(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?

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.

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.

 

 

 

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).

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.

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.

 

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 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.

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.)

 

 

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…

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

 

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!