The Trip: March 2013

Hi everyone,

After visiting Culebrita, we left for St. Thomas. It wasn’t a long trip, and we arrived early. We anchored in a bay right next to the airport on St. Thomas, and we had happy hour while watching planes land and take off. The next day we moved to the bay on the other side of the airport, and the day after that we moved again to Charlotte Amalie. We explored Charlotte Amalie for the day, marveling at the five cruise ships that the harbor managed to fit in as well as exploring all the little shops on the waterfront. We even had dinner, at a place called the Fat Turtle. We sat on bar seats, overlooking the water. The restaurant actually hangs over the edge of the water a little bit, and we could see tarpon and colorful reef fish swimming in lazy circles below us. The couple next to us at the bar were throwing bits of chicken wing to the fish, who were happily gobbling them up. We ordered wings as well, and Julia and I split a pineapple pizza for dinner. As we were finishing up, one of the other diners came up to us and said that he had overheard that we were on a boat out traveling for a year. We talked, and he said that he had a fifty dollar gift card that he hadn’t used up at dinner, and he asked if we wanted it credited to our account. So, Julia and I had a chocolate peanut butter brownie dessert courtesy of a guy who we hadn’t even met before. Well, all I can say is that people are nice in the islands. To cap the eventful dinner off, we also found out that the family eating at the table behind us was from Guilford. It’s a small world…

Our first impression of St. Thomas.

Dad holding up his catch.

A seaplane landing next to us as we move to Charlotte Amalie.

Dad, Julia, and I as we walk around Charlotte Amalie.

The next day we moved back to the bay next to the airport, because we had a visitor. Dad’s best friend Bruce had arranged to fly in for the week to visit us. He arrived with a smile, only a few days after Nemo blanketed the northeast with snow. Needless to say, he was happy to be here. We moved back to Charlotte Amalie for the night, and the next day we moved on once again. We stopped around lunch time in Trunk bay and went snorkeling along a popular reef. After an hour of exploring the colorful corals and sea fans, we set sail once again to a new anchorage. Our neighbors Pete and Teri have a house on the water in St. John, and we went to visit them. Their house is situated on a hill just above a beach, and their deck is a magnet for hummingbirds. Capturing hummingbirds in flight is hard with a camera, but Julia got a few good shots. We visited Pete and Teri for a little while, but they were going out to dinner that night so we had to leave early. The next day we moved again to Virgin Gorda. Virgin Gorda is in the British Virgin Islands, so we had to check in. Dad and Bruce left in the dinghy to do that, while the rest of us swam and waited for them to return. When the came back, we all swam and then the adults went to the Bitter End Yacht Club. The Bitter End is the resort/yacht club that Mom and Dad went to on their honeymoon, and it has been a few years since they have been there. The three adults went out to dinner while Julia and I did our school work. The next day we woke up early and set off for Anegada. Anegada is an island a few miles away from the rest of the Virgin Islands, and it is very sparsely inhabited. There is one small town, and on the rest of the island there is only a somewhat-paved road leading to different beach bars and houses. When we arrived we took a mooring because the anchorage had only moorings, and then we went ashore and explored the small town. The town was really only one small street, but we walked through the little shops and picked out a few necessities: tee-shirts and beer. We stopped off at one of the restaurants for a drink before we headed back to the boat, and we met a family who was on vacation for a week with their two kids. Julia and I swam with them while the adults chatted, but unfortunately we never saw them again. We went back to the boat just in time to swim and watch the sun go down.

Bruce arriving by dinghy.

Dad and Bruce cooking dinner.

Pete and Teri waving from their house.

At Pete and Teri’s house, a humming bird in mid-flight next to a bird feeder.

The Bitter End Yacht Club.

Julia and I about to go swimming in the beautiful waters of Virgin Gorda.

Julia jumping off the roof.

Saba Rock resort, a restaurant and resort located on its own little island.

Watching Virgin Gorda fade into the distance as we sail to Anegada.

Bruce reeling in a fish on our way to Anegada.

Finally moored in Anegada!

A view of the restaurants along the shore of Anegada.

Walking through town in Anegada.

An outdoor dining area in one of the restaurants in Anegada.

Julia sitting in a palm tree on Anegada.

The next day we rented a car and drove around the island. On the ocean side of Anegada, there are several incredible beaches that are virtually deserted, and we went to two of them. Anegada is protected by a reef, which forms a border for the light blue, shallower waters in close to the beach. It also makes for excellent snorkeling. We took our masks and fins with us, and on our second beach stop we snorkeled around the reef before having lunch at a beachside bar and grill. One of the unique things about this bar was that they let you burn your boat name or family name into a piece of wood, and nail it to their restaurant. Thus, the walls and ceilings were covered with pieces of drift wood bearing the names of people who had been there. As we ate lunch, we all took turns carving “Island Cat” into a piece of wood with a magnifying glass, and when we were done the people at the restaurant gave us a nail to mount it to the wall. If we ever come back, I’ll know right where to find it. After lounging on the beach for a few more hours, we packed up and headed over to go see the flamingos. Anegada is famous for its flocks of flamingos, which live in a shallow, large lake in the middle of Anegada. After much driving around, we saw them, but not from very close. We went back to the town, and had happy hour at Neptune’s Palace, a restaurant on the beach. After it had gotten dark, we went back to Island Cat and got ready to leave again.

The first beach we went to.

Standing on Cow Wreck beach.

The beach. You can see where the reef divides the deeper, darker blue water from the shallower, lighter blue water.

Island Cat 2013!

Mom, Julia, and I relaxing under the palm trees at the beach.

The sign for Loblolly beach, the second beach we went to.

Julia holding a King Helmut shell that she found when snorkeling.

Brain coral in the reef.

A lionfish. The fans on both sides of its body are actually venomous barbs.

Coral formations.

Having lunch at the Big Bamboo beach bar on Loblolly beach.

Signs of previous visitors adorn the bar at the Big Bamboo.

Julia carving Island Cat into a piece of drift wood as we wait for lunch.

A local cat sitting on some steps at the Big Bamboo.

Bruce relaxing on the beach.

Our finished carving of Island Cat.

Our mounted sign.

A cow standing next to the road as we drove by.

Julia and I relaxing in a hammock at Neptune’s Palace, where we went for happy hour.

The parents sitting around the bar at Neptune’s Palace.

After visiting Anegada, we sailed back to Virgin Gorda. It was time for Bruce to go home, and the next day we said goodbye as he took the ferry to the airport. After he left, we stayed in Virgin Gorda for another few days, during which time Julia and I did school work and cashed in one of our Christmas presents. We both love to sail small boats, so for Christmas we got a certificate good for a free boat rental. Julia and I have both been sailing 420’s since we were eight or nine years old, so we had decided to wait until we found a yacht club that had 420’s for rent. The Bitter End Yacht Club had one, and we took it out for an afternoon. It was a lot of fun, especially because there were some larger boats sailing around as well to make things more interesting. When we passed close to Island Cat, Dad took photos and videos of us sailing along, and there was also a professional photographer who was taking photos of everyone who rented a boat. Suffice to say, we now have many photos of us sailing. After a few hours sailing, we finished for the day and returned home tired but happy. However, our time in the Virgin Islands was coming to a close. The next day, we left on a four hundred mile journey that took us all the way to Grenada. That is a story for the next blog post, so for now I will leave you with pictures of our time in the Virgin Islands.

-Paul