St. Eustatius

5/11/2017 We pulled up anchor in Simpson Bay Lagoon, St. Martin to head out at the 10:30 bridge opening. As we started going through the bridge, a squall hit with such a deluge of rain that we could barely see the boat in front of us. Of course, he couldn’t see well either and he slowed down as we exited the Lagoon. This was dangerous because we could not go around him and had no where else to go in the narrow channel coming out. We finally blew the horn at him and he moved on a bit. We got out as did Lequesteau and motored over to Ile Fourchue, St. Barth’s. We were in the squall the whole way over there and were soaked and cold. So much for stopping here to go snorkeling. Instead we made some nice warm soup and stayed in the cabin the rest of the day.

Greig and Caroline came over for some hot taco soup after our wet day.

5/12/2017 The next day we headed to St. Eustatius (Statia). There was NO wind so we motored the whole way. But we ran the watermaker so we at least got something else out of burning the fuel.  We had read that there were moorings and free wifi in the mooring field provided by the National Marine Park there but neither was available. Apparently, the moorings were all removed because they were in disrepair and the wifi was down. So much for any benefits for the $30 we had to pay to the marine park. We wandered around Oranjestad and found a little bar with cold beer and soft drinks. We also found a place to buy a St. Eustatius flag as we didn’t have one for the boat. The next day we and Greig from Lequesteau hiked The Quill which is the volcano (Extinct). We hiked to the rim and then down into the crater. We expected a dry, rocky bottom with ash. Instead we found a primeval forest. Giant trees, ferns, boulders and very large birds. Kind of felt like we were in Jurassic Park. The hike was long and challenging. There are parts where you lower yourself (or lift yourself up, depending on which way you are going) using ropes and parts where you just have to scramble over boulders and grab onto branches and roots. It took us 7 hours from start at the dinghy dock and back. We were slow and also stopped in the crater and had a picnic lunch and stopped for a drink on the way back in town. But it was a great day, one to remember for a long time. 

Passing the oil terminal on the north end of Statia

This pipeline running up the hill sure reminds me of Malongo, Cabinda.  I sure hope that they don't have a mudslide and fire here like we had in Cabinda.  I can't imagine what this bay would be like with oil flowing out into the water.

 We walked through town to the beginning of the trail.

Saw lots of crabs along the trail

A pearl eyed thrush at a rest stop on the trail

On the rim looking down over the crater

Greg lowers himself down over some boulders

These trees were unbelievably huge. Supposedly some of the oldest in the Caribbean which have survived all the storms because they are protected down in the crater.

Vines galore

One of the gigantic trees with the large buttress roots

A strangler fig tree

A break for lunch on the floor of the crater

Interesting vine/roots/branches?

Banana heliconia

Another purple clawed crab on the trail

A feral rooster that hangs out near the top of the rim. He has learned that hikers tend to feed them.

Looking down at Oranje Bay as we head back down the trail.


Scenes of Oranjestad, St. Eustatius:
(Click to enlarge)

Cool Corner Bar where we stopped for refreshments after the hike. That is the name of it, not just a description.

Remains of an old warehouse near the waterfront

Oranje Bay:  Lagniappe is the sailboat to the left

Oranje fort

5/15/2017 Time to head on south…

St. Martin and the Virgin Islands, 2017

3/21/2017 We motor-sailed the 2 hours over to St. Martin, arriving about 0900, a half hour before the first bridge opening into the Lagoon. As we attempted to call the bridge tender to let him know of our intention to pass through into the Lagoon, we got a call back from friends on Lequesteau! They had finally caught up with us. They too were awaiting the bridge opening. We both went in at the 0930 opening (although the bridge tender never did acknowledge our calls) and got anchored. We checked in on the Dutch side as usual and got caught up with Lequesteau. We spent our days in St. Martin fixing stuff, buying new stuff and re-stocking our fridges and pantries. In other words, spending lots of money, as usual for St. Martin. We got new chain to replace the very rusty one for our dinghy anchor and picked up the exhaust riser and mixing elbow from Business Point that our friend Dave had sent to us. We spent several days trying to loosen the bolts on the old mixing elbow and finally got it off. Greg and Greig Carroll installed the new elbow and riser and our engine exhaust now puts out so much more water! The old pipe was so corroded and full of gunk, it’s amazing anything got through. Greg also helped Greig (Lequesteau) replace the wiring for his bow running light as it had corroded. They also worked on his inverter/charger and got it working again.

Greg and Greig running the new exhaust hose

The old exhaust riser. So plugged up its amazing anything could get through.

