Back into the US of A

We weren't planning to stop in the Virgin Islands, but Roger's US passport was going to expire before we could reach Florida, so we had to make a stop in Virgin Islands. It was an overnighter out of St. Kitts putting us over the Saba bank, a shoal large area where the deep sea rises to within 20 feet of the surface, our first experience of what lay ahead working our way up through the Bahamas. But the sea was bountiful as we caught a nice Wahoo for dinner.

We started the passport ordeal as soon as we could, choosing the expensive expedited delivery option, and then it was a wait and see what happens deal. It was fairly windy so we stayed tucked in behind the headland close to the town of Christiansted for easy access to the town and island. I did need a haircut for the for the passport photo and so found a barber shop next to the post office. They mostly cut black peoples hair with electric clippers, so that was a new experience. :)




Waiting, waiting, waiting, like the little circular icon on a computer going around and around. We did run into a boat (not literally of course) I had sailed with in Indonesia, 'Yolo', which was fun to catch up with Karen and Jason.

We did manager to get out to Buck Island for a few days but had to apply for a permit first where the park service had to do a background check first! (like did we have a record for knocking off turtles or what...), which took a week. It was lovely clear waters but really shoal, like EQ's depth gauge showed 4' where we draw 6' (need to get that calibrated I reckon). Diving under the boat showed about 6" under the keel, but sandy just next to the reef. One day was a local holiday so all the crazy speed (and I mean high speed and loud) boats came out of nowhere. This brought out the park service, local police and coast guard boats to keep an eye on the festivities. We where glad to see them head back home with there blaringly loud music and roaring engines returning our peaceful anchorage to the lovely sound of the waves and light breezes. Pew...

And then comes an email from the passport office saying it was back. So, we scrambled back as fast as we could so we could get on our way after two weeks of sitting around. St. Croix was lovely and we did manage to borrow a car for a bit of a tour around the island. But it was time to move on having cleared into the US complete with a cruising permit for the next year.

That's the news from EQ, where the winds are clam, the seas fair and the crew happy to be going to the Spanish Virgins...

With Equanimity and Joy