US Virgin Islands

US VIs looming towards us

We weren't going to bother going to the US VIs when we had already spent over 2 weeks in the British Virgin Islands, figuring it would be the same but with stars and stripes. However as we were passing them anyway, had the time and the cruising guide for that area we thought...why not? They lacked the beauty, atmosphere and salty sailor spirit found in the BVIs yet they still had a charm of their own that made it an enjoyable 6 day stay.

Only 8 miles from Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, we opted to sail to Cruz Bay, St John to clear in as we only had 2 options. We were dubious of the customs process as we had heard all non US visitors needed a VISA. Luckily for us, we had already obtained a B2 6 month visa before we started on this adventure and so with a visa stamped in both my British and Dylan's Canadian passport, we had no problems. It is worth noting though that without my VISA I would have been denied entry (although a visa waiver programme would have been fine rather than a B2) and Dylan would have been granted entry without his VISA being a Canadian.

Cruz Bay is a crowded anchorage with plenty of shallow parts to keep you on your toes. We puttered up and down the buoyed channel looking for a spot that looked decent enough to anchor the boat for a couple of hours whilst we cleared in. As we entered to the left of the channel, a catamaran was leaving so we hung back and nabbed their space, anchoring in 7ft on a lee shore. Not the most comfortable of spots to leave our pride and joy but we had little choice and there was no wind.

St John itself has an interesting charm and culture we haven't seen elsewhere yet. It is quite American in its aesthetics, chains of Burger King, Avis Car Rental and AT&T line the streets yet the vibe of the place is very peaceful, stress free. As we wandered about with a map courtesy of the Tourist Office, we tackled steep hills and gazed out over the colourful Caribbean architecture that has become familiar and loved.

A local lady directed us to the Dolphin Market which is apparently where the locals go to stock up their cupboards. We found it cheaper than the BVIs and they had a great supply of fresh fruit and veg that we filled our basket with.

From research on the internet I had found it difficult locating any anchoring spots in the area so we figured a trip to the National Park Center was necessary to see if the reason was because you can't anchor or people just don't. The answer is the former, turns out that most of St John is an anchor free zone and boats need to pick up an overnight mooring which costs $15 /night to protect the coral reefs and sealife. The Center we visited gave us a wealth of information on where we can pick up buoys and where and what we can fish.

Hawksnest Bay

Cruz Bay isn't a pleasant anchorage to spend the night due to the close proximity to other boats, no view and a busy ferry service so we upped anchor as soon as we got back onboard and motored a mile around the coast to Hawksnest Bay. A huge lovely bay with 22 mooring balls yet we were the only people there until about 6pm when we were joined by one other boat. We took the dinghy to a reef at the entrance to the bay and went for a much needed snorkel to cool down. Here I saw the biggest puffa fish yet, initially I spotted it by the bright white '0' of its mouth whilst it was sucking in water near the bottom. Hanging out with its friends Angel Fish and Trunk Fish. The snorkelling at this location was the best we did in the US VI.s The variety was amazing, everywhere you looked there were bright good sized fish feeding off the sea moss suspended a couple of metres below the surface. Dylan sized up a lobbie for din dins but the lobbie won by breaking off one of his tentacles to get away. He marked the place lobbie lived and vowed to go back for round two the next day (he lost round 2 as well, blaming it on his tools...)

Francis Bay

Whilst in Francis Bay we took the dinghy ashore and went to check out the Annaberg ruins. These ruins are beautiful with loads of information to illustrate a day in the life of a sugar slave back in the 1800s – well worth a visit. Dylan the tour guide read out a leaflet whilst we toured the site. A very hot day we sweltered in the heat, sweating buckets and trying to stick to the shade whenever we could.

As I write this now in a laundry room with both the washers and driers going...no windows and no air con...that day seemed like the Arctic compared to this. Debating taking my dripping with sweat clothes off and washing them too...

Annaberg Ruins

Back to the Annaberg trip. We walked there from the beach where we left the dinghy and came across a cute looking donkey. Being a big fan of these animals, I lean in kinda close to take a photo of my new friend which is when he proceeds to lunge at me with his teeth. Scary stuff, I squeal and make a run for it whilst Dylan looks on amused. After that scene the donkey then proceeds to follow us, braying loudly to ensure we know he is there and showing us who is boss. We left the road for 15 mins or so to check out a ruined school and when we joined it again, the donkey was waiting for us! At this point I was sure he was after me, making Dylan walk on the side where the donkey was we picked up the pace and left him for dust. Naughty, sinister looking donkey.

Christmas Cove was our last anchorage in St Thomas and the best for adding to my shell collection. It made for great pickings as Neptune really made us work for our finds, a strong current was trying to sweep us out to sea as we dived up and down scouring the ocean floor. Unfortunately the really good shells we found (big helmets for example) were all very old and covered in barnacles. Exhausting the hunt, we reluctantly got back aboard Orion and set sail for Elephant Bay on St Thomas – the next island along in the US VI s.

Elephant Bay is about a mile dinghy ride away from Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas – the main hub in the US VI s. Not that far but boy is it choppy! Check out the video below...

Charlotte Amalie is home to one big road lined with duty free jewellers. As we walked down the strip we were accosted by multiple vendors enticing us into their stores even though we were dressed in salt stained shorts and holey tops. A cruise ship was in town and taxi drivers kept confusing us for cruise ship passengers. We decided that either the passengers on the ship were really budget or the taxi drivers were long sighted and could not see our tatty threads that we were adorned in.

Prior to coming into Charlotte Amalie we had agreed to sate our junk food craving and we found our solution towards the ferry dock in the form of the infamous Pizza Hut. We would never have dreamed of frequenting this 'restaurant' in London yet after 5 months of beans and rice and the odd chicken and fish dish, we practically ran through the doors. Greeted by the security guard (odd), we were seated and opted for the all you can stuff in your face buffet. We put away about 2 pizzas each as well as a mound of salad, shovelling it in with great gusto.

Well we certainly got our money's worth but not quite as much as the woman behind us who we think is still there judging by the amount of food on her table as we exited the place!