Christiansted, St. Croix

December 20-23

I’m too afraid to ask Chris for clarification because it will bring back too many bad memories, but it was somewhere around this time that he realized that the watermaker was not working after all.  I’ve blocked the memories, because, at that point, I was ready to rip the watermaker out of the boat myself.

Where should I put all of you?

We ignored the watermaker situation long enough to analyze the weather.  We needed to decide where we would be spending Christmas.  We stocked up on food in St. Thomas and played the usual game of “Store the Food”, which is starting to get kinda old.  I don’t think I have mentioned it, but because of the sketchy storage and shipping conditions in the tropics, we must remove all food from its cardboard packaging before it is stored on the boat (which is a total hassle, since the boxes help to avoid crushing foods like crackers and other essentials, like Poptarts).  You see, cockroach eggs lie dormant in the glue that keeps cardboard boxes together, and in the moist, dark conditions on a boat, they can hatch and wreak mayhem (you are SO jealous right now, aren’t you?  admit it!).  Once you get bugs on a boat, it is really difficult to get rid of them because there are so many dark and moist places to hide.  Especially when you are a Buddhist and have vowed not to harm sentient beings.  So our goal is to avoid bugs all together (Spoiler Alert: bugs are not avoided all together in the very near future.)

Porter reads to Reese

We decided that the weather was perfect for getting to St. Croix, so we headed for Christiansted on a clear and sunny day with following seas.  It would have been a perfect sail, but the night before, Chris worked on our (still smelly) head and discovered that the vent was clogged.  He cleared it and we all breathed a (tentative) sigh of relief.  But the vent was exposed during our sail and it was still clearing itself the whole 5 hours over.  The smell was wafting right into the cockpit.  You have NO IDEA how bad it was,  unless you live on a boat, which means you are just nodding your head in empathy right now.

this boat name amused me as we searched for a better spot to anchor

We found the free moorings in the outer harbor of Christiansted, but it was really rolly.  Sometimes (like 99% of the time), the swell (waves) from the ocean makes its way into a harbor.  A boat at anchor points in the direction from which the wind is coming.  If the swell hits the SIDE of the boat, it makes the boat roll slowly from side to side to side to side to side to side, until you want to scream your head off if that d@%$$ pencil rolls back and forth across the table one more time.  Apparently Chris saw the look on my face as I held on to the grabrails just to walk through the main saloon.

Bob and Christine, from s/v Virginia Dare

So we dinghied in to the inner harbor and found our Salty Dawg friends on s/v Virginia Dare.  They showed us the perfect place to anchor, right next to them, and assured us that the depth was adequate for our boat.  We were so happy to get a calmer spot to keep the boat.  Plus, the kids thought it was really cool to be anchored near the sea plane dock.  We were entertained all day long (starting at 0640…) by the planes taking off and landing.  I walked to town and found a really cool grocery store.  I made friends with the butcher there and scored us a brisket that he had made that day.  It was amazing (good meat is getting harder and harder to come by down here.)

When you enter the harbor at Christiansted, you are greeted by the bright and saturated colors of the Danish fort and the surrounding Danish-style architecture.  It felt a little like sailing into Norway, except there weren’t any fjords…We took a walk through town to look at the historic sights, including the fort, the government building, the historic church, and the old scale house, where they used to weigh the imports and exports to determine the tax to levy.  I loved taking pictures here.  The juxtaposition of the bright colors with the crumbling walls and the evidence of today’s somewhat challenged society was almost more than my aesthetic mind could handle!

Reese checks out the soldier’s quarters at the fort.

Porter poses in the guard house. Only the Scandinavians are this cute about security.

Bryson peeks out of a tiny window in the fort.

Reese sleeps through Dinghy-Gate.

