A busy week with the Newlyweds!

After arriving into the US Virgin Islands from Culebra from the rather bumpy and windy ride across the 15 miles to St. Thomas, we settled into the world famous crystal clear blue waters of the region. We stopped at a beautiful bay called Christmas Cove across the way from Red Hook on St. James Island for the first night. During our sundowner session that night, a neighboring boater swam over to say hi. As he approached the boat where we were cocktailing, he raised his head above the water and asked if we were really from Steamboat Springs as our transom signage said. We assured him that we were and he then asked how a friend of ours was doing. We were once again reminded of the smallness of the world and quickly were enjoying his company on board our boat as we found he was from the Denver area and ran a charter boat business every winter down here. He had been to Steamboat Springs many times as his wife was a doctor who had done a medical training rotation at the hospital in Steamboat where they met some of our other friends as well.

The next day we headed over to St. John and went ashore at Cruz Bay to take a look around and reprovision our pantry. Suz found and Optomotrist who was able to fix her broken sunglasses and we were happy to have access to a really well stocked grocery. We did some window shopping at some of the boutique shops and then headed back to our boat to move toward Caneel Bay for our evening anchorage. The anchorage was very rolly and neither of us slept well that night and were happy to relocate to Maho Bay on St. John, one of our favorite sites in the USVI's. After a much more relaxing evening on the boat in Maho, we headed back over to St. Thomas and picked up Jen and Greg at the marina where we planned our rendezvous.

They arrived late Thursday night after dinner time and were wide awake form the excitement of the trip. The night before we had reunited with the other boaters we'd traveled so many miles with. Jake and Carol on OffLine, Richard and Leila on Nebula and David and Vicki on Windfreak all rendezvous'ed that night for a long intended reunioon. Nebula and OffLine had taken a differnet window to lkeave Puerto Rico and headed to a different layover spot than ours at Culebra/Culebrita. It was a fun early evening and everyone except Suz and I were off to bed prior to Jen and Greg's alter arrival at the marina restaurant at 10:30 or so.

Once we gathered the luggage and kids we headed to our slip on the dock and got everyone aboard for the night. A quick nightcap and off to bed we all went.

The next morning we all got up early and did a little last minute shopping for anything not already aboard. Then, at around 11:00 AM we all released the dock lines and headed out of the busy Charlotte Amalie harbor on St. Thomas, heading for Christmas Cove for a quick snorkel and lunch break.

I think daughter Jen wrote a wonderful entry to her friends and family which I'll place into the official ship's log below. Enjoy her comments and if I have any additions to hers, I'll place them in CAPS to differentiate her notes from mine. It was really great having them aboard for this leg of the trip. They enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the islands and if I'm not mistaken, we may have created another sailing habit in them both which will need to be continually fed.

Jen's notes:

We stayed on Allergic to Cities (Pop/Suz's boat) the entire time, which made a great "private charter" for us! We got to see way more than if we had been at a resort, which tended to be just a bar and a restaurant and nothing else around to do... you may think "what's wrong with that?" but seeing all the islands we did was way more fun than just 1 or 2 islands!

We're still getting our land legs back, it's weird how being on a boat for 13 days can make you wobbly on land! any tight space we get into (bathroom or cubicle for instance) and we feel the motion of the boat! and we've been back on land since Monday!!!

We flew into St Thomas Th 4/10, stayed 1 night in a Marina.

Fri 4/11 set out to Christmas Cove on St Thomas for snorkeling and lunch on the boat and a cocktail on the beach, then for St John (Maho Bay) for cocktails and dinner--we stayed overnight here. This was a fairly unpopulated island (most of it is US national forest) so it was weird to see a beautiful island not cram packed with houses and shops on the beaches. Actually, it was pretty refreshing.

On Sat 4/12 we sailed to Soper's Hold at the West End of Tortola to clear customs into the BVI's. This is where you have to be very polite and quiet, or supposedly the customs people can get grumpy. Greg likened it to the soup nazi on Seinfeld: get in line, slide your passport across the counter, mouth shut, when he asks a question, answer yes/no and slide down for the next person to do whatever they need to do to check you in. We ate lunch at Pussers, which is a rum company who has chain restaurants down there. Then we sailed across the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Norman Island. We intended to go to the Willy T (a large boat bar) after going to the Pirates Bight bar, but ended up just eating on the boat and chatting. it was a beautiful cove with only the one bar on the beach and the Willy T boat in the water. A very quiet anchorage for sleeping.

