02/08/2010 USVIs with the Harold at Christmas

12/24/2009 Christmas Eve. A good friend of mine, Harold Fritts, is visiting for Christmas week and looking forward to some good relaxation. Mine and Harold’s relationship goes way back. When I was working at Motorola, Harold was a contractor for US West, the local phone company. The project I worked on allowed me to make my way into becoming a Sales Engineer. We then worked together at Cisco for many years and have stayed in contact after he left. I was able to spend time with him and his wife Teresa when I was in St martin last year.
I have been getting ready for Christmas on the boat. Last year I was in the Florida Keys the beginning of December and experience my first Christmas season in a tropical environment. It was a little strange for me to get use to Christmas decorations on green grass and palm trees. I have spent my whole life in areas that are typically cold, and if we are lucky enough, snowy. I was looking forward to Christmas on the boat and have been working to enjoy the Christmas season. It has been a little different. I do have about 250 Christmas songs on my iPod, so that was enjoyable. I strung a set of lights around the salon and it gave it a Christmas feel in the evening with the music.
I also got a Christmas tree for the boat. It was a little 18” tall tree that had a few lights on it. I bought a package of Christmas bulbs and I hung some sea shells that I had collected last year from Vieques on the tree. I must digress though to a story about the tree. This tree has a plastic stand. After the first week of having the tree standing behind the salon, the socket where the tree attached to the base started to crack and the tree wobbled and would using fall over if I was in any waves. I decided how to fix the problem. I would use plaster of paris to fill the base. This would lock in the socket and lower the center of gravity on the tree and keep it from falling over. Nothing ever seems to be easy though. I mixed up the plaster of paris and poured it into the base. I then stood the tree upside down to allow the plaster of paris to set. I then looked down at my hands and they were wet and white. The plaster of paris was leaking through the base where the socket was cracking from the base. As I said, it is not usually easy to fix things on the boat. I then had to take the string of lights off of the tree and wash the tree down before the plaster set. How I am going to deal with this crack. Super glue of course. If you can’t fix it with duct tape or super glue, it can’t be fixed. It worked. The glue sealed up the crack. I was able to pour in the second batch of plaster and it did not drain down the trunk of the tree. The tree also never fell over again through the rest of Christmas.
I also went Christmas shopping. I had been picking up some gifts along the way, but I still needed to do some shopping. It is not like running down to the mall of several malls in the area here. There are no malls. But I am in the middle of a tax free shopping zone and it is what most of the people on cruise ships do when they come into port here, just like about every other port. I cannot figure out why people feel the need to shop so much when they go on vacation. They can by this same stuff at home or on-line, usually for the same price or less. But I digress. I did feel like I was under the pinch to get my shopping done just like I was home because I needed to get it done in time to mail it home in time. It typical fashion I did it with no time to spare. So I had a lot of the same feelings about Christmas here as if I was back home. I have also got use to the idea of Christmas in a tropical environment. You can adapt if you want to.
12/25/2009 Merry Christmas!! We are having wonderful weather here, with light winds. Today we motored from Red Hook across the sound to St. John and made a stop at Trunk Bay for some beach walking and snorkeling. We are being real laid back with no time tables at all. I was surprised at the number of people on the beach today, so we are not the only ones enjoying a different style of Christmas.
Later that day we motored down to Francis Bay. Harold had stayed at the campground in Maho Bay. This is right next to Francis Bay. We were told that the cafeteria puts on a good dinner for Christmas so we decided to check into it.
That night we went for a delicious dinner that included roasted turkey, fresh made mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, baked ham, sweet yams, fresh vegetables, salad, rolls and butter. My plate was filled and my stomach was filled when the plate was empty, just like being at home. The food was very good and there were a lot of campers there this week. The dining hall was full.
Side note – another mile stone has just been hit. I have now typed over 100,000 words into this blog.
12/26/2009 Today we came up with the brilliant idea of “let’s go for a hike”. Most of St. John is a US National Park. There are many hiking trails through the forests of the island. On a map at the campground there is a trail drawn in that is not shown on the typical public maps from the park. We were told that this trail is not maintained. It would jump us to another trail I had wanted to do when I was here last Spring. It would allow us to hike across the island from the north side to the south side into Reef Bay.
