This feels like the West Indies

Geographically I am not sure where the West Indies starts and finishes.  I guess it includes the greater and lesser Antilles in which case we have been in the West Indies since reaching the Dominican Republic.  Yesterday however we dropped anchor in St Thomas harbour and it felt as if we were now really in the West Indies for the first time.  

St Thomas is the most west of the American Virgin Islands and so the first one you come to moving east from Puerto Rico.  Up until a couple of weeks ago we knew relatively little about the USVI.  There are three main islands St Johns, St Thomas and St Croix and a few smaller outlying islands and cays.  They all used to be owned by Denmark until relatively recently when they were sold to the US for $25million.  Bit of a bargain really.  As a result a lot of the Danish influence has remained which is evident from the town names like Fredericksted and Christiansted and the road names such as Dronningens Gade and Norre Gade.  St Thomas is the cruise liner port and one of the busiest of the islands while St Johns is essentially one big national park.  These two islands are very close together and then St Croix sits about 40 miles to the south.  We will try and get to all three islands.  

En route to St Thomas we had visited the Puerto Rican Islands of Culebra and Culebrita.  These two islands sit mid way between Puerto Rico and St Thomas and so make for a convenient stopping point.  We first visited a beautifully protected anchorage called Ensenada Honda.  There is a little settlement here called Dewey with a few shops and a couple of restaurants.  We stayed two nights and caught up with some friends we had made earlier in the trip.  Casey and Melanie were onboard a 58ft Oyster called Bliss and had been berthed beside us in Fajardo for a while.  Real nice couple from Austin Texas.  We also saw John and Jen onboard Ayeesha which was the boat we had met in Samana which had to turn back at the start of the Mona Passage.  Calley was especially glad to see John because he owed her money.  When you clear out of the DR you need US$20 for one of the fees.  John was short $10 and so came across to try and borrow the money.  We did not have a $10 dollar note and so had to raid Calley’s wallet.  When Ayeesha had to turn back at the start of the Mona Passage Calley thought she would not see her $10 again and then the second day at anchor they come sailing past us.  Needless to say Calley caught up with John who very kindly paid her back with interest.

Essenada Honda with Red Sky in the foreground

Another boat which had been moored near us in Fajardo was called Red Sky.  This was a magnificent 100ft bright red Nautor Swan and it dropped anchor in front of us towards the end of the second day.  We had not spoken with the guys onboard whilst in Fajardo but the kids had always said hello to them when they saw them on the quayside.  We were sitting in the Dingy Dock restaurant having a drink and the skipper of the boat, Bob, came over initially to meet the kids.  He was real nice and complimentary about Sam and Calley.  He also gave us an intro to a marina in the BVI’s.

After two nights at Ensenada Honda we upped anchor and motored around to the smaller island of Culebrita.  There is a bay on the North side which has a lot of turtles.  Unfortunately there was a nasty swell curling around the point and rolling through the anchorage when we arrived and so we returned to a more sheltered anchorage on the western side of the island.  Luckily Culebrita is only small and so you can hike overland to the various sights.  The first day we spent climbing a small hill to an old lighthouse before walking around to the bay to visit a place called the “Jacuzzi”.  This is a series of rock pools on the exposed shore which sit about 6ft higher than the sea level.  Every now and then a big surge will roll in and send foaming water across the pool but in a relatively benign way so that you can sit in the water without getting pummelled.  On the walk back the kids had a play in the surf on the beach.  One of the boats that was moored out was called Blue Guitar - someone said it used to be owned by Eric Clapton.

The view from Culebrita lighthouse towards Culebra

The "Jacuzzi"

The next day we spent snorkelling the nearby reefs and then had a picnic around at the Turtle Bay.  We did manage to spot a couple of turtles but they are pretty skittish.  Our inflatable dingy is suffering from the batterings it has been taking for the past few months and has sprung a leak or a series of leaks.  We first noticed it in Fajardo just before we left and Scott did a quick repair job on the most likely spot but since then it has continued to leak.  The fear is that it may have a number of smaller pin prick type holes from the sun.  Casey told us about a product called Toobseal which we need to get to fix the problem.  The dingy is pretty important to us.  Someone rightly compared it to the family car onshore.  

Sam doing anything but school

We are up to test lesson 80 with the schooling - halfway yeah.  We have a groove now and get into it but it is still a slog for all concerned.  Calley still seems to breeze through where Sam really struggles to get the work content done.  Looks like we will be able to complete the course in the time allocated but only just.

So back to St Thomas.  The town is called Charlotte Amalie.  We went ashore yesterday afternoon and immediately liked the place.  Along the waterfront are a series of what used to be old warehouses used for the storage of goods when St Thomas was an important trading point.   The building are very interesting and really solidly built.  The walls are rubble and mortar with brick corners, they have huge wooden doors with iron fittings and shutters on all the windows.  They look very traditionally Danish.  In between the warehouses are narrow alleyways - some covered and some open which now house small stores.   The alleyways are cool and more often than not lined with small trees and plants.  Behind the warehouses is the main street which runs parallel with the waterfront and it is lined with more shops in old two storey buildings many with narrow balconies with ornate railing.  Further back are the more modern developments and the occasional larger colonial style building.

Main street in Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie Alleyway

The place is geared to the cruise liner traffic and so lots of duty free shops selling watches, jewelry and alcohol but the setting in the old buildings is beautiful and there are the odd interesting local arts stores.  There were two cruise liners in when we arrived and they dominate the harbour.  Apparently in the high season as many as seven cruise liners can be moored here at one time.  The harbour is the busiest place we have been since Nassau.  Apart from the cruise liners there are lots of cruising yachts moored, ferries and charter boats ploughing back and forth and seaplanes taking off and landing.  The harbour is surrounded on three sides by steep hillsides mostly covered with houses which lead down to the town centre on the waterfront.  One side of the harbour is bordered by Hassel island which has the ruins of old fortifications on it.  Again here there is lots of history from the privateering days.  There was actually a find of hidden treasure on the island.

We stayed out for the afternoon wandering around the town and then had a gorgeous dinner of tapas at a restaurant down one of the alleys.  The evenings here are beautiful - the easterly trade moderates to a light breeze which is just enough to cool you down.  We are anchored in the middle of the harbour and at night are surrounded by the shore lights.  It really is beautiful.

Dulcinea dwarfed by one of the cruise liners

We will move on tomorrow or the day after to St Johns which is the place everyone says is to spend the time due to the national park.  We are hoping to catch up with our friends on Windchasers in the next few days as they are still in the area.  Peter and Claire arrive in a few days which we are all looking forward to.