Christiansted St Croix USVIs

Christiansted waterfront

Anchored just off the Christiansted waterfront, we were ideally placed to explore the historic part of the town. We could also leave our dinghy secured anywhere along the boardwalk which was extremely convenient.

Large Tarpon ~ 4ft long

The water off Christiansted is very clear and we saw plenty of large Tarpon patrolling the boardwalk edge hoping for titbits from passing tourists. We surmised that they don’t taste that good to eat or they wouldn’t have survived long enough to grow to be around 4ft long.

Christiansted was capital of the Danish presence in the West Indies and, for a time, it was one of the wealthiest sugar islands in the region. In the late 18^thand early 19^thcenturies production was high and the 218 plantations on St Croix worked day and night to create wealth whilst the colonial powers that owned nearby Caribbean islands waged war. However, prior to that golden era there had been tensions.

The islands of St John, St Thomas and St Croix were all Danish but were originally administered by the Danish West India and Guinea Company, a Royally chartered slave-trading company with a monopoly on importing slaves into the Danish West Indies. Profits for sugar should have been astronomical but the planters complained that DWI & G Company’s trading practices and monopoly were overly restrictive. Eventually, in 1755, the planters persuaded the king to take over the islands and a Governor General took up residence in the town. Crown administration coincided with the beginning of a long period of growth for the sugar cane industry and between 1760 and 1820 the economy boomed.

The Scale House (1856)

However, within a few decades the rise of the sugar beet industries in Europe and North America caused a drop in the price of cane sugar. Add in a drought, a hurricane, the rising cost of labour and the abolition of slavery in 1848 and by the late 1800s St Croix was little more than a marginal sugar producer. The era of fabulous wealth from sugar cane was over and when, in 1917, the United States purchased the 3 islands of the Danish West Indies for $25 million, the interest was the islands’ strategic harbours and not their agriculture.

Today the principal historic buildings in the town are administered by the US National Park Service. The boardwalk led us directly into the historic area and the first building that we saw was the Scale House. This building dates from 1856 and was an important staging post in trade. As Christiansted was the main harbour, most of the island’s 5 exports passed through this building. Hogs-heads of sugar, puncheons of rum, barrels of molasses, cotton and hardwood were all weighed here before being exported.

The Customs House (1841, left) and the Guinea Company Warehouse (1749, right)

Set back a little (right in the picture above) is the Guinea Company Warehouse. Headquarters for the Danish West India and Guinea Company on the island, with its monopoly on importing slaves into the Danish West Indies, it was the centre for slave auctions which were held within the walled compound until 1 January 1803 when the company lost its charter and Denmark’s law to abolish the slave trade came into effect. Slavery actually continued illegally in the Danish West Indies until 3 July 1848 when the enslaved people gathered at Frederiksted and demanded their freedom. Fearing a revolt, the Danish governor general Peter von Scholten (whose mistress was a black freewoman) issued a proclamation that “all unfree in the Danish West Indies are, from today, emancipated”. Despite the fact that the Danish king confirmed the decree, von Scholten was dismissed from his post and stripped of his pension, He died in Denmark in 1854 a broken man.

To the left of the Guinea Company Warehouse in the picture above is the Customs House. Government taxes were collected here for all imports and exports and on the floor above, up the grand staircase, was the town's post office.

Fort Christiansvaern

To the side of the green and dominating the entrance lanes to the harbour is Fort Christiansvaern. Completed in 1749, to replace an earlier earthwork fortification destroyed by a hurricane in 1738, the fort was armed with 18 and 6 pounder cannon and was named Christiansvaern(“Christian’s Defense”) in honour of the king Christian VI of Denmark and Norway.

Wandering back across the green we had fabulous views of BV anchored in the turquoise water of the harbour. From the Park Rangers’ office, we had also discovered that the bandstand would be the focal point for a ‘Jazz on the Green’ evening on Friday.