We took off a little later in the morning and Harold told me with total confidence that we would find a bar at the far end and we would enjoy a cold beer when we arrived. Just in case I packed a couple liters of water with us along with our cameras into my pack.
The unmarked trail was a hike straight up the side of the mountain to a road that runs through the island. We guess it was between 2-3 miles and all up hill. The road ran along the ridge. Just down from where the path came out to the road was the maintained trail that took us down to Reef Bay. This path was all downhill. It was a wide path and had stairs cut in. Now I understand the difference between a maintained trail and a non-maintained trail. There were several interesting items to see along the way including this tree that we took pictures in front of and an old plantation. We also saw a Key Deer. These are small deer that I have also seen on Pine Key in the Florida Keys. At the end of the trail was a steam run cane mill. It was out of commission, but it shows that sugar was still being processed here at the turn of the century at least. We made it all the way to the bay and there was no bar for a cold beer. We decided we would have a cold beer at the campground when we made it back.
We started back up the trail. Since it was all downhill coming, it was all uphill going back. We were drinking the water I brought, but my pack still felt quite heavy. I wasn’t sure what was causing that. We were hoofing it pretty good and were feeling the burn when we made it back to the road. There was a family sitting there that we passed on our way down. They asked if we had made it all the way to the bay. We indicated that we did and they told us that we were moving pretty quick as they had just made it back up. We were impressed by that and then knew why we were so tired as we were moving pretty fast. We then worked our way downhill on the non-maintained path and looking forward to the cold beer at the end of the path. When we made it to the campground, the tiki hut that served the beer was closed. We were meant to drink our beer on the boat. We figured we did between 10-12 miles that day with two climbs over the pass. Later on I was looking through my pack to figure out why it was so heavy. I had found a marine store annual catalog that I forgot I put in there when shopping the last time.
12/27/2009 I thought I would be feeling real sore today after yesterdays hike, but I actually felt the best I have in a long time. The exercise really helped. We hung around the bay for the morning and took the dinghy over to Cinnamon Bay for awhile. There was some surf there and we swam in the water.
Later that day we went west to Cruz Bay. This is the “large” population center on St. John. There are many bars and restaurants here. I know of a jazz group that plays every Sunday here. Harold I went there to have a couple of beers and listen to the great music. During one of the sets, the group let sit in three younger players. These guys were fantastic. It is probably some of the best music I have heard in the islands.
12/28/2009 Finally some winds. We sailed today over to Leinster Bay. I have been wanting to go there to do some snorkeling and check it out as an anchorage. It is in the National Park so we did need to pick up a mooring. The history of this bay was that this is where the ships would come into the collect the unprocessed sugar for shipment back to Europe.
I swam around Waterlemon Cay. I had been told about this place and that it was a good snorkeling area. I was a little disappointed as there wasn’t much in the way of fish, structure or coral, but there was a nice group of turtles swimming around.
12/29/2009 This morning I went for another snorkel along the shore line of the bay. The shore line is a little interesting. There is a drop off along the ledge and coral clumps through the area. The interesting thing for me was that I had an octopus swimming towards me. I was glad I had the camera with me this time. I was taking pictures of it when it suddenly stopped and started to flair its tentacles. I wasn’t sure what was going since I was looking through the camera viewer. When I looked up there was a barracuda sitting there watching the octopus and me. The octopus settles to the floor of the bay and I had a hard time seeing it. The barracuda decided to follow me around. I figure the barracuda was interested in the octopus, but was afraid I would attack him if he attacked the octopus.
After that little excursion we took No Rush back into Charlotte Amalie. Harold was getting off of the boat for the night to make sure he got a good night rest before he began flying all the next day to get home. We had a great time together and it was a real relaxing trip for the both of us.

02/04/2010 BVIs with the Titus, Cliff and Julie

12/03/2009 Cliff flew in today. This is his fourth visit on this adventure. Titus and Julie are flying tomorrow for a week and a half visit. While waiting tomorrow for them to fly in we catch up on our grocery shopping and get everything ready for some sailing. I hope we have better winds this week than last.
