It's almost the middle of the month already. I have not been doing a whole lot here, just taking it easy and enjoying day after day of sunny mid 80's weather. After Steve left, I stayed in Brewer's Bay and took care of a few boat projects and cleaned the boat to get ready for my next guest. My brother George from Memphis flew in on the 8th for a short stay and some sailing. Since he was getting in late and I was not comfortable leaving the dinghy on the beach after dark, I moved to Lindberg Bay before he arrived. Lindberg bay is on the other side of the airport and has several hotels on it so I felt there was less chance of a vandalism problem there. Lindberg bay is on the other side of the airport and has several hotels on it so I felt there was less chance of a vandalism problem there. It is also on the terminal side of the airport so it is easy to walk from the hotel to the beach. I had looked at it before and it seemed to be a nice anchorage but rarely had any boats in it. I checked with the Best Western, which looked like a really nice place, if it would be OK to leave my dinghy on the beach and they had no problem with it so I went ahead and moved. For the next week, there were six boats in the bay every night.

George had never sailed before so it was all new to him. I had planned on a short trip to Botany Bay the first day and then some snorkling to observe the beautiful sea bottom there. I was also hoping to get to Megan's Bay for a night also. The weather didn't cooperate and there were 10 to 13 foot swells on the north side of the island. Botany Bay and Megan's Bay are open to the north and are not good places to be when the swells are running from the north. The winds were pretty strong on Thursday also so we stayed in Lindberg Bay and got the shore based shopping taken care of. St Thomas is a duty free port so prices are pretty good on a lot of things and with the constant flow of cruise ships, there is plenty of competition for their dollars. We also walked through Crown Bay Marina and admired the numerous large, 100 ft up, yachts in the slips there. Then it was back to Bella Vita for a pleasant evening on deck enjoying the beautiful sunset.

Friday morning one of those large motoryachts showed up in Lindberg Bay, complete with a helicopter on the upper deck and two large dinghies behind, just as we were preparing to raise anchor and get under way. We were anchored close to the bouyed swimming area and it seemed to want to get in where we were so we proceeded to raise anchor and leave. We sailed, or actually motorsailed to Lameshur Bay on St John with the wind out of the east so we were going right into it all the way. It was close but we got there in time to get a mooring in Great Lameshur Bay. This is in the Virgin Islands National Park where anchoring is not allowed and the flow of visitors is controlled by the number of moorings they install. We relaxed in the peaceful surrounding and did a little snorkling.

Sat. we headed back to St Thomas. We left late thinking that we would get to do a little night sailing under the almost full moon. The wind was still strong from the east so we ended up getting back to Lindberg Bay right at sunset. Not late enough to enjoy the night sailing but late enough to enter the anchorage in the darK. The large motoryacht was still there although the helicopter was gone and wwe anchored if front of it close to the swimming area again. THe wind was still strong and I drifted considerably after I stopped the engine and before I got the anchor down As a result I ended up much closer to the big guy than I wanted to be since I couldn't tell where his anchor was. I pulled the anchor up and moved further away and reset it. It was a good thing I did because they raised anchor early in the morning and I would have been right over it.

On Sun, we went to Brewer's Bay for a while. We were going to snorkle there but decided to walk over to the Riechold Center to check it out and by the time we got back, neither of us were up for snorkling so we relaxed for a while and then went back to Lindberg Bay so George could get to the airport easily.

Monday morning we decied to take the bus to Bordeaux on the west end of the island to see what it was like. We waited for the Bordeaux bus for over an hour and gave up and just wandered around Lindberg Bay for a while. George got off to the airport in the afternoon and I went back to Bella Vita to start my taxes.

Over the last week, we sailed and motored about 50 miles and ended up where we started.

Mar 22, 2006

Well, KY lost to UConn so there is no reason to say here in Lindberg Bay any longer. I was able to get CBS quite clearly here, along with a couple other stations, and I was watching the tournament. They didn't show the first KY game here, except for a brief update now and then but I was sure they would have the UConn game on. It didn't matter since the local CBS station went off the air Sat and didn't get back up until Monday morning so I missed that game also.

I started touching up a few spots on the topsides and deck this weekend. That looks like an ongoing job although there is certainly a lot less that the first time. I think the paint film was not thick enough when it was painted last and it was somewhat porous. I am putting on a much thicker coating, partly since I am brushing instead of spraying, and it seems to be better. It may not look quite as smooth but it sure looks better than the rust spots. The spots I started have been primed so I can finish that up anywhere.

