On 23 November, a good weather window and an ok wind direction were forcasted, so we left Bonaire and set sail for the US Virgin Islands. It didn't take more than a couple of hours before we got more wind and a rather powerful "squall" ⛈️ (lots of rain and wind, important to reduce sail before it hits). The wind direction was also not as expected.
We had a rather rough trip with many squalls, lightning, higher waves and a wind direction that took us more to the north than desired. On top of it all, we were both quite nauseous, no vomiting but close to 🤢.
After nearly 2 days with little sleep and little food (Monica only ate some dry biscuits and small sips of water, Kai forced himself a little more food), things calmed down a bit and we decided to sail towards Puerto Rico instead of "fighting" against wind and waves.
After 3 days we arrived on the south side of Puerto Rico, and anchored in Ponce Harbor 😊.
After calling "Customs and Border Protection" in San Juan, emailing in boat papers and visas (USA), we were told to stay on the boat until Monday morning and then contact local "CBP" for check-in.
It was perfectly fine to relax on the boat after that voyage 😃.
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We took the dinghy in to customs Monday morning and got checked in. It was a bit strange procedure as this time we didn't get any papers or stamp in the passport. We eventually received a confirmation email that said we were checked in and also with a "Cruising permit" (sailing permit) in US waters. So everything is fine then 😏.
On Tuesday, we took a trip into town center together with friends from a Dutch boat (Elvira and Herco from "Morgan of Sark)" which anchored on Sunday.
There was a lot of great street art and also Christmas decorations "everywhere", but otherwise "everything" looked closed.
We were surprised when we saw a large nativity scene without the baby Jesus, but were told that the nativity scene is without the baby Jesus until the 24th of December, then there is a party in the evening since Jesus was born on that day and on the 25th the baby is placed in the manger.
We had a pleasant evening with Elvira and Herco (Morgan of Sark) and new acquaintances on board a catamaran in the harbour, where we all brought food to share and we played a fun game. Lots of laughter and fun 😃
As earlier mentioned, sailing is 50% repair and replacement. We had wondered for a few days whether the batteries were starting to deteriorate, and it turned out that most were completely "empty", so then it was time to find a supplier of boat batteries. We got a local tip and found a supplier in Ponce, "Batteries & Bulbs" - with an incredibly service-minded lady 👍.
We got a berth in the marina, batteries were ordered and Kai set about getting the old ones out - not easy, but it worked.
The next day, new batteries were delivered and Kai started the job of installing.
Handyman 👍😃
In the evening there was a Christmas parade with decorated boats in the harbor - according to a Puerto Rican, Puerto Rico has the "world's longest" Christmas celebration 🤷. There are parties and parades from 3rd of December.
We sailed (motor) out to Isla Caja De Muertos (Coffin Island), where we could finally swim again, lovely 😃. The island is abandoned after destruction from hurricanes and earthquakes, but it is a popular meeting place and bathing place for boat and watercraft people from the city. We tried a walk towards the Lighthouse, but the path was overgrown with cacti and thorn bushes, so we climbed another peak instead, a new "Papaki excursion" 🤷♀️😃.
After two nights here, one of which was very rrolly due to lots of waves, we sailed on to Salinas. On the way we got 3 barracudas that we released again due to the risk of ciguatera (a bacteria they can carry with them) and a forth one who managed to break free.
The next day we joined Elvira and Herco for a drive up into the mountains, to "Ala de la Piedra", where we took a walk and a bath in a pool of cold "mountain" water 🥶.
In Salinas we rented a car for 2 days and visited beautiful San Juan on the first day. The old town has 3 forts, El Morro, La Fortaleza and El Castillo San Christobal.
La Fortaleza was built in the 16th century to protect San Juan's port, unlike El Morro which was supposed to protect the entrance to the port.
La Fortaleza is also known as the Palacio de Santa Catalina and is the official residence of Puerto Rico's governor.
The houses in San Juan are colorful and it gives the impression of a "happy" city.
"The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista" began construction in 1521 and is the second oldest cathedral in the American continent, the oldest being in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.
We saw parts of the old town in the few hours we strolled around, but there is much more to see and we will probably return on our trip west towards the Dominican Republic.
The next day we drove towards El Yunque National Forrest, a national park. There, Kai managed to talk us in - it was actually necessary to make a reservation in advance, but he said "we are from Norway and sailed into Puerto Rico 2 days ago and have rented a car...", so the guard said ok, drive in 😏🤷♀️.
We had a nice trip of 2.5 hours and 8.7 km on nice trails, first up Mt. Britton and then we went towards El Yunque Peak, but here the trail was closed due to damage from hurricanes, so we went to Los Picasho instead. It wasn't as high, but it was a nice view and a great trip too 😃.
We sailed further east, new anchorage in Patillas. We stayed there for 2 nights with Sy "O" before sailing (motoring), all the way to Culebra. We had headwind the whole way.
On the way to Culebra, Kai caught 2 Spanish Mackarel, which we kept, and a Barracuda that was thrown out again. "The Mackarel" is safe to eat (under 10 kg) so there was enough there to several good dinners, it tasted very good.
We stopped at Cayo Santiago ("Monkey Island"), but could only take the dinghy around the island as it was not allowed to go ashore.
According to info found on the Boating app, "The Caribbean Primate Research Center maintains a monkey colony for experimental purposes on the island; no visitors are permitted" 😏😢
We arrived Culebra after dark and we just anchored, cooked dinner and went to bed.
The next day we took the dinghy into town and looked around a bit.
One day we walked north to Flamenco Beach with SY Morgan of Sark and SY "O". It was about 4 km each way and it was lovely to have a bath there, but with a red flag due to the current and waves we stayed close to the beach.
