Living in St Thomas

    Well it was over due to update my blog!
So here we go. :)
We are adjusting to the new life. Our first experience in town was disappointing,we walked through a bad neighborhood just across  the street from Yacht haven grande marina. It's more city life here on the island,unless you are at the resorts.
The groceries are really expensive and it's hard to find certain things your use to.
    My dental hygiene job is going good. We take the dingy to shore,its about 15 minutes. Then I walk about a half mile through town to work and then back at the end of the day. It's faster then taking our truck through town. I setup at bad ass coffee and get my chai frap,delicious.
     Yacht haven has shot of free activities. I do zumba on today night's after work there and tuesdays at crown bay Marina. Crown bay is only 1 mile from us by dingy.
     We are in Honeymoon bay on  Water island, it has a nice beach, two beach resturaunts. It mostly has locals from the island and cruisers. Chopper had become a water living dog. He knows how to keep cool. We swim him our dingy over to a little beach spot to potty.
     Last weekend -the beginning of May was Carnival-it weren't for two weeks.All kinds of things going on. I went to the children's parade on Friday to see a friend's girls twirling batton. Greg and I went Saturday and stayed a few hours to see a couple of the girls I work with in the parade.
We are adjusting to living fugitive on the boat, it's normal now. Greg just repaired the fresh water pump and we had to trace the water maker membrane when we got here.That was a hit in price, but alkyl is good now.
    Greg had a captains job working for Top Sails on a sailboat called Dancing Dolphins. He will start that regularly in a week or so. He will be taking tourist and people from the cruise ships out to the various spots around.He had been going out the past few weeks and seems to like it.

    

Brewers bay

Well the weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we found out  the proper way to talk to people here is to say good morning ,good afternoon or good evening never hello or hi' 

There's a lot of cruise ships in long  bay and  I never thought I would hate to see cruise ships,but i do now.  Long bay near Yacht haven grande is  were we have been because it is closer to my job. Its really close to Charlotte Amalie.is really load, city like, too many ambulance noises and police sirens.Nir what we expected to be "paradise"

SO we've moved around a couple times to try to find the right ispot. you may be able to rent a mooring ball. We tried Brewers bay on  Friday, which is close to the airport. The beach is gorgeous and the water is crystal clear. We clean the boat today took chopper swimming a we're just trying to figure out the right spot that's not quite so noisy but still give us the best of paradise we need to find a place to leave the truck overnight as well as and then you dog you know simple things but I could pee. Complicated when you only have one vehicle we should be able to take the the vehicle up on Wednesday nd walked along the beach met some locals and also some cruisers got some good information

Good bye St Croix,hello St Thomas

     We had a great time with our son and daughter in law this past week. We had beach time with shell collecting, snorkeling, even spotted a large iguana. He was about 2 to 3 feet long, the guys on the beach said they saw a 6 foot iguana. I am just glad the 6 foot didn't want to try and eat choper when I had him tied up in the shade!
     We did a walk through a mini rainforest. Greg said it was only the first layer of canopy compared to Panama's 3 layers of canopy. Chopper tried to make friends with a horse. We rented a stand up paddle board. I was thinking it would be nice for the boat, but Greg didn't like it, to much balancing needed and you can't carry anything on it. Maybe an inflatable kayak?I saw a picture of a clear bottom kayak in St Croix,that may be cool.
     The kids enjoyed the snorkeling and Tanya found some nice shells and things to bring back for her class.
The chickens run wild in St croix, some people think of them as rats. The guy from the rental car place says as a kid they would catch then to eat, but the kids now don't bother with them.
     We went to a cruzan rum tasting on the beach. Andre',Tanya and Greg enjoyed it. I was driving so none for me.  I was the driver all week because Greg forgot his license when we went to get the rental car.  I think our blood pressure is high now since I had to drive on the left side of the road. I only got mixed up 2 times. Ahhh. Between the stress of driving on the left, Greg yelling and seeing his life flash before him,we did survive.

