THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS

We loved the US Virgin Islands and here are the places we visited while there:
REDHOOK, ST THOMAS

Getting washing done on the way to St Thomas

Damon's cabin

Strange things pass by our boat!

American Harbour, St Thoams

We anchored in the bay here and hired a car to fetch Cas and Damon. Car rental is $65 a day. There are bars and small shops here and everything is within walking distance from the American Yacht Harbour. Did shopping in Tutu which is a 15 minute drive away, where there is a KMart, Plaza Extra and Walgreens Pharmacy. Prices are a bit more expensive than the USA and St Maarten. It more organized here and we really enjoyed the feeling of being back in America. Our American phone works here and for $60 a month we were able to buy unlimited mobile phone coverage with data. The anchorage was very sheltered, and this made it extremely hot. It is a busy ferry port so this made the anchorage pretty rocky as the ferries went by. We spent 3 nights here.
CHRISTMAS COVE
We spent 2 nights in this secluded bay, a 15 minute sail from St Thomas main island. Picked up a buoy here, great snorkeling and calm anchorage. The kids took the dinghy, caught a taxi and hitched a lift to the Food Centre for a few supplies. Damon and Tayne were not allowed into the supermarket because they weren't wearing shoes.....welcome to America!!!

Going shopping

Collecting fresh water and doing washing in the rain

LEINSTER BAY, ST JOHN
We were planning on going to the BVI and decided to stay in the USVI instead of clearing in at Sopers Hole. We found a little bay called Leinster Bay and we were surprised to find a National Park buoy to pick up and only a few yachts here, a private island and beautiful forests. The diving was spectacular with turtles and rays and we went on a beautiful hike to an abandoned sugar mill. This was really interesting and made us feel like we were back in the days of pirates and slavery. All these islands are named after pirates and there are lot of interesting stories about this era. The scenery from there was amazing with turquoise seas and views of the surrounding islands. There is a $15 per night mooring fee which should be paid into a box on a floating raft. We spent 2 nights here.

Sailing between islands

A beach island

She ain't heavy, she's my daughter....

US Virgin Island views

The Anadale Sugar Mill ruins

CANEEL BAY, ST JOHN
The weather predictions were not great so we decided to stay on St John in protected bays until the front passed. Caneel Bay has beautiful, long white, palm fringed beaches and the best snorkeling we've had so far. It borders on the upmarket Caneel Bay resort and there is a shop on the beach selling drinks and souveniers. We loved it here, spent some time on the beach, but the anchorage was a little rolly. We found a small island and snorkeled off the beach there, with no one else in sight! We had a big old Baracuda sheltering under our boat and decided to try and catch him.....shame, he went straight for our livebait, gave Stephen a good fight and lucky for him, got away. Great excitement on Katz! We spent 3 nights here and they have the same $15 per night mooring fee.

A rainy afternoon with rum cocktails

Diving off an island near Caneel Bay

Our elusive Baracuda hunting under our boat

The boys baking chocolate brownies

Caneel Bay Beach

GREAT CRUZ BAY, ST JOHN
We wanted a bit of civilization and moved on. We made our way up the coast and after trying a few bays found an anchorage in Great Cruz Bay. Damon, Cas and Tayne went to the Westin Resort for a drink and some fries, while we stayed on the boat and made dinner.....something wrong with that picture?? :)
I found my dream homes here.....

We went back to Redhook to meet up with our friends, Carol and Greg and to get more supplies before heading for the BVI which is apparently very expensive. We really got into the Caribbean Christmas spirit with Chistmas carols being played by musicians and decorations all over. Some of the yachts around us have amazing Christmas lights, all the way up the mast and around the boat and the local radio station plays carols all day with the familiar marimba twist. I feel a bit sad hearing carols so far from home because my mom and I always love carols at Christmas with the rest of the family complaining bitterly! We have decorated our boat and bought some lights for outside, but we could never keep up with the Americans!

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WE ARE ON OUR WAY

"HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO DREAM DREAMS AND ARE READY TO PAY THE PRICE TO MAKE THEM COME TRUE"

Our last day in St Maarten

Our last day in St Maarten

Our last day in St Maarten

I felt more emotional when leaving St Maarten than on any part of our trip. After 4 months we were finally ready to be set sail when the 4pm Simpson Bay Bridge bridge opened to let us out from the sheltered lagoon into the big wide ocean.

The space where we spent the last month

Refueling and setting off

Throwing off the lines

Tony was there to throw off the lines and after refueling we made our way to the exit of the lagoon. We all felt a little excited, a little nervous and I was swallowing a little heavy as we waited to exit. At exactly 4pm the traffic stopped, the siren sounded and the bridge lifted, only for us. It was wonderful to see our friends Carol and Greg waiting at the St Maarten yacht club to see us off and everyone at the yacht club waved as we passed through.

A happy Capitano

Leaving through the Bridge in Simpson Bay

We're out!

Anchored in the bay before we left

We anchored amongst the other yachts in the bay on the other side and planned to leave at 3.30am the following morning. After an early night and all our preparations done we woke at 3am and left. As soon as we started the engines Stephen realised the autohelm wasn't working, but that wasn't too much of a problem. We hoisted the sails in the dark and it was pitch dark as soon as we left the lights of St Maarten. There wasn't enough wind and after 2 hours we were making little headway so decided to take the sails down and motor. Well this was not to be......the one motor was dead AND when we tried to take the sail down it stuck near the top of the mast and we couldn't get it down!! All this in the dark and rather a big swell. We decided that there we're just too many things going wrong for comfort and decided to return to our familiar bay in St Maarten to get them sorted out. The problem was that we couldn't continue with the sail up and only one motor so at first light Michaela went up the mast to get the sail down. I was helming and Tayne and Stephen winched her up, I couldn't watch as my poor child was hoisted right to the top of the mast in a rolling sea. I so admire her for her courage, she is so brave and willing to do anything to help out and I don't know what we would've done without her on this trip. It's so amazing how the parent/child roles are reversed as your kids get older.

We limped back to St Maarten, made a few calls, got some help and it turned out that the problems were pretty minor. Carol and Greg took pity on us and invited us all to a much needed lunch at the yacht club and then Greg kindly helped us fix the sail problem. We are so grateful to have their help and they have been such good friends to us.
Everything was sorted out and we did an exact repeat the next morning, but all was fine this time. We had good wind, the sea was flatter and our heads were in a better space too.

Sails up and we we're off!

We headed for the BVI and spent a great day out at sea, Stephen tried to fish (losing some tackle and only catching one little fish), we did washing, watched movies and slept. As we saw land ahead for the first time in 12 hours we were treated to a beautiful spectacle of pods of dolphins riding our bow wave, we could hear their whistles and they jumped in the air and showed off.

Checking out the AIS

Some of us washed the clothes....

.....some of us slept and watched movies

We watched dolphins playing

.....and we finally saw land!

At sunset we anchored in The Bight, in a bay full of yachts, we counted 38 catamarans. Willy T's is here, an old ship on the beach that has been converted into beach bar. It sounded very festive but we were too exhausted to think about going there.

Anchoring in The Bight, BVI

After an early start the next morning we headed to Cruz Bay, St John, in the US Virgin Islands to clear in. We raised our American flag with pride! What a beautiful island, reminding us of the Med.

St John, USVI

Raising the American courtesy flag

We sailed across the channel to Redhook, St Thomas with great excitement as this was where we were fetching Damon and Cas later in the day.
We hired a car, did shopping in Tutu and headed for the airport in Charlotte Amalie. We couldn't wait to see them and at long last they arrived......a few tears and so much happiness when we saw their faces after all this time!!!They were so exhausted after 4 days on the move that they felt quite ill and couldn't even eat the special dinner we made for them.

Such a happy day! Damon and Cas arriving in St Thomas

Wow, what an amazing feeling to have all our children in one place after a year of us being in different parts of the world! So much happiness in our new little home in the middle of the Caribbean!!

Card games on a rainy day

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