Departing St. Thomas we had a nice day trip to Culebra, one of the Spanish Virgin Islands and part of Puerto Rico.
As you can see it was a beautiful day, these are outlying islands round St. Thomas.
Culebra in the near distance with Puerto Rico behind.
Culebra Harbour after we anchored.
We then walked out to the airport and cleared in. On that day it was closed.
Our next stop was in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. These islands belong to Denmark until 1916 when they were sold to the USA. I wonder if they now regret that but at the time the economics, complications with WW 1 and security issues led to the sale.
The town is named after the queen of Denmark.
Colonial architecture still features.
The Danes used it as a trading post so warehouses feature.
Banks of course.
A market.
The bank in detail.
The town from seaward.
It can be fun.
On the 22nd April 2015 we sailed from Longboat Key Moorings. Here is a summary of the last year:
Distance: 13007 Nautical Miles
Main Engine Hours: 1605
It has been a busy and fascinating year. We both think travelling up the ICW from Charleston to Portsmouth was the highlight.
Partly the easy cruising in sheltered water but mostly the fun we had meeting other cruisers as went along. Friendly, helpful and always ready for a laugh.
Beautiful spots as well.
Travelling up the Hudson was also great and we were disappointed we didn’t have the time to go further.
Visiting friends in Faeroe Islands
NW Spain with its history and long association with the sea.
Beautiful Porto.
Lisbon with its rich sea-faring history.
The Rock.
Denia to visit friends.
The Atlantic crossing.
Now we are heading up the Caribbean Islands toward Florida. That will complete a clock wise Atlantic loop.
Then south to Panama, the canal, the west coast up to Dana Point where Nordhavn are based. Then across to Hawaii, down through the Pacific Islands and back to New Zealand.
In Anguilla, considering the similar age and state possibly the result of a hurricane. They were also both on the same side of the bay, driven ashore.
This is the island well to do Pirates get marooned on:
We anchored here for the night but didn’t go ashore. Some of our neighbours:
This one is owned by the guy I think runs the sugar factory in Auckland, never knew there was so much money in sugar.
The yacht ‘A’:
Our anchorage for the night
Rounding the top of St. Kitts looking north toward St Eustatius and in the background, Saba.
Sailing north from Basseterre we passed Brimstone Hill Fortress. There’s been cannon on this hill from the 1690s to defend the town below. The fort itself dates from the 1800s. It is a world Heritage site.
A very commanding site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brimstone_Hill_Fortress_National_Park
We returned to Kapowai after lunch and had a rest before going for a swim. I wandered out side and looked aft, funny, that tender downwind looks just like ours. Quick look aft, no tender, it is ours!!
Quickest way to get it was launch the kayak. My brother was the last to use and he said to me before he left to check the lashings. I wish I had, it wasn’t lashed so much as laced to the rails. It took ages to unlace it and throw it in the water. Lois was aft and she started putting the seats in. I helped and we pushed off paddling to catch up.
The kayak was terrible, the swell was making it roll and it was yawing all over the place. But with some steady work we caught the tender, jumped aboard and towed the kayak back to Kapowai.
Only then did we realise we had put the seats in the kayak back to front and we had actually been paddling stern first, poor performance explained. Good exercise though and it was straight in for a swim after that.