We went to the Yacht Club right next to the bridge into the Lagoon and watched the last opening of the day on a Friday evening. It is fun to have a drink and watch the boats jockeying for a spot in the line and maneuver in through the narrow opening. We had an “FOD meeting”. FOD stands for Friends of Dennis. Dennis is a former meteorologist from Canada who broadcasts the weather from his boat in the Caribbean every day for whomever wants to listen. People call in and give him reports too. If you listen to his reports you are an FOD. So some people even had burgees made and whenever a few of us are gathered in the same spot, we have an FOD meeting which means we get together for drinks.

Our FOD group at the yacht club gathered to watch the boats come in to the Lagoon through the bridge behind us.

We took the bus to Philipsburgh one day and walked around doing a little shopping. We actually bought a new digital SLR camera (a Canon) with a telephoto lens so we could get some good distance shots which has been frustrating us with our little Olympus camera. The Olympus is great for underwater and everyday sort of stuff, but not for distance.
We did laundry at Shrimpy’s and had a guy work on our outboard again as it is still giving us trouble. It seems to run a bit better.
We played dominos at Little Jerusalem and made it to Sunday afternoon Mass nearby afterwards.
We had a dinghy raft-up one evening in the Lagoon near Explorer island. About 20 boats showed up including another one from Louisiana with several playing guitars and we had a good sing-along.

Bill and Maureen from Kalunamoo heading to the dinghy raft-up.

Sunset at the raft-up

3/30/2017 Time to get out of St. Martin before we spend ALL of our money! We left at 1530 for St. Croix, USVI with Lequesteau. We filed our float plan with Customs and Border control before we left so we could just call to check in. We went through the bridge at the 1600 opening and had light winds until after dusk. We motorsailed with all 3 sails up, making 5 knots. We cut the engine about 1900 and sailed on a broad reach the rest of the night. We had to sail above our rhumb line to keep the jib filled. We furled the staysail and sailed with winds 9 to 17 knots. We arrived in St. Croix at 1040 the next morning and anchored in Gallows Bay in Christiansted. We called and checked in and then took a nap. We happened to arrive on the day the USVI celebrates their becoming a US territory. There was a huge fireworks display the night we got there. Greg slept through it all as he was still tired and went to bed very early. He missed a great show.


We went to the National Park office here and got our “golden age” passes for all national parks and monuments. We paid $10 and can now go into any national park or area requiring an entrance fee for free AND we get half price on park moorings. I guess there is SOME benefit to getting old. We also applied for a permit to visit Buck Island just off the northeast coast here where there is a marine sanctuary with exceptional snorkeling. We visited the fort and the town of Christiansted. We also took the bus to Frederiksted and had lunch at a BBQ place there.

Views from the fort in Christiansted
We hung around Christiansted, checking out the store where Alexander Hamilton and his mother lived and worked and kept checking for an email for our permit to go to Buck Island. We waited from Saturday until Wednesday, even going in person to check on it. How long can it possibly take for someone to look at the application and say OK, you can go on these dates? We took the bus to Frederiksted and had a good BBQ lunch at a little restaurant there.


Front and side of Government House, Christiansted

Beautiful vines growing on the buildings in old downtown Christiansted

Building which housed Alexander Hamilton and his mother’s store

Tarpon waiting for fish scraps at the dock in Christiansted

The local mascot for the BBQ place. He didn’t look too happy to see us.

4/5/2017  We got tired of waiting and decided to go around to the west side of the island and anchor in Frederiksted. We dropped anchor once but couldn’t get it to hold. The sand just wasn’t deep enough over hard bottom. We moved a bit closer to shore and closer to the pier and found a good spot. The town here is much smaller and kind of dead unless there is a cruise ship in. But the anchorage was very comfortable and the snorkeling under the pier was fabulous. There were so many starfish just off the pier area, it looked like a constellation. Unfortunately, that doesn’t show up in photos.

The old fort in Frederiksted

The clock tower in Frederiksted which never seemed to have the correct time.


The beach bars in Frederiksted.


Snorkeling the pier in Frederiksted:

Amazingly colorful coral

Click on these to make them larger. Too many to post in a bigger size.

a Sargeant major fish

Part of the constellation of starfish

We took a bus ride to the Whim plantation and to the grocery. The little beach bar on shore had some happy hour specials that we enjoyed a couple of times while getting our wifi fix.


The Whim plantation house

The sugar grinding windmill, a horse driven sugar cane press and the chimney for the boilers.

