Off to Frances Bay
02 March 2020 | 18 21'N:64 44'W, Frances Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands
NC
1st March
18 21 N
64 44 W
Weather: sunny, wind 5 Knots E. SE, waves less than 1 foot.
WELCOME MAZ, ENJOY THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND THE RUM!
We woke to three crew members today, it's so good to have company that just fits in and we don't have to work hard to entertain. It's also good for Gerry to have someone to argue the state of the world with as I don't entertain arguing with him about things that I can't do anything about and Maz like to play devil's advocate in almost every instance.
We didn't take off until about 9.30, with everyone on deck Gerry hauled the anchor up and I did my thing at the helm. We cleared the harbor and began heading east towards St John where we planned to spend the night. I bet anyone of you can guess which direction the wind was coming from - if you can't, it was on the nose so there was no way we were going to be able to sail there. Maz was suffering from jet lag and only lasted about 3/4hour before she had to go below and have a snooze. So Gerry and I carried on as we normally do, watching the world go by as the auto pilot did the steering. We did manage to put up the stay sail and jib for a short while when we changed direction slightly but it was very short lived. The water was flat calm and we had a very pleasant trip, arriving in Frances Bay just on lunch time. We picked up a mooring ball and switched the engine off, waking Maz in the process - well it was about time she got up again! We had lunch and a couple of beers on board, being a bit wary of eating ashore here as we were disappointed last time. After lunch we sat for a while watching the comings and goings in the harbor until Maz started to say that she was feeling tired and sleepy and might need another snooze. To combat the jet lag I suggested that we take the dinghy and go ashore, walk along the beach to the bar and have a couple of adult beverages, making it last until almost dinner time. As we dinghied into shore we saw a turtle pop its head up and then vanish, we dragged the dinghy up the beach so it wouldn't get washed away and set the sand anchor then took off for the furthest end of the beach which is where the bar is situated. We paddled in the water along the shore until I saw a baby shark in the shallows about 4 feet in from the shoreline, after that we stuck to the sand but there were lots of people in the shallow water who were oblivious to the shark being there. It was quite hot and we definitely needed liquid refreshments by the time we got to the bar. We sat in the cabanas and enjoyed the late afternoon sun whilst getting pleasantly inebriated. As the bar closes at 5pm we were limited to how many drinks we could down in the short time we had and we actually left the bar before it closed, making our way back along the beach to collect our dinghy. Maz had a quick swim, I think she had forgotten about the shark by then! We made our way back out to our boat and made hamburgers for dinner along with a couple more drinks to wash them down. Dale and Lorie were back and on facetime again Yay! They are planning on moving early this coming week so hopefully will be able to catchup with us pretty soon, we can't wait to sit and have a proper conversation with them over some of those adult beverages! It got to about 8.30pm and we were all ready to drop into bed - this doing very little leaves you so tired!