I decided to go to Culabra for a while. That is in what is called the Spanish Virgin Islands but is part of Puerto Rico. I came over yesterday and had to motor the entire way. The forecast 10 knot winds never started. At least I got my batteries charged. They were down about 300 amp-hours, or about half capacity, and I don't like them to get lower than that.

The harbor entrance is long and narrow with a reef, the Dakity Reff, pretty much down the middle. There are boats anchored behind the reef and looks like like you could just sail over and anchor there but the water gets down to about zero depth. They have it very well marked with bouys and two ranges so it's actually very easy to enter. There is a small island right in the middle of the harbor and the primary anchorage is behind that island. I got here about 6:00 last night and anchored in the Dewey harbor planning to clear customs this morning. When coming from the US Virgin Islands you have to clear customs even though you don't when going to the USVI from PR. Since St Thomas is a duty free island, US Customs require that you clear in to PR. Van Sant's book said to go to the airport so I got up early this morning, ate breakfast, installed the dinghy motor and went ashore. After finding what looked like an acceptable place to dock the dinghy, I walked to the airport. It was slightly after 8:00 but customs was not open yet. I waited for a while and they opened about 8:30. The guy was surprised that I was there and said that all I had to do was call. In about 3 minutes I was done and he never even asked what I bought in St Thomas.

Dewey is an interesting little town. It seems to be a lot more modern than Salinas and is developing quickly. As you come into the harbor, you pass a large development of apartments or condos. They look new and I didn't see any lights there last night so they may not be occupied yet. They look nice and have a great view of the harbor and the Dakity reef. I guess the residents can sit there and watch the boats go aground on the reef. The downtown area has lots of little shops and resturants and seems to have a lot of new government type buildings like schools. There are still some of the older buildings that look like they are ready to fall down but it is generally pretty nice.

Mar 26, 2006

I spent one night in Dewey and then headed for Culebrita. Culebrita is a small island just north of Culebra that is completly undeveloped except for a lighthouse on top of one the two large hills. In between the two hills is a large, 1000 ft diameter?, basin of beautifully clear water with a sand bottom. Along each side and out the entrance is a large reef. Unfortunately, the bay is open to the north and there was a large swell running from the north so snorkling was at best very difficult. There is also at least one trail laid out on the island but I wasn't dressed properly for the narrow bushy trail. The one part of the island I did make it to is what is called the "Jacuzzis." This is a rock lined area when waves are channeled into a big "tub" and then slowly flow on through. The rocks break the force of the waves but allow enough through that there is still some turbulence.

After the one night there I headed for Bahia Almodovar. This is another very unique harbor. It is also a small harbor but it is seperated almost entirely from the sea by a reef. To get in you have to enter a neighboring harbor, Puerto Manglar, and then go through a very narrow, 10 ft deep, channel. For some reason, an older couple (yep, even older than me!) decided to anchor right in the middle of the channel. And then, just as I got to where they were anchored, a large power boat got there on the way out. It was a bit tight but it all worked out. Once thru the channel ou are in a small harbor completely open to the wind but with all waves stopped. The park service has installed moorings which allow you to get closer to the reef than you could safely get anchoring. I took a mooring for about the 5th time since I left MD. This was the first time I tried to pickup a mooring singlehanded. When Steve was here we picked up a mooring in the Bight on Norman Island and I missed it twice! This time it went perfectly and must have looked like I had been doing it for years. I snorkled on the reef but found little there of interest. It seemed to be just a very shallow sandy area with little coral. Maybe it was just where I tried.

One night there and I headed back to St Thomas. I had been out of email contact for a few days and was having withdrawl so I went back to Brewers Bay. I walked up to UVI when I got back and caught up on my email.

Today, I went to St John again. I had forgotten about it but the Rolex Regatta was taking pace this weekend. The races today seemed to be taking place in the Pillsbury Channel between St Thomas and St John. As I approached, the whoel fleet seemed to decied to head out and see what I was doing there. I was soon surronded by all kinds of race boats from all over the East Coast and the Caribbean. It was just like race day on Cave Run. They were just warming up and checking out the wind and no races ahd actually started yet. No close calls but I sure was glad to get past them.

When George and I stopped in Lameshur Bay I had talked to a couple of people who volunteer there and I was interested in some more information. I had talked to the VIERS (Virgin Island Environmental Resource Station) administrator and he suggested that I stop and see the operation to see if I was still interested. I got there at lunch time and even though I had eaten on the boat, at least I got to see how they eat. I also had the oppurtunity to hear an extremely interesting presentation on the history of the Virgin Islands National Park given by a volunteer at the park. It was a very nice day and I think I would enjoy working there for a while and could make a significant contribution. I'll certainly keep it in mind if I get back this way next winter. Now I am back in Lindberg Bay on St Thomas.