Sailing with Joe & Julie

Jan. 22-29, 2011

Joe & Julie arrived on Saturday afternoon and were good sports about getting their feet wet to hop into the dinghy on the shore of Lindberg Bay, St Thomas which is about a block from the airport.

Sunday:  We sailed to Capella & Buck Islands to snorkel just in time to hover above a hawksbill turtle feeding on some algae.  We sailed on to Little Lameshur Bay, St. John and fished while underway. A BIG one took one of our brand new lures! Joe & Julie had time to explore Little Lameshur’s powdery beach before dinner.

Monday:  Capt. Dan motored to Reef Bay to hike the Petroglyph Trail, noticing that one carving bore an uncanny resemblance to Curious George… We motored on to Salt Pond Bay and snorkeled and still had time to sail to Coral Bay, St. John to anchor for the night.  We went ashore to peruse the shops and had dinner at Skinny Legs Grill.

Tuesday:  As we rounded the southeastern end of St. John the familiar islands of the BVI came into full view.  We stayed the course and headed to Leinster Bay, St. John, fishing along the way, with no luck. We walked the trail to Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins and snorkeled Waterlemon Cay finding only one starfish. Rose saw a huge charcoal grey barracuda! Joe had a taste for a “Painkiller”, so I cracked & grated a coconut to round out the ingredients.  None of us felt any pain that evening.

Wednesday:  Trunk Bay, St John was a short distance and we intended to snorkel the underwater trail, but were stopped by a military-ish lifeguard who said the current was too strong. After walking the beach a bit, we motored on to Caneel Bay, St. John for the night.  There we snorkeled and harvested conch for cerviche.  We had our anniversary dinner ashore at Caneel Resort’s Equator Restaurant.

Thursday:  On the way to Megan’s Bay, St. Thomas, we anchored off of Coki Point to see what that highly recommended reef had to offer.  It was very touristy and the fish seemed used to being fed.  At Magen’s Bay we walked the mile long beach and shopped a bit.

Friday: The Captain set the sails southward and headed for Christmas Cove, St. James.  An overcast sky cleared conveniently so Joe & I could explore the rocky reef. From there we motor-sailed to Honeymoon Bay, Water Island and anchored for night.

Saturday:  We dinghied across passage to St. Thomas and took bus into Charlotte Amalie.  We walked the historic 99 (plus) steps to Blackbeard’s Castle only to find it closed because there were no cruise ships in the harbor.  We descended to the shopping district where a multitude of jewelers promised that we could get a bigger discount than the cruise ship crowd. (We didn’t buy or believe it.) We did enjoy a parade that kicked off the little league season on St. Thomas.  Back on board Exit Strategy, we sunned and swam a bit before motoring across to Lindberg Bay for Joe & Julie’s departure.

It was a WONDERFUL week!