16th January

18 21 N
64 44 W

Weather; sunny, wind 15 to 20 knots E, waves 3 feet.

At last the time had come to move and make the short passage across to St John, still in the US Virgin Islands and only about 4NM away. The weather had finally calmed down enough and the seas had dropped to an acceptable height to make the passage possible. As it was only a short distance we didn't need to start out very early but we did need to top up with fuel and water before leaving Charlotte Amalie. We radioed the fuel dock and arranged to be alongside at around 9am. Gerry took up his position on the bow to haul the anchor up and I steered us to begin with. When the anchor came up it was covered in thick mud and a heap of shells which needed washing off, Gerry started the process but gave up temporarily as he needed to put out the fenders and dock lines ready to tie up at the fuel dock. We swapped places so that he could steer us into the dock and I stood ready to throw the lines ashore and get us tied up, whilst I was waiting to reach the dock I continued with the wash down of the anchor - the mud was stuck in place like it had been super glued and took a good 10 mins to get washed off. We tied up, topped off our water and fuel tanks we needed 35 gallons of diesel and it cost $4.35 per gallon, the water was 21cents per gallon and their meter wasn't working correctly and registered only 10 gallons - we took on much more than that I'm sure! We dumped our rubbish and then it was time to take off, motoring out of the harbor. As we were leaving I took a couple of photos of Bluebeard's Castle which is on a hill adjacent to the one that Blackbeard's Castle is on - they look pretty similar and are of similar vintage. Like Blackbeard's Castle Bluebeards has also been turned into a resort but is currently closed, I couldn't find out if it going to reopen or not. There was no easy access to Bluebeard's Castle so we hadn't visited it during our stay here.
At the entrance (or in our case as we were exiting) of the harbor there are ruins and a building on the point of Hassel Island these being an old garrison house, used as a board of ordnance and stores plus Cowells battery and signal station - neither of which are in use any more.
We cleared the harbor and made a left turn bringing the wind onto our beam - out went the stay sail and jib and we motor sailed for a bit, sailed for a bit then had to furl away both sails as the wind came round onto our nose so we finished the passage under motor, arriving in Francis Bay, St John. This is a quiet bay with mooring balls everywhere - guess they don't want anyone to anchor here! We picked up a mooring and settled in. Gerry dropped the dinghy into the water and did a quick zip across the bay to see about paying for the mooring, it turned out that the cost is US$26 per night - such a stupid amount - why not round it down to $25? Anyway we are probably going to stay here for 2 nights if it remains calm and still in the bay. When we arrived there were plenty of moorings to pick from but as the evening closed in almost all of them are now occupied. Gerry did some scrubbing of the hull late this afternoon whilst I navel gazed. Kirk and Cindy have come along to the same bay and at sun set Kirk fired his cannon which made a loud bang as it echoed off the surrounding hills - it beats a conch shell horn any day!
So dinner is done, we've had lovely hot water for a shower tonight as the engine has been running - you really don't know when you've got it good! We are settled in for the night now, I won't be long out of bed. Priss has been out in the cockpit twice since we arrived here but is currently back in her hidey hole, we just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.