That night, we got a late call on the VHF from our friend’s Bob and Christine, on s/v Virginia Dare.  Their dinghy was gone!  Chris jumped in our dinghy with his flashlight and his (big) knife and picked up Bob to see if they could figure out what happened.  Chris was ready to wrest the dinghy from thieves, but the dinghy had simply come undone from their cleat.  It had floated off to the beach, so they just needed to pick it up and bring it back.  While Bob and Christine were happy and thankful for our help, I could tell that Chris was slightly disappointed…

The next morning, Chris and Bryson went for a dive with the local dive shop.  In the afternoon, we went exploring again, searching for the bakery and a local street fair.  We discovered a delightful little shop with local and Caribbean artwork and handicrafts.  The owner was really lovely and we purchased some gifts to take home with us.  The bakery, however, was a bust.  It’s pretty hard to impress a bunch of New Jerseyans and one slightly diva-like New Yorker with baked goods.  When we got back to the boat, Bob and Christine surprised us by showing up with some fresh mahi-mahi they had just scored at the dock.  We split it with them and Chris made a great dinner.

Chris and I getting ready to order our meal.

Reese had been designing her own restaurant for days, so we all sat down and played restaurant.  She made menus and pretended to deliver the food.  We had a great time together and I thought about how difficult something like this would be if we were home and busy with all the work that seems to accompany this time of year.

Owning a restaurant is tough. Reese suddenly realizes some snafu in her business plan.

waiting for the parade to come by

We had a quick clean-up so that we could head over to the Christmas parade.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but we meandered through town and came upon a bunch of locals lining the road.  They instructed us on where to stand and we were happy to see that the parade was on its way toward us!  We enjoyed watching the cars go by with the “Princess” and her “Court”, the majorettes, and the marching band.

At the end of the parade was a big truck with the sides cut out.  A full-on hip-hop band was in the truck.  The speakers were gigantic and the parade goers start walking behind the truck after the parade follows.  It’s called “jump up” and it’s kind of like a half-march, half-dance.  We would find out in the weeks to come that this is a typical part of a parade sown here (what I wouldn’t give to see one of these bands playing calypso, shaking the streets of Ho-Ho-Kus on Memorial Day).  We “jumped up” behind the truck for awhile, but then we ran ahead so that we could listen to the marching band again.  I love drums, and it was loud and good, so we just stayed with them till the parade reached the ball field.

Johnny Cakes (not funnel cake, but hey, it’s still fried dough!)

At the field, there was a carnival set up and a live band.  We had some carnival food, St. Croix style.  No funnel cake for Erica, but we enjoyed the johnny cake (definitely not the same).  The rides were expensive and the games were too difficult for the kids, so we shouted over the loud music to Bob and Christine for awhile and then we all walked back to the marina.

Porter visits the first aid truck after falling and scraping his arm on the sidewalk.

Christine and I dancing at the Christmas carnival

making gingerbread houses

In the meantime, we were busy getting ready for Christmas!  The boat was decorated, the presents were ready, and we spent several afternoons listening to holiday music and decorating gingerbread houses.  Chris spent hours rewriting “Twas the Night Before Christmas” with a sailing twist.  We love our holiday traditions, but we enjoyed adjusting some of them to celebrate our year of adventure.  The one piece we couldn’t quite accept was not having a tree.  I had been on a hunt for a table-top tree, but had had no luck at all.  We finally hung some ornaments from the grabrails in the cabin and tried to accept it.

We managed to decorate with lights, ornaments, and lots of presents from the grandparents at home.

The Salty Dawg gang reunited in St. Croix

We emailed Anything Goes, who were back in St. John, and told them how much fun we were having in St. Croix.  They agreed to take the trip over to check it out.  The timing was perfect-they would be here for Christmas!  It was a Salty Dawg reunion when Anything Goes, Flight Plan, and Goldilocks arrived in Christiansted, joining us and Virginia Dare.  The kids were very excited to play again and Chris and I were happy to have some adult time with Wendy and Craig.

Chris can’t even watch.