On Sun 4/13 we then sailed to the Treasure Caves (where pirates supposedly hid their treasure) and snorkeled, then over to the Indians, which are large rocks jutting out of the sea--we snorkeled these too, but it was a little too wavy for me, so I didn't do much, it started to make me nauseous. Greg free dove down (hold your breach and dive down with a snorkel) and said the coral and fish were so bright and colorful! We sailed on to Peter Island and had a beach party at Great Harbour, which was an empty semi-sandy beach on the shore. The people Pop/Suz have been sailing with were joining us, and did so for various parts of our trip. they are super cool people and we see how they have so much fun. We stayed overnight here.

Mon 4/14 we motored on past Dead Chest (15 men and a bottle of rum--you know, the song! Captain Blackbeard apparently was running low on provisions and ended up dumping 15 of his least favorite crew men on the island with a bottle of rum, hence the song and name of the island), and across the Sir Francis Drake Channel. We went to Cooper Island at Manchioneel Bay to discuss scuba diving with a dive shop. Then went sailing on thru the Sir Francis Drake Channel (the waves were swelly and the weather was gray, the only day that was like this) to Marina Cay, a small private island (owned by Pussers Rum) where we anchored in a very rolly anchorage. We were going to go to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, but decided to go to Marina Cay instead. Apparently the islands generally get 40" of rain a year, and that specific day, we got 12"!!! so we were wet! While Greg was washing off his salty body (on the deck of the boat) his ring flew off his finger and plunked into the sea (20 feet down!). we spent 45 minutes snorkeling for it with him diving down when we saw a shiny object, but to no avail. We dinghied in to Marina Cay and went to Happy Hour where a man named Michael Bean's sang pirates songs... and told Pirate's jokes. "what's the first letter of the Pirates alphabet? R! what's the last letter of the Pirates alphabet? R! What's the middle letter of the Pirates alphabet? D... RDR" ha ha ha! That night I actually had to take a Dramamine bc it was so rolly. but I survived!

Tues 4/15 we sailed pas the Dogs, a group of islands. I don't know why they're called the dogs, they don't really look like dogs! We were going to snorkel them, but it was really rough, so we didn't. We sailed past Mosquito Island and stopped at Saba Rock island and also walked on the Bitter End Yacht Club (a ritzy club, which we decided was nice to stop at but we didn't want to think about overnighting there in a hotel room). The area was very beautiful though. We had Delicious burgers and Mojito's at a restaurant and moored overnight on a mooring ball. Greg and I were learning the ropes along the way, how to anchor and moor on a mooring ball, how to raise/lower sails, how to find the best angle to go in the wind, etc.

Weds 4/16 we sailed down to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda and Greg and I took a taxi from the marina to The Baths, a series of caves and tunnels. Very pretty! Our Cabbie was a little sketchy, and we got freaked out that he was out to get us, so we ditched him and got another cab back to the Marina. While we were at a cafe there, we saw Alton Brown, a star on the Food Network. We were typical tourists and got a pic of us with him, kind of neat! Then we motored over to Tortola again, to Trellis Bay. There was an airshow that weekend and the airport at Beef Island is right there, so we got to watch them practice. This was also right across from where the ring was lost, so we decided to try to dive with scuba gear for it. One of the sailing companions from a boat called Windfreak (David) and Greg were down for 1.5 hrs doing a search and rescue pattern underwater while I snorkeled from above looking down at anything shiny. Again, no luck. We decided it was a gift to Neptune, the God of the Ocean, and will protect the sailors in the sea. We moored overnight at Trellis Bay and had cocktails and dinner on land at a bar called DeLoose Mongoose. We celebrated another sailing companion (Richard-from England!) Un-birthday. apparently his wife and the rest of the group had MISSED his bday which was 2 days earlier (forgotten?) so we celebrated there. We also learned a lude Rugby Song from Richard. :)

Th 4/17 we motored along Little Camanoe and Great Camanoe ( which are very high cliffs and some spectacular houses high on the cliffs), were going to anchor at Monkey Point, but it was too rolly, so we went on to White Bay on Guana Island. Later we found out that Guana Island is a PRIVATE island, I think it's owned by guy in NYC!? Maybe Nance can get hooked up with him and we can have a private resort to go to! Greg and I dinghy'd ashore to see if we could buy ice, but they said they don't "sell" ice, but Ricky (the guy in a uniform!) gave us a bag. they had a fully stocked "on your honor" bar on the beach for the guests. but we didn't go raid it... could have though! :) This was a beautiful anchorage and super quiet!

