We left Puerto Rico, again, with fresh batteries (warranty replacement), a bunch of newly made battery cables, a fully tested battery system, enough food for a few weeks, and a calm forecast to make the day’s run over to St. John. My wind forecasting didn’t take into account a few isolated storms, but they passed quickly enough and we had a nice easy, wet passage.
As we approached St. John we quickly realized things were not at all the same as they were back in June. The charter boat tourists had arrived again. We knew we were being spoiled in June, with no tourists arriving by plane, but I guess we had forgotten just how crowded the bays could be once they did get back in. St. John is almost all National Park, so there is no anchoring in most of the bays, meaning it’s a scramble to find a mooring ball in the bay you want, or be forced to go searching elsewhere.
Salt Pond Bay was full, but we found a spot around the corner in Lameshur Bay.
Lowe built himself a nice swing, but the kids are getting too big, and it feels like the whole boat is going to tear apart with them rocking on it. This swing was short-lived.
It’s sort of fascinating to see the almost total demise of the monohull. Catamarans must make up 95% of the island fleet these days.
The next morning we were able to move over to Salt Pond Bay, where we were looking forward to hiking Ram’s Head again. Beaches were full of people, but the great thing about living on a boat is being an island to oneself.
The bay is chock full of turtles and stingrays.
Each trip to the beach is a treasure hunt. There’s always some interesting shell to find, and there’s always some piece of garbage to pick up. Getting a nice pile of fishing line out of the water feels good.
That night, after dark, when everyone else had gone and the water was dead calm again, I walked outside to find the biggest turtle of the day resting/sleeping on the surface alongside the boat. We were near a full moon so his shell seemed to glow in the dark water. Hours later he was still there, only the very occasional tiny flipper movement indicating he was alive. This was cool to see, and was something we’d never experienced before.
7 Comments on “Virgin Islands”
The Bride and I spent our honeymoon in St John nearly two decades ago. Spent much of the time snorkeling. Great memories.
Awesome to see the kids back in the water snorkeling…..
Some years ago we visited St. John & did the underwater snorkel trail. Still recall the tiny octopus we watched turn brilliantly fierce colors to keep us away! We stayed a distance away, observing him changing colors & creeping along a rock-vivid memory! Like you will always recall your glowing turtle moment-nature provides such wondrous moments! It’s a gift you give your children that will provide for them forever. So enjoy your watery photos as we’re in the stunning yet stark SW desert!
It was great to meet you all last week! We worked our way around St. John on Hero’s Journey and spent a couple of nights at Salt Pond and Lameshur Bays, so we may have seen some of the same turtles and rays. The snorkeling was excellent around the rocky point between the Great and Little Lameshur Bays. Bree still has the painted shell she got from Ouest and Lowe.
I hope our paths cross again!
Hey, hey, Mike! It was so nice of you to pop over at Francis Bay and bring us gifts! Pat is wearing your Hero’s Journey rash shirt today to pass his PADI open water diver certificate. So awesome!
Cool. And tell Bree our painted shell inventor is overflowing and we could really use her to take more. 😉
All the best, Merry Christmas, and we too hope to spend more time together.
Your experience with the turtle will, of course, live with you throughout the rest of your lives. It is one of the things I loved best about my own boating days. Kudos to Ali and you for providing Ouest and Lowe with these experiences.
We thought about waking them up to see this big guy – as I had been up to see him myself – but figured the minute we woke them up he would be gone.