Month: February 2020

We had a knarly crossing from St Croix to Culebra for a quick overnight before jumping over to Puerto Rico proper to pick up my brother. We had been in St Croix, part of the US Virgin Islands and an American territory where we checked into customs and immigration so we figured we were cleared. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at Marina Del Rey and were informed that we were supposed to check in back in Culebra. We tried to do it on line with CBP Roam but because Gary couldn’t facetime with his phone we were told to sit tight at the marina office and someone would come to us. DO NOT MOVE.

About an hour later a very nice young man from CBP showed up and apologized for making us wait. What? We were in the wrong and he was apologizing. He cleared us in very quickly and then we were faced with our accumulated trash.

Coming into a US island you cannot just dispose of your trash in the nearest trash can like we had been doing all along the island chain. In an attempt to contain bugs, molds and other yucky things being transferred into the country, your trash has to be specially treated. They pick it up from the boat and put it in special containers and then haul it off to be incinerated. In St Croix they wanted $75 to dispose of one bag of trash so we just held onto it until Puerto Rico where we paid $18 for two bags. Go figure.

It’s a little confusing as all the stuff that we bought on other islands that is generating trash going forward is okay. They are just concerned with what is already trash.

While provisioning the boat we hit the third of our fast food wishes and found a Wendy’s. Gary was happy.

My brother, Robert, came in for a week. We had a few days at marinas and a few days anchored out in Calebra and Vieques. Although he much preferred the marinas he was a good sport about the anchoring and got a taste of the peace and solitude we’ve come to really appreciate.

The Laa-Dee-Dah is now docked at Palmas del Mar where it will be for the next couple of weeks while we head north to visit friends and family.

 

St Croix is a little out of the way when traveling the island chain of the Caribbean so when cruisers come here they tend to stay awhile. That means the marinas are full, the mooring fields are full and there isn’t a huge choice about anchorages.

With no room at any marina on the island we were forced to anchor at Christiansted in Gallows Bay which was rolly with a capital R. We lasted one night and moved the following morning where we had seen a large wooden sailboat moored closer to the boardwalk area. No problem, drop anchor, good set and calm! Just as we were congratulating ourselves on a wise move the Captain of the sailboat (that had moved) dropped by in a dinghy to let us know they would be bringing the boat back to their private mooring and needed 180+ feet to clear our boat. So up anchor again and move back about 200 feet to re-drop just outside the no anchoring area. Whew.

Next morning the local dive shop picked us up and we set out for a choppy boat ride to the reef and one of the best dives ever. (More on that in a minute.) After two dives we returned to our boat and were visited by DNR who said we could not anchor where we were, even tho the charts said we could, and if we didn’t move we’d receive a citation. So up anchor again and head back to Gallows Bay but a bit further east as close as we can get to the shoreline. Was it rolly? Yes. But not as bad as in our original spot. That lasted one night.  Even before breakfast the next day we had the boat moving outside the bay and further east inside the reef with no land protection from the wind. Surprisingly it was much calmer as the wind was keeping us oriented to the waves so we were not getting broadsided and rolling.  Added bonus is we got to watch the seaplane take off and land off our aft deck. If you’re keeping track that’s five anchor drops in 60 hours. We usually do one drop every four or five days.

Now the really good part. We hooked up with Dive Experience for a two tank dive outing. Sam and Jay picked us up at our boat and we were the only divers! Yes the water was choppy and the boat ride out would have been uncomfortable for a lot of people but it was worth it.

The first dive was Turquoise Bay and within sixty seconds of dropping in the water a 6-8 foot manta ray decided to visit us. He was just swimming thru and was nice enough to hang around long enough for some pictures.  Congratulating ourselves on a very special sighting we turned around to a turtle, and another turtle, and another turtle, and then a reef shark! Our entire dive consisted of turtles and our personal shark escort who just kept circling and watching. The turtles were totally unconcerned with us. Whether it was the two circling around a small coral head, batting at each other, or the one with his front feet wrapped around the coral taking a break or the various ones we found sleeping under ledges, they all just watched us swim by. Probably one of the most entertaining dives we’ve ever experienced.

Gary decided to continue his fast food trend and we walked 1 ½ miles to a McDonalds for lunch one day. He started out saying it was only 6/10ths of a mile but guess what? GPS lies like a rug. The Big Macs tasted great as did the fries but they only had water and apple juice to drink so no chocolate shakes. Bummer! On the way we passed a grocery store so walked back to it, got some staples and then a cab ride back to the harbor. Found a cigar store, a jewelry store, a liquor store. This place has it all.

