Yikes! I reversed quickly, then gently turned sideways and we were off. It was a few seconds of horror, and then we could breathe again. Phew, time for a double. I'm creating a new drink--R C Wings on the Rocks.
Once we were settled, we got quite a diving show by the pelicans. Later, the swells started picking up. Carey tried putting the stern anchor out to keep our bow into the waves, and to keep us from rolling side to side, but it dragged and he had to take it up again. Uh, oh, another rolly night.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Terrible night for sleeping. We were rolling wildly. No fun, and very little sleep. Carey and I got up at 7:00 am (again!) and we could see huge rollers breaking over the reef in the centre of the bay. They were so big you could surf them!
Time to move the boat to Soper's Hole. We motored all the way and an hour later we had picked up a mooring ball. Beth slept through it all (or at least stayed in bed trying to sleep).
Beth and I wandered the town for awhile and then returned to the boat for lunch. During lunch, I ran out of propane for the stove. Carey was able to slowly cook the food on the barbecue, but it took three times as long. Not ideal. Afterward, we all dinghied our laundry to the laundromat and our propane bottles to the coffee shop (go figure) and then sat in Pussers waiting for the laundry to be done. The propane bottles will be ready for pick up by 7 am tomorrow. Back at the boat we had dinner (barbecued pork chops, salad, and a cold bean and tomato mixture) and enjoyed a peaceful night.
Friday, January 27, 2017
We dinghied in to have breakfast at D'Best Cup (delicious!) and to pick up our propane bottles from them. While we were on land, we checked out their small chandlery (ship's store), and bought ice and lemons. Then, we went to Customs and dropped off our trash on the other side of the harbour. (Anywhere we can get rid of trash is a bonus.). We cleared out of the BVIs, dinghied back to the boat and we left for Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI.
We anchored in the designated Customs and Immigration area in Cruz Bay, dinghied over, and cleared in at Customs. Since it was already after 1:00, we had lunch onboard and then we left for Lameshur Bay. Beth took the helm for the first time in her life and she loved it! She didn't know that this should have been on her bucket list. Haha. Check that one off. She's now thinking that sailing lessons might be in her future.
We arrived at Lameshur Bay at 3:50 pm and picked up our favourite mooring ball (#14). It's so nice that people leave that one open for us. It feels like home.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
I got up a bit earlier than everyone else to make my homemade bread for breakfast. By 8:00, we were enjoying the warm bread with butter, honey, and peanut butter. Yum.
We watched the turtles popping up their heads all over the bay while we relaxed after breakfast. Such a peaceful place. Around 11:00, Beth and I went snorkelling. Here we saw the biggest parrot fish, lots of yellowtail snappers, blue tangs, angel fish, bright yellow coral, a feather-like coral and lots of other big and little fish. This is an excellent place for snorkelling. We were hoping to swim with the turtles, but they proved elusive. Shy creatures, I guess.
After lunch, we headed out to check out Nazareth Bay on the southeast coast of St. Thomas. This might be a better place to drop off our guests (especially with an east wind). Beth took the helm with the sails set for a broad reach. A little bit tricky to hold her line with the waves on our stern, but she did well. Carey noticed a very dark line of clouds to the east, so we furled the sails and motored to Christmas Cove to wait out the squall. We got anchored just in time!
While we waited for the squall to pass, we each took showers and got ready for our evening out.
Once it had blown itself out, we motored over to check out Nazareth Bay. After the squall, we saw a rainbow with the most vivid colours. Gorgeous.
Nazareth Bay was too rolly, so we turned around and anchored in Cowpet Bay. Still a bit rolly, but it will work for now. It rained again, so we waited a while longer.
We finally dinghied into the beach at the Elysian Resort and caught a cab (with driver, Roland) to Bluebeard's Castle where Beth will be staying for a couple of days. We had a delicious meal at the Banana Tree Restaurant onsite and all of us especially enjoyed the 'Oh My Gorgonzola Bread'--ciabatta garlic bread with melted Gorgonzola cheese all over it. Oh, my! Delicious. Beth treated us to this wonderful meal. So nice!
Carey and I called Roland, our favourite taxi driver, (who was already waiting in the lobby for us) and he drove us back to the Elysian where we jumped in our dinghy and made it back to our boat before eleven o'clock.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
After breakfast, we moved the boat the short distance across the St. James Bay from Cowpet Bay to Christmas Cove. It should have been a simple move, but the St. Thomas Yacht Club had set up a race course right in the middle of the bay. We had to try to avoid the racers and go around their course instead of through it. The move to Christmas Cove will give us a more settled area to do our cleaning before Gail and Jeff arrive this afternoon.
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