Green Cay, Part II

    The internet gave us an adequate overview of what we’d need to do to try to catch a lobster.  We motored Exit Strategy to Green Cay and gathered our tools.  Gloves-check! Tickle sticks-check!  Net bag-check! Measurement method-check!  We felt confident, but encumbered trying to swim with all that stuff.  We went back to the exact spot where we found the mother lode just a few days ago.  DRAT!  Someone must have found our stash because the only lobsters we saw were about 1/3 the legal size we spotted on that first visit.

     We moved on to anchor at Buck Island, a USVI National Park that is just east of Green Cay and just north of St. Croix.  We needed time to regroup after our disappointing lobster hunting trip.  

 Buck Island “Retreat”

  

Sunday in St. Croix

    What a busy day!  9:00 am Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church was a lively service. Much of the music-lead by a cantor with a Lou Rawls’ voice- was familiar.  It went over an hour and again, Capt. Dan was in the minority of men who chose to don shorts.

    We drove our rental car through the rain forest road that snaked its way to Reef to Ridge Organic Farm.  No one was there when we arrived, so we looked around on our own for a while to find various gardens, groves, chickens, hairless sheep, and goats.  There was a table full of ripe fruit and vegetables (we didn’t know what some were) and a payment can was nearby.  I was selecting some things I could recognize when Nate, the farmer finally arrived.  Nate was kind enough to give us a Cliff Notes education on the odd items on the table, and I completed our purchase.



Nate had us tasting stuff that smelled really gross,

but tasted much like freeze dried ice cream for astronauts! 



  

 Later, we headed for the other end of the island to attend the 10^th Annual Chili Cook-Off and Free Country Music Concert on the beach at the Divi Resort & Casino.  The music and the scene were very entertaining, but the lines were way too long.

Can you believe they ran out of RUM?!

Green Cay, Part I

    Capt. Dan has been sanding and varnishing the cockpit table for a few days, but after he applied yet another coat, it was time for a little diversion.  We packed up our snorkeling gear and dinghied to Green Cay to see what there was to see.  We have been snorkeling in the Caribbean for over thirty years and this was the first time we have ever seen rock lobsters hiding in the reef!  We saw many that looked large enough to catch- BUT we were not prepared to stick our bare hands into narrow crevices.  We vowed to return with the necessary equipment.  (To be continued…)

Simon Says…

    We wanted to circumnavigate St. Croix, but needed more information about good, safe anchorages on the south side of the island.  We asked around and a local seasoned live-aboard was pointed in our direction.  Simon spoke the Queen’s English and said that he’d lived on his boat here for over ten years.  We welcomed and readily accepted his salty wisdom when Simon said, “There are no anchorages marked on the charts along the south side of St. Croix because there are no good anchorages.” 

Do you feel adventurous?

March 24, 2011 (Happy 10^th Anniversary Becky & Jeff!) 

    It took about 35 minutes to walk to Buccaneer Resort along the main road heading east out of town.  We walked to the highest point of the property which happened to be their main restaurant and took in the view. We reckoned that walking along the shoreline could be a short cut back to the boat and it looked like there was a road or path along one of the hills in the distance.  Capt. Dan asked "Do you feel adventurous?"  Say no more! 

     First, though, I insisted that we buy more water, some sweet and salty snacks, and band-aids for the new blisters on my heels. We walked along the beach until it turned into rocky cliffs.  Half way up the hill from there is where we saw the outline of a road, so we made our way upward through armpit high grass.  Unfortunately, it was NOT a road, but a chain link fence topped with some razor wire. 

   Plan B- we probably could climb around the rocky coast…and we did until I noticed another grassy hilltop above us that looked promising.  We made our way up a steep, rocky slope and proceeded to follow a rough goat path until we could make our way back down to a familiar beach.  It was a short cut after all, shaving five minutes off of the trip.

St. Croix, USVI

March 23, 2011

We arrived at Christiansted Harbor, St. Croix- USVI on Monday afternoon with intentions of seeing more of the island than was possible in our previous time restrained trips.  Our sail here from St. Thomas took about five and a half hours on a single beam reach tack.  Those crossings always make me feel like a lazy sailor, especially when the speedometer read 15 knots!  Capt. Dan knew better and noted that the gauge had somehow been set for kilometers instead of nautical miles.   

Sailing "Firsts"

Mar. 8-17, 2011

       Our niece Katie really knows how to plan a get-away…She and her boyfriend JJ arrived on “Fat Tuesday” which coincided with her 24th birthday this year and then they left on St. Patty’s Day!  

JJ the conch hunter






 

Katie was really high...about 20 ft. above the deck.

 

      

 

       We love having visitors on board to share some of our favorite Virgin Island anchorages, but for me the high points of a cruise focus on exploring new destinations and the activities they offer.  There were many firsts this trip: Katie and JJ had never sailed for an extended time, been to the Caribbean, nor had they ever snorkeled.  They fared well on all accounts and JJ even became an avid conch hunter and cleaner!  We hoisted our bosum chair for the first time with Katie secured in the sling to do a minor repair. (She didn’t mention her fear of heights.) We sailed to eleven islands around the US and the British Virgin Islands, stopping in two new bays for the night- Markoe Bay of Cooper Island-BVI and Great Cruz Bay of St. John-USVI.  

        Another FIRST worth mentioning (and we still can’t believe it) was that the BVI Customs Officials allowed us to clear in AND out during the same office visit! (I pray that Capt. Dan didn’t misunderstand them…) 



"It only took one painkiller to help me relax today."



Katie kept looking for sharks, but saw none.