Our 35th Anniversary spent in St. John

High States is plagued with High Winds and High Seas

Tues. April 1st.

What a stormy night. “The winds were a howling”. NOAA says the winds and seas will be high again all week so we won’t be going far. Many boats have been coming into Salt Pond Bay for a protective mooring only to be disappointed as there are no empty mooring balls. We remember how the system at Warderick Wells in the Bahamas was so well organized and easy. If you wanted a mooring you called in before 01000hrs and put your boat name on a list. By 0900hrs., boats at a mooring had to advise the office if they were planning to leave. As buoys became available you would be hailed; told it was available; do you want it; if so be in by a certain time or forfeit the buoy. With the weather conditions as we are seeing them right now, this system would work so well. Instead of people being disappointed they could sit out the storms where they are, instead of moving on and then not finding a spot. This is why we sit. Mind you we can only be in a particular bay on a mooring for a maximum of seven days.

To-day prior to snorkeling we hiked up to Concordia Eco-Tents. The view is spectacular over looking Norman, Peter and Tortola Islands. There are 25 Eco Tents each with private showers and balconies. Concordia is affiliated with Maho Bay Camp which is on the northern coast. You can see more at http://www.maho.org/ .

Wed. Apr.2nd.

We’ve decided to go to Cruz Bay for the day. Kerry took us to shore at 0830hrs., so we could make the short hike to the road and wait for the bus. We understood the bus would arrive around 0910. As the buses run hourly we needed to make sure we didn’t miss it. Finally at 0935 it arrived. The trip to Cruz Bay was like being on a roller coaster with multiple hair pin turns. The last turn into the town was so sharp the bus had to wait and take turns with the on-coming traffic. The bus ride was 40 minutes long and cost us each $2.00 return. We really enjoyed Cruz Bay; it’s a little tourist town but we enjoyed finding a café with internet and managed to catch up on emails.

Kerry kindly picked up us when we got back to Salt Pond. But, ohh ohh,-- Randy starts to get into the dinghy and then decides not to get in and ends up in the water with theknapsack/computer on his back. (This has never happened before). Quickly we take the computer out of the knapsack and see it is not too wet. We quickly dry it off and leave it in the sun.(This is the computer that had totally gotten wet and full of salt back in Little Farmer's Cay)

Randy paying for our mooring ball. All monies collected goes directly to the Parks.

On our hike out to Ram Head took almost an hour.

At one point I thought we would literally be blown off the cliff, the wind was so strong.

The hiking trails on St. John are absolutely beautiful.

High States at Salt Pond Bay.

April 6th.

This past four days the weather has continue not be our friend so we have made another trip to Coral Bay for a change of scenery and also a trip to Cruz Bay where we got a ferry over to Red Hook, St. Thomas.

See what happens when you wait too long for the bus!!!!

When we were heading back to Salt Pond from our Coral Bay trip we waited over an hour for the bus. It was starting to get late so we decided we best start to walk and hopefully the bus would come along and pick us up. Randy stayed a good 100yards behind us so that he could flag down the bus. The bus never did arrive, but a woman graciously stopped and asked Randy if he would like a ride. Explaining our situation she let us all pile into the back of her pick up. The bus????well we guess it wasn’t running this afternoon.

For our trip over to Red Hook, St. Thomas the bus system was excellent.

April 7th OUR 35th ANNIVERSARY

Thank you Kathy and Kerry for the wine glasses.

We went to Cruz Bay with Kathy and Kerry as we needed to check out of the USVI. The Customs and Immigration office advised us they have a recipical agreement with the BVI’s where we do not need to check in and out between the two areas.. Of coarse this news is completely opposite what we have read in the Cruising Guide and what we were told by phone.

April 9th

0850hrs and we are leaving Salt Pond Bay for Sopers Hole, Tortola. Looks like not a totally bad day compared to what we have had. Seas continue to be 6 feet and the winds are 15-18 knots which is fine. It’s the swells that make it unpleasant. We’re traveling due east with the wind on our nose and the seas once again are crashing over the bow. Once around Ram Head things started to settle down.

By 094hrs. the seas have calmed to 3-4 feet, the winds are 15 knots and so we’ve put out the jib.. We’re running at 6.8 knots. We are to expect a current of up to 3 knots depending on the tidal flow going through The Narrows.
01055—We’re on a mooring in Sopers Hole, Tortola. The bay is really deep. We have 50 feet under us. Customs and Immigration was excellent—very straight forward. We had lunch at Pusser’s-for only $38.00. We had heard the BVI’s are expensive. We can get water for 15 cents a gallon which is what we paid in Culebra. The diesel is $5.00 a gallon and gas $4.00. There is only a laundry service available at $14.00 a load. The town is basically a board walk with a very large Pussers store and individual tourist type shops. The two grocery stores are quite expensive. Two tomatoes were $4.00.

Small bridge joining Tortola to Frenchman's Cay.

A beautiful sunset at Sopers Hole, Tortola, BVI