     Greg had to cut his hair, twice to get it right, stil not right ,they shaved him. He had to go to the guard unit in St croix to let them know he was here and will start drilling.  I do miss the long hair. 

We left for St Thomas yesterday after dropping the kids off at the airport to head back to the frozen tundra of Potsdam NY. 

Not a bad sail over ,other than a large ship not seeing us and coming a 1/4 a mile in front of us after his adjustment of course. Greg had been trying to hail him on the vhf and I was shining the large flash light at them and on the sails. Greg had to alter course and slow down once we realized where his stern was and that he was going to pass in front of us. Greg wanted to avoid hours wake.   They finally responded after passing bye with an apology, they were on a shift change when he noticed us. You've got to be on your toes at night. We also saw a few squalls on the radar, one disapated and just some rain with 20 knots of gusts.we had 2 reefs in the sails so we were good. 

So we are in St Thomas, I have a working interview wed. Life is good.  God had blessed us. 

Andre' and Tanya trying out the snorkels the first day

A walk in the rain forest

Greg teaching Andre' to drive the dingy

Greg on the sup

Greg's new hair

Chopper and the horse

SUNRISE IN ST THOMAS

St Thomas

We're here! Christiansted, St Criix,Gallows bay 2/12/15

We made it! It was a smooth sail over mostly downwind.  Dolphins welcomed us as we were coming in.  A little overcast today, but still hot.  We anchored and as Greg was getting the dingy ready we saw a guy on a horse in the water?  He must have been exercising or coolling him off. He then took another in the same way, interesting. Well we will be here while the kids come and visit and we repair soft. Then it's of to St.Thomas where I have a working interview. So St. Thomas may be home, we'll see.
Cheers!

To Vieques- a Spanish Vigin island,but US territory , 2/11/15

Greg was telling me the navy used this island as a target range until protesters stood on the beach. There are areas that are still restricted because of the unexploded ordinances!

Vieques in sight, high seas today, some 6foot waves, gusts up to 22 knots. Tomorrow's trip 

 St Croix only 48 miles away

Old military building, this side was off limits

Puerto Ferro Anchorage in Barracuda bay, nice area,. No bombs :) is actually an animal refuge. Chopper and I swam to shore

Chopper  napping on my head on the way over

Isla Caja de Muertos, translated Island box of the dead-Coffin Island, 2/8/15

The swells were high today coming from Puerto Real, so we decided to turn back a little ways and stay at Coffin Island. See the hill looks like a Coffin. We did take the dingy over and swam a little and walked on the beach while chopper explored. There is a light house and a trail to walk up to it, but we were just beat and I was still sea sick. The next morning we planned to go to Marina de Salinas.

Puerto Rico coastline,back in US territory! 2/7/15

Greg at the sails

Greg's well deserved nap,chopper never pulls watch, he just sleeps when ever he can. 

I am watching out for coral,fishing boys and enjoying the fresh air street being sea sick.

PR coastline,we landed in Puerto Real early in the morning and anchoraged. Thank God for the SVRS,small vessel reporting system ,we just called customs from the boat to clear, NICE! Like using our nexus card in NY.

Light house

Resort area

From the DR thru the Mona passage to PR, 2/4/15

It was a rough 3 day trip along the rugged coast of the Dominican Republic, thru the Mona passage to Puerto Rico. Fighting the Equatorial current, the hour glass shoals of the tip,swells and gusts.  

A line of storms

Trying to squeeze through the squalls

Sunday Feb. 1, at Ocean World

We had a wonderful time swimming with the dolphins, feeding the love birds and watching the seals. A must see if you go to the Dominican Republic.

The Dolphins are pushing our feet to shoot us out of the water, Amazing!