On the beach there is Flamenco's most iconic attraction "The Tank", an old tank, which is a memory from the time the US navy occupied Culebra. Of course we took a picture from there 😏, and this became our digital Christmas card.
Together with Herco and Elvira on "Morgan of Sark", we sailed, motor-sailed, to St. Thomas. We had a lot of waves along the way, but Kai got 5 fishes - 2 small tuna, 1 Mahi Mahi and 2 Spanish Mackerel, the last two were released as we already had one in the fridge 😉.
We had different versions of fish dinner for several days. We had fried fish, pasta, sashimi and tuna tartare. When the tartar was served, we had Elvira and Herco (Morgan of Sark) visiting, a very pleasant evening.
We strolled around Charlotte-Amalie (the "capital" of St. Thomas) the day after our arrival. This was a Sunday and most were closed, but we caught the end of a service where the audience applauded👍
Monday morning, a weekday, and in addition a cruise ship arrived, meaning that "all" shops in Main street are open. There are mostly jewelery and brand shops and they are very focused on the cruisepassengers, so us sailors are not quite the target group 😂. No trading on us.
Together with Elvira we strolled around a bit and we visited a synagogue, the second oldest in the Western world. We heard some history and she showed us an oil lamp. This was 400 years old, and it together with 2 Toras have survived 2 big fires here due to some brave souls ran in and saved them 😮.
After a small harbour"crash" in Ponce, where we had the outer tube of the steelconstruction for the Hydrovane bent, we had it repaired here on St. Thomas. A steel workshop was able to straighten the pipe, so there was a lot of money and time saved compared to having parts sent from Canada 👍.
We tried one day to move to a bay with nice clear water and a beach, but it was impossible to get a good hold with the anchor, so we gave up.
Instead it became quite a rolling anchorage for a night before we moved back to Long Bay in St. Thomas Harbour.
The day before Elvira and Herco were to sail back to Culebra, we took a trip around the eastern part of St. Thomas. First we took a taxi (all buses were full due to cruise ship passengers) to Coki Beach where we swam in crystal clear water, before driving on to Red Hook and a long, hot walk to Budget Marine. While we were waiting for "The dollar bus" (price is one dollar), we ate lunch. It was baguettes and cold cuts bought in the grocery shop and consumed at the bus stop 😃.
"The Dollar bus" was a fun experience, very local. 😃
After Elvira and Herco left for on 23 Dec. , we strolled up to Paradise Point. It was a hot and steep hike, but the view from up there was great.
On Christmas Eve, Kai made Christmas dinner (almost ), it was pork chops (not ribs), sausage and meatballs with potatoes, carrots and "sauerkraut" (which cannot be compared to the Norwegian one and not very good either, ref. Monica) - that and a Christmas movie on PC was a very nice evening.
Due to a lot of wind and waves, we postponed our departure until the 27th. Then we motor sailed in rather "bumpy" seas to Christmas Cove on Great St. James.
Here they have their own boat "Pizza-Pi" , which makes and sells pizza on order to the boats in the bay 👍😃. So then it had to be pizza for dinner.
Here we could again swim and snorkel in lovely, clear water and we saw many fishes that we recognized - Angel fish, Sergeant Major, Doctor fish, Blue Tang, Yellowhead Wrasse, Bluehead Wrasse, Porcupine fish, a "Spotted" moray eel, several Sting rays and lots of big starfish 😃.
We also saw a "ray" that jumped 😮, previously we have only heard the splash. It was an "Eagle spotted ray" - we saw it coming towards us underwater after the jump before it swam away 😍.
We had heard that someone had seen a "Nurse Shark" and on the last day we snorkeled we met one that ravaged the corals, it was at least 2 m long👍. It was startled when we suddenly appeared, looked at us and swam away 😃.
New Year's Eve was a quiet evening, we ate well and toasted the new year, but we didn't actually see a single rocket. We know there were parties on land (it was advertised), so perhaps fireworks are not allowed here 🤷.
Now we sail on to St. John.
Happy New Year to all of you who "bother" to read.
On 2 January 2023 we motor-sailed (again against the wind) to Coral Harbor on St. John.
Here there were a few cruisers, but most of the boats (the ones with people on them) were on buoys, long-term.
After several days without access to grocery stores, we had to go to the store when we got here.
We talk about food being expensive in Norway, but here, too, it is extremely expensive in our eyes. Ok that everything has to be imported, but 10 USD (approx. NOK 100) for a packet of cereal, e.g. Raisin Brand or Corn Flakes (Kelloggs) and 8 USD (approx. NOK 80) for a bag of 3 small Romano lettuce, is, as far as we know, much more expensive than at home. 😏.
Otherwise, it was a very "laid back" atmosphere and we found a cool bar/restaurant, The Skinny Legs, which had lots of visitors and good burgers.
One day we took a long, hot walk up the Johnny Horn/Brown Bay trail, a round trip of about 7 km, and the next day we took a local bus into Cruz Bay to check out. The bus trip was a "scary" experience 😮 - back home in Norway the driver would have been fired after the first trip. He was driving way too fast on narrow winding roads with no regard for either passengers or vehicles - glad when we could get off the bus, phew....
Check-in and check-out is a mystery here. There is different information depending on who you talk to where 🤷♀️.
When we checked in in Puerto Rico (US) they said we had to check out when we left the US, but we still had to check in at St. Thomas, USVI (US Virgin Island)), while in Cruz Bay, St. John ( USVI) we were told that we did not need to check out when we were going to BVI (British Virgin Island)😏.
So now we're leaving USVI and we'll see what information we get when we get to BVI 😃.
Monica og Kai Robert
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