Magen's Bay

We decided to stay at Yacht Haven for a few extra days. On Friday we rented a car so we could do a lot of errands without having to walk and carry a bunch of stuff. So we used the car to pick up our laundry, go to KMart, and go to Cost-U-Less (which is like a BJs or Costco or Sam's Club). We had a little jeep and it was full of food and stuff for the boat. Cost-U-Less actually had the best fruits and vegetables that we have found on St. Thomas so far. We found places to stow all of the food and everything.

On Saturday we decided to explore the island. It sounds funny since we have spent so much time on St. Thomas, but we have never really been very far from the marina each time we are here. Thankfully Bill said he would drive because they drive on the left side of the road here. It sounds like it would be easy, but it is really strange. Plus there are crazy taxis and lots of traffic. So... we decided to drive, not really knowing where we were going, and explore. Pretty quickly we found Magen's Bay, which has been named one of the top ten beaches in the world by National Geographic Magazine. We spent a few hours hanging out, walking the beach, and swimming. It was a really beautiful day and we enjoyed ourselves.

After we left the beach, we continued driving and exploring. We went to the more secluded West End, the East End, saw the University of the Virgin Islands, went by the airport, etc. The roads are very, very hilly and narrow.

Sunday we did some more errands and chores. Bill returned the car and cleaned the cockpit cushions. We attempted to finally clean the grill (it hadn't been cleaned in a LONG time) but Bill accidentally dropped a piece of the grill in the water so.... we ended up having to get a new one.

Today we are leaving St. Thomas. Our plans are to do the BVI for a few days and end up in Village Cay Marina, Road Town on the 30th. We decided that we are going to bring the boat back to the states for the summer.

Here's why.... Venezuela, our original plan, is out of the question after talking to several other boaters. Our other options are Trinidad, the southern part of Grenada, or Aruba. Everything else in the Caribbean is too far north and is in the hurricane belt. We are getting a late start to go south, and we are worried that six months in one place that we don't know all that much about (and is far away!) might not be the best idea. We had the idea of doing Puerto Rico, DR, Bahamas, Florida - but the insurance quote we received was out of this world expensive (almost 8 times what we are paying now!) and cruising in the hurricane region isn't the greatest idea anyway.

So... Bill, Cindy, and Al are going to do the Atlantic Cup which will go from Tortola to Bermuda and leaves May 3rd. From Bermuda, they are going to take Mary Elizabeth to Newport, RI. We'll stay in Newport for a few days, and then make our way to the Cape for Al's retirement party then on to Boston for our party on the 14th!

I am not going to do the passage. I will go to St. Croix to visit Kerry for a few days, fly to DC to take care of a few things, and then fly to Boston. Andrea and I will drive to Newport to meet up with the boat the second week of May.

We are very excited with our decision. We will be close to family and friends, stay out of the hurricane belt, and get to explore the East Coast (we will go north to Maine and then make our way south).

So, we'll be out of email range for about a week. Until then....

Heading to Nanny Cay....

A few months ago we lost a dinghy oar. We were unable to find a replacement down here, so a trip to West Marine was on our "to do" list last week. Fortunately, Bill was able to order a replacement oar and have it rush shipped to VA so we could bring it back with us. The oar didn't come in until the day that we left, and since our bags were already packed (and full) Bill simply strapped it to his backpack (it comes apart into two pieces) and thought nothing of it. Well apparently an oar is on the "things that are banned from carry on luggage" list. Supposedly an oar is considered a dangerous weapon and Bill was quickly stopped by security. Thankfully we had plenty of time and were able to return to the ticket counter to have the oar checked as luggage. The airline staff very generously helped us construct a container out of cardboard and lots of tape. And it worked. Everything arrived in one piece. Who would have thought?

Besides the oar mini drama, the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Both of our flights were on time, which was nice.

And we have enjoyed the past few days in St. Thomas seeing everyone and basically saying goodbye. It is the time of year when everyone either heads south or north to avoid the hurricane season which starts June 1st. We are still not entirely positive which direction we will be going.... but we'll of course keep everyone posted.

On Friday we left Yacht Haven with our friends Patrick and Ariel, who took us to the other end of St. Thomas to some of their local hangouts. Here's a picture of Bill, Patrick, Ariel, and their friends playing pool.

We spent Saturday just hanging around. Bill put the "collapsible" exercise bike together, and we realized that it isn't as collapsible as we thought. It'll work though. It will be a nice way to keep up with some exercise while we are on the boat....

This morning we met our friends Juan and Amy for breakfast at the Buddha, our favorite coffee place. They head to Puerto Rico tomorrow as they begin making their way to Ft. Lauderdale for the summer.

So, that's about it. In a few minutes we will be leaving Yacht Haven (hopefully for the last time) and heading to Nanny Cay. The boat will be hauled out of the water tomorrow so the bottom can be painted and other work can be done. We'll actually be staying on the boat tonight, but we'll be in a hotel for the rest of the week.

Cheers.

Mancala, Blues, Rain, and Sharks.....

Andrea left this morning after a week aboard the Mary Elizabeth. We had a great time, but it was a strange week.

