Adventures In Paradise

The US Virgin Islands consist of St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas. St. Croix is not on our cruising plan this trip but St. Thomas and St. John are.

St. Thomas is all about cruise ships. Charlotte Amalie Harbor can accomodate at least four giants and another two can dock around the corner at Crowne Pointe. Imagine the transformation this small island goes through when 6 giant cruise ships are in port and all the passengers want to shop. It is bedlam! Fun to watch and there are some good deals here. Liquor, jewelry and island nick nacks are the main attractions. Best of all there is no sales tax. We stocked up on Rum and have no more room for jewels or knick knacks, oh darn!

The cruise ships generally arrive in the early morning and depart in the late afternoon.

There are lots of great restaurnts to sample. Anne celebrated her 50 something birthday with friends at a local favorite, 'Room With a View'.

Next door is the island of St. John. Known for it's beauty and laidback lifestyle. Both Islands have a local bus. If the bus is late, no problem, you can have a beer or two while you wait. Leave your bottles right there and the local fire department will stop by and clean it up....every day......really! Not sure exactly where you want to go? No problem, there are lots of options.
The coconut tree climber of St. John
One of our favorite yachts.
All the Caribbean Islands host an annual Carnival. It is not just a day's event. It goes on for at least a week with various celebrations. The final day is usually a parade with costumes, music and crazy dancing. It is a great event to see.

This was our favorite princess.

Dorothy came all the way from Kansas. She brought some of her friends.
The costumes are amazing........

Great dancers

The local youth steel band rocked the crowd.
Everybody gets into the spirit

Everyone has their favorite
And ladies, here is the view from behind.

After a long hard day of Carnival we return to our little boats via the ferry.

Special effects

A bit of island history must includes the sugar cane plantations and mills on St. John. The green hillside in this photo was once terraced and planted with sugar cane. Slaves were imported to the islands to work the fields and the mills. Today many descendants of these slaves remain on the islands.

St. John is one of our favorite islands. There is great snorkeling, serene beaches and good hiking.
The islands are very mountainous and offer great exercise and spectacular views.

There are wild herds of donkeys and goats. They are not very timid.
The park service offers guided tours and are very knowledgable regarding herbs and plants.
Cane Garden Bay in the British Virgin Islands is also a great stop. There are some good places to hear local music and when the point breaks at Cane Garden Bay....
There is fun to be had for all Fred and Kathy dingy surfing
Anne and Steve catching a wave

We had one more stop to make before heading south again. Anegada is a small flat island known for it's beautiful reef and great lobster. We could not pass up a visit here so with the wind on our backs we hoisted the gennaker and set sail. We made the 14 mile sail in less than 2 hours. Our top speed was 12.9 knots.

We are heading south again, still into the wind. A 12 hour motorsail will bring us to St. Martin, the French/Dutch island. We would like to spend some time here but we are beginning to worry about the weather.

The beginning of hurricane season is only 2 weeks away. Our very expensive boat insurance wants us south of Grenada by June 1. Not sure we will make that deadline but fortunately we have good weather reports and can stay informed and make a run south should we need to.

Au Revoir

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line