Early in the morning, we picked up the anchor and headed to Lameshsur Bay.  The water is a stunningly beautiful turquois color.  There are nine mooring balls in the bay and we happened to arrive around 9a when two boats left.  So, we were able to secure a ball and settle in.  Unfortunately we are not getting a cell tower signal so we have very limited access to the internet. 

As soon as we arrived, I got to work washing the salt off of the windows, plastic sheeting around the navigation station, and the stainless steel.  Salt is incredibly corrosive and I believe that wiping it off as quickly as possible helps to protect whatever it is on.  It also makes everything look nice and shiny.

We decided to take the dinghy out to explore the bay a little.  We saw where the reef was for snorkeling.  Actually, there is snorkeling on both sides of the bay, but one is more protected from the wind than the other is.  We also tied up to the dinghy dock and walked around.  It appears that a marine lab is set up here, though abandoned.  We were able to walk to Little Lameshur Bay, which also looked nice.  Though, there were several people on the beach there, perhaps because that beach had some sand on it whereas the one where we are anchored is rocky.

We arrived at the beautiful Rendezvous Bay around 2p.   As we arrived, we saw snorkelers in the water, several privately anchored boats, and two boats rafted together playing extremely loud music. 

We have grown accustomed to locals being on the water on the weekends playing music extremely loudly.  So, we anchored at the back of the bay, away from the party.  However, within the next half an hour, at least a half a dozen other boats, filled with locals, rafted to the boats in front of us.  We could smell the marijuana and were sure that people were drinking.  We knew the music would die down as the party wrapped up.  However, the party was getting fairly big, quickly.  So, we decided to leave the bay to avoid any hassles later in the evening.  We headed east and ended up anchoring in Fish Bay, which was the last bay before the National Park started.  We were the only boat in the pretty bay.  Large houses overlooked the bay and where we were anchored, we were protected by a sandbar or reef.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing one way and the swells were coming in from the side.  We slept well, but the water did hit the boat from the side.

Yesterday we took the dinghy into town twice.  The first time we went in to get some last-minute groceries.  When walking along the boardwalk, a Caribbean jazz band was playing music on a pop-up stage while techs adjusted their sound equipment.  There was a Caribbean jazz festival scheduled for later that evening in Frederiksted.  So, around 5:45p we returned to the boardwalk to buy some rotis from a street vendor and listen to some music.  Rotis are curried ingredients, including potatoes, wrapped in a special tortilla.  I ordered a conch roti and Steve had a goat roti.  Both were good.  Unfortunately, the music hadn’t started playing when we finished.  Because of the dinghy ride, we didn’t want to stay on shore after dark.  So, we listened to the music from our boat, which was quite relaxing and enjoyable.

This morning we had a 5:30a wake-up call, as we set sail for St. John.  It was unfortunate that we were leaving today.  The sea had finally settled down and we could clearly see the bottom under our boat.  It would have been a good day to snorkel under the pier. 

The passage started out a little rougher than we like, with the boat bouncing up and down over the waves and water splashing on top of the front of our boat.  However, once we left the waters of St. Croix, the seas calmed slightly.  We are looking forward to the protected anchorages of St. John.

Yesterday we took the dinghy into shore in order to walk around the boardwalk and stretch our muscles.  A wedding party was arriving.  It turned out that they had chartered a boat called “Lyricsail” where someone plays the guitar and serenades those on board while watching the sun set.  They sail past our boat almost every evening.  The experience seems quite relaxing. 

I had wanted to walk on top of the pier.  Unfortunately, it was closed because of construction, which was a disappointment.  This pier is not that high off of the water (perhaps 4 or 5 feet) and apparently people can jump off into the beautiful blue water.  The pier has several ladders at different points to make it easy for people to get out of the water if desired.  I also think it is clever as to how they added access to the dingy dock.  The dock is made out of wooden beams on the outside of it.  They placed the beams apart to create holes so that people can climb up out of their dinghies.  It is approximately a 4 foot climb and this makes it easier.  We had to scramble up the side fast, however, because of the sea swells. 

We are still anchored in Frederiksted, on 3.26.23, waiting for a good weather window to make the crossing to St. John’s.  Unfortunately, I don’t feel all that comfortable walking around town.  When we had a car, we explored some of the sites in this area and there isn’t much left for us to see. So, we are working on boat chores, I am writing policies for my consulting client, and Steve is planning for our haul out in the BVIs.  We are flying home on the last Friday of April.  I looked at the weather in Meredith this morning and it was 25 degrees F.  I am definitely glad that we are here!

Well, snorkeling was a little disappointing.  The water was a beautiful blue color and almost 81 degrees F.  I had no problem jumping in and it felt so nice to have the water wrapped around me while I stretched my muscles to snorkel.  We had waited until later in the day to snorkel so that the wind and waves would slow down, which happened, and we were able to manage swimming without getting pushed into the cement pylons.  We decided to take our dinghy and tie it to a ladder in the middle of the pier.  (We also could have dinghied into shore, scrambled over some rocks, and swum out, as other do who are not on a boat.)  That way the dinghy was close to where we thought the best snorkeling would start.  As we were getting ready to go over the side of the dinghy, I saw some bubbles come up from underneath.  I was correct in guessing that scuba divers were beneath us. 