Unfortunately, Chris hurt his toe by SMASHING it into the jib lead (a metal piece on the side deck that the jib sheet (rope) runs through.  Kind of like a pulley.)  He was in so much pain that he could barely let us clean it out.  Craig had to come over with his medical supplies to help clean it up and wrap it.  It seems that feet are the weak link on a boat.

bringing home our tree!

On the morning of Christmas Eve, I thought about what we would be doing if we were at home.  Traditionally, the kids and I head over to DialAmerica, where Chris works, for the Christmas Eve party.  We have a great time seeing all our DialAmerica friends and the kids get to play with their cousins.  We take our annual picture with Santa and then we head home to cook Christmas Eve dinner.  This year, we woke up in St. Croix and I ran to the market to pick up the shrimp I ordered for Christmas Day.  On the way back, I stopped at a hardware store in a last ditch effort to find a small Christmas tree.  Who’s Your Daddy??!!!  I found the perfect sized tree for Patronus and carried it back to the boat with our Christmas shrimp.  I even got through to my friend Christina on the way back, wishing her and her family a special holiday.

When I got back to the boat, it was time to leave Christiansted harbor and head for our special holiday treat: a few days at a marina!  Meanwhile, here are a few bonus pics from this quaint little town….

the large scales set in the ground to weigh imports and exports for taxation

At the government house, which was decorated for the holidays.

beautiful danish architecture

love this name

You could ask “why did the chicken cross the road” jokes all day long here.

It’s almost Christmas!!!!

December 17-19

St. Thomas, USVI

The next morning was a rough one.  The kids were fighting, we were tired, and we were leaving for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in rolly seas.  I made blueberry muffins on the way but that wasn’t such a bright idea, because being down below on a rough trip, with the oven heating our spacious 150 square feet of living space to “sauna” level, is a recipe for, no, not blueberry muffins, but disaster.  We made it through, and arrived at Yacht Haven Grand without much further ado.

I laughed when we pulled into the marina.  Our 47-foot sailboat was almost invisible next to the megayachts that lined the docks.  We were told to pull into a spot next to the gas dock house.  I kid you not, no one even glanced our way the entire time we were there.  I don’t think anyone noticed our boat was even there.  We felt like Alice in Wonderland, because our boat had seemed so big just 20 minutes ago!  Now we were in this alternate universe where our boat could fit on the swim platform of one of these boats!

Cruiseships, megayachts, and….. a Beneteau 473. Swaaaager.

We tried to look cool as we unloaded bags of dirty laundry and garbage and hauled them down the dock (these yachts all have their own laundry rooms.  And their own laundry staff).  We couldn’t hide our excitement at getting to take a shower on land, though.  We annoyed the gas dock attendant by requesting diesel.  We filled up our one 54-gallon tank with 36 gallons of diesel.  The dock guy didn’t look like he would get off his stool for less than 1000 gallons.  The boat next to us holds 50,000 gallons of diesel.  Fifty.  Thousand.  Gallons.  JUST the diesel fuel on the boat next to us was worth more than our entire boat and everything on it.

KMart is stocked and ready for Christmas shoppers…

Just to feel super, extra cool, we snuck off to Kmart to do our Christmas shopping for the kids.  Kmart is the nicest store here and “almost” resembled a Kmart at home.  It certainly wasn’t as “nice” and didn’t have as much, but we made due and reminded ourselves that being together was our gift to our children this year.

Phoenix 2, our next door neighbor. That’s just how we roll….

Back at the marina, we were surrounded by yachts of legendary status.  I quickly got out my camera and started taking pictures up and down the dock.  My dad is a big fan of the Power and Motoryacht Magazine Top 100, which lists the longest 100 yachts in the world each year.  Lo and behold, number 38 was our next door neighbor!  Phoenix² is 286 feet long and debuted on the list last year.  It is a beautifully executed yacht and we had the opportunity to talk to one of the crew members on the dock.  No, even I couldn’t score us a tour.  The crew member we spoke to doesn’t even know the name of the owner of the yacht!  There are 30 people on the crew when the 2 helicopter pilots are aboard, and this does not include the personal chef that accompanies the owner (there are 2 chefs aboard just for the crew).  There are 15 staterooms for crew members and each room has two beds.  Each bed has a television at the end of it that gets every television station, 5,000 movies, and just about every song ever recorded.  At this point, I was starting to wonder if they had a need for a deck swab.