12/05/2009 Today we sailed over to Christmas Cove. This is a great way to start a sail trip down here. It is an easy sail and a great place to snorkel. I made my first night snorkel. Titus and I took our underwater flashlights and swam over to the rock island and looked for fish in the dark. I was kind of surprised at the lack of fish. I guess they must sleep also.
12/06/2009 From Christmas Cove we sailed over to Trunk Bay. There we snorkeled on the reef and hung out on the beach. After hanging out here we then motored to Francis Bay. I am sure this is starting to sound like a broken record as this is the same trip I keep making, but it is an enjoyable trip and beautiful places to see for everyone that comes down and visits.
12/07/2009 This morning we hiked over to the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins. This time there, there were two woman that answered questions for people visiting. They gave us a personal tour and provided a lot of insight into the history of the mill how the sugar was processed, or as in the case of St John, not fully processed. The final processing was done by the Danish in Europe as to control the product.
After the hike, we headed over to the BVIs. We went to West End to clear into customs and made a visit to Pusser’s as a welcome to the islands. That evening we stayed in Cane Garden Bay.
12/08/2009 Today we made an early start. We have a lot of sailing and snorkeling ahead of us. We sailed back around West End and headed for the Caves. After the Caves we stopped at The Indians. As always, we had a great time snorkeling these two sights. I am attaching a couple of videos that I shot while with the Allen’s last trip here.
After that we tacked our way up the Sir Francis Drake Channel we dropped the anchor at Marina Cay. When sailing in the BVIs, I typically leave a dock line attached at each bow. These are used when we are on mooring buoys for day use or over-nighting. Titus and I had just been talking about how the lines are short enough if they slip through the bow nets, they doo not get fouled in the engines. Famous last words. When we were trying to set the anchor the first time, I lost power in my port engine. I could get it started, but as soon as I put it in gear, the engine stalled. I learned that sound years ago when my daughter Sara and I were doing our trip down the Keys. We fouled the props with an anchor line as we were dragging and anchor off of Boot Key. The good news is I now have two engines and I was able to maneuver the boat into another area and get the anchor set.
12/09/2009 Today we headed off for one of Cliff’s favorite places. It was his single request when coming back down. It was to go back to The Baths. We sailed over early in the morning and we were able to get a mooring for the morning. I have been here several times and I see something new every time I come here. This time I took off with Cliff and went further north on the beach and we did some exploring in the rocks up there. There are some neat little hide-away places in the rocks there. It is quiet with a little water rolling in.
I came back to the boat early this morning. As we started swimming south towards the areas I am used to snorkeling and hiking, it started to rain. I swam back to the boat to close all of the hatches. Of course it wasn’t a little rain, but a nice squall. So much for trusting the weather.
We then sailed into North Sound of Virgin Gorda. We picked up a mooring at Saba Rock. I figured I would give them a try. For $25.00 you get the mooring for the night, up to 250 gallons of water and a bag of ice. What a perfect match for cruising with a group in the BVIs. All of the basics. I do try and time our trip to arrive here mid-week because both water and ice will be running low by now.
Cliff, Titus and Julie took off for Bitter End Yacht Club to walk around and they dropped me off at Saba Rock to get on-line and start happy hour. This may well be my favorite bar in the Caribbean now. After all of the benefits of getting a mooring here, the happy hour is $2.50 painkillers. You will not find a better deal in the BVIs. The barmaids are friendly and the bar is a really cool looking. It is all carved hard woods with dark stain. The three of them joined me in about an hour and we all had a great time hanging out at the bar.
12/10/2009 This morning we headed up the sound and anchored at Mosquito island. When I usually come into the sound, I take the cut between Virgin Gorda and Mosquito Island. It is about eight feet deep and on both sides of the cut there are good looking waves that break. It turns out that when Titus was starting out in his career he was sent to Mosquito Island to work on a power system there. Of the last two trips he has been with me we have come across islands that he had to visit to work on their power systems. The other was Stocking Island. This was across the bay from Georgetown, Exumas in The Bahamas. He and Julie went exploring to find out what is going on there. The island has since been bought from previous owners and the current owners are implementing a green resort.
We then sailed over to Guana Island. This is where Cliff and I have seen the large schools of silver fish. This time there was also a large school of Tarpon. Cliff estimated the school to be between 50-70 fish. That is a lot of Tarpon.