Fri 4/18 we sailed (raced David's Windfreak--he had a monohull and in all fairness to us, had a 10 min head start, so even though we didn't catch him, we gave it a fair shake!) ending up at Jost Van Dyke on Little Harbour where we all hiked to the Bubbly Pools, which is a narrow opening in big rocks where the waves crash in and make tiny bubbles in a pool. We had cocktails at Foxy's Taboo, the local bar and anchored overnight. Greg had talked about scuba diving the Rhone, a large mail ship that was sunk over by Cooper Island, so much of the night was spent discussing how Greg and David and his girlfriend Vicky and Pop would be able to get over there (on the other side of Tortola!) to dive then come back for a big party on at Cane Garden Pay on Sun... it was decided it wouldn't work, though.

Sat 4/19 in the morning the diving was revisited and we started to go to a dive shop to see if we could make it work... motoring to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, where the parts needed for a repair for a dive item were not found. We motored back to Jost Van Dyke to Great Harbour and drank at Foxy's (a famous island bar) and stayed overnight. It was decided again that the diving would not happen. Greg just decided that it meant he was supposed to come back to do the dive another time! We both commented a lot on how fun it would be to charter out a boat with our friends to go exploring the islands... hint hint!!!

Sun 4/20 we walked along the streets in Great Harbour and went to a bar called Corsairs (to get a tshirt we wanted) and met the owner--who was from Denver! then we motored to another bay on Jost Van Dyke called White Bay, where the Soggy Dollar Bar is... we had lunch here and cleaned the bottom of the boat a bit in the beautiful blue waters. We motored back to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola to anchor for the Full Moon Party at a bar (?) called the Bomba Shack (which we thought was right down the beach there at the harbour... we were WRONG!!! Funny (maybe not so funny) story about anchoring, we ended up getting to Cane Garden Bay quite late in the day. Most of the time if you're catching a mooring ball or even anchoring, you want to be where you're going about 3-4 pm, or you'll not catch a mooring ball (they'll be all taken) and the light isn't that good for making sure your anchor catches on the bottom. So we had to motor in and out of all the boats that had gotten there earlier (for the party) for about 45 min, trying to find a good place (all the balls were taken so we had to anchor, which means you have to have more room for the boat to swing and not hit other boats.) finally we found a place, dropped anchor, 3x, and didn't feel it catch, so we picked up and moved again... all the while the sailing companions from the other 2 boats were having cocktails on the beach watching us go back and forth like idiots! We found another spot, which was deeper than we had normally anchored, and dropped anchor. This time we found a hold spot and since it was deeper had to let the full length of the chain out. However, here comes the funny (not so funny) part... the guy who they bought the boat from had TIED the end of the Anchor chain (you know, the part that holds the actual anchor and chain TO THE BOAT?) tied it with a piece of nylon rope skinnier than my pinky finger... and over time it had rotted... so, as we let out the full chain it sounded funny coming out, and all the sudden we heard a clunk and rattle rattle rattle and ploop... there goes the end of the chain! into the water! Luckily we had the bridle on (which are huge ropes that connect on the anchor chain so you don't feel the movement against the anchor when you're anchored)... so we didn't actually LOSE the chain to the bottom. but still, can you imagine! we gathered the end of the chain after pulling on the bridle, and connected it with a metal U-bolt back to the boat. and proceeded to go ashore and drink our cocktails on the beach. Then we went back to the boat where Pop grilled delicious burgers and we got ready to go to the Full Moon Party. We started walking on the road towards where we thought the party was, and got to it and there was nothing, so we walked back to where cabbies were coming from and hitched a ride... glad we did, bc it took about 1/2 hr by car (on VERY windy and hilly roads (think the crooked road in San Fran, except up and down and back and forth and almost like a roller coaster!) We got there and the Bomba shack (at Apple Bay on Tortola) isn't really a bar, it's seriously a shack, held together by people's panties and bras and god knows what else! they had a dj (kind of Jamaican reggae rap?) and a booty shaking contest... which I won, just kidding! I didn't' participate! but the boys sure enjoyed that! ha! We headed back to the boat (by cab!) on another hairy cab ride, I think the cabbie thought that faster on these roads was safer!? We stayed at Cane Garden bay that night.

Mon 4/21 we woke up and connected to the internet to check in for our flights (out of St Thomas)... we were planning on motoring that morning to West end of Tortola to get the ferry to St Thomas but found out our flight was CANCELLED! (and they rebooked us for a flight the next day!) Was this the gods telling us we should not leave this paradise? But we were missing our doggies and wanted a day at home before going back to work, so we got it all worked out to fly out of Beef Island on Tortola (the entire opposite end of the island where we were) and we arrived in Denver only an hr after we would have on the orig flight. So Greg and I got to see the island of Tortola by cab from one end of the other... and we made it home.