The Steeple Building (1753)

Behind the Guinea Company Warehouse we saw the Steeple Building. It was St Croix’s first Danish Lutheran church on the island, one of the few government buildings not directly involved in international trade. From 1754-1831 the Steeple Building was the embodiment of the Danish state religion. All government administrators as well as the fort’s garrison were required to worship there. Official proclamations, such as the abolition of the Danish slave trade, were read from the pulpit. Like the Scale House and the Guinea Company Warehouse, the Steeple Building evolved. In 1831, rather than undertaking very costly repairs to the building, the Lutherans bought the nearby Dutch Reformed church and move the altar, pulpit, chandeliers, baptism font and governor’s box there as the new location for their religious activities. The Steeple Building subsequently became a bakery, hospital and then a school.

Chrisiansted buildings. The Lutheran Church (1744) pictured lower centre was originally the Dutch Reform Church until it was sold to the Lutherans in 1831

Walking from the main historic area we moved into the old town. Constructed in the Neoclassic style of the 1700s, the town’s development owes much to the island’s first governor, Frederick Moth. He envisaged Christiansted as a grand town in the style of Christiana in Norway (now Oslo) and imposed a building code which was strictly enforced by successive inspectors. The town therefore remained architecturally consistent to the original vision and did not succumb to short lived building fads.

Government House

In the middle of the town is the rather grand Government House. It was completed in 1830 by connecting 2 imposing 1700s townhouses. The centre section was a townhouse built in 1747 by Johan Schopen, a prominent merchant. This was bought in 1771 by the Danish government as the residence for the Governor General. In 1830 the neighbouring townhouse, built in 1794, was purchased by Governor Peter von Scholten to enlarge Government House. The 2 buildings were then remodelled into the current structure which was then renovated in then 1990s.

During our time anchored off Christiansted we also needed to go a little further afield on the island to sort out some admin. A local taxi/bus service ($2.50 a head) got us to Sunny Isle Mall, the main shopping centre on the island. Here, as well as some groceries, we were able to get a more swept up 4G mobile phone and a US SIM card to solve the problem that, for the first time in our travels (perhaps because of hurricane damage to the mobile phone masts), our UK mobile phones were not getting a roaming signal. We also bought a new small laptop to work the HF/SSB radio data communications, as the last one was very temperamental on the Atlantic crossing.

Back in Christiansted we were able to enjoy the bars and restaurants as well as scoping more mundane but essential services such as a laundrette, bakery and food store. Much more exciting, however, were the dive shops. The main reason that we had come to St Croix was for the snorkelling and the diving. Reported to be excellent, we particularly wanted to dive on a sea wall with over a 1000’ drop to the seabed as well as diving on some of the outlying reefs. Fortunately, with 2 dive shops operating off the Christiansted boardwalk we were easily able to book a 2 tank dive with a just a day’s notice.

Christiansted, St Croix, USVIs

Sailing to Christiansted St Croix USVIs

Clearly I am well behind in keeping the blog up to date; we have been keeping ourselves far too busy having lots of fun in the Caribbean! However, we are also now in an area with good internet connections and so I will endeavour to write and post the backlog of entries. That will take some time and so to keep you up to date on where we are, I’ll be working on posting one current and one backlog entry at a time. So, if you look back at mid-March you will see entries for Dominica which are new. Clearly, there are lots more to come.

Leaving Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

After our longer than expected experience of checking into the US Virgin Islands on Saturday 21 April, we spent the night at anchor off Water Island near Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas. The following morning we set off early (at 0625hrs!) to head south to St Croix.

Sailing from Charlotte Amalie to St Croix was not ideal as it would potentially put us hard on the wind to get to our preferred port of arrival, hence our initial attempt to check into the United States at Red Hook Bay on St Thomas. However, we were incredibly lucky with the wind on Sunday because, unusually for this time of year, it came from the east-northeast. That meant that we were able to head directly towards Christiansted, and not be hard on the wind, making good speed all the way. Indeed, we averaged over 7 knots for the whole 43-mile passage, including the time taken to raise and lower the anchor. A potentially troublesome passage turned into a blast!

