December 04 – January 02, 2024; 11882 nm and 1748 days after departure from La Rochelle

Spectacular, a blast, it couldn’t have been better. Fireworks everywhere and people celebrating the whole night through. Dancing, drinking, partying. Well that was at least what we were kind of expecting at New Year’s Eve (NYE). We had spent already almost two weeks at St Croix and were getting excited about NYE. Just after Christmas Day Carnival preparation started. A fair was built up in Frederiksted including a big stage and lots of food booths. Already the next evening the party started with beauty pageants for kids and adults. Later, bands were entertaining the whole bay with their (not always our taste of) music. On El Capitanos birthday we were even lucky to watch the famous Moko Jumbie plus music and fair. So our expectations regarding NYE were quite high. Well, maybe we should have gotten suspicious after we had asked a few locals what would happen NYE. As the answer was always like: “Oh there’s always something happening, every day there is a program” Looking back that didn’t sound very promising… By now I’m sure you can guess! Yes indeed we had the most boring NYE ever!!! There was absolutely nothing going on. Nada! Can you imagine? What kind of place in the world is not celebrating the new year? Well, slowly realizing that the night would not turn out as we had hoped for we still gave it a try and went ashore at around 8pm. (That was pretty late for us, as sailors midnight is considered being at 9pm.) The little town was completely asleep. The fair was open, some food booths as well and there was even a band playing on the stage. But no people what so ever. Only the ones who had to work. We actually felt sorry for them and the band playing in front of nobody. Very strange. We could only guess that due to the bad weather we had all day the people stayed at home? A little sparkle of hope to find THE party had brought us to the only bar which was open in sleepy Frederiksted. Here we had a beer only the two of us. That maybe sounds like a romantic tête à tête but we were indeed the only ones in the bar!!! No, not quite true as the waiters were lingering about waiting for – well maybe even other people?? The highlight of the evening was chatting with an American family who were on holidays and as well searching for some fun and ended up with us. Hahahaha, yeah, that was our exciting last evening of the year 2023. Happy New Year!!!

(Moko Jumbies have been part of the Virgin Island’s cultural heritage for over 200 years, and their origins can be traced to Africa as far back as the 13th and 14th centuries. Moko Jumbies are said to ward away evil spirits (or ‘jumbies’) from parades, gatherings, and festivals by standing on 10-20 foot high stilts, making them tall enough to reach the evil spirits and drive them away from the crowd.) 

Now back to what happened before. Monday, 4th of December in the late afternoon we lifted the anchor at Galisbay in St. Martin and headed to the British Virgin Islands (BVI). We went for a night sail for the 85 nm to make sure we would arrive in time for check in to avoid overdue fees. The BVIs seemed to be very strict in their regulations but on the other hand as well very clear about the check in process and fees. That was actually nice, ’cause we knew where and when to go and what we had to expect to pay. We arrived in the early morning hours at Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda and had plenty of time for checking in. The officials were professional and fast but more on the unwilling and very unfriendly side. In a lot of countries the officials welcome you to their country but these guys rather scared us. We almost didn’t even dare to speak. We might have disturbed them in their important duty. And that, we certainly didn’t want to risk😉. Strange, but hey who cares in the end it all took only about 20 min to put up with them. Brave as we were after paying the fees and having all our papers, we dared to ask the question about where to get information about the national parks regulations for vessels. The officer, in her condescending manner send us to the entrance of the “Bath” national park. We asked her how far it would be and she said about a 20 min walk. It was only 9:30 am and we were eager to stretch our legs so we gave it a go. And so we walked and walked, walked further and further. No sign of the entrance office of the park whatsoever. And imagine, all that without breakfast and after sailing through the night! After about 45 min we went into a small bakery to get something to drink and to ask how far it still would be. It would have been another 15 min walk. After hearing that we had walked already for quite a while the nice lady in the bakery offered us a ride up to the entrance of the park. How nice was that? Even though she had to close her bakery for a few minutes as she was alone she was happy to give us a lift. Amazed but very thankful we accepted her generous offer and praised her for her kindness. Funny as she was she replied: “Well, now I can check off one good deed for today, so no problem at all.” What a different and nice experience compared to the bored and unfriendly officers at the port!

