Being Sunday, like all parts of the Caribbean, there is little happening ashore as everything is shut up, except the churches and the dive shops. Tom had invited us to visit him in the morning, if we hired a car. We did intend to hire a car, but it didn't happen until the afternoon.
The morning was spent discussing weather forecasts and deciding that Anguilla would be the best direction to sail, slightly north and to the east of St Croix, as the current wind was from the south east. From Anguilla we could sail further south in shorter legs, picking our through the islands to Antigua, where Trilogy is to remain for the hurricane season.
The air conditioning had stopped working the night before and that meant accessing the unit under the floor boards. This therefore meant removing the seat in which the stores are kept, but that provided a good opportunity to sort, clean and tidy the stock on board. Eventually the problem with the air conditioner was resolved, and after a well earned dip, some cooling to below decks restored our contentment.
In the afternoon we went ashore to organise for a hire car. After several phone calls, we made a taxi ride to the airport to collect a car. This all takes time of course, especially trying to find a taxi in little old sleepy Frederiksted. The local dive shop owners were very helpful, even standing in the middle of the carless road, until eventually a tax appeared.
With our freedom to move around the island sorted out, we drove to the middle of the north coast of the island to Christiansted, the capital of St Croix. Flatter and more fertile than most islands, St Croix was known as The Garden Spot of the Caribbean during the colonial centuries and is still relatively unspoilt and undeveloped. Christiansted is considered by many the most beautiful town in the Caribbean. Formerly the capital of the Danish West Indies, it looks much the same today as it did in colonial days. The Christiansted National Historic Site has preserved the wharf area and surrounding buildings: fort, first church, the scale house, the old customs house and Danish West India and Guinea Company warehouse, much as they were in Danish times.
A boardwalk lined with small hotels, restaurant/bars and shops runs along the entire waterfront, from the seaplane terminal to the town wharf and fort area. These beautiful old buildings are in a bouquet of pastel colours. The town was built in the Danish era (1733-1917) and is basically neoclassic. The stately architecture was gracefully adapted to the tropics, with arched arcades to protect pedestrians from the sun and rain. The island is home to many artists and Christiansted has numerous galleries. Alas, on Sunday, they were not open. After a wander along the harbour front, we rescued the car from a parking inspector's pen who politely told us we were illegally parked in a disability car spot (signage was on the adjacent shop window and we'd reversed in!). Once the car was safely parked, we walked through the very pleasant narrow streets to a new restaurant we'd read about called Balter. There are several fine dining restaurants in Christiansted, but everything was closed, being Sunday. We were delighted to find Balter was open and that they welcomed us in our shorts and T's, and definitely not emitting sweet aromas! The restaurant was well patronised and we thoroughly enjoyed the excellent local produce, cleverly given a modern presentation. We shared a chef's salad as a starter served on a large mahogany board, with tasty samplings of a range of produce...cheese, greens, various coloured beetroot, pickles, tomatoes. We all chose a main dish of delicate portions of roast chicken served with scattering of pumpkin and kale and a delicious curry pouring sauce. We couldn't resist sharing a desert! The staff were excellent and we were able to meet the young local owner chef and express our appreciation. It was definitely one of the best restaurant meals we've had on this cruise and it was a lovely ending to the day.