Approaching Christiansted, St Croix

As a result, the extra time we’d factored in to beat up to Christiansted was not needed and we arrived off the entrance at midday. Christiansted sits behind a coral reef and so there are some abrupt turns in the entrance channel and, quite close to us, surf breaking over the coral heads. It was definitely a case of check and double check the navigation to make sure that we stayed in the safe water during our approach [Ed:  though, fortunately, arriving in the middle of the day with good light, we were able to see the reefs and shallow patches as colour changes in the sea.]

The historic centre of Christiansted

Christiansted waterfront

There is a rather exposed anchorage just to the east of the town but we wanted to be somewhere more protected from the prevailing winds, with the added bonus of being closer to the historic centre. That meant creeping our way into a mooring field behind Protestant Cay and seeing if we could find a suitable spot to drop our anchor. Whether or not we were successful in finding a suitable space in which to anchor, it was still a worthwhile exercise because we got a close up look at the old historic (Danish) buildings and the lively waterfront with its bars and restaurants.

Protestant Cay beach

As we worked our way in, to our right was Protestant Cay. Initially, it didn’t seem attractive as all we could see was the hotel but on the western side of the cay, next to where we wanted to anchor, it was all palm trees and golden sand beach.

There was even the distraction of seaplanes taking off and landing. They provide a passenger service between the various US Virgin Islands and add to the interest of what seemed like a good place to stop and anchor.

The views from BV at anchor off Christiansted

Looking at how all of the other various vessels were sitting we decided that there was enough room for us to anchor in the lee of Protestant Cay. It took us 2 goes to get it right because, having settled down first time, we found that there was a current which pushed us around a bit and we ended up a little too close to a moored yacht. However, the second time round worked, and we were perfectly positioned to explore and enjoy Christiansted as well as investigating diving centres. The diving on the reefs is said to be very good here and so one of our main objectives was to dive on part of the 1000-foot deep wall on the front of the island’s north reef just to the northwest of Christiansted. We’d also found that we needed to look at getting a US sim card for phone calls because, for the first time in our travels, our UK mobile phones were not getting a roaming signal. It looked as if we might have to stay a few days – well, there are worse places to spend time!

Christiansted, St Croix, USVIs

St Thomas USVIs

Anchored close to the Soggy Dollar Bar, White Bay, Jost Van Dyke Island

Saturday 21 April turned out to be a much busier day than we had expected.  Starting out from White Bay, on Jost Van Dyke Island, we planned to say goodbye to the BVIs and sail about 10 miles across to the US Virgin Islands to check in at Red Hook Bay on St Thomas.  Thinking that it would be such a short passage, we went for a leisurely 0930 departure which would leave us loads of time for sailing to the USVIs and then completing the immigration paperwork for arriving into the USA.

Pilsbury Sound ahead between St John (L) and Lovango Cay (R)

With a lovely wind on our beam we raced off towards the Windward Passage and Pilsbury Sound on the northwestern tip of St John.  St John was actually the closest USVI to us but, post Hurricane Irma, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in Cruz Bay, St John had been closed and a new one opened temporarily in Red Hook Bay, St Thomas.

Tortola, BVIs (L) and St John, USVIs (R)

Looking out to port we could see the islands of Tortola and St John….

…. in what was pretty idyllic sailing conditions.

We weren’t alone out there either. There were lots of other yachts enjoying the fantastic sailing conditions and we found that we were part of a line of yachts making their way to (and from) St Thomas.

Red Hook Bay has an anchorage, mooring buoys and a marina, with the CBP office having been set up temporarily in one of the marina’s buildings.  Not wishing to spend the night in the marina [Ed: or even at anchor in the bay as the prevailing wind was blowing straight in pretty briskly!] we dropped our anchor in the bay at 1130hrs and took the dinghy ashore.  Before we had left home we had visited the US Embassy in London for interviews to get a 10-year multiple entry visa and so we already had that in place. We just needed to formally check in. Everything was looking good at the immigration office as we took our turn after the crew of a US flagged yacht which had arrived ahead of us.  Sadly, however, when it came to our turn we were told that we couldn’t be checked in because of a computer problem.  The officer could check in US citizens but not foreign nationals.  The suggestion was that we spent a small fortune on taxi fares to get us to and back from the immigration office in Charlotte Amalie.  Instead we decided that we had time to sail BV around there and that it might make a more interesting place to visit.