Finally at the entrance we could not get the information we wanted. (We needed infos for cruisers about where we were allowed to anchor and how it worked at all with the mooring system in the BVI’s. We read, they had a lot moorings in different colours for different use and that it sometime would be necessary to book in advance.) It was just a normal entrance for the Bath park, where they sell tickets. Had nothing to do with national parc fees or mooring fees for vessels. However, the guy we were talking to was super nice, we had a little chat and he persuaded us to visit the park as we were already there anyhow. And so we did. That was kind of funny as we already did a sightseeing tour before we even found our final anchorage or had breakfast. The Baths was described as: “A natural wonder, featuring boulders and caverns that make up a maze that leads to secret rock pools”. That sounded very fascinating !!!

We followed the circular route and could admire the unusual boulder formation. Crawled through narrow caves and figured that we wouldn’t go there with Altimate. The moorings were occupied with charter boats who had sprinted there at first daylight. When passing in the morning we did wonder why so many boats seemed to enter that bay in a star formation. Now we knew the reason, it was one of THE spots in BVI’s. However as special as it was, after one hour of more walking we were slowly getting really tired and therefore happy to have reached the exit. This time we were smarter and took a taxi to the marina. Back at Altimate we lifted the anchor and headed 2nm north to a quiet and calm bay named Pond Bay. A beautiful place with only a few boats and nothing much ashore but beach and butterflies. Oh yeah that was amazing! There were sooooo many white butterflies. I tried to catch them on a video but it doesn’t really show how many there were.

We loved it there but due to a weather change we had to move. We ended up about 15 nm further north at Gorda sound where we fortunately found a place where we could anchor. The nice and shallow places were all taken by mooring fields. We wouldn’t mind taking a mooring once in a while, but it can be a bit annoying for cruisers as often their insurances won’t pay if there’d be an accident caused by a broken mooring. And the mooring companies also exclaim their responsibility. So it’s kind of a crux for cruiser. You pay for the mooring (which can be here easily up to 50 US per day) and have no insurance🙈. The BVI’s seemed to be occupied by charter companies. We had not seen so many charter boats anywhere else. Or better to say we had hardly seen any private boats so far. It surly was a beautiful place but it was made for charter boat cruisers. To us it felt like a big exclusive resort with all amenities you could think of. Fancy bars and restaurants in easy reach to moorings. High end holiday residences in beautiful spots. Sightseeing places, water sport opportunities but just a normal bar or shop seemed hard to find. That was surly great for a short holiday but it did nipple a few unexpected bucks from your well calculated savings as a live aboard.

Our dear water pump decided to start leaking again. El Capitano was not amused! Me neither! It forced us to stay where we were. The try to fix it always involved a 24 hours waiting time before we were allowed to start the engine again to see whether the work was successful or not🙄 (the liquid gasket had to harden for 24 hours). It took three days until El Capitano was reasonable satisfied with his work. Only then were we stuck because the wind was blowing like crazy and squalls kept annoying us. And we didn’t want to move in those conditions as we weren’t sure if we would have been able to find another protected anchorage without being forced to take a mooring. All in all we were not very happy regarding anchor possibilities in the BVIs and as well the USVIs. The only island which sounded right for us was St. Croix belonging to the USVIs. It sits about 40 nm south of all the other Virgin Islands chain. Toooooo far for most charter boats😁. And en plus we were able to catch up with friends we had met in San Blas. So off we were.

We arrived at Christiansted on the 16th of December and were immediately blown away. The Danish architecture, with its colourful, pretty houses the many charming shops and bars as well as the long board walk let us feel much more welcomed than the other islands did. We just indulged the friendly and laid back atmosphere. The surrounding was green and hilly and was calling to be explored. Luckily we were able to rent a car for two days. We had booked the car early in the morning which had forced us to an early start. That turned out to be great as we had an unplanned amazing hike around the east coast of St Croix. We were actually heading to the easternmost point of St. Croix which happened to be as well the easternmost point of the US. And we all do know that it is important for the US to have the most, the highest, the smallest, the biggest, the best, the oldest…. you get me… what ever it is, it has to be top of the world😁😉. I have no idea why it did now pop up in my mind. But it’s true! An example, St. Croix does not have amazing diving or snorkelling spots, no of course not! They have the best! And St Croix is the only island (of the world) which was owned by 7 countries. I don’t know maybe it’s just us, but we think that is so typical American. Or maybe we are just jealous as we, being German, tend to rather keep a low profile?
Anyhow, by chance we stopped at a small parking area to see the landscape. It looked nice so we decided to walk down to a beach which we could see from above. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful hikes (I can be American) we had in a while (and here we go, I’m German again😉). The path meandered along the coast and led us to an empty beach and up to another hill with terrific views. We would have loved to walk further but we had to go back sometime. It was still before noon but it was already getting hot and we wanted to explore more of the island.