Ring the bell! Notice the swim platform. Patronus can fit ON IT.

The gangplank for Phoenix² had to be 25 feet long and was lit up with miles of rope lighting.  Next to the gangplank was something that looked like a microphone stand.  It had a little box at the top with a button.  Can you guess???  It is the doorbell!  “Ring for Service” and the bell will sound somewhere within the yacht, probably to a dedicated doorman or something!

The kids and I spent some time at the marina’s pool.  They loved the waterfall and I loved the peace and quiet with my snacks, my Coke, and my magazines.

Two trainers leading workout classes for the crew!

The next morning, we woke at 0730 and saw that the crew was having separate men’s and women’s workout sessions.  A trainer was leading calisthenics for the women on the top deck while the men were doing sit-ups on the lower deck.  Yes, seriously.  Even the crews of the other megayachts were standing on their decks and staring.  Of course, that might be because of the scantily-clad swedish hotties.  Apparently, the main requirement for being a yacht crew is being drop-dead gorgeous, preferably with an exotic accent.

The kids sitting on the dockline of Nirvana, another megayacht.

The reason we had come to St. Thomas was to meet our friends Eric and Ilene and their two boys Max and Jack.  If you have been following along with our journey, you might remember that we visited the Weintraubs in Port Washington, on “Day One” of our year-long adventure!  How wonderful that we get to see them again as we approach the half-way mark.  The Weintraubs were in town for one day while on a cruise.  Being the megayacht that we are, we happened to be docked right next to the cruise ship terminal, so they just strolled over and we took them for a lovely sail over to Christmas Cove.

Eric, enjoying the picture-perfect daysail to Christmas Cove.

The Weintraubs are also sailors and we enjoyed talking about our journey with them on the way over.  Ilene’s first question for me was, “Do your kids ever fight?”  I know, I know.  I realize that my rose-colored depiction of our trip might mislead readers to think that its all rainbows and unicorns down here in the Caribbean.  Our days are so full and our experiences have been so vast, that when I sit down to write, I am forced to leave out many aspects of our day-to-day life.  I have a blog post planned to discuss “Parenting on a Boat”, but suffice it to say that our kids are still kids.  They bicker with one another from time to time.  They say they’re bored (can you imagine my reaction to that one?).  They forget their manners.  And they have to be reminded 400 times to (insert anything here that has to do with personal hygiene, schoolwork, or cleaning their rooms). We have, however, seen significant change and growth in all three of them, and I am interested in delving into that in a separate post.

The kids enjoyed jumping off the halyard, snorkeling, and playing all over the boat.  We had an al fresco lunch and found ourselves out of time much too soon.  On the way back to Charlotte Amalie, Reese showed the kids how to make her famous hors d’oeuvres and we all daintily scarfed them down.  We bid the Weintraubs adieu as they made their way back to the cruiseship before it blew its horn.

College buddies: Eric and Chris

Beautiful Ilene takes a dip

Eric blows the conch like a pro. I guessed his former trombone-player embouchure.

Max and Jack quickly learn how to climb the boom.

The BIGGEST puffer fish we have ever seen, swimming right under out boat.

Lunch is served: everyone loved the fried plantains

Reese demonstrates how to swing off the halyard

Eric is fearless!

We are mesmerized by the reflection of Patronus in the windows of this cruiseship. Can you see us?

Kisses to all of you!

The megayachts run their multiple generators 24/7, even when plugged into shore power. Gee. I wonder why?

