TUESDAY
38 NM TRAVELED
ANCHORED IN ST JOHN AT CANEEL BAY
SUNRISE: 6:47 AM IN CULEBRA
SUNSET: 6: 22 PM IN ST. JOHN
After dropping the hook on the southeast shore of Isla Culebrita, we jumped into the con- and sipped over to Tortuga Beach for a walk around and some snorkeling. What an inviting cove it proved to be. With our heads in the water we found an eel peaking out of a coral head, a squid gliding by, several species of fish, spiny sea urchins, a pair of long-lost sunglasses and a fork. We thoroughly enjoyed our short stay here and vowed to spend more time on the return leg of our journey.
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| TORTUGA BEACH ON ISLA CULEBRITA |
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| SUN, SAND AND SMILEY FACES |
Expecting the arrival of some gusty weather beginning tonight and tomorrow, we wanted to traverse the passage to the US Virgin Islands in today’s calm waters. By 1:15 we were on the sheltered lee of St. Thomas Island, ogling at the stately houses perched upon the hillside. We waved at the queuing JetBlue planes as we passed the airport, made evasive actions to dodge a car ferry, watched the loading of freight at the shipping port and passengers at the cruise ship docks and made note of the colorful abodes along the shore before continuing onto lovely St. John.
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| THAT'S RIGHT, JETBLUE IS HERE IN ST. THOMAS |
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| THE CAR FERRY SHUTTLES VEHICLES ACROSS TO THE NEARBY ISLANDS |
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| AND ALWAYS, THE CRUISE SHIP PORT IS BUSY |
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| COLORFUL CARIBBEAN RESORT |
Here I am, expecting and anticipating the remembered calm and quiet of St. John’s lovely bays. Guess what guys! Not so much anymore! Ferries were zipping in and out between the islands. Boats were moored or anchored everywhere and day cruisers wending their way betwixt the stationary and moving vessels. We dropped the hook in Caneel Bay then tendered back to Cruz Bay to find out about the mooring systems. It is all part of the National Park System and you pay to help maintain the rather nice mooring system. If you are more than 60’, you must anchor outside the mooring fields and reef line but, thankfully, we can make use of their system and gladly pay up for the night. We find that they do have little floating pay stations in most of the mooring fields so you just paddle up to the platform, grab an envelope, fill out the information, stuff in the appropriate amount of $$ and deposit the envelope in the provided box. Works good for me!
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| LOVELY CANEEL BAY BEACH AND RESORT |
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| USVI NATIONAL PARKS HEADQUARTERS |
Surprise, surprise! We moored right by both M/Y Helga’s Car and S/V Meant To Be proving, once again, just what a small world the boating the boating community can be.
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