Well, snorkeling wasn’t that great in Hawksbill Bay on St. John.  We were able to see a few fish, but not as many as we had hoped.  The water was gorgeous and clear, however.  So, we thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the water as well as the calm anchorage itself.

On Friday, March 31 we decided to motor to Waterlemon Bay.  It is supposed to be very protected and a good place to tuck in when there is bad weather.  (Strong winds and a big swell were supposed to come in Friday night, so we wanted to move somewhere where it was better protected than Hawksnest Bay.)  The park service volunteer that we spoke with in Lameshur Bay said that it was his favorite bay.  On our way there, we passed Maho and Cinnamon Bays.  They had beautiful sand beaches.  There were a lot of boats at Maho Bay, probably because it has more commotion going on.  (Apparently there are food trucks there because there are private hotels near the beach.)  As we were heading towards Waterlemon Bay, we had to be careful not to go into the British Virgin Island’s territorial waters.  In this area the line between the USVIs and the BVIs is not far off of shore from St. John or some of the BVI islands.  We entered the bay and picked up a mooring ball close to the snorkeling area.  Unfortunately it was in deep water and we couldn’t see the bottom.  It was also a little rough, but not so bad that we were going to have difficulty staying there. 

Note: We were able to pick up a more-protected mooring ball the next morning. It was in less-deep water and we could see the bottom, which I prefer. It was still in close proximity to the best snorkeling on the island and we could jump overboard to enjoy it.

This morning we put the jib out and sailed to the northwest corner of St. John.  We had originally planned to go to a bay right next to the main town, called Cruz Bay, but that didn’t work out well.  It was very congested.  We tied up to a ball and were getting bounced all around because of boat wakes.  So, we decided to move a little further north to Hawksnest Bay.  At first we tied up to a mooring ball a little further out in the bay.  Again we were getting boat wakes and some swells coming around the side of the bay.  A mooring ball opened up closer to shore and we quickly maneuvered to pick it up.  It didn’t have a painter on it, which is an extended piece of rope off of the ball that we loop our ropes through.  Steve originally took the dinghy to the ball and added a piece of rope to make our own painter.  However, after we got tied up, he was able to adjust the ropes to holes in the mooring ball’s rope.  So, it will be much easier for us to pull the ropes off of the ball when it is time to leave.

This new ball is in a much nicer location in the bay.  It is approximately 30 or 40 feet from shore, so we can easily snorkel off of the boat.  In fact, as we were tying up, we saw a ray scurrying across the bottom of the bay, right beside our boat.  The water here is more of a pale emerald color than turquoise, though a lot of turquoise is also shining through.  While on the boat, we have seen brown fish with blue stripes swim right under the boat.  We also saw what we thought was a small shark skimming across the water’s edge, luckily swimming out to sea.  I’m hopeful that there are not too many of those around!  (In retrospect, we think it might have been a Tarpon.)  I’m anxious to go snorkeling here since we have seen so many fish already and the water is so clear.  Where we are, the water is also very calm, which will make snorkeling that much nicer.  Luckily we provisioned the boat fairly well before leaving St. Croix.  We had originally planned to go to the grocery store in Cruz Bay, however, since we were not able to stay in that area, our plans have changed.  That is the sailing life.  We have to be flexible.

On the way back, we took a different fork down towards Reef Bay.  It was along this trail that we came upon some petroglyphs. 

They were getting worn away, we believe, because in the rainy season the area becomes a waterfall. 

The petroglyphs dated to sometime in the 900s AD. 

This part of the trail was getting busy and we met several people along the way. 

By this time it was getting towards noon and we were ready to head back.  So, we opted not to follow the trail to the sugar cane factory ruins.  Our legs were definitely tired, as our knees were giving out on the downward slopes. 

I was able to take several interesting pictures and am hopeful that they turned out. 

Along the way, we saw what looked to be goats with curved horns as well as some deer. 

It felt good to get some exercise and the hike was a great length. 

After lunch, Steve went snorkeling along the far side of the bay while I opted to sit in a float behind the boat.  The water in Lameshur Bay was such a glorious turquois color that I wanted to soak it up while I could.  We were planning to leave today, 3.29.23, because the wind was getting ready to shift to the southeast.  That meant that we wouldn’t have as much protection as we were enjoying in the bay.

Today was really good day on St. John.  Around 7:30a we tied the dinghy up on the dock and went for a hike on Lameshur Bay and Reef Bay trails.  It was supposed to be 1.8 miles along fairly cleared trails to see some petroglyphs, which we thought was doable.  While we didn’t go up to the top of the mountain, there was still a little bit of elevation. 

Even this early, the walk was already hot and humid.  Unfortunately, the signage was not super great.  We got to a couple of forks in the trail and were not 100% sure which path to take. 

The first one that we took erroneously went down a hill to what looked like housing ruins. 

We retraced our steps and continued on the main path, up the hill, to see the ruins of the sugar cane plantation house and what looked like slave quarters. 

Vegetation had overgrown on a lot of the buildings, but we were able to get the idea of what they looked like.  We were the only ones at both locations, so it was nice to explore the ruins by ourselves. 

After our excursion, we put on our bathing suits, jumped overboard, and swam to the snorkeling.  While we didn’t see large schools of fish, we did see an interesting variety.  On our way over to the snorkeling area, we were greeted by a ray skating along the sandy bottom, seemingly playing with a white fish. 

We saw several squid looking up at us, mostly curious. 

Of course, we saw a large barracuda, which was curious about us.  However, it grew tired of me filming it and started to back away.  I saw it chomp its jaws and decided it was time for me to move away. 

We saw so many other types of fish, as well as a variety of coral, and I’m hopeful that the video came out well. 

Thanks for looking at all of the underwater pictures. I’m really enjoying our GoPro!

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.