Maho Bay

Maho Bay in St. John was a blast. We had a really nice time - so nice that we decided to spend the entire week there. We actually ran into several other boats from the 1500 (at one point there were 8 boats!) so we had lots of company. There isn't really too much at Maho Bay besides the Eco Camps, which are these tent like things that people (mostly families with kids was our observation) vacation in. We went up to the Eco Camp two nights for dinner (the only restaurant around). Each night is a different "theme" (i.e. Italian night, Captain's Choice night [=leftovers], Asian night, etc.) It is cafeteria style and there are only three entree choices so you better like the theme. BUT... there was a salad bar, which was nice. We went on Prime Rib night and Caribbean night. The interesting thing about the Eco camps is that they are way high up in the hills. So... to get to the restaurant, we beached the dinghy on the shore and then climbed 1,200 steps to the top. The views were breathtaking of course (see above!)

There are a few beaches at Maho Bay, but we mostly stayed on the boat and did some more snorkeling. We saw three huge (4-5 feet across) turtles, which was very cool. And a very large ray. And a starfish. The visibility wasn't as great as it was when we went with Corinne and Al, but we enjoyed ourselves. We also cleaned the water line on the boat and the dinghy (yuck), played lots of backgammon (the cummulative score is currently Bill 60, Lauren 44) and read a ton. Between the two of us, we finished five books. We also got a mooring for the day at Caneel Bay and then took the dinghy to Cruz Bay to reprovision before going back to Maho Bay.

One night the 1500 boats decided to have a bonfire on one of the beaches. Bill and another guitar player Bob served as the live entertainment. It was a lot of fun.

Now we are back at St. Thomas, Yacht Haven Grande marina. We are having a problem with the bow thruster (which should be fixed soon after much troubleshooting by Bill) so we are actually on the fuel dock for the night - which is very interesting because we are pretty much nestled between all of these crazy huge and overwhelming mega yachts. Oh, and don't forget the cruise ships. Today there was only one. We'll see about tomorrow. We got here early enough to do laundry and go to KMart. We should be able to get our 'errands and chores' done by Thursday and head back out.

We will stick around the Virgin Islands until the first week in April. Andrea is coming the 18th (yeah!!) for a week and then we will actually fly back to DC to do taxes etc. while the boat gets pulled so the bottom can be treated.

Anyway, that's about it. Send an email if you feel like it. And we are getting mail forwarded to us. Lauren and Bill