First, the weather was awful. Before Andrea got here I told her not to even bother to bring a sweatshirt since the weather is always warm, always sunny. Not true. We had only one nice day of weather the whole week she was here....

Andrea arrived late Tuesday night. We had reservations at the marina until Thursday morning and an itinerary full of different islands, beaches, and snorkeling planned. Wednesday Andrea and I did some errands and hung out at the marina pool. We soon realized we probably weren't going anywhere soon though.

(Pic: Andrea and Lauren at the Eco Camps, Maho Bay)

The main headline in the Wednesday edition of the Daily News (the local newspaper) was"Big Waves to Pound Islands". The paper reported "meteorologists called it one of the largest swells to hit the region since 1991, the year of the 'Perfect Storm' of blockbuster movie fame." There was a gale warning in effect and a small craft advisory. So... we decided to try to stay in the marina for at least another day before leaving. We were lucky - the marina was completely booked but someone never showed so we got their slip for the night. Everything was crowded because it was Easter week and everyone felt the same way we did about being at sea - no way!

We ended up leaving Yacht Haven Grande on Friday morning. We saw some big swells - residual waves from the storm - and ended up going to Maho Bay, St. John since it was fairly close and protected.

We had a nice couple of days on the mooring. Andrea introduced Bill and me to Mancala - which has since become the new board game of choice these days...

On Saturday night we took a taxi to the other side of the island and went to the St. John Blues Festival which was fun.

Sunday we hung around and Andrea and I tried snorkeling but the visibility was just awful.

(Pic: Yacht Haven Grande)

On Monday we moved the boat to Watermelon Cay, St. John. The three of us snorkeled the Cay, and Andrea, who had never snorkeled before, enjoyed herself. She was OK with snorkeling because I assured her that there are no sharks (big sharks anyway) in the Caribbean. Well, about half way through our snorkel, Bill and I saw a huge (6 feet!!!!!!!!) nurse shark right there in the reef. Thankfully Andrea didn't see it and we didn't say anything until we were back on the boat so she wouldn't freak out. I actually wasn't sure it was a shark until Bill confirmed (he swam after it to get a better look.) Either way, it was scary to see something, anything in the water that is that big......

(Pic: Bill and Andrea during the sail back to St. Thomas in the rain)

Tuesday we sailed back to Yacht Haven in the pouring rain...We watched the replay of the Sox win in Japan and had drinks with friends. She left early (5:30 am!) this morning. And of course, today it is sunny, warm and beautiful weather.

We really enjoyed having Andrea here - despite the bad weather. It was nice to hang out and enjoy the boat. And since we didn't get to show her all that we wanted, she'll just have to come back for another visit.

Tomorrow Bill and I fly to DC for a week to take care of a few things so we'll be in phone range. Talk to everyone soon.


(Pic: Andrea and Bill playing Mancala)

(pic: Bill, Jason, Keith, Andrea at the Fat Turtle, St. Thomas)

Cruise ships and mega yachts

Well, we will be leaving Yacht Haven Grande marina tomorrow morning. It has been nice having email and chatting with everyone. This really is a cool marina. Like I said, there are some crazy huge mega yachts. The amount of wealth is unfathomable (and a little sick). These boats have crews of 9, 10, 11 and more. We have seen yachts with helicopters on the top decks, sailboats in the "garages" and other simply CRAZY stuff.

Instead of the dinghy dock, we are on the fuel dock for this stay -- which is right next to the cruise ships .There are usually two or three a day. Actually, the ship we were on last year when we went on a cruise with Joe and Nancy docked right here. Bill took this picture yesterday. Puts things in perspective....

Anyway, we are off to St. John for a few days and then to St. Croix to see Kerry and Trent and their new baby Abigail Mary before Andrea gets here March 18th.

Talk to everyone soon.
Lauren and Bill

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

St. Thomas / St. John

Well, I arrived in St. Thomas on Wednesday the 6th and was welcomed by beautiful sunshine, amazing roses, and great friends -- Al and Corinne Wickel! It was so nice to be back on the boat.

We hung around the marina (Yacht Haven Grande) for the night and met some of the people that Bill has befriended over the past couple of weeks.



On Thursday, we left the marina and went to Maho Bay in St. John. We got a mooring and went snorkeling and had a great night. Friday we went to Watermelon Bay in St. John and did some of the coolest snorkeling! We saw a baracuda, lots of different types of coral, and literally hundreds of beautiful fish of all sorts. Amazing. We took lots of pictures with an underwater camera, so hopefully they will come out.

Al and Corinne's visit

Here is a picture of Bill, Corinne, and Patrick taken by Al (Wick). Corinne and Wick flew into St. thomas yesterday to spend some time on the Mary Elizabeth. Today they are watching the Superbowl (go Pats!) with Amy and John who are graciously hosting.

Three days and counting.....

Pictures....

Here are links to our photo albums on the web from the beginning of our journey before we started the blog.

• Bon Voyage Party October 2007
• Preparations for the Caribbean 1500 in Hampton, VA Nov 2007
• BVI Thanksgiving 2007
• St. Thomas, New Years 2008
• Al and Corinne's Visit Feb 2008