We checked into a fairly basic and exposed marina in Christiansted, the capital of St Croix, to recover from the crossing. On clearing in, we were told by the US border control official that there would be a big St Patrick's Day march the next day, Saturday 18th, in the centre of old town Christiansted. We took up our position next morning thinking the parade would be a one-off event. We didn't realise the parade really went on all day and everyone participated by dressing in the most amazing green outfits and then joining in the march, dancing along besides the floats to the Caribbean music. You couldn't move on the boardwalk for people drinking, dancing and enjoying themselves in kilts, green tutus, leprechaun outfits, green Viking outfits, green Spider-Man etc. John and I realised that the marching bands and dancing were replicas of those at the march in the Canary Islands to celebrate the start of the ARC 2015 - a taste of the Caribbean destination yet to come.

We spent a day wandering the old town which was established by the Danes in the 1700s. A big effort has gone into preserving the old official buildings like the fort, the
Scale House where goods were weighed, and the Customs house, where the planters then paid their tax on exported sugar etc. The old Government House of 1774 is particularly attractive. The architecture is Danish, modified for the tropics by arched passage ways, hurricane shutters, and louvres and awnings to keep out the sun, with the buildings mostly painted in yellow and white. The merchants' houses and shops are preserved, painted in pastels and white, as well as the two white Lutheran churches, one of which still serves its original purpose. And the 1749 Danish West India and Guinea Company Warehouse, site of the slave market with its enclosed courtyard, tells a sad story of St Croix 's history.