Worlds Apart
23 January 2012 | Culebrita to Charlotte Amalie
Culebrita was delightful, and I think Ralph's favourite place so far. We not only had a private anchorage on the protected southwest side, but a private island.... not a single other boat for most of the time we spent there. There was a nice trail across the hills to a cove on the north side which we'd visited earlier in the day in Altona, but deemed it too rough with rollers from the Atlantic ocean. Still, it was a lovely stretch of beach, with great tall palm trees. Ralph unsuccessfully tried throwing a branch to knock off some coconuts: Survivor Man he ain't. The path there and back was littered with small snail like crabs that skitter around and go still as rocks in their shells when they hear or feel footsteps. The snorkeling was amazing, and we saw the hugest sea urchins I've ever seen. Great big black spiny things snuggled everywhere into pockets in the reef, their black bodies (not counting the spines) as big as my head. There was a variety of fish too, and they loved to swim around in the shadow of the boat. The water here was the gorgeous turquoise of the Bahamas, not as clear, but I did get some amazing snorkeling pictures.
Our next stop was worlds apart from the unspoiled Spanish Virgin Islands: the U.S. Virgin Islands. Our first stop was Brewers Bay in St. Thomas, a pretty little bay which turned into only a lunch stop as it was literally right beside the airport runway. I thought perhaps there'd be a couple of big jets bringing tourists, but in a few hours there were half a dozen. Needless to say, it wasn't conducive to peace and tranquility or a good night's sleep, so we left and went to Water Island, which was even more of a culture shock. The anchorage in Druit Bay aka Honeymoon Beach was jammed with boats, and the lovely crescent of white sand beach was almost as crowded. The first afternoon, we thought it was interesting watching the comings and goings, but it soon left us longing for our private little island. So we went over the Charlotte Amalie, the main town on St. Thomas, where we had shore-side chores to do. This was out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Reasons Ralph hates Charlotte Amalie:
1. It took several hours to anchor before we got it properly set. He had to keep hauling the chain up because he hadn't bothered to turn the anchor windlass on, so he was exhausted. I wish I'd counted how many times he dropped that thing, we'd let it settle a bit, I'd back down to bury it, she'd drag loose, and he'd haul it up again to try in a different spot. Somewhere between 12 and 20 times, I'd guess.
2. Good thing we persisted in getting a strong set, though, because the first night there were 40 knot winds, and a small tourist schooner, Blackbeard's Revenge (how apt), broke loose from its mooring. We were up in the cockpit at 1 a.m. checking everything out because the sheer velocity of the wind woke us, and past us goes this shadow of a boat a few yards out, bowsprit first, menacingly dark and nobody aboard. We called the coast guard and notified them, but it was the Puerto Rico coastguard who answered and they had to try to rouse somebody out of bed in Charlotte Amalie. Meanwhile, Blackbeard was taking revenge in the anchorage. We thought it missed, but it hit the boat right behind us. The bowsprit went crashing into the stern of the boat, demolishing the canvas bimini (cover for shade) and, unbelievably, ripping the stainless steel radar arch right off the back of the boat, destroying the wind generator in the process. The owner of Blackbeard has a fleet of boats and no problem paying for the damage, but the poor guy had a guest aboard and was going to be stuck in Charlotte Amalie for quite some time for repairs. Since he had no power on his boat, he wouldn't even be able to stay aboard. What an awful way to ruin your trip, and how lucky we were. There were a lot of lucky boats that night, because in the crowded anchorage, it only hit that one before before coming to rest against the waterfront wall.
3. Four cruise ships came in every day we were there, disgorging 10,000 tourists lusting after duty free jewelllery. Need I say more?
4. Streets were narrow and traffic insane.
5. Seaplanes landing and taking off in the busy harbour.
6. Wherever we went ashore, somebody wanted to sell us something.
7. There were so many dinghies at the dinghy dock that trying to land and get away was like an obstacle course.
8. People on the streets were rude and unfriendly.
9. The Chandlery was really poorly stocked, and we went all over town looking for a Virgin Islands Cruising Guide before finding one at a bookstore right at the dock where we went ashore.
10. Too many boats around to sit naked in the cockpit.