N0 32 USVI

Hi from Clare,                         Thursday 12th December 2013

When last I wrote we were on the Island of Jost Van Dyke in a shallow bay well known for Foxy's Bar where they serve the best Painkillers (a rum drink with pineapple and orange juice, coconut milk and nutmeg). At Foxy's we had access to WiFi and so before the second Painkiller we managed to send last week's newsletter. We stayed overnight and left early the following morning and returned to Peter Island to seek cover from a cold front and strong winds predicted.

Foxys from the dinghy dock

Foxys from the inside

A PEACEFUL SPOT

The ceiling at Foxys

Little Harbour on Peter Island was home for the next four nights. It is a perfect place to wait and swim in flat calm water while watching the white caps and currents rush by just outside the bay in Sir Francis Drake channel. We were anchored and tied stern-to along with about fifteen other boats. It was just like being in Turkey and I'm pleased to say that our skills for tying stern-to practised and perfected in Turkey, haven't been forgotten. The procedure is to drop the anchor about 40-50 metres from the shore, back in slowly feeding the chain out. When close to shore Andrew's launches the dinghy with the rope already feed into it, rows to a rock which has already been selected and ties the rope to the rock. I then pull in any slack and wrap the rope around a cleat on the boat. Sounds simple but speed is of the essences or you will lose control of the boat and the whole thing goes to pot. Needless to say our entertainment for the next few days was watching less experienced folk tackle the procedure with not enough chain down, not enough rope to reach shore, bundles of rope in a dinghy all knotted together, people diving off the back of boats to swim ashore with the rope between their teeth and neighbouring dinghies helping to push any wayward boat into position.

Internet at Foxys

The weather has been pretty much the same as last week, a continuous pattern of wind, rain, sun and heat. We have been swimming each day and enjoying the sunshine.

A NEW VIEW
Yesterday we checked out of the British Virgin Islands and entered the US Virgin Islands. There are three USVIs. We are currently on St John's which is mostly National Park and has many bush walks and lovely beaches. We checked in with US Customs in the tourist town of Cruz Bay. So far this is the only town we have been to but we could notice the US influence on the island with better quality roads walkways tourist shops and malls. It is a very pretty little town and crowded with American tourists. Unfortunately I didn't have our camera with us and so missed out on photos.

SO WHAT'S NEXT
I think tomorrow we will move down to the USVI island of St Thomas. Once again there is a strong wind forecast for the weekend and so we will be in search of a peaceful bay. St Thomas is the most populated of the USVIs and we are looking forward to seeing it.

Love Candy and Deb xxx

At 12:53 PM14/12/2013 (utc) our position was 18°21.85'N 064°44.78'W

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