Downtown Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

We had debated about where to leave the boat during the two-night trip to Antigua. I suggested a mooring ball but the ones in these bays are all private. We didn’t really want to pay for a marina but leaving it anchored is uncomfortable (what if the wind changes direction and the anchor comes loose?). When we pulled into the bay outside Crown Bay Marina we anchored and then had to re-anchor, which is unusual for us, so we were

Stores now occupy the warehouses built by pirates to store their treasures, St. Thomas

concerned about it holding. In the midst of this, a dinghy pulls up and another boat owner offers us the use of a free private mooring ball for a few days. It always amazes me how things work out. On Saturday, we get ready to go. We dinghy to the marina with laundry and do errands, including getting huge bags of ice to try and keep the fridge cool while we’re gone. The added bonus of this marina is there is a homemade ice cream shop right at the dock. Continue reading →

We will be heading to the Bahamas, with stops in Culebra (a Spanish virgin island), Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Turks & Caicos on the way. If we sailed continuously doing overnights Matt estimates it would take about six days. There are so many cool places on the way that we plan to meander our way west and expect it will take about 3 weeks. Matt’s mom and sister already have flights scheduled to meet us in the Bahamas on March 10 so we do have some time constraints.

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A very MacKenzie-Childs-looking shell (for you, Nannie!)

Our Wi-Fi has been sporadic at best since we returned to the US side of the Virgin Islands. I realized I had a bunch of photos that I never posted from the end of January from our last few days on St. John. We stayed in Caneel Bay for two or three nights while going back and forth to Cruz Bay. The boys were able to kayak to the beach to look for shells Continue reading →

It’s amazing what a shower will do for one’s spirits. This is a small sign that was taped to the marina counter. Given last night’s rant, it seemed aimed directly at me. Point taken. [Because if I were anywhere in the US where it’s freezing cold right now and I read that rant from someone in the Caribbean, I’d be thinking, Just shut the hell up. You’re in the damn Caribbean!].

But not to the extent of deleting that blog post. This functions as my journal and will be my memories of the trip and all those petty annoyances are part of it. But that’s all they are – just a part of it. And a very small one at that. And, they were only symptoms – not the actual source of the problem. The source of the problem is my old frenemy … Fear. It rears its fearsome head and has me focusing on inconsequential things rather than actually dealing with the meaningful stuff. As Matt would ask, “What’s the source of the fear?” Continue reading →

We leave St. John early to head to the marina in Red Hook on St. Thomas where we’ll stay for two nights. The sun is just coming up. Matt looks over at me and says, “You’re beautiful.” Then he pauses and adds “…… both of you.” He is referring to me … and to my alter ego Crabby who has also been living with us these past few days. I’m not sure when it started … was it after a day of sailing and checking in and out of customs when we were supposed to stay in a marina (but didn’t) where I would get a much-longed-for shower or was it when we realized our dinghy engine was dying and had to start rowing everywhere? [the dinghy engine, an 8-horse power, was getting increasingly temperamental. First it was getting difficult to start. Then, even once it started, it would sometimes stop unexpectedly. By the end, it seemed like a 2-horse power engine (one lame horse, the other dead and being dragged behind us). A new engine is around $3K, which I just don’t understand]. Continue reading →

Sandy Spit off of Jost Van Dyke Island

When flipping through the guidebook, Joshua saw a picture of a gorgeous tiny island, showed it to Matt and said he’d like to go there. It is called Sandy Spit and is right near Green Cay of Jost Van Dyke. It is picture-perfect – one of those places you see on a postcard and say “Is that real?” Continue reading →

The caves at Norman Island, BVI

We arrive late in the day at The Bight on Norman Island. The restaurants or owners try to put mooring balls in all possible spaces so they can collect their $25-35 dollars per night, making it hard to find places to anchor. We motor close to shore checking the depth on the edge. Someone drives by in a dinghy and tells Matt that a similar sized boat was anchored here before. “That’s all I need to hear,” Matt says. He is determined to angle us in

Deliverance comes to get our garbage and offer supplies

there. We set the anchor and back down the engine in reverse. I stand on the chain waiting for it to go taut so we know the anchor caught. After letting it settle for a while, Matt jumps in to snorkel over it just to be safe. Nothing is more frustrating than a sleepless night worried about the anchor holding (well, actually, there are tons of things more frustrating … identity theft, stolen wallets, losing one’s job, fire damage … ) but you know what I mean.