Here is Greg, he got up high

Charcos De Damajagua- 27 waterfalls in the DR, Dominican Republic

   We took at taxi into town, there were two guys, we thought one was a translator but he just wanted to give us " a tour of the town". We declined and was able to use the excuse we had already set up a trip to see the 27 waterfalls and had to be back in an hour. He seemed upset that the marina set it up and said something in Spanish to the driver. All we could make out was "Mafia". Oh boy! He then got out at the next stop.  

    We brought chopper with us in the taxi, everyone seems to love him.  He's a good icebreaker, and even if they are unsure of dogs,  chopper is so loving that he wins then over. 

     The ride through town was an eye opener,  poor areas.  The school children wear uniforms, which is nice. I wish people who say we have poor in America could see this! I also saw lots of skinny dogs on the sides of the road.  Breaks my heart. 

    So while Greg was in the bank,I  stood outside by the door, I had no money so when a little shoe shine boy came up I had nothing to give him.  He did pet Chopper and giggle. I felt bad but Greg said they have adults that send them out then they have to give the money to them. Wish I had candy at least.  Also interesting was when the armored truck pulled up and three shotgun carrying officer's stepped out. One stayed by the truck, one on the corner and one escorted the guy carrying the money bag.   

     Greg had no luck in the bank, they want your paper passport to stamp. We have passport cards, but they won't take. 

     No luck getting line at the marina store either.  They only had 96ft and we needed 140ft. 

     Almost everyone rides a motorcycle,  scooter or a motor taxi. I watched them come and go, ladies would sit on the back with a baby or little child, NO helmet and take off!  Good gracious! They so in and out of traffic!

     So all in all waisted trip and money. Except for the cultural experience. I also saw a pretty nice church across from the bank. See picture. 

     The highlight of the day was the 27 waterfalls. Not for lazy people!  It was about 30 minutes hike up the mountain,up stairs and trails. Then back down via the waterfalls, jumping or sliding down ,it was awesome! A must see!

sat. Dec. 31st,we are sitting here in the DR due to weather.  We have to wait until wed. To leave, then we plan on sailing straight to Puerto Rico which will take about 46 hrs? Here are some pictures at the marina in ocean city, nice marina. We may go to Ocean world tomorrow, the marina gives you a discount. It's like sea world.  I want to swim with the dolphins. There is a large bubble ball you can get in and run on the water. I want to try this too.Greg didn't seem interested. :o 

The marina

The casino and ocean world 

Down town

Driving down town

The church

Made it to the Dominican Republic

It was another rough sail overnight, there were some unexpected squalls so it made it interesting. It really wasn't too bad, just kept us on our toes. There was lightening in the distance, but was a head of us. We are near Puerto Plata at Ocean city Marina. There is a casino here, but its under construction, we weren't really interested anyway. We had a burger and fajitas at the restaurant, not bad.
Hopefully the marine store will have the halyard line we are looking for.
We are hoping to go to the water falls tomorrow, there are 27 and you can slide down. It depends on the weather. Customs was very easy and they are real nice here. Good to be in tied up tonight since there are thunderstorms tomorrow. There are mountains all around, its really beautiful here.
We are making it happen! 