We then anchored just north of there for the night. It is a good anchorage that is protected and quiet.
12/11/2009 After lazing around this morning we took off for Sandy Cay. It was a nice light sail over. Titus and Julie took the dinghy in while Cliff and I swam in. There is a nice trail around the island with different flora and animals to see. Titus was in his element here. One thing I have learned about traveling with Titus and Cliff is that Titus is a land guy that loves to hike and Cliff is a fish. It is good to hang out with both of them to get the best of both worlds. Julie is more like me, she likes the water and the land also.
We then sailed over to Great Harbor on Jost van Dyke. I have been trying to get there on a Thursday or Friday night when Foxy’s is suppose to have live music. I hate to say it, but this is one of those days that just goes downhill. I always have a hard time trying to find good holding ground in this harbor. After dragging we finally got the hook to catch. It was tight in the harbor with all of the boats in there. We had dinner on the boat and then went ashore to have a couple of drinks and listen to the live music. I was also scoping out the area for New Years Eve. We walked the length of Main Street and I found a couple of different bars that I had not been to. The people seemed really nice. They were also very quiet with none or hardly any customers. We made our way back to Foxy’s. They had the biggest group of people. The band was playing and some dancing going on. I will have to say I was very disappointed with the music. In the BVIs, the reggae appears to me to be a cross between Bob Marley and rap. That was strike one with me. The next is you cannot get a drink for less than seven dollars there and most are eight. Strike two. The third strike is that the people running the bar really seemed to be bothered when you try to order a drink. To me, it just isn’t a friendly place. When I talk to locals and charter boats, most try to avoid Foxy’s anymore. I did find out that Foxy has sold off the business.
When we got back to the boat, the winds picked up. When I attached the dinghy to No Rush, we started to drift on the anchor. I am thankful it happened when we made it back to the boat. We reset the anchor and I also set the anchor alarm on the chart plotter. About 1:00am the alarm started to go off. We were drifting again. I got up and set the anchor one more time. This time I stayed on the deck for the night and we did not move again.
12/12/2009 We went back ashore in the morning to explore a little when it was light. I saw my first octopus. Right across from the dinghy dock on the shore there was a small octopus trying to catch a crab that was going ashore. The octopus looked like it was trying to go ashore also, but never left the water. We watched it for awhile and then we spooked the crab back intot he water. The crab now knew what it was like to be between a rock and a hard place. The crab decided to go for the hard space back in the water. As soon as the crab hit the water, the octopus reached out, grabbed it and pulled it into itself and we never saw the crab again.
We then found some coffee for Titus and Julie and looked around the t-shirt shops. We then cleared out of customs to head back to St Thomas.
When we went to lift the anchor, we found out why we did not move again. The anchor was stuck had in about fifty feet of water. There was no way for me to dive it and I was not going to let loose my anchor and 150’ of chain. Cliff and I went back ashore to talk with the local dive shop. Unfortunately they were closed. We then called a dive shop on Tortola and they sent over a diver to rescue our anchor. It took two dives as the anchor chain had wrapped amongst some large rocks. This cost us about $300. It was money well spent as the anchor and chain are worth more than $1,000, but not how you really want to spend money.
Now we were running late to get back to St Thomas. We need to clear in as Titus and Julie are leaving first thing in the morning. The winds were blowing hard. I had full main and jib out. We were seeing apparent winds of 30+ knots. This is the highest winds I have ever seen with full main. No Rush handled it well, but I did notice that we were sailing slower than expected for these winds. I figure it is because I was pinching to make sure I did not over power the boat. In the future I will reef (and I have and seen better speeds.)
We then made it into Charlotte Amalie at 4:00pm. I thought Customs and Immigration closed at 5:00pm. I was wrong, it was 4:30. We made it to the city office at 4:15, but the door was locked. We knocked and no one answered. I checked with the ferry desks and they indicated someone should be in there. While I was checking at the ferry desks, Cliff found a back way in. He found some people and they told him they were closed for the day. Cliff was not going to put up with that. It was 4:20. He demanded and finally talked with a supervisor that instructed the agents to help us. What a way to finish the trip. We did have a good dinner at The Green House.