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This was a great anchorage. Shallow, with good sand and plenty of room to swing, even though we were exposed to the south east. Spent three days there doing odd jobs, and have promised ourselves a return visit to explore the mangrove creeks and reefs near the entrance.

Took bus to shops in Tutu Mall area for new fuel pump for generator. Great bus service. Anywhere in the island for $1.00.

Decided to cross to closest point, Great Harbour, Peter Island about 4 miles away. We were also carrying on deck, 4 sail battens each probably 20' long, plus all the old stainless steel from the bimini frame, so did not want to bounce around too much.

Not at all impressed with Great Harbour. Very deep. Although we have chain to anchor in 70-80 feet, it's a hassle so prefer to find 30' so squeezed in a corner close to shore. No beach to speak of, so the only entertainment was a large number of pelicans making their last fish dives of the day. Aerial and aquatic acrobatics.

New hard top on its way to the haul out dock

Moving the boom across

Locating the hard top

Chris Spencer and JJ at BVI Painters moved onboard within minutes of us arriving at the slip. An hour later the old bimini and its frame were gone and we were waiting for a slot at the haul-out dock.

Moved to the haul-out dock. Very slick operation. Dreaming On was moored very securely and very close to the bulkhead so she would not move. Next the boatlift carried the hardtop into exactly the right position. The boatlift can adjust the height of each corner strap so small adjustments could be made for fixing holes to be drilled and bolted.

Within an hour we were moving again back to the slip with temporary bolts in the rear of the hardtop to the arch and the front sitting on cushioned buckets. Very glamorous.

The install was completed the following day, plus we had the chance to get a few more jobs out of the way while at the slip.

We should have purchased hard hats for ourselves. The new hardtop is just a few inches lower at the sides as it curves down and extends slightly further out than the old canvas job and really is MUCH harder. Just enough to catch the unwary head! We declared it a hard hat area for the first three days!

But what a difference it makes. So much nicer to live with. It also allows us easy access to the boom and mainsail and we can install solar panels up there when the budget recovers. And it's waterproof! No more cockpit showers.

While making our way here, one mainsail batten kept slipping out of its pocket, requiring a precarious balancing act on the arch, sometimes in heavy seas to re-fix. We also noticed one batten broken, so bought replacements while at Nanny Cay.

Iza has some work to do now. The new hardtop needs side curtains for sun shade, so she has been practicing with her sewing machine.

JJ (dig the cardboard hat!) clamping the hard top to the arch

New hard top in place fixed with 3 bolts and 2 buckets

A satisfied customer

Formalities very professional and quick, so we then crossed the bay to the south side to wander around the tourist area. On the way, we met a dinghy being rowed across the bay with an engine problem so towed them to the fuel dock.

St. John is definitely a place to which to return. There are many bays we missed and we would like to have a look around onshore some time.

Again it rained for much of the time as a weather system passes through which cleared by Monday 22nd when we moved to the British Virgin Islands.

Nowhere else in the world can you move from the US to the UK in 4 miles. We motor out of this bay, turn through a gap between islands to head northeast and there, immediately ahead is Tortola, BVI.

As we were headed for a narrow, fast running gap between islands, we pulled into anchor at St. James Island for a break and dry out to wait for a rain break.

Geoff on the arch, fixing the batten, yet again!

Sail Rock

Made the 18 mile trip from Isla Culebrita to Charlotte Amalie, the main city of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.

Charlotte Amalie is a very busy port with the hustle and bustle of ferries, seaplanes, cruise ships, and pleasure craft of every description.

The town has a Dutch history and many old Dutch style buildings still survive. The major business here is the cruise ship traffic, so every possible method of squeezing money out of cruise ship passengers is represented. There are dozens of little bars and restaurants, up market international fashion and jewelry shops and local markets. Most are along the waterfront overlooking the enormous natural harbour, or in narrow renovated side streets.

We did not stay long, just enough time to get a flavour and to do some grocery shopping, but this may be the main point for us to meet any visitors, so we are sure we will be back.

While at the dinghy dock doing our shopping, we saw a dinghy marked T/T (tender to) GeWil. Now we only know of one GeWil and that's an Irwin monohull belonging to Gene and Wilma from North Carolina who we met in the Bahamas in 2005. So we dinghied through the very large anchorage and found them. At least we found Gene, Wilma was ashore. They will be there until June, so we will most probably see then again on our return to St. Thomas.

Charlotte Amalie