P.S. and Back in Ottawa

Just a last couple of notes to finish up our 2012 Spring Trip...

Given our earlier flight this time out of STT we opted to fill up with fuel at Yacht Haven Grande on Wednesday afternoon, dodging three massive cruise ships definitely feeling quite miniscule. 

Notice the golf carts that the dock attendants use - definitely out of our league!

Back to CYOA, Jay had us reversed up to the dock in no time so we had the luxury of the showers and shore-side toilets at our beck and call for the remainder of our stay.  This time, not being in a rush to provision or pack up to leave we had time to enjoy the restaurants of Frenchtown and so we selected The Pie Whole.  They have an amazing selection of imported beers and delectible pizza to satisfy any craving you might have - delicious!

Thursday morning dawned clear and unable to sleep I decided on a final walk up the 99-steps in Charlotte Amalie.  Then, all packed up we said our farewells and headed to the airport jumping through Washington, Toronto and then on to Ottawa where Jim picked us up at 1:30am.  Quite a long day but luckily we avoided the Air Canada work action the following day and everything ran on time.  Spring has now arrived in Ottawa and we're now contenplating launch plans for Blue-By-You and activities to keep us going until our next sojourn on Mowzer.

N18 17.731 W64 53.421

This is the exact latitude/longitude where we crossed our outgoing passage and completed our loop on this trip with a total of 350 nautical miles (716 km for those of you with a metric bent.)

What a great trip we've had this time out; we've collected stamps in our passport from the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin and Saba, we've completed not one but two overnight passages and we've made new friends all of whom have shown us why we love coming out here and why we continue to pursue the dream of one day cruising full-time.

Mowzer was again exceptional and we continue to be so thankful for the excellent care that the folks at CYOA provide and hope that the many people who come aboard during the year enjoy her as much as we do.

Tonight we are tied up again at the dock at Frenchtown Marina, having made the hop from St. John to St. Thomas after another morning of delightful snorkeling and just sitting watching the view in Lameshur Bay. Can't quite believe that we've only been gone for two and a half weeks, it seems like the haul-out in Nanny Cay and arrival in Anguilla were absolute ages ago. I think we've both achieved a level of relaxation and calmness (except maybe turning around at the fuel dock) that we can now only dream of as we make our way back to reality.

Cheerio Mowzer – can't wait to be back aboard (and home) again!

Love of St. John

Weighing our options: Salt Pond Bay and the hikes to Drunken Bay and Ram Head or back to one of our favourite haunts, Lameshur Bay and the hike up to the top of Bordeaux Mountain.

It seems that we can't leave a hill (“mountain”) unclimbed so back we went to Lameshur Bay. With a forecast and the previous day's example of a sunny morning with showers in the afternoon, we opted to do some snorkeling in the bay for the morning. The east side of Greater Lameshur has some fine diversity of coral and fish-life for the viewing.

By about 1:30pm we decided to fill our water bottles and head up the mountain – even took some dry t-shirts in a zip-loc in case we got soaked on the way up or down. This time, as per usual, the forecast didn't pan out and as we sweated our way up the mountainside with a goal of 1200' at the top, we came across two other equally labouring boaters/hikers winding their way up the hillside. Hurrah's all round when we made it to the top and although it took a bit of searching we were finally treated to some pretty spectacular views to the east across most of the British Virgin Islands.

Back down the mountain we trundled, this time rewarded with great views of the boats in Lameshur beckoning us homewards. A reward equal to the views at the top of the mountain is the cooling dip in the ocean on return to the boat – was I ever hot since now it is so nice and cool?

We finally got the BBQ lighted again (too much socializing last night) and cooked up the last of our port chops for a delicious dinner before heading over to Jacana to visit with our new-found hiking buddies Andrew and Margaret. More adventures to hear of since they sailed over from Scotland with the ARC in December arriving in St. Lucia in time for New Year's and now in the USVI.

A Sailing Passage

Just as predicted (for once) the winds came round from the east at about 15 knots which made for a fabulous day of sailing from St. Croix to St. John. We upped anchor 8:45am and by 3:30pm dropped it in Hansen Bay in Hurricane Hole at the east end of St. John.

Excitement for the passage was minimal although we got caught in one squall that dumped an incredible amount of water on us and had us wishing there was some way we could funnel it into our water tanks – for a free fillup! We also kept an eye on one freighter that appeared to constantly be on a collision path with us and as we got closer we could see that he was really just drifting westward with the current, obviously awaiting the appropriate time to head into port. Unfortunately as we came up to the point where we needed to deviate our course to avoid him, there was a particularly nasty squall – what do you call it when it is bigger than just a little squall? - running down onto him. We decided to divert considerably behind both him and the rain/wind and managed to avoid both very nicely.

Our other excitement was an escort of 5 dolphins running ahead of our bows.

As we approached the east end of St. John, we were particularly happy with our destination since the rest of the island and all of St. Thomas were almost invisible in rainfall and clouds. Hansen Bay made a peaceful anchorage for the night with only a few other boats around. By late afternoon we were sitting contemplating the state of our stomachs when the folks from the boat in front of us popped over. Karl and Gail who have been making their way down from Maryland since early in the year made our acquaintance and then returned after an exploration of the bay to enjoy a couple of bottles of wine and snacks into the evening. This is definitely a fun component of being out here – you never know who your neighbours will be and the fun and interesting stories they will tell.

Revisiting St. Croix

Having motored from Saba in light winds we were reluctant to make another crossing in the same conditions so based on the weather forecast for increasing trade-winds from the east starting on Monday, we decided to spend another day on St. Croix.

One of the main attractions at St. Croix is actually off at Buck Island, part of the Marine Park and home of exceptional snorkeling in a reef-fringed lagoon. However, when we looked into getting the cruising permit to go out to Buck Island, it is required that you fill out a carbon-duplicate form and submit it at least five days prior to your intended visit to see if you might be permitted to head out there. Based on the premise that a car rental wouldn't cost us much more than the fuel if we tried to head off early, and the fact that we were able to find a small car available at Budget on a Sunday morning, we indulged ourselves in a day on the island instead.

This island is so diverse in its climate and therefore the ecology – dry and parched in the east, wet and luxurious in the north-west, spectacular beaches and reefs all around. By the end of the day when (in our minds) a torrential rain-fall filled the streets with gushing run-off, we were thankful that we visited the rainforest in the morning when it was still sunny and dry. The Mahogany Road must be quite a sight with the run-off and there are multiple places where 'dish-drains' criss-cross the road channelling water down to the Creque Dam.

We found a road-side stand, the winner of the annual Cruzian wing contest not once but twice, for lunch and Henry reports that the wings were quite good. By mid-afternoon the rain was tipping down just about everywhere except at Point Udall at the east end of the island. On a whim we decided to go see The Hunger Games and with a Sunday matinee price of $5.00 each, that's the cheapest movie we've been to in years. Having just finished the book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and Henry seemed to as well.

Back to Mowzer for the evening with plans to head up to St. John in the morning – crossing our fingers for a bit more wind.