Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather in the last few days. I have been lucky enough to have spent the last three weeks in the Virgin Islands soaking up the sun and trying out a Catamaran for the first time. We planned our trip so that we could visit places that we have not been to before. The first weeks crew of Jamie, Joseph, Dana & I met in Tortola at Conch Charters after a quick ferry ride over from St. Thomas (cheaper flights). We were lucky to be able to stay on board the first night and it was nice to have some extra time to get to know Mama Cocha. She had A/C and it was most welcome on the dock. The layout of the Lagoon 41 catamaran is very spacious in the cockpit with wrap around seating. We still needed the cooler as an extra seat for dinner for six. The helm station on the port side is raised up so you can see over the coach roof however the bow of the starboard pontoon is not visible so it is tricky manoeuvering in tight spaces. Through the sliding glass doors to the main salon is spacious and here the table seats 6 comfortably and perhaps 8 if you squeeze. The galley was adequate but short on handy storage space. The accommodations down in each pontoon with two separate spacious double berths with their own heads was great and could sleep 8 in comfort. The sloop rig had a full battened main with a good roach and a fractional Genoa up front. Typical of charter boats we had to do the work at the mast to haul sail up and down. Lot’s of work when you are used to in mast furling. ( lazy me & aren’t we all) We provisioned early and after a slight delay to get the new GPS antenna installed we were off the dock by 1400. We wanted get to Little Harbour on Peter Island as it is very pretty there and has clear water for swimming and snorkelling which we really wanted to do. We dropped the hook (no moorings here) and tied a line to shore and after a great swim had a wonderful painkiller and some snacks.
Monday morning we were off to Sopher’s Hole to check out of the BVI and get some Pusser’s Rum and would you believe it they were sold out of all but 3 bottles. (No way that would last J) I would have to return for my duty free purchases later as we wanted to get to Cruz Bay in St. John and check in to the USVI. Well after all of our efforts in very light winds we were too late to make it all the way to Cruz bay so we stopped short at Francis Bay. I had not been here since the very first landfall with Dauphin in 2005 after the trip from Bermuda. Francis Bay is very inviting and has two or three huge beaches. The park authority has lots of moorings as no anchoring is allowed in the park. The water was nice and warm as it had not been very windy during the previous few days. The lack of a breeze made it very hot out of the water so we spent most of the rest of the afternoon and on into the evening with one hand treading water and the other holding onto our drinks. By 0930 Tuesday we were checked in to the USVI and we wandered around Cruz Bay for a while, had breakfast with such slow service it was almost lunch( Island time Mon), window shopped and then headed back to the boat and on to our first new anchorage. The south shore of St. John has some neat spots and some interesting hiking on shore. There is a great hike past an old plantation/sugar mill near Reef Bay. In calm weather it is a neat place to moor while you do the trail. No time for that as we headed for Little Lameshur Bay . The wind was pretty much on the nose (so what else is new) and the cat was not particularly efficient at pointing upwind. Jamie claimed it was due to the light air and our tacks were longer and supposedly faster off the wind so we sailed like the old tall ships to the nights mooring and made it in reasonable time. (time for swimming ,snorkelling and of course Coctails). Little Lameshur was empty of boats and the beach cleared at 1700 of the few that were on it. A quiet spot with average water and just a little roll that was almost not noticeable in the catamaran. We enjoyed our BBQ steak dinner and relaxed.
Before Dana & I were out of the bunk the next morning the engine was on and in gear and I heard the mooring was being cast off. Inquiring about the rush was a mixed conversation about rolling and overboard discharge about both of which Joseph was complaining. Around the point and into Great Lameshur Bay found us again alone on the mooring (0730) with slightly clearer water J and no rolling as the wind had come up slightly and kept us bow to the slight swell. We were again able to snorkel and swim and have breakfast all before 1000. These two bays were new to us and while they provided comfortable moorings and pretty beaches they were basically ordinary. So where to next? I had been to Salt Pond Bay and no one else had and I knew it would be one of the better stops so off we went. The entrance is on either side of Booby Rock and the cruising guide recommends leaving the other rocks/reef in the middle to starboard as you go in while I recommend leaving them to port as you head directly for the moorings. ( I much prefer 10’ 12’ depth readings and sandy bottom to 7’ 6.5’ and coral bottom wouldn’t you) This shot shows the beach and the eco friendly campground on the hill. Once on the mooring the pressure is off and there are no hazards in the mooring field except for snorkelers. The beach is very nice and there is a good hike up to the Ram Head point and the snorkelling is great at the rocks/reef in the middle of the bay. Turtles, Nassau groupers, squids, rays and all of the colourful reef fish abound along with some pretty brain coral, some new staghorn coral and tons of fan coral in greens, blues, yellow and of course lavender. Everyone thought this was one of the best spots we had seen so far. A view from Ram Head of the reef in the middle of the bay. So put a mark on Salt Pond Bay St. John in your cruising guide.
From here we sailed to Coral bay where there are lots of live-aboards. It is a quaint town with an interesting restaurant where we had some great snacks. There were several wrecks in the harbour which made it rather eerie. Jamie thought there was some good deals to be had if you don’t mind a lot of TLC. There is a protective reef at the entrance to the bay and so we moved back out there for the night. It was not the cleanest looking water but it was fairly calm and was way better than in the harbour. Our next stop was to be Magens Bay on St. Thomas voted as one of the top ten beaches in the Caribbean. It is not even in my older cruising guide so go figure. It is however a picturesque beach with a few beach bars (closed at 5:00PM) and a lot of orderly parkland maintained by the DNR. Lots of picnic tables and BBQs under the palms and a kilometre or more of beautiful sand beach. This is a local weekend and cruise ship destination so we were lucky it was not a weekend and the place was gorgeous without a crowd. So the first week passes by very quickly and we are off to Charlotte-Amalie to drop off Jamie & Joseph and pick up our next guests