Turks and Caicos

     Well after a daunting 2 day and one rough night sail from Long Island Bahamas, we arrived in Turks and Caicos approximately 5:15 pm on Sat.  We found an anchorage in nice sand on the east of West Caicos island that is uninhabited island southwest of Providenciales.  More repairs to do after that sail, the wind and waves were up and it made for a rough night on the sea with no moon light. A part of the sheath on the main halyard came off exposing the core , the traveler sheet broke, and the port battery wasn't charging.  Greg promised we won't beat upwind at night again, too scary. We didn't sleep much and I was horribly nauseated. The next morning we headed to Long Bay and cleared customs at Caicos Marina and shipyard. The customs officers where nice, although it was overtime for them since it was a Saturday. $65 for our stay , and $15 for the customs office, and you have to clear to leave, that was another $50 today, ahh! But thats less than the cruising permit. One of the policeman really liked Greg , he made a connection with him since he was a Sargent. We decided to stay at the marina since it was only $1.05 a foot, best we have seen yet. We haven't stayed at a marina since Port Lucaya near Freeport Bahamas after we crossed the ocean.
     There is only one Marine Store on the Island, and they did not have any line for sailboats, so we have to make due. There is a little ship's store at the marina and have more than any other place we have found since we hit the Bahamas.  Greg was able to rig the traveler with some line and moved the main to the winch on the mast. But that means he has to go out there to raise and lower it. Not a great option in nasty weather. Greg was also able to charge the port battery with the house batteries. So he has saved us a lot of repair cost. We also found on docking that the starboard engine didn't want to respond in reverse, great, right. When we checked the gear oil, it had to be filled, not a good sign because we did regular maintenance and filled all fluids prior to leaving Hilton Head, S.C. So far no leaks, so we will see. The marina here has 3 dogs running around and one of the guys said they have been here since they were puppies, I petted  one briefly. Greg proceeded to tell me about someone in Afghanistan who petted a stray and later died from rabies. Oh my God, I pray to you I don't die from rabies. They have no rabies on the island, so hopefully I will be ok. :}
     The Island is much more built up and has more stores, a real grocery store, IGA, not a Wegmans though. They have a Do It Center, kinda like a Home Depot. The first night we rented a car and went to dinner at the Tiki Hut in Grace Bay, that was nice. It was the first time we have eaten out since we left S.C.
Yesterday we went scuba diving off shore. It was a shallow dive about 25 to 30 feet, but I needed the refresher. I saw 2 lobster, blue tang, rainbow fish, a little squid, eel and some others I don't know. We were the only 2 diving at that time. Curtis who was our guide is originally from Canada and had spent a year in Austraila on a work visa, young kid and very nice. Then we had dinner at the resort, a little restaurant on the beach with some Island music. One of the members of the band was playing a hand saw, yes a saw. Its popular here apparently and interesting.
    We are taking off to the Dominican Republic tomorrow.
    

Jan 20th, 2015

We made it to Clarence Town on Long Island approx 2:30 pm on Monday the 20th. We anchored and immediately set out in the dingy to snorkel Dean's blue hole about 3 miles away. There is a  tight spot to get to it between the reefs. Well we found it fairly quickly, and came on the reef which was flat. Greg turned off the motor as not to damage it, and the we were ready to step out and pull the dingy further to shore. As I turned back to look at Greg, I noticed a large wave coming at us behind and above his head.  Greg turned and looked, but it came upon us so fast and forcefull that it turned the dingy sideways and rolled us. Luckily chopper had his lifevest on and faired well. I only scrapped my knees on the coral and Greg had no bodily damage. The motor on the otherhand was upside down in the water and our belongings were floating away. We managed to retrieve most of our stuff except the paddles, my fin and the anchor. We swam to shore where two very sweet young ladies offered help. Nerissa called her father and he came to our rescue to put the dingy in his truck and they transported our motor to a nearby friend to have it checked out. Greg snorkeled back and found 1 1/2 paddles, and my fin came to shore. We didn't make it to the blue hole that day. Walked past it but now we were here for another day regardless.

Jan. 19^th

We sailed to Conception Island and arrived around 4pm, mostly a down wind. We flew the spinnaker most of the time, except when the sock gave Greg some difficulty. We had to rethread the line through, it kept getting tangled. For our non sailing friends, the sock is material that can be pulled over the spinnaker for an easier handling when bringing it up and down, when it works. LOL

Conception Island is an uninhabited island and its off by its own, the closest island to it is Rum Cay. The Island is land park under the protection of The Bahamas Nation Trust. It’s a watering place and sanctuary for migratory birds, beautiful beaches, reefs and a site for green turtle nesting. We took a walk on the beach after swimming ashore with chopper. I forgot to bring the camera, Arrrg!

