Good evening. Sitting on St. John high over Coral Bay. Arrived yesterday from West End after 8 days chartering a very nice 45’ cat from TMM (will give Lin and Barney a plug here…this is probably my 20th charter and maybe my 12th with TMM. Just an excellent company, and the boat this time was flawless).
Spent the first night at Maria’s By The Sea. The boat checkout on Friday was seamless and the provisioning at Riteway was great. It’s also nice to have the small RW next to the TMM base at Ft. Burt for the last minute stuff. Got underway around 12:30 or so. Winds 22 knots right on our nose, and it was a very bumpy ride up to North Sound. Had 3 newbies on board, and I’m sure they were questioning their decision to make the trip. First night at Saba Rock. Wind howling over Eustasia Reef all night. I have not been to Saba since they reopened, and the new bar is fantastic. 5 boats there; probably 20 or so off Bitter End.
Day 2: Sailed under a 3/4 genoa close hauled to Anegada. Made almost 7 knots. Probably 5’ seas. Anchored near the old Neptunes and got a truck from Dean Wheatley. Spent the afternoon shooting the breeze with Belle at Cow Wreck and tending bar. 13 boats in the anchorage. Very quiet.
Day 3: Spent the day on Anegada. Loblolly in the morning with great snorkeling then Cow Wreck again in the afternoon. Dinner at a great new place….Sid’s at Pomato Point. (Dean’s brother). Outstanding. The lobster pasta was incredible. 20 boats in the anchorage on Sunday night. Still very windy. New moon and incredible stars.
Day 4. Long sail to Great Dog for lunch. Made almost 9 knots on a broad reach. Some decent snorkeling on the west side of Great Dog. Interesting that the 40 ft. monohull beside us got back winded, and would’ve crashed into us if we hadn’t put out fenders just in time. I’ve not experienced that before, but if you go to that National Park anchorage on the west side of Great Dog, be extremely careful and observant. Did a fly-by of The Baths on our sail to Salt Island. Dropped the hook, hiked up to the aviation light at the top of the hill for a great view of the channel. Really beautiful and worth the effort. Spent the night on the anchor at Salt.
Day 5. Sailed to the Caves at Norman Island for lunch and some snorkeling, the sailed to Cane Garden Bay for the night. Caught a ball ( 3 foot swell, not bad at all) and had dinner at Myett’s. Great food and music.
Day 6: Lazy morning. Did some sailing back towards West End and then up to Green Cay for the night. Again, 20 plus knots of wind from about 65 degrees. Temps 77 or so. Anchored at Green Cay with three other boats, got painkillers at Foxy’s Taboo while some of the crew went over to Sandy Spit. Very windy over the bow. Fairly rolly all night on the anchor.
Day 7: Dropped one of the crew off at Great Harbor to catch the ferry, then motored over to White Bay and anchored outside Ivan’s for the afternoon. Totally uncrowded on that end of the bay, although the west end of the bay off Soggy Dollar looked pretty packed as usual. Ended up back at Diamond Cay on a ball for the night. I have never overnighted there, but it was lovely.
Day 8. Up early, motored into the wind to Monkey Point for lunch; spent two hours there eating lunch and snorkeling, then sailed and motored up to Leverick Bay for the barbecue and Mocko Jumbies. A wonderful meal and evening. Very few boats there; probably 10 or so. Really the only night we could enjoy being up on the fly bridge for drinks with moderate breezes.
Day 9: Up early again in a pretty good rain and motored back to Roadtown for the checkout in 4-5 ft swells and showers. Lunch at Pusser’s at WE then the ferry to STJ.
Overall impression was it was a bit cooler and windier with bigger seas than in many previous trips this time of year. Definitely fewer boats (except at Great Harbor and Manchioneel Bay); in some places like Leverick, Saba, and CGB, signficantly fewer. Not sure why, but it was nice to not have to be so packed in.
St. John seems very crowded as someone else has noted. Ferries were very expensive, and they’ve upped the fees for luggage. Will investigate flying into Beef Island next time from San Juan.
Doc
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