Continued below

Red Hook, St Thomas, USVIs

We had been pretty efficient and so we actually raised our anchor in Red Hook Bay exactly one hour after we had dropped it.  Charlotte Amalie is the main harbour on St Thomas situated in the middle of the island on the southern side. With it being quite windy we went for the lazy option and sailed the 10 miles there using just the genoa.

Approaching Charlotte Amalie harbour

Charlotte Amalie is quite a big bay and as we approached the entrance at 1400hrs we started to try to work out where would be the best place for us to anchor.  The main anchorage seemed to be at the eastern side of the bay but that would put us a long way from the immigration office.  So, instead, we anchored in the lee of Hassel Island and took the dinghy to the area of the marina next to the ferry terminal, inside which is the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office.  The marina had big signs up saying that we would be charged $10 for parking our dinghy there, which seemed a bit like daylight robbery, but unfortunately it seemed to be our only option for getting ashore.

Just before we tied up our dinghy I spotted a RIB drifting down the harbour with the engine up and its cover off. The 2 occupants were trying unsuccessfully to paddle it with their hands and it looked like they would be swept out of the harbour through the gap between St Thomas and Hassel Island.  We went and gave them a tow and it turned out that their mooring was on a jetty next to the marina.  Good deed for the day done we were invited to leave our dinghy on their jetty for as long as we needed to go ashore - $10 dinghy mooring fee saved and put into the beer kitty!

As with all immigration processes, there is a lot of paperwork to do.  The officer dealing with us grumbled that we could have been processed at Red Hook Bay and that we had been sent unnecessarily to Charlotte Amalie.  However, he did manage to get everything organised so that we could be processed just before the next ferry arrived.  Paperwork completed, the last step was to move through to the ferry arrivals area where another officer checked everything, took our fingerprints to confirm a match with the ones they have on record, and then stamped our passports. We had formally arrived in the USA!

We got back on board BV at 1600hrs to find that the wind had changed slightly and that our current anchorage was no longer a great place to stay. So, for our final move of the day, we motored BV a mile further on to find better shelter behind the next island, Water Island. Opposite the RoRo terminal and container port it was not the most attractive spot but it had good shelter. Our enthusiasm for exploring ashore waned and instead, sipping a rum cocktail, we discussed our plan to move on quickly to sail to St Croix.  The weather forecast looked to be very favourable with a good wind angle and so we ate dinner and turned in ready for an early departure.  A proper exploration of St Thomas would have to wait for our next visit there.

Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVIs

Soggy Dollar Bar Jost Van Dyke BVIs

Approaching White Bay on Jost Van Dyke

Just 2 miles east of Great Harbour is White Bay. Having lifted our anchor at 1630 we high tailed it to the western narrow entrance through the protective reef that sits less than 100 metres from the surf line. There’s not much space here for a 2-metre draft yacht to anchor in and so we were incredibly lucky that a large catamaran was leaving just as we were looking for a space. Carefully keeping out of his way, the moment he was clear we were able to take his space and were settled by 1700 and, pleasingly, just before another couple of catamarans arrived.

The Soggy Dollar Bar

It’s a popular place and not just because of its beautiful white sandy beach. It is home to the Soggy Dollar Bar, another legendary location for yachties.

A dollar bill pegged out to dry behind the bar

Tradition has it that it was named so because of the soggy state of the dollars used to pay for the drinks after sailors had swum ashore to patronise the bar. They even have a small ‘washing line’ behind the bar so that the soggy dollars can be pegged out to dry before making their way into the till.

Rather conservatively, like most of the other punters, we took our dinghy ashore but then that did mean that we could take a camera with us.

Other than the unusual name, the bar is famous for being place that the Painkiller cocktail was invented back in the 1970s. We had drunk Painkillers all over the BVIs and so now we thought that we really ought to have one made to the original secret recipe. We didn’t have to wait long – as we approached the bar a Painkiller appeared in front of us, “The first Painkiller is on the house, what else would you like?”. We really rather liked the service in the Soggy Dollar Bar!