It was good holding in a nice sandy bottom, there are some reefs, but theree in the deeper areas. The books and navionics has the anchor sites labled nice. We had a northeast wind so that area was the best protection.

I found some interesting shells, Greg found a sand dollar on diving, I looked at it for a while but put it back in the water. It was still alive, I don’t mind finding the dead ones on the beach. We walked to the eastern side of the island, not very far at all. It was even more gorgeous with the waves hitting the reef that surrounds most of the island.  There was an area between the rocks that almost looked like a perfect boat launch. It was a good area to sit in while the waves crashed in, it made a nice jacuzzi area.

The next stop is Long Island at 47 miles to Clarence town, there is a sink hole there called Deans hole. Its approximately 630 feet deep. We should be there about 3:30 today to snorkel it. YEAH!

Cat Island is beautiful

We are anchored in Cat Island just past Alligator point after a slow motor sail beating into the light wind. No alligators to be seen. :}  We were more exposed to the open seas today.
The sea swells where large, very large and at times seemed as high as the boat, but she just sailed right over them. The weather has gotten slightly cold, in the high 70's today, but with the winds, it was chilly at times.
We entered the area in caution, I kept watch for rocks in the swedish chair on the bow. Tons and tons of coral reefs surround these islands as well as partially submerged rocks, keeps you on your toes. We anchored in an area suggested by Active Captain and Navionics, great holding in the sand.  There is a nice simple resort here with seperate housing with paths right to the beach, ahh the life.
Chopper and I took a swim to the beach after we anchored at 5pm today. This is the most beautiful beach we have seen since being in the Bahamas. I picked up a few small shells while chopper left some dna in the bushes, then we swam back to the boat where Greg was tidying up. Its was a good workout after being on the boat for a few days, its always a feat to keep the boston terrier off your head, he thinks he's a drowning victim at times. Greg lets him ride on his back, I couldn't get the hang of it and felt like a drowning victim myself. Chopper does enjoy his trips to shore.
We will take off early in the morning again to head toward Rum Cay depending on the winds. Sail we must!

Made it to the end of Eleuthera Island finally

We departed Hatchet Bay , where there was suppose to be a cave, but no time to check it out since we where in Spanish Wells for so long waiting for a part that never arrived. We left at 6 am and sailed today with high waves and good winds. As we were headed out of Hatchet Bay, there were many small buoys to avoid, they seemed to be in a line on both sides of us, possibly lobster traps. We did find the end of Eleuthera Island, which is 110 miles long Woohoo! Greg said its the Texas of the Bahamas. We crossed Texas on our way to California many years ago, and it took forever it seemed.  I did see some flying fish and was able to video tape them, but I haven't seen dolphins since we entered Spanish Wells.
The cruising guides nor the Explorer charts say much about Red roof area here near Bannerman town. There are a few cute red roofed buildings painted with bright colors on the sides and it looks like they have started a little resort with kayaks, paddle boats and lots of blue beach chairs.( pictures to follow later when we have good internet)
We arrived about around 4pm , but there wasn't a soul on the beach or anywhere to be seen, odd for a Saturday. There is a small dock area, which we could not dock at, we just entered and Greg did a nice U turn and we decided to anchor outside. The water is pristine turquoise here. Greg dove the anchor to check the holding, its rocky around here, even though active captain had a suggested anchorage here. We found sand and we're holding, Greg says worse case, we drift out to sea, oh yeah. We have our anchor alarms set for tonight. It was a little to chilly for me to swim today, ha ha, it still in the 80's , but windy. Yes I need more heat, bring it on!
Tomorrow we set sail for Cat Island.

