We cleaned up prior to their arrival at our new ‘home’ base, Crown Bay Marina. It is an excellent place to provision (for you landlubbers, get groceries), do laundry, catch up on the internet, do repairs and enjoy the music of a great pub at the end of the dock. One of my favorite places.
After a day of shopping and getting sorted out, we had dinner at the Hubbly Bubbly restaurant, a place with uncommonly good Mediterranean food and a vast selection of hookah pipes and fruit tobacco to smoke. At Pat and Laura’s urging, we tried the hookah. Chris and Robin joined us so it was a fun family night out. The hookah thing was a first for many of us, and a last as well.
We ventured out the next day, Friday, Feb 17th and went to one of our favorite snorkeling places, Buck Island to get a view of the many turtles that incubate there. Lynne had some trouble catching her breath and was chagrinned that she hadn’t made a better show of it, but she redeemed herself on the next outing.
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| Cruz Bay - Mongoose Junction |
After snorkeling, we motored to Cruz Bay and did a quick shopping trip to Mongoose Junction. We anchored overnight at Caneel Bay and introduced the Andersons to the rocking and rolling caused by the ferries as they bustle back and forth from various points around the islands. It took them a bit to get used to sleeping aboard, but they persevered. We fired up the new barbeque and had a beautiful steak dinner but managed to lose the brand new spatula that Lynne had brought on board for the bbq – the first time it was used! From there we went to Waterlemon Bay, another great snorkeling spot and Lynn and Bill went exploring on shore to the Annaberg ruins, a crumbling sugar plantation where the remains of the stone and coral slave quarters, windmill and horsemill can be seen. Lynne was able to snorkel well here although she was worried that Lynn would overextend himself trying to keep up to Bill. All was well, and happy hour was a congratulatory affair.
Next Port: Great Harbour where we checked into the BVIs and Foxy’s, a bar that is acclaimed to be the most recognized bar in the world. Lunch and a round of painkillers which are the most well known libation around here, but for my money, vanilla killa’s are simply divine.
We were lucky to get a mooring ball at White Bay, which is just around the corner from Foxy’s. It’s a popular place and with chartering season at it’s peak, in high demand. We likely could have sold our spot to a number of slightly desperate newbie boaters. White Bay is the perfect place for me to swim daily. The entrance to the bay is protected by a reef which was blasted through to allow boats to enter. The crystal clear water is warm and filled with colorful small fish and the waves are small and non-threatening. The white sand beach is ringed with good restaurants and happy-go-lightly bars, including the Soggy Dollar and Ivan’s Stress Free bar, both places that serve painkillers and bushwackers that cannot be drunk more than two at a sitting. We were amazed when the water on the beach became inundated with small sting rays. Although the water was only a few inches deep, we could see large tarpon schooling very close too; it was quite a sight. None of us had ever seen so many rays at one time.
White Bay is so lovely that we opted to stay a second night. A trip to Ivan’s Stress free bar brought squeals of delight from Lynne, who loved the décor: white mortar walls with conch and other shells imbedded everywhere; it’s a fun, Caribbean kitch type of place.
On Tuesday we motored up the island to Foxy’s Taboo, an offshoot of Foxy’s and a bit upscale; it’s newer and has a more sophisticated menu. We walked the trail again to the Bubbly Baths and enjoyed the scenery on the island, including some weird cactus that Bill found in bloom. The Bubbly Baths were not really up to snuff that day, but it was a neat excursion and gave us some much needed exercise. Finished the hike with a great lunch, and off to Cane Garden Bay to anchor for the night
Traveling back to Cruz Bay the next day, we met up with friends from the condo in Florida who brought our new ice maker on their private airplane to us. THANK YOU JOHN AND JOAN! Chris and Robin came to the rescue again (!) and picked John and Joan and John and Sue from their sketchy hotel in St. Thomas and sailed them over to Cruz Bay to meet up with us – also do some shopping and sight seeing. We all had lunch together at a Mexican restaurant that Pat and Laura had recommended and that met and exceeded everyone’s expectations. The next time, we’ll arrange things so that we get to spend more time with everyone.
The next port of call was Nanny Cay, another of my favorite places. It was time to do some laundry and get a few supplies; also some pool and shore time were in order. The beach/pool/bar area there is spectacular and a welcome break from the boat. We had a wonderful dinner at Peg Legs, a restaurant with a world class view and photo-op sunset. We watched in awe as some very talented kite surfers danced through and above the waves at speeds that took our breath away.