 

We spent some quality time in St Kitts’s last spring on the way down so this was just a quick stop at the mega yacht marina for a break and provisioning. Unlike last spring there were many yachts in dock. We did have a nice dinner at the Hyatt property one night. A huge place with very few people. We wonder how they stay in business?

We met a very nice couple at the Hyatt and shared dinner with them. Meeting new people is always interesting. On the way out we stopped at the gift store and spent all of our remaining EC as that was the last island we could use it. Two cigars and three bags of peanut M&M’s later  we were ready to move on to St Barth’s.

We skipped St Barth’s on the way down so were interested to see what it was like. It has a reputation as the playground of the rich and it is deserved. There are more mega yachts here than we’ve encountered anywhere else and it’s not a large island. We anchored in Anse de Colombier on the north of the island as Gustavia is a very rolly anchorage and the marina was full. Unfortunately it’s a three mile dinghy ride to get back to the town so we didn’t do it often.

The island is very upscale with lots of good restaurants with hefty prices. High end stores line the main street, Gary calls it the Rodeo Drive of the Caribbean, and everyone is dressed to be seen. Not really some place we’d come back to but it was worth seeing.

Every day major yachts have come in and anchored next to us, some for the day, some longer. It’s been fun to watch the crews scurrying around, cleaning constantly and waiting on their guests. It’s also been interesting watching some of the smaller boats here in the anchorage. Like the catamaran that came in flying a rainbow flag with six bare assed guys. We’ve witnessed a fair amount of nudity on various boats but this took it to a whole new level. And so we were entertained.

We have turtles off the side of the boat every day and if we toss food overboard there is a feeding frenzy with all the fish. We’re also seeing dolphins between the islands now. It’s comical to see them surface and then beeline straight for our boat to play in the bow waves.

While here a major wind storm blew through so we’ve been sitting for a few days. Perhaps a few too many but the seas are calming and we leave tonight at midnight to move on to St Croix.

 

Somedays are just magical. Our passage from Dominica to Guadeloupe was calm seas and sunny so of course we were on the flybridge enjoying the day. Out of no where Gary says “I’m not sure what’s in the water ahead. It looks like… it is! It’s a whale!” Sure enough, passing right in front of us was a good sized whale with a calf right next to it. After it passed us it flipped it’s tail as if to say “goodbye”. We smiled for hours afterward.

On the way south last spring we skipped over Dominica and went straight to Martinique so this trip we made sure to stop and check it out.

Dominica seems to be a fairly poor country. They were hit pretty hard by Maria two years ago and are struggling to recover. We skipped Roseau in the south due to the cruise ships docked there and went to an anchorage in the north at Portsmouth. Our boat boy, Elvis, explained that with the hurricane they lost 100 feet of waterfront due to erosion. It may have made the harbor bigger but they lost many houses and businesses.

We went ashore for lunch one day and found only a couple restaurants that were open and the menu selection was sparse. There were a fair number of bars but not much food. There’s a lot of building going on, just not quickly.

There’s not much to do unless you’re into hiking (not our thing) so we signed on with Elvis for a river tour one morning. Once you reach the mouth of the Indian River motorized boats are prohibited so Elvis broke out the oars and rowed us a mile or so up the river and back. It was scenic and peaceful with land crabs, iguanas and birds.

The movie Pirates of the Caribbean was shot around these islands and on an offshoot of the river was a replica of Calypso’s hideaway as the original was destroyed in the hurricane.

A couple days and we were ready to move on so a quick and calm 3 hour boat ride found us once again in Isles des Saintes in southern Guadeloupe where we picked up a mooring ball for a couple nights. We’re getting proficient at snagging and attaching to the mooring balls. Maybe some day we’ll be as good at that as we are anchoring!

We checked in and completed the necessary paperwork after having an amazing lunch at our favorite restaurant here. Guadeloupe is a french island so cassoulet was a given. Yummy.

A little short dive off the back of the boat, very short, a little socializing with Regina and Rob from s/v Ramble On and it’s time to head on to Point Ferry on the north end before moving over to St Kitt’s.

We’re on a schedule now as we need to be in Puerto Rico by the 18th to pick up my brother for a visit.