The props supporting the new palm trees are, however, a reminder that the buildings and trees on the beach were wrecked by last year’s hurricanes and the Soggy Dollar Bar needed a complete rebuild. We’re jolly glad that they managed to complete the work before we visited.

And so, for our last night in the British Virgin Islands we supped Painkillers on the beach with BV anchored just a short distance away in beautiful turquoise water. What a great way to finish our time in these beautiful islands.

Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke, BVIs

Foxy’s in Great Harbour Jost Van Dyke BVIs

Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke

The main settlement on Jost Van Dyke is in Great Harbour and, importantly for us, it has the Customs and Immigration offices where we needed to check out of the BVIs. The bay was full of yachts on mooring buoys and so it was a little tricky to find a good place to anchor so that we could go ashore. [Ed, the moreso as the seabed in and around the moorings appeared to have only a thin layer of sand over rock.  We couldn’t get the anchor to dig in so we moved closer to the reef on the southeast side and here found good holding and a certain amount of protection from the wind-driven waves.] Once BV was settled our first priority was to visit Customs and Immigration. It took a little time but, with the formalities completed, we had 24hrs to leave the BVIs; we intended to make the most of them.

Foxy’s Bar

Tucked in the eastern corner of Great Harbour is the famous Foxy’s Bar. Now, mid-afternoon is not the best time to visit a bar, and so we weren’t expecting much, but we couldn’t pass by the opportunity. Foxy and his wife Tessa have been welcoming sailors for over 45 years and within the sailing world his bar is legendary. Foxy plays Calypso ballads on his guitar and between songs tells jokes and stories to entertain.

We perused the cocktail list, ordered 2 that we hadn’t tried before, agreed that they were really rather good, and then, boringly, set ourselves up on a table to check our e-mails. Hallelujah! Our first Wifi internet connection in ages!

A New York journalist once wrote that there are just 3 places in the world to properly celebrate New Year’s Eve: Times Square, New York; Trafalgar Square, London; and Foxy’s Bar on Jost Van Dyke. Apparently, it is one of the best beach parties anywhere.

Well, New Year’s Eve it wasn’t but Foxy still came out to entertain us. The boring e-mail admin was put to one side and we pinned our ears back to listen to his amusing dits and songs. It was a fabulous way to spend the afternoon and I have to say that a variety of cocktails slipped down very easily.

Foxy doing what he does best: entertaining the crowd

As a result, we spent far longer in Great Harbour than we had really anticipated but by 1600 we really had to drag ourselves away because we had another legendary location to visit a couple of bays along and we needed to anchor there before we lost the light because it is really rather shallow.

Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, BVIs

Green Cay & Sandy Spit Jost Van Dyke BVIs

We left Cane Garden Bay on the north coast of Tortola at 0950 on 20 April for a short 4-mile sail to a new island for us, Jost Van Dyke, named after a Dutch privateer.

Green Cay & Sandy Spit

Jost Van Dyke is at the same latitude as most of the BVIs and so it too was badly hit by Hurricane Irma. With a population of less than 225 the island remains relatively unspoilt. It has a number of beautiful sandy beaches, many of which you can only get to by boat.

Sandy Spit in the foreground with the island of Tortola as a backdrop in the distance

So far in the BVIs, we had not really had a beautiful sandy beach all to ourselves and so, as we approached the eastern end of Jost Van Dyke, we took the opportunity to anchor off Green Cay & Sandy Spit. Remote and beautiful, it was the perfect place for a lunch stop and swim.

Green Cay & Sandy Spit, Jost Van Dyke, BVIs

Cane Garden Bay Tortola BVIs

After our fun evening with Brian and Agnes on Brag, in the morning, after a short trot ashore to D Best Cup Café to use the internet, we went our separate ways. Brian and Agnes needed to move Brag to the USVIs so that she could be shipped home but, frustratingly, they were having to deal with constantly changing dates and departure ports by the shipping company.  We had no such constraints and, instead, decided to move 6 miles around to Cane Garden bay on the northwestern coast of Tortola.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola

Tucked in behind a reef, the bay offers excellent shelter and was just a really nice place to stop.  We had anticipated going ashore but, as it turned out, there was a bit of a drama in store for us.