So, I hope I've gotten everything in! Oh, and drunk people and airplanes seemed to follow us, on both ends of our flight, there were drunks... the first set was a group of people from a bar in Denver who one a trip and they bought ALL the alcohol on the plane!!! (after 6 of them had racked up a $700 bar bill in 45 min at the airport!) on the way home a drunk guy sat across the aisle from me and I was so scared I was going to get puked on. thank goodness I didn't!

Love Jen and Greg

PS Pop and Suz call putting the dinghy on the hooks behind the boat "putting the car in the garage" and now Greg and I refer to parallel parking our cars on the street as docking our dinghy. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention a few things, Alton Brown is the moderator of Iron Chef America, and also has his own show Good Eats. Also, on Sun I just remembered that we didn't motor back to Cane Garden Bay, Greg and I were the captain and sailed it ourselves. Pop and Suz said: we want to just sit back, you guys do the sailing, so we raised the sails ourselves, figured out the wind direction and steered the boat to catch the best wind. we knew which direction we were to head and we did quite well if I do say so myself... until the wind died to 2 knots, which is not much to sail by. We got her up to almost 6 knots ourselves, which is pretty good considering the strongest wind was not even 12 knots. You're supposed to be able to go at least 1/2 the wind speed while sailing. We even got it to sail "wing on wing" which means that one sail is one way and the other sail is the other way, it gives better wind catching. :)

Well that is what happened from Jen's perspective and she was accurate without a flaw. We really did enjoy their visit and now are feeling happy to be back alone, but smiling from the memories.

After we dropped Jen and Greg off at Soper's Hole for their taxi to the Beef Island Airport, we headed off to St. John to try to retrieve the mailed packages we had ordered from West Marine. They weren't there and now we must leave the islands without the parts we ordered to fix a broken hatch handle. Not a big deal, just a frustration as we ordered it with ample time for delivery there. From St. John's we sailed around the bottom of the island back over to Norman Island where we rendezvoused with the other two buddy boats for a night of fun at the Pirates Bight. The next morning we all left for Cooper Island but A2C found the slight water pump leak (drip) in the starboard engine had magnified and no needed to be dealt with. Windfreak and Nebula continued on to Cooper Island while A2C diverted off to Tortola and into the main harbor at Road Town intent of fixing the leaky pump. We spent the day replacing several parts we thought were suspect only top finally discover the problem was a seal on the shaft of the pump. Once we found out that, we were able to source the new seal and make the repair. The next day we headed out of the smelly harbor and back out into the open waters of Sir Francis Drake Channel.

Checking in with the other boats, we discovered they were planning to stay another night at Cooper. We have been there many times so we went off to discover something new and found a beautifully calm anchorage above Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda were we were able to drop the hook in some of the most beautifully transparent water we've seen to date. We made it a nice night with grilled steaks and baked potatoes and enjoyed a beautiful sunset alone. The next day the other boats joined us for an additional day at the same anchorage, complete with snorkeling and beach walks.

Friday morning, we all arose and headed to the Virgin Gorda Sound for a couple of nights up there to await a good window to head across the passage down island to St. Martin. We anchored in Leverick Bay so we would be close to where the Friday night party was planned. The resort at Leverick Bay holds a weekly Friday night beach party, complete with Jump Up Jumbay dancers. These are colorful stilt dancers who do an amazing performance from up to 20' up on stilts! It was a fun night for all of us. We checked the weather once we arrived at the sound and found that the best weather window was coming now for only a day or two, then it could be another week before another favoritable one appeared. We all decided to make the trip oin Saturday afternoon/night to arrive around noon on Sunday. So even though we wanted to stay late at the party, it was an earlier to bed night for all concerned travelers.

Today, Saturday, we left the anchorage at Leverick Bay in the Virgin Gorda Sound with all 6 of us aboard Allergic to Cities bound for Spanish Town to do the check out for our passage to St. Martin., our next island destination. It cost us a whopping 75 cents to check out (5o cents for Richard since he's a Brit!) and we are heading back up to the sound to drop the others off at their respective boats so we can prepare for the overnight pass to St. Martin. Tomorrow at this time we will be there and enjoying the sights and sounds of yet another culture.

As we are on a shorter timetable here at the wifi spot, I'll have to post the pictures at a later date. Sorry no visuals this time. But we hope you all enjoy the entry anyway.

Off we go...