After two days at the marina, we were glad to be on the water again. We went to Virgin Gorda and walked the Baths which are nothing short of amazing. Large rounded boulders forming caverns of light and water – its almost a religious experience, and takes you to a place where time stands still. We managed this time to find the path – the last time we navigated this place with Chris and Robin, we took a very wrong turn and wound up having to crawl on our hands and knees, belly-to-the-ground boot camp style through large boulder tunnels and rough pounding tide pools which were more than a little challenging. The correct path is intimidating enough with rough hewn ladders and rope hand holds over slippery rocks, but invigorating and interesting. It all ends well in another great beach bar where we indulged in a hot dog and rum punch.
We anchored outside of Spanish town and Lynne and I were getting set to produce another great meal when we were visited by a lovely young man who wanted to entice us to come to his restaurant, “The Rock”. Are we ever glad we did! It was superb!
The odd part of this evening occurred when we docked at Spanish Town at the dinghy dock, and Lynne noticed this abandoned dinghy there; she remarked that, “Wouldn’t it be strange if that was your dinghy?” and upon closer examination, it WAS! The gas tank had been cut away, but the thieves were unable to take the motor because of the special hardened lock Bill had put on it. Our poor baby had 4 inches of nasty water in her and 8 inches of slimy growth on the bottom, but after that looked like it was in okay shape. We called our friend on the police force who took the original loss report and he came immediately. We had debated on whether to just tow her back to our boat and sell her, but reason prevailed in the end, and I’m glad it did. We don’t need to make those kind of explanations to the police.
Dinner at the Rock was an overwhelming experience. The setting there just can’t be done justice in words. Platforms ringed in rope lights are set between several levels of large boulders and 3 or 4 tables placed about on each level. There are ponds, areas of light with towering bamboo and a clear view of the million stars above. It is without a doubt, the most romantic place I’ve ever been. The food was really good too. After dinner, there was live music courtesy of a talented Elton John knockoff and excellent.
From there we ventured to Cooper Island, a place Bill and I had not been to prior. It’s a lovely resort, fabulous restaurant, a more prosperous looking new up-and-comer.
As we started to make our way back to St. Thomas we stopped at another special place, Norman Island where Bill and I snorkeled the caves there. We all went into Pirates Cove for a drink and some munchies and avoided the slimy Willy T’s. We are too old and too staid to enjoy that place.
This year we faced a new challenge for us: we were getting overrun with ants, tiny clearish critters and Lynne became obsessed with their demise. When they started climbing out of her computer keyboard, we knew it was time to get serious. We went to war! Lynne, I just want you to know, I bombed the place silly before I left for Edmonton, and haven’t seen one since. Thank God.
Our last adventure before the Lynns departed was at Salt Pond on St. John Island. The voyage from Normans was too much for me; the waves were 8 to 10 feet and although they were not against us, it was still too scary being pushed about like a toothpick; I called a halt and we entered Salt Pond. Bill and I had tried to get into there before, but because they only have 5 mooring balls, competition is stiff and we had never been lucky enough to get one. This time we got the last available ball and after the hairy ride, it was a huge relief to be safely tied up. At that point we had to discuss how the Anderson’s were going to make it back to St. Thomas on time to make their Wednesday morning flight. I would not be heading the boat back out into those waters and the forecast did not show things easing up. So we looked around to find transportation from Salt Pond to Cruz Bay, and from there they could take a ferry easily to St. Thomas. It would have been an arduous end to our time together and more expensive than planned, but they were understanding of our safety-first sailing attitude; happily, it turned out to be an unnecessary exercise.
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| Check the legs BEHIND the legs |
We went into Coral Bay to investigate and after a short hike from the beach, came to the highway where others passengers were waiting for ‘the bus’ too. Some more than two hours. But we were fortunate, the bus arrived shortly and took us directly to our destination, via the incredibly winding mountainous roads which our driver, Sharon, approached like the Grand Prix, pedal to the metal the whole way, lurching and steering the hairpins curves like a Nascar driver. It was a deadly fascinating and somewhat bruising experience. We arrived at our desination safe and sound, and the well known Skinny Legs restaurant proved to be a lovely little spot with great food and Jimmy Buffet ambience. The trip back was a bit laborious as we missed the bus going back to Salt Pond and instead wound up going all the way around the island of St. John with a brief stop in Cruz Bay to change drivers. When we got back to the dinghy, it was 4+ hours later but amazingly still there, and being set upon by two wild donkeys who were trying to eat the algae on its bottom. I swear I’m not making this up.
When we awoke the next day, the sea state had calmed down considerably and we made a hasty early morning departure before wind and waves accumulated again. Made it into the harbour at Crown Bay averaging over 7 knots and with no scares.
We had a wonderful celebratory dinner at Epernay in Frenchtown, and bid Lynn and Lynne farewell til the next time. It’s a joy to share these experiences with family and friends, and we fancy that we’re getting good at it. These places are so special, it is no burden at all for us to visit them over and over.