Greg, Liz Ann, Greig and Caroline at the windmill

A bath house for the plantation
Greig Carroll (Lequesteau) used his tanks and cleaned the bottom of our boat for us and changed our anode on the prop. THANK YOU, GREIG! 


We raised our “Don’t Tread On Me” flag

4/11/2017 We set out at 0730 for St. Thomas and had a nice beam to broad reach sail making about 5.5 knots. We anchored in Charlotte Amalie which is the main town. We had not anchored here before and had heard it was rolly but we had a pleasant time here. We decided to anchor here because we needed to pick up the solar panel we had ordered from a company in town. We ordered the panel from a company called Coastal Climate Control in Annapolis, MD. They do business with a company here called REEFCO (although not solar panels) and we arranged for them to ship it to Reefco as a convenient place for us to pick it up. If we had shipped it to St. Martin which we initially planned to do (because they are duty free), we would have had to use a local business there and they would have charged us to hold it. Being part of the USA, there is no duty in St. Thomas and Reefco was willing to hold it for us at no charge until we got there. We got our panel and Liz Ann sewed flaps with velcro on them and put velcro on the panel to secure it to the top of the dodger. That was the only place we had left that we could put a solar panel so we had to get a semi-flexible one. They are expensive but it has made a huge difference in our batteries staying charged.
Of course, the day after we got the solar panel, the 19 year old refrigeration unit quit working all together. So, another trip back to Reefco and we ordered an new reefer, a Frigoboat unit. Meanwhile, we bought ice and put it in the fridge to keep the food cold.
While we waited for the new reefer, we got to visit with Carl and Leslie on Frolic who live in the VI’s most of the year and ran into Ross on S/V Nauticuss who we had first met 3 years ago in New Jersey and then hung out with him in Annapolis. We also met Ken and Corinne on S/V In Dreams. Ken is a retired firefighter from New Orleans, now living in Annapolis. We did some shopping at the Kmart and took the sky ride (tram) up to Paradise Point for happy hour one Wednesday afternoon. Our outboard was giving us trouble again and would die on us unexpectedly. As the dinghy is like our car, it is a real pain when the outboard doesn’t work.

Looking out on Charlotte Amalie harbor from Paradise Point


Drinks at Paradise Point at the top of the tram: Corinne, Ken, Greig, our waiter, Caroline, Ross and Liz Ann


Of course, we had to do the Captain Morgan pose
 

Night falling over Charlotte Amalie 


Really? This was in the parking lot at the marina.

4/21/2017 The new reefer was taking longer than expected to come in, so we decided to go over to St. John for some good snorkeling and clean, clear water.  We motored over to Great Lameshur Bay, St. John into the wind the whole way. But since we were motoring anyway, we ran the watermaker and filled the tanks. The next day we motored over to Coral Bay for a pot luck with Fatty and Carolyn Goodlander at Pickles. For you non-sailors, Fatty writes a lot of articles in sailing magazines and is quite a character and an icon. He and Carolyn had just finished their most recent circumnavigation. He even stopped by our boat in the anchorage to chat because he saw the name and had lived in New Orleans for a while when he was young.

Fatty in the center

The pot luck tables  


Having a chat with Fatty


The whole party


Fatty and Carolyn’s boat, Ganesh anchored beside us

4/23/2017 We motored out of Coral Bay to head around the east side and up to Maho Bay on the north side of St. John. We motored right into the wind and seas. As we passed Flanagan island, we put up the jib and sailed a broad reach and then a run all the way to Fungi Passage into Maho Bay. We took a mooring ball, for half price with our golden pass. The next day our reefer was in so we took the ferry back to St. Thomas and then the bus back to Charlotte Amalie to get the unit. We made it back later that afternoon with our new reefer and installed it the next morning.

We went snorkeling in Trunk Bay the next day and had sundowners on Kalunamoo. (Click to make these photos larger.)

Parrotfish: Initial and terminal phases. Would not have thought they were the same fish!


Blue Tangs

Close-ups of a fan coral and a brain coral


Rod Coral and tube sponges

4/27/2017 We left St. John and motored over to Jost Van Dyke to check into the BVI. We anchored and did the requisite visit to Foxy’s. This is our second visit in two years and have to say, we don’t need to come back.
4/28/2017 We left Jost and went over to Cane Garden Bay on Tortolla. We visited a distillery (that is no surprise) and found a good laundromat. We had drinks at a nice beach bar and returned the next day and spent several hours there playing dominos and enjoying the sunshine. Greig and Caroline or Ross have become our transportation as the outboard has quit on us. We have fixed everything we can think of or anyone else can think of. Guess what we will be buying when we get back to St. Martin?