(Note: Keep in mind that these adventures happened back in December!  We are now in Grenada)

Beautiful St. John

December 15-17

St. John, USVI

“I never found naval men at a loss.  Tell them to do anything that is not impossible and depend upon, it, they will do it.” –Duke of Wellington, British General

Remember long ago, when we left North Carolina on November 4^th?  We had received the parts for our much-anticipated watermaker just hours before we left the US.  It is over a month later, and Chris is still trying to find plumbing parts to install the watermaker as well as trying to figure out where and how to install the many different components on our already jam-packed boat.  Let’s just say it’s been a tension-filled month.  But Chris is a true “naval man” as well as a natural engineer and mechanic.  So, by jove, he is going to get this thing installed.  (Not how I would put it if this wasn’t a family-friendly website.) The day he makes his first cup of water will be a jolly one on Patronus for sure.  In the meantime, let’s catch up, shall we?

Reese catches up with Kelli Kuenzel on our way to St. John.

We left the British Virgin Islands with the feeling that we had truly experienced what she had to offer.  There are plenty of beaches and beach bars yet to discover, however, so we will be back in April for Round 2.  In the meantime, we decided to explore the US Virgin Islands for various reasons.  First, we went to St. John because we had enjoyed our time there in 1999 on our honeymoon.  Second, we bopped over to St. Thomas in order to visit with our friends Eric and Ilene, who were there for a day on their Caribbean cruise.  And third, we spent 10 days on St. Croix, where we celebrated Christmas: Salty Dawg style.

St. John was just as beautiful as we left it back in 1999.  We liked the bustle of Cruz Bay, where we anchored temporarily to check in.  Then, after poring over our cruising guide for the best snorkeling spots, we sailed to Trunk Bay, the beach that is famous for being on the list of the best beaches in the world.  One of its features is an underwater snorkeling trail, with signs that point to interesting coral and show pictures of the fish you are likely to see.  We thought that this spot might be perfect to introduce Porter to snorkeling.  He was reluctant at first, but he really enjoyed it once he realized that he really could breathe underwater with the snorkel.  He loved discovering the whole new world that lies beneath the surface of the water.

conwayhikers.not This is how we look when we are hiking. At least you can’t hear Reese whining from all the way back there! Someone point the way to the water, please??!

After our snorkel, we sailed over to Francis Bay and got a park mooring for the night.  We took a rather long and steep hike to the Annaberg Sugar plantation, but it was worth the trip.  This plantation is in ruins, but has wonderful signs to show you what you are looking at and describe what life was like on the island during that time.  It was deeply sobering for me to see the remains of the slave quarters here.  Here was a stone structure that housed people who were ripped from their homes and forced into an unimaginable life.  I could feel the remains of the heartache and tears of those walls in my heart.  The feeling was similar to the horrific, gut-wrenching sickness I felt when visiting a concentration camp outside Berlin.

the long and winding road to the plantation, where i enjoyed a great jog

remains of the windmill, which powered the sugar plantation

remains of the slave quarters

Chris and the kids reading about plantation life long ago

the giant cauldron where the sugar was boiled down to molasses

too many pictures? it was just so beautiful and full of history here…

Salty Dawgs taking our garbage in for us!

In the evening, we had fellow Salty Dawgs, s/v Evenstar, over for drinks.  It was great to catch up with BJ and Kathy and their children.  The next day, we enjoyed a quiet morning listening to Christmas music and having a stuffed animal tea party.  Another group of Salty Dawgs came by in their dinghy to say hello and they offered to take our garbage in to shore with theirs (for those who aren’t cruising, this is the maritime gift equivalent of getting a brand new Lexus in your driveway with a big red bow on Christmas morning).

pretty views from the boat

We got underway again and I started hanging our Christmas lights in the cockpit.  These solar-powered twinkle lights are a gift from Chris’ mom.  We shamelessly opened them early so we could enjoy them all season.  We enjoyed yet another gorgeous day as we continued clockwise around St. John and arrived at delightful Coral Bay.

We pass the Annaberg Plantation from the water this time. Can you imagine it working in the 18th century?