We were in approximately 20 feet of water.  Because of the recent wind and wave conditions, the water wasn’t as clear as we had hoped.  We could see the bottom, but it was a little cloudy.  The fish appeared as black and grey shadows.

The pylons were quite interesting, as different shaped and colored coral had started forming on it.  I saw healthy elk horn and brain coral growing, along with other types of coral. 

After watching the video footage I shot while snorkeling, I saw that a Barracuda was beneath me.  Barracudas always find me, much to my dismay.  So, this was a shorter snorkel, but it did feel good to stretch my muscles with a swim.

We decided to dinghy into Frederiksted to walk around.  A Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship was in port so vendors were set up right off of the pier.  There was a large police presence around because of all of the tourists and access to the pier was restricted.   A live band played in a gazebo and Moko Jumbie dancers danced.  It was a festive and happy atmosphere.

Frederiksted has a cute boardwalk along the ocean, lined with shops and restaurants that seemed very nice.  However, if you walk a block off of the boardwalk, there was a sharp contrast in the buildings and services.  We went to a local grocery store there to buy ice.  On the way back, we saw where people enter the water to snorkel under the pier.  We plan to do that as soon as we have a day without a cruise ship in port. 

Because of the winds shifting to the North and our desire to snorkel under the pier, we decided to stay in Frederiksted until Saturday.  We’ve been working on the boat, cleaning and making repairs.  And, I’ve been working on my consulting.

Around 10:30a on 3.20.23 we pulled out of the marina.  It was bittersweet for me.  We met some wonderful people here and were feeling very comfortable living in the marina over the past month.  I was sorry to leave those new friendships behind.  However, after my nerves settled down, we had a wonderful sail to Frederiksted, which is a town on the western end of St. Croix.  The sun was shining high. We saw many leatherback turtles in the water and were sailing downwind with the jib harnessing the wind.  Schools of flying fish sailed in the air in front of the boat on our sail down.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales, but that was OK.  It was a very enjoyable sail.

There is a Celebrity Sumit Cruise Ship tied up to the dock in Frederiksted.  (Royal Caribbean cruise ships docked the next two nights.) Because of the weather later in the week, we were unable to schedule our time here when cruise ships were not docked.  We don’t see that many people.  However, they have a loud band playing and the music is clashing with the music from the beach bar on shore.  I’m sure they will pull out this evening and a new one will dock by morning.  Frederiksted is supposed to be very sleepy when the cruise ships are not docked.

Saturday, 3.18.23, was when St. Croix celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.  The neighboring boat, Great Adventures, offered to take us into Christiansted to watch the parade.  So, around 10:15a, Mike and his daughter, Milly, drove us to town.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone was in good spirits.  We parked a couple of blocks away from the parade route and walked into town.  We didn’t know quite what to expect but were looking forward to it.

The parade was a lot of fun. 

Onlookers were dancing in the street to extremely loud bands playing music on floats. 

Several local baton twirlers marched in procession, looking adorable. 

The jeep club had a large contingency in the parade. 

My favorite thing to see, by far, were the jump (Moko Jumbie) dancers on stilts.  I don’t know how they are able to balance while dancing.  They were very talented.

After the parade went past us, we walked down to the boardwalk. 

The party was just getting started there.  We bought something called a chicken pate, which was a fried dough pocket with chicken inside.  It was good, albeit fried.  We also got some ice cream to eat while walking around.  We saw a Heineken barge tied up to the dock.  They were getting ready to have a band play.  It was clear that the party would be moving to the boardwalk once the parade completely finished.  It was a lot of fun.

Today we are staying around the boat.  I have a lot of consulting work that I want to complete while I have good internet access in the marina.  Add in some boat chores, a swim, and an evening out at the resort’s Deep End Beach Bar for “Disco Bingo Night” and I have a full day planned.

Disco Bingo entailed DJ 40 playing disco music while people got up and danced between sessions of bingo. It was a lot of fun! We didn’t win any prizes, but had a really enjoyable time.

After a lovely, relaxing lunch, we headed to our next stop, the Estate Mount Washington, which was an old cotton/sugar cane/rum making estate.  While the site is privately owned, the owners permit anyone to walk around the grounds. 

We were the only ones there, which wasn’t much of a surprise since we got lost three times trying to find the dirt road on which it was located. 

The grounds were beautiful.  We saw the remnants of the windmill,

several out-buildings, large basins, and a cart. 

The family’s dog greeted us as we arrived and kissed my legs as I walked around.  The location also has a labyrinth that, when open, people can walk while reflecting on their thoughts.  When we were there, it was under repair so we couldn’t walk it, however. 

Large wind chimes hung from a beautiful, massive tree while the wind gently blew. 

It truly was a serene estate that immediately made us feel relaxed.  It turned out that this was my favorite site that we have seen on St. Croix to date.