Point Udall, the easternmost point of St Croix was only a few meters away. After taking a few pics we headed all the way to the west end to Frederiksted. We wanted to see the town as well as the bay as it was another possibility to anchor. Frederiksted was much more laid back than Christiansted but also a very cute little town. Well, time was flying and we kept going driving up the west coast to see what it was like. The scenery was beautiful but the streets are a nightmare. We had rented only a small car but quite a lot of the streets required a 4 wheel drive or a vehicle with a very high wheelbase. The potholes were crazy! Our poor little car was sweating and so was I. Fortunately El Capitano was driving. He seemed to almost enjoy the pothole-rich-road condition. We followed a so called “scenic road” which turned out to be even worse. Scenic? I have no idea. My eyes were constantly checking for the best possibility to get around potholes and making sure that my driver saw them too. Kind of hilarious but only by the time we were back on reasonable roads. Our plan for the second day was to hike another walk in the early morning hours, visit the botanical garden and have lunch at “Chicken Shack”, a fast food must see in St Croix. The hike was not quite as nice as the one we did the day before. The good part was it was shaded so the hilly parts weren’t a problem and the botanical signs interrupted the un-spectacular path. Much, much better than expected was the botanical garden. St George Village Botanical Garden used to be a sugar cane estate. It included a museum which was housed in a restored building that originally was built to house the enslaved, as were many of the ruins and repurposed buildings found on the Garden’s grounds. The house and the ruins gave the botanical garden a special air. To me it felt like a big private garden with many beautiful plants and trees. We very much enjoyed just strolling through the estate with its slightly dilapidated character. Spooky cool.

After eating chicken at Chicken Shack we challenged our poor car with another crazy pothole road. We should have know better by now … but you know how it is. We wanted to take advantage of the car and see as much as possible. Friends told us about a crazy bar in the rainforest where they feed pigs with beer? Well, to our excuse we needed a destination. It was the worst street we have ever driven so far. I have no idea why it was marked as a normal road in the map. Mainly there were only remains of concrete. The funny thing was we kept thinking after every curve it must get better soon. It didn’t! Then came the thought, now it doesn’t make sense to turn back anymore. Kinda funny but also crazy! This time even El Capitano was a little stressed. The best part was when a truck came up from the other side. Haha Norbert had to reverse around the potholes and find a place where the truck could pass. Now don’t be unfair! The truck had wheels high as a giraffe and could easily go through the holes! Of course, all went well in the end but at the time it was quite an adventure! We skipped the drinking pigs and headed to a supermarket to leverage having the car to buy groceries before returning the car.

Jennifer and Mike from the sailing vessel “Brightnest” were arriving just before Christmas. Meanwhile they lived at St Croix as Jennifer was working as a doctor at the hospital in Christiansted. As hurricane season was over they wanted to get Brightnest back into the water. She was ashore somewhere safe in Puerto Rico and they were now getting her back. They also had family over for Christmas so we were very happy that they could squeeze us in on Christmas Eve to have dinner together. It was only a short catch up but it was great to see them. And especially for us it was nice to have company on Christmas Eve as it is our most important day. Being without family that evening is always difficult and one can get emotional. So we were double thankful! On Christmas Day we headed over to Frederiksted. We wanted to go snorkelling and were hoping for a less rolly anchorage before heading to Culebra, an island which belongs already to Puerto Rico, about 40 nm north west. The plan was to stay a couple of days and then get going. But hey who cares about plans? The wind at least didn’t. Normally the wind should blow constantly – I don’t know – maybe 15-20 knots coming from east. It was the time of the so called and famous Christmas winds. Ha, not this year! Nothing, no wind whatsoever. The forecast promised a windless last week of the year. What happened to Eurus and Notus the wind gods? Where were they? At least not in the Virgin Islands!

So we stayed and enjoyed the very quiet atmosphere during the day, listened to a cacophony of music at night and waited for a spectacular last day of the year 2023😁. As promised by the weather gurus the New Year presented us wind and we headed off to Culebra.