12 February 2010 | St. Thomas, USVI
For two months Don and I have been in the USVI, going back and forth between beautiful, peaceful anchorages that afford us gorgeous sunsets, clear reef snorkeling and the hustle bustle of the busy cruise ship port of Charlotte Amalie, ST. Thomas. We were delighted to hear from our old cruising buddy Keith of s/v Scalawag who was looking for a break from the subzero temperatures of his home in Alberta, Canada. Lucky for us on his way to the boat show in Miami he decided to take a side trip down to the paradise of St.Thomas and spend a few warm days aboard the Starship along with his girlfriend Michelle. After some shopping in the duty free zone, a few tropical punches to get in the "island mood", and plenty of door pics, we headed out of the main harbor and sailed up to one of our favorite islands, St. John.
St. John is almost entirely a national park with mooring balls set in all the anchorages to protect the coral from boaters. From here you can see the adjacent islands of the British Virgin Islands, a mere two to three miles away. We took the hike to the Annaburg Sugar Mill, ruins of a colonial sugar cane plantation restored by the National Park Service. With an unobstructed view of the island of Tortola, BVI and Drake's Channel full of sailboats, this made for an interesting and beautiful side trip.
As always the clear warm water treated us to many spectacular reef fish encounters, a few hawksbill and loggerhead turtles, and a school of huge tarpon that swam by us at a leisurely pace, on their way to somewhere in the deep blue. Michelle had never snorkeled before so it was quite entertaining to watch someone try to breathe thru their snorkel and giggle at the same time. Don and I are always glad to have company, especially when they bring us boat parts and chocolate, and Keith as always came thru!