Our Virgin Island Sailing Odyssey

A little background first......Three years ago, Sue and I enjoyed a Royal Caribbean cruise which visited 5 islands in the Caribbean.  The last stop was St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, where we took a day trip to St. John that included a tour around the island.  We were entranced by the views of numerous bays and coves as we traveled on a hillside road along the north shore of the island.  Each was more beautiful than those that came before.  Most had sailboats anchored in them.   Looking down on those ideal scenes, we decided that we would return one day and visit them in a sailboat.  We had never sailed, but I had always wanted to learn.  When I retired two years ago, we began to make plans to give sailing a try.  Returning to the Virgin Islands on a sailboat was a goal in the back of our minds.

Earlier this year while in Florida for the winter, we began sailing lessons with the Annapolis Sailing School, which operates in three locations....Annapolis, MD; St. Petersburg, FL; and St. Croix, USVI.  We took two 5-day courses on Tampa Bay out of St. Petersburg....Basic Keelboat Sailing and Preparation for Cruising.  The school staff, especially our instructors Cindy and Bill, were marvelous!  They not only taught us a lot, but whetted our appetites for how much more was in store for us.   For the next course, we decided to travel to St. Croix for the Annapolis Sailing School's 7-day Virgin Island Cruise course. Upon returning, I took one more 5-day course, Bareboat Chartering, at the Annapolis site on the Chesapeake Bay.  Now, we plan to charter boats for awhile to help us decide how far we want to go with sailing as an element of our lives.  It could lead to buying a boat to use for "snowbirding" to Florida and the Caribbean during winters, while enjoying it on the Chesapeake Bay the rest of the year.  Or, we might just continue to charter when we want to "get away."

Our adventure in the Virgin Islands was even more than we hoped it would be.  We traveled to St. Croix on Saturday, May 1, and returned home on Monday, May 10.  The 10 days in the Virgin Islands consisted of a 7-day cruise and 3 days on St. Croix before and after cruising.   Every minute was fantastic!

We couldn't have asked for better conditions. Just Sue and me plus our instructor, Troy, sailing for a week on a 50 foot ketch named Vixen in the most beautiful setting you can imagine.  Emerald green islands with hills that come down right to the waters edge. Crystal clear waters of every shade of blue, green and purple in the spectrum. We could easily see the bottom in 30-40 foot waters. Great swimming and snorkeling over beautiful coral reefs. Good winds all week made for some excellent sailing. Lots of sun and no rain.  We enjoyed sailing conditions that ranged from brisk to gentle with no calm periods until week's end.  No really difficult or unpleasant conditions.

We left St. Croix and sailed to St. John in the US Virgin Islands, then went on to Tortula, Norman Island, Virgin Gorda and Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands before a final overnight stop at St. John before the long leg back to St. Criox. We had quiet anchorages or moorings every night in lovely bays and coves. And we visited fascinating spots on islands that were right out of a novel or a movie set.  It was a marvelous week.  We hope to return frequently to the Virgin Islands.  Our thanks to Rob and Kim (who manage the St. Croix Annapolis Sailing School facility) and, especially, Troy (our instructor/captain) for all they did to make our week a memorable one, as well as a great learning experience. 

I kept a daily journal of the 10 days.  And we took a lot of photos.   Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with a telephoto lens and had to settle for using our "snapshot" camera.  So, many of the photos don't do justice to the gorgeous scenes we enjoyed.  But, if you are interested (and have the time to struggle through my ramblings), just click on the links below to read about each chapter of our saga.

Prologue

Trip Chart

Day 1 - St. Croix to St. John

Day 2 - St. John

Day 3 - St. John to Norman Island via Tortula

Day 4 - Norman Island to Virgin Gorda

Day 5 - Virgin Gorda to Peter Island

Day 6 - Peter Island to St. John

Day 7 - St. John to St. Croix

Epilogue