We have left the safe confines of the USVIs ( our home sweet sailing grounds) and have initiated our trek south toward Grenada now.

We arrived in St John in  March of 2020 just as Covid shut down the world. We were literally stuck here in paradise for 6 weeks before deciding to haul the boat here for the summer.

And due to the entry requirements on the different islands throughout the Caribbean last year, we opted to stay put in St Thomas , St John, and St Croix for 6 months. We have become accustomed to these waters and find the perfect anchorage for every type of weather and activity.

There have been awesome Christmas and New Years parties, disco parties, a St Croix regatta and post race party.

We found several go to restaurants .. Cafe Amalia (STT), Cibone( STX), singh’s Roti (STX), and Northside grind (STT) where we walk nearly 2 miles for the best coffee and breakfast sandwiches. we devoured the best pizza on St Thomas at Pizza Amore and on St Croix at the Lost Dog Pub. We enjoyed several great Leatherback brewery beers, especially Guanabana ( soursop!).

We did Chicken and Bowling !! ( Not kidding!! Right here on St Thomas there is 6 lane bowling alley and they are famous for chicken as well. We celebrated Al’s birthday. All the way down to the 2nd tequila shot and birthday cake by Brenda!.)

We sailed countless miles between St John and St Thomas and St Croix in all types of weather. We took advantage of the calm days and went snorkeling for lobsters and found the best…wait.. that’s a secret!

We filled numerous tanks of air for dives with Polly and Brian our dive buddies on sites like The Ledges,  Stragglers , Carvelle Rock on St John and Tide Bottle ( appropriately named for the marker at the site), Swirling Reef of Death ( yep, we did it!), The Aquarium, and Alien Nation on St Croix. 

I swam with a dolphin!! You bet. Christmas Cove one late afternoon this little fellow showed up to play. He exhausted me to no end swimming and diving. Will get a link up for that video soon.

We have hiked many miles across St John and put on likely hundreds just provisioning parts and groceries on St Thomas. We were vaccinated and boostered for Covid on the islands. We have had some of the best  sailing days and some of the stormiest days at anchor since we started sailing.

We have celebrated a few monumental birthdays and had some unparalleled parties lasting well into the night.

But most of all found the friendship of many new cruising friends here. Some we will continue to run into down island , but a few we will say goodbye to for now. 

But, we didn’t come out here to sit still..” it’s time to move on pardner” So, we say thanks to the sweet Virgin Islands and bid farewell to the wonderful people of these islands who have made it so special..

To reach a port we must set sail,

Sail, not tie at anchor,

Sail, not drift.

Franklin D Roosevelt.