During our trip from Puerto Rico to St. Croix, we picked up a cute little stowaway. This little bird joined us around the half way point, would fly away from time to time, then circle back to us to rest for a while. We prepared a little lunch of crackers and water for him, which I’m certain he loved. Once we were close enough to Fredericksted to be able to see people on the beach, our little friend flew away.
We found a nice spot to anchor for the night, and let family know we made it to their island. As I was getting ready to take some pictures, I noticed that our closest neighbor, who was showering on the aft deck of his boat was not actually wearing shorts that matched his skin tone perfectly. Oh no, he was taking a shower in his birthday suit. In full view of the beach, cruise ship next door, everyone on the cruise ship pier, and even a large research vessel to our port side. We decided it would be better to have a nice dinner inside and get a good night’s sleep.
The next day we made our way around the North side of the island to find an anchorage closer to family. I’m sure they enjoyed listening to the very helpful words we had for each other while trying to set our anchor and get the dinghy ashore. Sometimes one forgets how far sound travels over water. Certainly not a part of “living the dream” people talk about often enough (HA!).
After a very wet and somewhat stressful landing on the beach, we were happy to finally see our family and take a few photos of Dulcinea from the restaurant. They helped us find a more protected place to anchor by the yacht club, which became our home base. The people there were very nice, offering to lend a hand anytime we may need it. This is one of the reasons we love this island. Everyone is so friendly, helpful, and they always make people feel welcomed.
The next day, we made it to the cousin’s house to collect our very large pile of parts, supplies, and other goodies we had shipped there over the past few months. Now we could dive into some overdue boat projects. We were happy to have time to complete a large chunk of the to do list before we needed to meet my sister and our friends on St. Thomas. We were also happy to be able to make time to play. So when we could take a break from projects we made plans to go to Buck Island. That meant tracking down the office to acquire the necessary permit to anchor in that park. After visiting what felt like every park building in Christiansted, we had what we needed in hand and were ready to go.
The trip to Buck Island was a lovely one. From this vantage point, it is hard to capture the beauty of the beach in front of us. We enjoyed calm seas and a nice breeze the whole way. Everyone had a great day on a beach we didn’t have to share with many other people. After some fun in the sun and a nice lunch onboard, we made our way back. These are the kind of days we love.
Soon it was time to head to St. Thomas and St. John. Happily, we could see both islands on the horizon. Our group would be arriving in a few days, and we wanted to make sure we had time to prepare the boat for visitors. We had a full schedule of enjoying carnival on St. Thomas, as well as island hopping between there, St. John, and the the BVIs before bringing everyone back to St. Croix.
Traveling Team Fischer 