What a cute little town!  Despite the lack of a dinghy dock right in town, we enjoyed walking the one block and visiting the tiny grocery store for some provisions.  We enjoyed live music at the restaurant downstairs as we came and went.  The kids and I tooled around the harbor and discovered some cool boats, including this one named “For Pete’s Sake” with a hailing port of “The Planet Earth”.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we all hailed from there???

We also found a BAR located right in the middle of the harbor.  It was a houseboat/barge anchored in place with open sides to allow you to dinghy up and tie up for a drink.  You know, in case you get thirsty on the 30 second ride back to your boat from shore.  We yelled hi to the bartender and he waved back cheerfully.

Um. I think we found the dinghy dock… Everyone’s at Skinny Legs!

First football since October 28th. Happy Chris!

Off we went on a mission to find Skinny Legs, the infamous cruiser bar/restaurant.  We found it, and noticed the 6 television sets blaring every football game playing that day.  We quickly went back to the boat and told Chris that we found a great place for dinner.  Chris was so happy to watch football that night and hang out with the other cruisers we met there.  I was happy to have a meal we didn’t have to cook on the boat.  It was also fun to browse the attached gift shop.

The kids make friends with some locals outside the bar, who sell lobster and coconuts from their pickup. They were all BFFs by the end of the night. That is one BIG lobster!

Boat Hook Overboard drill….

The next stop was Lameshur Bay, a quiet and secluded harbor on the south shore of St. John.  This is one of those places that those on land just can’t easily get to, so we had it completely to ourselves.  As we struggled to pick up the mooring, Bryson dropped the boat hook in the water.  I jumped in and rescued it, to the amusement of the crew.  Later, I took a more leisurely swim.  I ended up gliding along with a graceful, content sea turtle for quite awhile and came back to the boat as if I had just been at a 3 day yoga retreat.

Porter makes airport ground controller batons and guides us in for a safe landing

We saw this sight for the better part of four weeks as Chris installed a watermaker that didn’t come with the right parts.

Unfortunately, Chris spends the entire day struggling with the watermaker installation.  It wasn’t a pretty sight and the kids had quite a vocabulary lesson that day…

“He worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay.” –Guess which movie this is from?  Hint: we watch it around the clock on Christmas Day…

The kids tried to help, but I mostly tried to stay out of the way.  Reese surprised Chris by making the hors d’oeuvres that are on the  Triscuits box: pears and cheddar cheese over the Triscuit. (Triscuits are Chris’ favorite food.)

Reese helps Chris with the watermaker installation.

And then cheers him up by making hors d’oeuvres.

By jove….

At 9:30pm, right before Chris pitches the watermaker and its 9,000 parts overboard onto the bottom of Lameshur Bay, he got it working!  Chris held up the first glass of crystal clear fresh water like he had just invented the darn stuff.  He was pretty stinking proud of himself, as he should be.  This project was almost his Waterloo, but he prevailed.  Two boat shows, 300 phone calls to the manufacturer, 400 visits to every hardware, plumbing, and marine store from North Carolina to St. John, hours of installation, deinstallation, internet troubleshooting, rewiring, re-everything-ing, and the thing actually made a cup of water.  I think Original Water was easier to make…

watermaker aftermath…

Some more fun shots from our time in St. John…

A curious iguana on our hike to Annaberg Plantation.  Actually, he seemed a little pissed off..

Bryson gets ready to anchor

Porter, in Chris’ t-shirt, changes us over to a different water tank

Reese and Daddy snorkeling together.

Reesie-Teesie on the bow

Reese kayaking in our secluded harbor

Porter looks at the sugar plantation with the “long eyes”

a colorful street in Coral Bay

I should have bought this t-shirt when I had the chance! It’s still making me crack up.

one more of Reese at her lookout point on the bow

We had a lovely time in St. John as well as several moments of tension with the watermaker.  The kids responded as kids do, by getting out of sorts themselves.  You will notice that I do not include photos of those precious times.  That’s because I’m too busy yelling at them to take pictures!

Thank you, St. John!