On Wednesday we get up early and dinghy over to Treasure Point at the entry to The Bight on Norman Island. The locals refer to this as Treasure Island because there are four caves here where the infamous pirate Blackbeard stored some of his treasure. This is the best snorkeling we’ve experienced so far. Perhaps because of the popularity of the place (and because some people feed them), the hundreds of fish do not seem scared and come right up and

Parrotfish

surround us. We snorkel along the wall of rocks and dip into some of the caves. The largest one is long and narrow and goes back about 80 feet. We’re all getting a little freaked out and we’ve forgotten our flashlight. We go back to get it but it’s still a little scary. Occasionally, schools of fish will fly out past us. I keep wondering what is at the end – Jaws, the Loch Ness, Blackbeard’s skeleton? Once we have seen all of the caves and the long wall of rock, we swim back to the dinghy. On the way, I see a sea turtle stick his head up. He’s less than 10 feet away from us and just keeps swimming around. We float near him as I curse myself for not bringing my camera (Joshua reminds me, “Just be here, Mom”). The turtle finally heads to the bottom where we continue to watch him. We absolutely love the sea turtles. We head back to the boat where Joshua, commenting on the caves experience, says indignantly, “There was no gold in there!” I think they were expecting pirate chests full of treasure and gems.

Matt swims through an underwater tunnel. We hold our breath until he surfaces.

We stay in The Bight for two nights and moor our boat at the caves to snorkel one more time before we head out. I have my camera and keep hoping the sea turtle will visit again but he doesn’t. We finish snorkeling and get back to the boat and find a 65-foot catamaran banging against her. The captain moored after us and is right on top of us – his boat is too large for the day moorings. He is trying to fend our boat off and makes it seem like it’s not a big deal (probably because he is a hired captain and has charter people on board). This is a big

The 3-foot moray eel (kind of looks like a large rubber band)

violation of boat etiquette and Matt is not pleased. He mutters something about poor judgment. We get off the mooring ball and head to Pelican Island and the Indians. Another spot with incredible snorkeling. We finally see a moray eel! Someone else spotted it and points it out to us. They blend in so well with their surroundings that they are easy to miss. These past few days have been such a blast.

We leave Anegada Sunday morning at 7:30 in very light winds. They’re so light that we put up the mainsail while still on the mooring ball but are ready to let it fly if we get pushed near the reefs on either side of the channel. We float along slowly at 2 ½ knots (the winds are less than 5). The boys wrestle on deck while I make French toast below. Matt comes down below, and in those few moments, the boys unknowingly knock a small blue cushion overboard. Matt doesn’t realize it until later and, because litter makes us crazy, he goes a little ballistic. We use the binocs but can’t see it anywhere. Matt comes down and says he feels badly and wishes he had reacted differently with the boys. Continue reading →

Anegada

The BVI is such an amazing place to explore because there are so many different islands and they are relatively close together – yet each fairly unique. Anegada is by far the furthest away and the northernmost of all the islands. We leave early with winds that are 20-25 knots, with all three sails out and a reef in the main. We are going at 7 knots and it feels great. We pass a charter cat that is barely moving. They only have their headsail up which doesn’t work with this wind direction. They look at us in bewilderment as we fly by them. Continue reading →

Waiting on the dock at British customs while Matt checks us out

On Sunday we sail to Soper’s Hole (west end of Tortola) to exit British customs. We then sail to Cruz Bay on St. John to check in at US customs. It’s the first time I’ve been through customs on a boat. We pull up to the customs dock with only inches to spare behind a government boat. I leap from the side of the boat to the dock and tie the lines before Matt stops the boat. Two customs officials are outside. They do not seem impressed by my aerial agility. Continue reading →