Happy to report that we had a fabulous trip down to St. Martin. The seas were as calm as we have ever seen and just a light breeze, under 5 knots most of the way. So we just motored along thru the night and arrived by the afternoon. We first anchored outside the lagoon, waiting for the bridge to open so we could go in and drop the hook in this huge, 360 degree protected anchorage (at least a couple miles across). But the bridge only opens 3 times a day and we had a while to wait, so decided to [View Full Entry]

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Unfortunately we decided to leave the BVIs after our brief 3 day visit. There were many reasons why we cut our time there short, but mainly it was due to weather (as sailors we live and die by the weather and when a good weather window develops- you take it or wait for the next one, which can easily be 2-3 weeks later). Besides, we were tired of the crowds and ready to explore new islands and anxious to get farther south, one step closer to Trinidad which will be our final destination for hurricane season which is rapidly approaching. But [View Full Entry]

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The BVIs are as crowded as they are beautiful; there must be at least a thousand or more charter boats out here. First you have the bareboat charter, people who come out for a week or two and rent a boat from a charter company, then take off on their own to explore the islands. I think it is safe to say that the majority of these people don’t really know what they are doing. They cruise thru the anchorages and swim areas at full speed, super dangerous, in a race to get a mooring ball. Typically they panic and run [View Full Entry]

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One area in the BVIs that we were excited to explore was Cane Garden Bay on the western end of Tortola. Unfortunately we had skipped this anchorage on our trip 10 years ago and we wanted to make sure to visit it this time. Cane Garden Bay, as the name implies, was a major port for the sugar cane industry. In fact there is the still a working rum distillery in Cane Garden Bay which has been in the Callwood family since the 1800’s. It is the longest running distillery in the Caribbean and definitely worth a stop. Seriously, we couldn’t [View Full Entry]

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We decided to cross the Sir Francis Drake Channel into the territorial waters of the British Virgin Islands, a whopping 2 miles away from St. John. Our first stop was Soper’s Hole on Tortola to clear customs and visit Pusser’s Landing. Pusser’s Landing used to be the base for sunsail charter boats and has a great restaurant, bar, and many fun shops to explore. It is amazing that we were here 10 years ago, seems like ancient history. Jay and I had just started dating, about 2 months into our relationship, when we decided to charter a boat together in the [View Full Entry]

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After all the commotion of St. Thomas, such a big port town, we were ready to get back to St. John again. So we set sail, well not literally because we still have no main sail, but that is another story for another blog. More accurately we motored on to Leinster Bay, only 5 miles away on the north side of the island. Luckily all the islands here in the USVI and BVI are incredibly close together so it was a short trip. Not only can you see the next island in the chain, but almost all of the islands in [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so life in paradise is not always what it is cracked up to be (although that might be hard to believe if you follow the travel blog). That’s because I always try to focus on the good parts of our trip when I sit down to the computer and write, reminiscing our recent adventures and going thru the pictures. But the truth of the matter is that this isn’t a vacation out here all the time. It’s a very challenging life. We both have broken many toes and have sustained a multitude of other boat bites and permanent damage- we [View Full Entry]

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The island of St. John is very different than the other USVI in that it is a National Park. Roughly two thirds of the island is protected and therefore pristine. There are no houses, hotels, shops, or restaurants within the park boundary. The anchorages are tucked into natural bays, in the shadow of the lush mountainside with beautiful beaches and deep aquamarine water- absolutely gorgeous. The National Park was expanded in 2001 to include the surrounding reefs and seabeds. In fact the park service provides mooring balls for boaters to use which help alleviate the damage from anchoring. [View Full Entry]

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The trade winds were moderating this week and we were anxious to explore more of the Virgin Islands. Our first stop was Culebrita, or little Culebra, just a few miles off of Culebra. We were excited to visit this deserted island which has been turned into a wildlife refuge and national park. And as we pulled into Tortuga Bay we were enchanted by its beauty. We anchored in clear blue water, turtles were swimming around beside our boat, and the white sand, half moon beach was lined with palm trees. Can’t get better than this. But unfortunately the anchorage was a [View Full Entry]

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The trade winds were going to blow up to 30 knots (or about 40 mph for you landlubbers) and the seas were going to build up to 12-14 feet here in the Caribbean and were predicted to be this way for at least a week. So it was time to leave Ponce and find a safe harbor, one which would provide adequate protection and also entertainment for a week. So we decided to saddle up the Rum Runner and sail on to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands. Yes, the Spanish Virgin Islands, the less known and less visited grouping of [View Full Entry]

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