On to the Virgin Islands!

After a couple of well deserved relaxation days on Culebrita, the wind changed directions so our anchorages were not too comfortable, so we moveed back over to the main harbor at Culebra to await better weather to head across to St. Thomas, USVI. Although a rather short hop, the winds had kicked up rather stoutly and the wave height had increased such that we decided to wait it out rather than bash into the waves and run the risk of damaging the boats or ourselves in the rough seas and near gale force winds. The one day we thought we'd have to wait turned into two then three as we anxiously watched the weather for our chance to make the break. Finally, with my birthday behind us, and the weather beginning to moderate, we decided to leave the following morning unless something disintegrated overnight. At 5am we arose, checked the weather one more time, found it to be just as we had expected and pulled the anchors, headin gout of the protected harbor into the open sea. The winds werecalmas we were in the protection of the bay, yet as we rounded the reef and left the safetyy of the anchorage, they were apparent and quite stiff, blowing between 20 and 25 knots. Certainly manageable, just not very comfortable even for just 15 miles. Once out in the full open, the seas showed themselves to be the predicted 7 to 8 footers with an occasional 10 and we headed strain into the wind and waves to see how nasty it would feel at that angle. We were able to motor straight through the swells due to our twin screws, but David and Vicky, in their 36' one engine monohull had amore difficult time making headway. They veered off and raised their sails to take advantage of the wind and tacked away at a brisk clip while we continued into the waves on a direct rhumb line taking us straight at St Thomas. We found the cat to handle the waves beautifully and although it wasn't the smoothest ride we'd had, she carried herself above them with dignity and kept her decks pretty dry except for the occasional plow into a really big wave or two. We made between 4 and 5 knots speed on the direct course as David and Vicky on Windfreak, were doing about 6 to 7 on thierr indirect route. They had a longer distance to cover, since they were tacking across, so we were able to made landfall about an hour ahead of them. The shoreline was a welcome relief from the pounding and we headed for what we hoped would be an easy anchorage and some rest. We found after checking out a few likely places that the wave action was invading our anticipated anchorage, so we continued along the St. Thomas coast until we found ourselves nearly at the opposite end of the island for our arrival point. We found a lovely spot to drop the hook and kicked back for some well deserved relaxation once secure on the anchor. David and Vicky found a nice anchorage further back on the coast and stayed their for the night. B ut we were all relieved to have made the "break" from Culebra and safely crossed into USVI waters. Our other buddy boats were still caught in Vieques, another Spanish Virgin Island and would be pinned down there for an additional week!

The islands of Culebra and Culebrita, the smaller neighbor, gave us a wonderful opportunity to relax and catch up on various boat chores and shopping/touristy needs. But now we were in the "real" Virgin Islands... The ones we'd all been aiming for... And how great it felt to have made it this far. For s/v Allergic to Cities, we figure we've traveled over 3000 miles since we left Maine on our trip south. We are really feeling more and more accomplished with each additional passage-making experience.

Since we've been in the USVI, we've anchored at a beautiful spot called Christmas Cove on Great St. James Island, just off the shore of St. Thomas. Clear blue water and pristine beaches abound and ewe intend to dip our bodies into these waters every chance we get.

Last night we moved over to St. John for the night and found the beautiful beach off of Caneel Bay which we'd enjoyed several times during previous visits. The wind and waves were a bit off so we had a rather rolling night and in the moring we moved back over to Cruz Bay to do some internet, provisioning and window shopping. Cruz Bay is a neat small touristy town which has lots of good shops and small restaraunts to enjoy. Today we're doing laundry at one of the local laundromats and getting things shaped up in anticipation of Jen and Greg's arrival on Thursday. We will move the boat back over to St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon to rendezvous with our other traveling friends at Christmas Cove, as they should be arriving that day fromj their passage from Vieques. Then on Thursday morning we've move into the Yacht Havemn Grande Marina and wait for their plane to land. They will find us, via taxi, at the local pub there when they get in at around 8pm and we will be ready to take them on as our additional "crew" for the next week or so as we show them around these beautiful waters.