A large yacht, Capricho II, turned up and attached themselves to a mooring buoy before the crew all went ashore.  Meanwhile, a French yacht we had seen earlier in Sopers Hole arrived. As they had done in Sopers Hole, the French crew spent the best part of an hour trying to find a place where they would be comfortable anchoring.  We sipped a cool beer in the cockpit wondering where they would eventually end up when we heard a shout from a Polish couple on charter yacht moored just forward and left of us. Sitting in the shade with our backs towards her, we had missed that Capricho II had broken her mooring buoy cable and was drifting directly towards us. Thus started a frenzy of activity.

Nicky dug out fenders to try to protect BV whilst I started to get the outboard motor into our dinghy.  Our ultimate plan was to tie our dinghy onto the side of Capricho II to allow us to manoeuvre her to safety but we were running out of time and a collision with BV looked to be imminent. Nicky prepared our fenders for the impact when suddenly, the unfendered French yacht motored between us and Capricho II, ramming into her and pushed her so that she passed just ahead of BV.  We were very grateful for their action but it came at the cost of several very large and deep gouges along the beautiful topsides of Capricho II from the impact with the French yacht's anchor.  Close proximity manoeuvring was definitely not the French skipper’s forte and he was in danger of doing a lot more damage.  After shouting their warning, the Polish couple had immediately dinghied across to Capricho II and were on board and trying to start the engine when the French yacht pushed her clear of BV.  With Capricho II now drifting clear of any other yachts but and a good few minutes from drifting onto the reef, we and the Polish couple waved the French yacht away and took over the rescue of the drifting yacht. The Polish man continued to try to get the engine started whilst we, working with his girlfriend, started to secure our dinghy to the yacht’s quarter so that we could act as a pushing tug.  In an amusing comedy moment, the Polish chap had found everything open on Capricho II but reported that he couldn’t get the engine going.  He had actually got the engine going but it was so quiet that he couldn’t hear it!  From our position outside, however, I knew that he had successfully got the engine going because the exhaust was right above our dinghy and the cooling water from the big yacht was now trying to fill and sink our dinghy!!!!

SY Capricho IIsafely attached to a different mooring buoy after the excitement!

We untied promptly and went for a different tactic.  Having thought that the engine was not running, the Polish chap had started to honk the very loud foghorn to try to attract the attention of the crew of Capricho II.  Now, with the engine clearly operating, he was a little concerned about manoeuvring the large yacht so we pointed out to him what looked to be a suitable, easy to reach mooring buoy and worked with his girlfriend to clear the tangle of lines and the offending, failed mooring.  Happily, when we had jumped into our dinghy we had grabbed a handful of BV’s mooring lines to take with us and so, as we went along, we were able to set those up ready to tie Capricho II onto the available mooring buoy.  We managed to secure Capricho II to that buoy just as her skipper rushed up in his RIB and ran to her bow.  We explained what had happened and left him to tidy up the chaos.

The Polish couple joined us on board BV for a beer to help our heart rates return to normal and we heard how they were in the process of ordering a Hanse 40 sailing yacht.  They were really interested in where we had been on BV and the conversation flowed freely for an hour or so when we were interrupted by the skipper of Capricho II.  He arrived bearing gifts:  BV’s mooring lines were returned and 4 bottles of wine, much finer than our usual fayre, was split between us as a thank you for our rescue efforts.

Servicing the galley foot pump; the big seal had a split in it which had caused the leak

Drama and excitement over for the day, we switched our attentions to more mundane ‘boat maintenance in exotic places’. We dug out the servicing kit that we had bought in Road Town and, after we had stripped down and rebuilt the galley foot pump with the kit’s new rubber seals and valves, it functioned perfectly again.

It would have been nice to stay in Cane Garden Bay for another day but we had a plan to fit in a trip to St Croix before we had to escape north to avoid the hurricane season.  We therefore concluded that we should plan to check out of the BVIs and progress on to the US Virgin Islands.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVIs