Mandy's keen to get underway & begin their 2 week cruise around the Virgin islands
The colourful market at Cruz Bay, St Johns
Our trusty rental car handled our off road excursion on St Croix
Rainbow Beach, St Croix
The shower at Rainbow Beach wasn't working so Bruce takes a wash in the foot bath.......
We're ready for snorkeling
Hhheeeello Penny
Petanque on Buck Island, St Croix, Saliander style
Penny with her catch of the day - 10kg Mahi-mahi
Meet my new Toy Boy
Pete guards his booty (Pussers Rum) outside the Pussers Rum Pub
The beatings will continue until morale improves
Mandy makes sure Penny enjoys her "Sex on the Beach" at Trellis Bay
Trellis Bay is full of great arts & crafts
Full Moon Parties are a regular feature at Trellis Bay & they light fires in several of these steel sculptures along the foreshore
A picture of the steel sculptures lit up for Full Moon Party
Sarah helps the artist finish welding a new steel sculpture ball
All in together girls, hey we could have a party in this hammock
These Remora Fish are doing a good job cleaning Sali's bottom
This Remora nibbled my fingers as I was taking photos
Mandy & Bruce - just cruizin
Picnic lunch on Prickly Pear Island, Virgin Gorda. Richard Branson's island, Necker, is in the back ground
This sandy cay owned by Branson has plastic palm trees & pink flamingos - rather tacky!!!!!
The Salianders & the Jolly Rogers, Lois & Terry, on board Alpha Crucis for hot scones & fresh coffee
The Bitter End Resort, Virgin Gorda, charge US$930 for 2 people staying 1 night (that's with 30% discount)
We checked out the bar at the Bitter End Resort
The Boulders, Virgin Gorda
Mady & Bruce exploring the natural tunnels & bridges formed by the boulders
We also explored the crevices in the boulders below the water
Pete finds a comfortable hole to rest in at The Boulders
These cute little ferries were in St Thomas when Pete visited 25 years ago & are still going strong today
Saliander parked up in Charlotte Amalie Harbour, St Thomas
Exploring the town of Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas
"CARNIVAL" Charlotte Amalie
The Food Fair
Childrens Parade
The Carnival Prince & Princess lead the Childrens Parade
Baton Twirling is popular here & they start them very young
More Baton Twirlers
The Adults Parade
Well we’ve now been in the Virgin Islands for 6 weeks; it certainly doesn’t seem that long. We had a week up in a Hurricane Hole on St Johns Island where we caught up on chores & Pete installed our new wind generator which is going great guns. We also made time to snorkel around the bay which is now a marine reserve. Apparently the water used to be pretty polluted, but is now lovely & clear. It’s a great spawning ground for the fish & the coral is also making a comeback, but this takes a while.
We had a wonderful 2 weeks with friends (Mandy, Bruce & Penny) on board cruising around the US & British Virgin Islands. We picked them up in St Thomas & headed to James Bay for the night. The next day started with a drift snorkel past Current Rock near James Bay. This is in the middle of a very busy narrow channel with lots of boat traffic constantly passing through so we had to make sure we stuck close to the rock. It is one of the best snorkels we’ve had so far with lots of fish life, including squid, & brilliant colored corals. The next night was spent at Rendezvous Bay on St Johns Island. There was a full moon that night & the water came alive with huge Tarpon & other fish swimming around the boat, along with glow worms lighting up the water as they drifted past us, quite magical…….
We spent a few days on St Croix which is 30nm south & also part of the US Virgin Islands. We had a good sail down there & a swim on the way which ended up being a “Man Over Board Rescue”. Bruce jumped off the boat & managed to grab the trailing rope behind, however after taking a couple of mouthfuls of salt water he decided it was time to let go. We then almost hooked him up on our fishing lines, but luckily we weren’t going too fast & were able to keep him in our sights while we turned around & went back to retrieve him. We anchored in St Croix’s main harbour, Christiansted, a lovely town which still has the Danish architecture preserved. From there we hired a car for a day tour around the island stopping off at a marine park reserve for a picnic lunch. By chance we meet the Park Ranger who gave us a tour of the area shared some interesting information on the local eco system & all for free!!! Our navigator (who shall remain nameless) took us off road down some pretty rough dirt tracks. Unfortunately our map didn’t cover these tracks & at one stage as the sun was sinking lower on the horizon, I had visions of having to spend all night in the wilderness. Thankfully we managed to find our way out before dark. We had a night at Buck Island which is part of St Croix Marine Park & they have an underwater trail where you can snorkel & learn about some of the fish that inhabit the reef. By late afternoon we had the bay to ourselves so we went ashore for an obligatory game of Petanque & BBQ dinner ashore, all in all a great night.
Time to move on so our next overnight stop was British Virgin Island of Tortolla. On the way there we hooked a lovely 10kg Mahi-mahi. It put up a good fight & took Penny at least 20 minutes to reel in, but well worth the effort. We anchored overnight at Sopers Hole & “Cleared In” the next morning. Pete went ashore & came back fuming cause they charged overtime fees for arriving at 8.29am, the official hours are from 8.30am!!! We continued on to Roadtown, capital of the BVI’s. Pete had been waiting a long time to get here as he was hanging out for some Pussers Rum, the only dark rum sold in the Caribbean. We had lunch at the Pussers Pub in town & experienced their famous “Painkiller” rum cocktail; it was pretty good I might add. We continued on our way around to Trellis Bay where we spent the night & the next day the girls went ashore to check out the local shops. It was a very colorful town, the local restaurants are painted in a mixture of vibrant colors & the local artists have decorated the foreshore with their sculptures. There is obviously a lot of talent in the area as the craft shops were full of fabulous local works of art & crafts. We had a surprise visit from KC & Andy, who we met in Dominica, they couldn’t stay long as they were picking up their next charter, but we’re hoping to catch up again before we leave the Virgin Islands. Pete discovered we had some other visitors hiding out under the boat. There were 5 Remora Fish (or Shark Suckers, because they suck onto sharks, whales & turtles) sitting under there doing a great job of cleaning the boat, unfortunately it would have taken them a week or 2 for them to do a proper job of cleaning it (she’s pretty dirty at the moment). They were very friendly fish & swam around me while Pete was feeding them; I even got my toes & fingers nibbled.
Alas we had to keep moving so on to Virgin Gorda next. This island was named by Columbus who thought it looked like a fat woman when he first saw it. We anchored up in a sheltered harbour on the northern end of the island. This is near Richard Branson’s island “Necker” He has a holiday house here & also a resort which he hires out to the rich & famous. We did a tiki tour over in little Sal to check it out. As it’s a private island we couldn’t land there but there is obviously still some people with money around because we saw a few people on the resort. We stopped for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach & snorkel on a coral reef on the way back to Sal. Upon our return we found another Kiwi boat, Alpha Crucis, anchored next to us, so invited the crew, Lois & Terry (also JAFA's & known as the “Jolly Rogers”), to join us for dinner. They turned out to be very entertaining & we had a great night with lots of laughs. The next morning it was hot scones & fresh coffee on board Alpha Crucis, & a quick trip ashore to visit the famous Bitter End Resort before heading off again. We had hoped to anchor at Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, but there was a swell rolling in which would have made for an uncomfortable night. The great thing about the Virgin Islands is that all the islands are fairly close together so it was a quick trip back to Trellis Bay, Tortolla for a comfortable night. The next day we were back at Virgin Gorda visiting an area called The Boulders. These are huge boulders along the shore that were spewed out by some past volcano & then smoothed out over time by the weather. It’s a real tourist attraction with many people there exploring the natural tunnels, bridges & pools made by the boulders.
It was time to head back to St Thomas, but on the way we stopped off at Peter Island for a snorkel. The bay was full of huge schools of bait fish & fish roe. Inevitably there were the tuna & Gar fish lurking around the edges of the schools, along with a turtle or 2. Back at St Thomas we spent a day exploring the town of Charlotte Amalie before dropping the team off at the airport for the next stage of their holiday in Costa Rica. We had a fabulous time sharing our adventure with the team on board & sadly the 2 weeks went by all too fast.
We’re still in Charlotte Amalie & last week enjoyed the sights & sounds of the “Carnival”, it’s supposedly one of the top ten Carnivals in the world & we weren’t disappointed. There was a water sports day with powerboat & Jet Ski races around the harbour. West Indian style that is, i.e. seems there was not much in the way of a briefing, or none at all, as boats were taking off early, crew still putting safety gear on halfway around the track, along with boats not stopping after the finish & boats still going around the course after being black flagged, you name it, it was happening. All in all very entertaining……
There was also a Food Fair where you could sample the local cuisine, live music every night at the Carnival Village & several parades. It culminated with the grand finale Adults Parade & Fireworks Display last Saturday. The parade was pretty spectacular with lots of colorful costumes; it started at 11am & went through until after 6pm. We saw a lot of great fireworks displays last year in the Med; however we both agreed that this one outshone them all.
We were hoping to head back over to the British Virgin Islands by now, but our plans have been delayed while I get some treatment for a sore back. In the meantime Pete has now got the dive compressor back in action & has been working on getting Sali’s bottom clean again. We still have a few more jobs to take care of before leaving for Bermuda in a week or so. It’s about a 5 day trip to Bermuda; we’ll spend a week or 2 there before heading over to Newport Rhode Island.
Our time in the Caribbean has gone all too fast, we enjoyed visiting the islands which are all quite different with their own micro climates, attributes & nationalities. However it’s time to move on out before the Hurricane Season arrives. A number of cruisers have already left to go north or south for the season, so the anchorages are thinning out. We are flying back home to NZ in August for 6 weeks, so will need to find a suitable place to leave Sali when we reach the USA.
We had a wonderful 2 weeks with friends (Mandy, Bruce & Penny) on board cruising around the US & British Virgin Islands. We picked them up in St Thomas & headed to James Bay for the night. The next day started with a drift snorkel past Current Rock near James Bay. This is in the middle of a very busy narrow channel with lots of boat traffic constantly passing through so we had to make sure we stuck close to the rock. It is one of the best snorkels we’ve had so far with lots of fish life, including squid, & brilliant colored corals. The next night was spent at Rendezvous Bay on St Johns Island. There was a full moon that night & the water came alive with huge Tarpon & other fish swimming around the boat, along with glow worms lighting up the water as they drifted past us, quite magical…….
We spent a few days on St Croix which is 30nm south & also part of the US Virgin Islands. We had a good sail down there & a swim on the way which ended up being a “Man Over Board Rescue”. Bruce jumped off the boat & managed to grab the trailing rope behind, however after taking a couple of mouthfuls of salt water he decided it was time to let go. We then almost hooked him up on our fishing lines, but luckily we weren’t going too fast & were able to keep him in our sights while we turned around & went back to retrieve him. We anchored in St Croix’s main harbour, Christiansted, a lovely town which still has the Danish architecture preserved. From there we hired a car for a day tour around the island stopping off at a marine park reserve for a picnic lunch. By chance we meet the Park Ranger who gave us a tour of the area shared some interesting information on the local eco system & all for free!!! Our navigator (who shall remain nameless) took us off road down some pretty rough dirt tracks. Unfortunately our map didn’t cover these tracks & at one stage as the sun was sinking lower on the horizon, I had visions of having to spend all night in the wilderness. Thankfully we managed to find our way out before dark. We had a night at Buck Island which is part of St Croix Marine Park & they have an underwater trail where you can snorkel & learn about some of the fish that inhabit the reef. By late afternoon we had the bay to ourselves so we went ashore for an obligatory game of Petanque & BBQ dinner ashore, all in all a great night.
Time to move on so our next overnight stop was British Virgin Island of Tortolla. On the way there we hooked a lovely 10kg Mahi-mahi. It put up a good fight & took Penny at least 20 minutes to reel in, but well worth the effort. We anchored overnight at Sopers Hole & “Cleared In” the next morning. Pete went ashore & came back fuming cause they charged overtime fees for arriving at 8.29am, the official hours are from 8.30am!!! We continued on to Roadtown, capital of the BVI’s. Pete had been waiting a long time to get here as he was hanging out for some Pussers Rum, the only dark rum sold in the Caribbean. We had lunch at the Pussers Pub in town & experienced their famous “Painkiller” rum cocktail; it was pretty good I might add. We continued on our way around to Trellis Bay where we spent the night & the next day the girls went ashore to check out the local shops. It was a very colorful town, the local restaurants are painted in a mixture of vibrant colors & the local artists have decorated the foreshore with their sculptures. There is obviously a lot of talent in the area as the craft shops were full of fabulous local works of art & crafts. We had a surprise visit from KC & Andy, who we met in Dominica, they couldn’t stay long as they were picking up their next charter, but we’re hoping to catch up again before we leave the Virgin Islands. Pete discovered we had some other visitors hiding out under the boat. There were 5 Remora Fish (or Shark Suckers, because they suck onto sharks, whales & turtles) sitting under there doing a great job of cleaning the boat, unfortunately it would have taken them a week or 2 for them to do a proper job of cleaning it (she’s pretty dirty at the moment). They were very friendly fish & swam around me while Pete was feeding them; I even got my toes & fingers nibbled.
Alas we had to keep moving so on to Virgin Gorda next. This island was named by Columbus who thought it looked like a fat woman when he first saw it. We anchored up in a sheltered harbour on the northern end of the island. This is near Richard Branson’s island “Necker” He has a holiday house here & also a resort which he hires out to the rich & famous. We did a tiki tour over in little Sal to check it out. As it’s a private island we couldn’t land there but there is obviously still some people with money around because we saw a few people on the resort. We stopped for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach & snorkel on a coral reef on the way back to Sal. Upon our return we found another Kiwi boat, Alpha Crucis, anchored next to us, so invited the crew, Lois & Terry (also JAFA's & known as the “Jolly Rogers”), to join us for dinner. They turned out to be very entertaining & we had a great night with lots of laughs. The next morning it was hot scones & fresh coffee on board Alpha Crucis, & a quick trip ashore to visit the famous Bitter End Resort before heading off again. We had hoped to anchor at Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, but there was a swell rolling in which would have made for an uncomfortable night. The great thing about the Virgin Islands is that all the islands are fairly close together so it was a quick trip back to Trellis Bay, Tortolla for a comfortable night. The next day we were back at Virgin Gorda visiting an area called The Boulders. These are huge boulders along the shore that were spewed out by some past volcano & then smoothed out over time by the weather. It’s a real tourist attraction with many people there exploring the natural tunnels, bridges & pools made by the boulders.
It was time to head back to St Thomas, but on the way we stopped off at Peter Island for a snorkel. The bay was full of huge schools of bait fish & fish roe. Inevitably there were the tuna & Gar fish lurking around the edges of the schools, along with a turtle or 2. Back at St Thomas we spent a day exploring the town of Charlotte Amalie before dropping the team off at the airport for the next stage of their holiday in Costa Rica. We had a fabulous time sharing our adventure with the team on board & sadly the 2 weeks went by all too fast.
We’re still in Charlotte Amalie & last week enjoyed the sights & sounds of the “Carnival”, it’s supposedly one of the top ten Carnivals in the world & we weren’t disappointed. There was a water sports day with powerboat & Jet Ski races around the harbour. West Indian style that is, i.e. seems there was not much in the way of a briefing, or none at all, as boats were taking off early, crew still putting safety gear on halfway around the track, along with boats not stopping after the finish & boats still going around the course after being black flagged, you name it, it was happening. All in all very entertaining……
There was also a Food Fair where you could sample the local cuisine, live music every night at the Carnival Village & several parades. It culminated with the grand finale Adults Parade & Fireworks Display last Saturday. The parade was pretty spectacular with lots of colorful costumes; it started at 11am & went through until after 6pm. We saw a lot of great fireworks displays last year in the Med; however we both agreed that this one outshone them all.
We were hoping to head back over to the British Virgin Islands by now, but our plans have been delayed while I get some treatment for a sore back. In the meantime Pete has now got the dive compressor back in action & has been working on getting Sali’s bottom clean again. We still have a few more jobs to take care of before leaving for Bermuda in a week or so. It’s about a 5 day trip to Bermuda; we’ll spend a week or 2 there before heading over to Newport Rhode Island.
Our time in the Caribbean has gone all too fast, we enjoyed visiting the islands which are all quite different with their own micro climates, attributes & nationalities. However it’s time to move on out before the Hurricane Season arrives. A number of cruisers have already left to go north or south for the season, so the anchorages are thinning out. We are flying back home to NZ in August for 6 weeks, so will need to find a suitable place to leave Sali when we reach the USA.
1 comments:
WOW!!! just wow!
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