Virgin Beauty

Folks,

We spent almost a week in St Thomas and got to visit some Manta friends on their boat at the real fancy marina close to the main cruise ship dock.  We also finally had time to fix all the stuff on the mast and boom that had been tie-wired to work but needed permanent repairs.  Our friends Bill and Charlene were in Crown Bay Marina at the west end of the harbor close to their new dinghy supplier and a pretty good marine supply store so we used their boat as a dinghy dock for little parts needed to finish repairs.  This was real handy for us since tying up to their boat was WAAAY easier than using the very crowded dinghy dock.  Also we’d often time the trip so we could meet for lunch at the great little outdoor restaurant and bar.  We were anchored in the middle of the harbor so a dinghy ride to the marine store was about a mile and a ride over to the other marina was a little less.  “Tourist town” was right straight ahead only a couple of hundred yards.  The last couple of days in St Thomas we were really waiting on the rain to quit more than anything else.  We got 3 days of almost continuous rain, the most since we left the US back in November!  So we’d time our short trips in the dingy to scoot across to the dinghy dock and get to shelter before the next rain.  Sometimes we made it, sometimes we got a little rain by keeping the dinghy just on the edge, and sometimes we got completely drenched!

Two days ago the rain subsided and we headed out East Gregory Chanel to sail a short 7 miles to Christmas Cove.  We’d heard this was a nice little stop on the way to famous St John’s and we weren’t disappointed.  It was stunningly beautiful and there are about 20 free mooring balls installed by some nature foundation.  This really works well since many sailors damage the ecosystem terribly with careless anchoring and often don’t seem to understand how to stay a safe distance from other boats.  The moorings are safely spaced and installed in such a way that minimizes damage.  We couldn’t wait to explore the area so we dropped Tookie II (our dinghy) and motored around.  The water was so gorgeous that we went back to the boat, tied up the dink, and hopped in for a swim.  It was perfect temperature and I took the opportunity to inspect our new bottom job.  It really looked good but in some areas had a whitish film of slime so we got the sponge out to see if it would come off easily.  Luckily it did and Chris now has another chore to knock out of wiping the bottom down.

Soon sun was setting and I got the conch horn out to celebrate the successful end of another day in paradise.

Next morning we retraced our path about 2 miles back toward St Thomas to Benner Bay where we hoped to find a few parts for the faucets at a nice marine store and check out the grocery store Robin had heard good things about.  The  marine store was great and the grocery was very good so we now have a good supply place without having to go all the way back to St Thomas.  The only minor problem was when Chris tried to get too close in at the shallow bay.  As we approached the depth alarm  went off and the bow dipped as Robin looked at him with that “Did you go aground again?” look with eyebrows fluttering.  I gave her the “pathetic yes” look back.  So we back out and anchored further out in about 10′ of water.  People often remark how nice it must be to only draw 4′ of water but I usually respond “that’s what we thought but for us it just means we go aground  in shallower water”.  Soon we were on our way out and headed through current cut to St John’s.  Robin had the helm through the cut which had current opposed to the wind so it was nasty looking but not too difficult.  I gave Robin the high-five as she made it through and we turned off toward Cruz Bay and then around the NW end of St John’s passed all the famous sand beach anchorages.  We decided to head toward the most famous, Francis Bay but stopped just short at Maho Bay.  Grabbing a mooring ball has gotten a lot easier with the new bow cleats and our normal drill worked well.  I approach the ball and Robin grabs the mooring line with the boat hook and gets a line through and tied to one of our cleats.  Then I go up to help deploy the bridle that has two independent lines for added safety.  The whole process only takes a few minutes now and either of us could do either role but Robin prefers I take the helm for the approach.

Once tied up we dinghied ashore to walk the beach and the road behind it to look around.  There were a whole lot of people that had descended down from the camp grounds that are dotted around in the ornate hills that surround the 1/2 mile of beach in this beautiful cove.  We met one couple from Maine that said the camps are little platforms with a great view and mosquito net surround.  “It’s a beautiful view and we get soaked when it rains but it’s a great way to see this place at a great price for couples like us”.  We couldn’t help but admire the couple for getting here with their young family to enjoy this spectacular place.  We wished them well as we started the dink and headed to the Fee Platform to drop off our mooring fee to help pay for moorings, and maintenance… only a lot prouder than usual that we were doing our part to make this place possible.

Next it was time for another swim to wipe the bottom scum off.  Every now and then I had to watch the fish watch me.  They seemed to wonder what I was doing and enjoy nibbling the almost invisible growth that was falling down to them as I wiped.  Soon a conch with it’s huge nasty shell wandered by and there were several other fish and turtles that all seemed to come by investigating what this strange looking animal was doing on the boat that was dropping food to any normal fish that wanted some.

A talented writer could describe exactly how this place looks but all I can tell you is it looks gorgeous, smells gorgeous, and even sounds gorgeous.  We’re so lucky to be here and I’ll leave you with a few more photos.

Best regards,

Chris and Robin