We Have Escaped!

Virgin Islands

After more than a month of boat work in the marina, we were anxious to get back to cruising, so with the repairs done we headed out to the Virgin Islands. With a couple weeks behind us and a few days at Peter Island, St. John and St. Thomas we felt like we were back on vacation.

We spent the first nights with the mega-sailing yachts in Great Harbor, Peter Island where Berkeley East was dwarfed by 100+ foot yachts, surrounded by great snorkeling areas with millions of small fish, near nice palm tree lined beaches.

In contrast, we moored for a few days in Salt Pond Bay, St. John, where we were the only boat and could moor less than 30 feet from a pristine white sand beach. The sunsets where spectacular and we had a chance to break out the SCUBA gear for the first time this year.

St. John is still one of our favorite Islands, with beautiful white sand beaches, great snorkeling, no cruse ships and only a few tourists. Our next stop, Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, was a real contrast, with monster cruise ships maneuvering in very tight spaces and tourists everywhere.

It’s a great place to pick up provisions and to access the US postal system for mailing the annual holiday update.

Our plan for the winter has changed again. Because of our extended time in the British Virgin Islands, we are getting a later start then planned, so circumnavigating the Caribbean isn’t really feasible. The distances and travel times are long and would limit the time we would have to stay and experience the local culture. So once again we have altered course. As cruisers say this plan is written in soft sand below the high water line, so it is subject to frequent changes.

The current plan is to head down the eastern Caribbean Island chain (Leeward’s and Windward’s) to Grenada fairly quickly, focusing on the few islands we did not see last year (Grenadines and Grenada) and then head west through the offshore Islands of Venezuela to the ABC’s (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). From the ABC’s we will sail north across the Caribbean Sea to The Dominican Republic, through the Mona Passage to the Bahamas’ and hopefully arrive back in Charleston before the start of hurricane season (June 1st).

We plan to leave Berkeley East in Hampton, VA (near Norfolk) for the summer and do some short trips around the Chesapeake Bay.

So with the plan firmly cast in soft wet sand we are heading off tomorrow to St. Martin.