The Callwood Distillery at Cane Garden Bay

Breadfruit tree just outside the distillery

This little guy was looking for his rum!

Pretty murals by local artists along the road.


Cane Garden Bay, Tortolla

4/30/2017 We sailed from Cane Garden Bay with the jib up until we got to Thatch passage and then had to motor into the wind. We furled the jib and then later put out the staysail to steady us. We motor-sailed about 30 degrees off the wind until we were able to put up a reefed main in 15 to 20 knot winds and sailed about 45 degrees off the wind. We took a mooring in Norman’s Bight. The next day we hiked along the north coast of Norman Island and then snorkeled the caves at Treasure Point in the afternoon. They had filmed the movie, Treasure Island here using the caves on Norman Island.


Looking out over The Bight at Norman’s Island on our hike.

Greig and Greg strike the Captain Morgan pose



Scenery along our hike. (Click to enlarge)

Snorkeling at Treasure Point:

Yellow tail Snapper


Schoolmaster snappers


Stoplight parrotfish and a reef squirrelfish


A Fairy Basslet. He is really purple and yellow but the colors didn’t show very well. We call him the LSU fish. He is very small, only a couple of inches and very shy (not like most LSU fans I know!) and hard to catch in a photo.


Thousands of fish inside the dark recesses of the cave


Looking out from one of the caves


The coral was so pretty, it looked like a floral arrangement


Blue Tang


Yellowtail Damselfish


Inside one of the caves


Stoplight Parrotfish, terminal phase

5/2/2017 We motor-sailed from Norman’s Island to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. We took a mooring and went in to check out of the BVI so we could head to St. Martin tomorrow.
5/3/2017 At 0830 we moved from Spanish Town to Leverick Bay to stage for our crossing to St. Martin. Winds were 12 knots and seas calm in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. We got to Leverick Bay at 1130 and anchored until later in the afternoon when we planned to leave. We debated about crossing the Anegada passage to St. Martin or returning to St. John and waiting another week for a better weather window. The weather reports for the crossing were inconsistent. One said the winds would be pretty much on our nose and others said it would be light and easy to motor through. Seas would be about 4 feet.  We decided to go.
We motored out of Leverick Bay at 1600 with a reefed main and the staysail up. The wind was between 0 to 27 degrees off the bow so we kept falling off to try to get our speed up. Even when motoring, we can’t go into the wind very well. We would come back up to course whenever we got a bit of a wind shift. But the waves were 4 to 6 feet right on the bow and constantly slowed us down. We kept in sight of Nauticuss and Lequesteau the whole way. After dark, we realized our forward running lights were not working so we turned on our tricolor at the top of the mast. (They are supposed to be used if you are sailing at night. So, even though we were motoring with our sails up, we turned them on to be more visible to other boats.) We arrived in Simpson Bay, St. Martin at 1115 the next morning, a 21 hour trip! It should have taken 16 to 18 hours. We were exhausted because even though we stood watches and took breaks, neither of us got any sleep with the bouncing around in the seas.We went into the Lagoon at the 1130 bridge opening and anchored and crashed into bed for a few hours.
Caroline and Liz Ann attended a ladies luncheon one day and of course, we made a grocery run. Melissa on Slow Dancing had a car rental so she drove us there and back, which was a huge help. We played domino at Little Jerusalem again and then went to Mass and then back to Little Jerusalem for a chicken shawarma dinner. We repaired the forward running light, running new wiring (the old one was shorted out in 2 places) which involved taking apart the bow pulpit and feeding new lines up the tubing and down into the anchor locker which we can barely get an arm into. But we managed and Li,z Ann earned her electrician’s badge, stripping the wire ends, crimping the connectors and sealing them with shrink sleeve.

Re-wiring the bow running lights

We also bought a new Yamaha 2 stroke outboard. Yes, it has been a very expensive season with the solar panel, the new refrigeration and now a new outboard. We debated quite a bit about a 4 stroke versus a 2 stroke but the reliability of the 2 stroke won out. We had also read that the 2 strokes were considerably lighter and Liz Ann was definitely looking forward to that as she cranks the outboard up while Greg guides it from the dinghy. WELLLL, we got the new outboard and  it was only 5 pounds lighter than our 4 stroke! NOT HAPPY!! For all that money, we were counting on lighter weight as well as reliable performance.  Guess we should have looked more closely at the specs. Apparently, the Tohatsu IS lighter, but we bought the Yamaha.   Cést la vie…

5/11/2017 Amazingly, we made it out of St. Martin within a week. Seems like that is a first for us. Heading south again…..