Moving along to Hatchet Bay further down south on Eleuthera

We finally left Spanish Wells, unfortunately without the part. It didn't arrive today, so Greg had the post office return to sender once it arrives. Everyone and I mean everyone is very friendly in Spanish Wells. Not many dogs around so Chopper got his just attention.
Andre' and Tanya will be coming to see us in St Croix on the 15th of Feb. so we need to get moving. There is a cut through the island called the Current Cut between Current Island and Eleurthera . I was having a slight panic attack reading about the entrance, strong current , rocks, breakers, and its narrow. But luckily Greg got us through it, he assured me it would be fine, the wind was at our back and the current was with us, so we went through it like butter.  The water looked even clearer on this side of the islands, much more turquoise. Still hoping we get to a nice spot to dive.  The snorkeling has been a little disappointing so far, spoiled from diving and snorkeling in the BVI's. Maybe we just are not far enough south yet, or not in the right places.

It was windy and wavy today, a cold front is moving in. We made it to Hatchet Bay tonight by 4:30 or so. There are free mooring balls here placed by the government, nice! I took a few pictures coming in to the channel , which was said to be 90 feet wide, well it didn't look like it. EEEK
We are getting more comfortable about mooring and anchoring. Greg has been doing the mooring balls, so I drive when he does that. He only had to come back once this time to help me steer. :}

So after a dinner of grouper, peas and sweet potatoes, we are doing fine.

.

Jan 21st, 2015 Tues.

     Well we found some damage to dingy on the underside from sliding it into the truck, nothing to bad and my handy husband had it patched up in a jiffy. Thanks to some sailing friends we met at Conception Island, they pulled our dingy back to the boat yesterday while the motor was being checked out. They even gave us some fresh mahi mahi they caught, a 90 lb one. I still have not managed to catch any fish! ahhh! So we gave them some ice and computer stuff for the help. We also met another sailing clan of 4 today of "True Delight", they were from Israel but with an american boat. They had tried to go to Cuba, but they were not allowed in because of the boat being purchased in America. They needed to borrow a jerry can for diesel and we had a large one for them to use.
So our motor was delivered back to us by the very sweet daughter and father. The have a family buisness that produces the Bahama calendar which he gave me several copies. We were very grateful for their help and reimbursed them for their time and good will. The motor worked fine at first, but didn't make it to the dock, so we will see. We need to change the gas, the guy who fixed it said there was no water in it. :}
     So we rented a jeep and took off for Dean's blue hole. Well it was fantastic, a must see if you are ever here! Just go by land. Its beautiful, a little erie at first The edges are full of coral and so many fish. I enjoyed just circling around the edges. We did dive down, Greg went the furthest, I went just far enough to say I did. :) We have pictures to post later.
     We met a lady from Rochester, Ny who loaned me a snorkel. We lost my snorkel too, but Greg was able to go back to the area today and he found the end of the paddle and my snorkel, no anchor though. Chopper was able to run the beach and pee, pee, pee. He did get to run around yesterday with some dogs on the beach. Greg calls chopper a land lubber. But all in all a great day.
     Tomorrow we are off to Crooked Island, if we had fair winds we may even do an over night and keep sailing to Turks and Caicos.

After exploring the island in Spanish Wells , we came back to find a Manatee by the dingy. She was tagged to track her movements and you can see the bouy attached to her tail. We could see the scars on her back from possible hits from boats. We several areas in Florida on the ICW that have Manatee areas labeled where you are suppose to go slow and not create a wake, but we didn't see a manatee until we arrived in the Bahamas. We did realize how huge they are, and very docile. The man at the dock said that she is the 4th one that has hung around there. Chopper didn't know what to think. 

Shes big, Greg is trying to move away from her, but she like him

Greg and I at the beach in Spanish Wells

The Methodist church park in Spanish Wells

The Methodist church in Spanish Wells, nice set up! Hopefully Pastor Deano and Darlene can visit.

Lady Valkyrie on Anchor

We are still here waiting for a part for the Port engine, hopefully its comes today. Not feeling positive on that, since the mail only comes 2 times a week and on Tues the whole island was out of milk and wouldn't get a delivery until today. Island time. :)