Uh Oh, We Need a New Mainsail!

Upon our return to Crown Bay in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, we noticed a 12 inch gash about a third of the way up the mainsail towards the mast. This was not good news! When our boat was inspected prior to purchase, the report indicated that the mainsail was at its "half life." But when we sailed it the first time, we could see that it was beyond that.

Kent called Quantum Sails and the salesman showed up at our boat promptly the next morning. After some discussion and a lot of measuring, we got the estimate: $11,200 including delivery and installation. Ouch! Our mast is 59 feet tall and the mainsail covers over 1,000 square feet, so we weren't totally surprised at the cost. We ordered the sail. Kent and I hadn't planned on this extra cost so soon and hoped the sail would last another year or two. Oh well! It's kind of like buying a house and then finding out that you need a new roof. You gotta have the new roof.

The new sail is being made in Sri Lanka, interestingly, and will take a few weeks from order date to installation. So, we will not be able to depart from the Virgin Islands as soon as we expected. We plan to be in the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands until at least May 1. (I know--poor us!) The damaged sail has been temporarily patched and won't keep us from sailing in the Virgin Islands while we wait for our new sail.

In the meantime, we bid farewell to our friends, Karen and Walter, who returned to more Winter in Chicago.

We look forward to sailing around the British Virgin Islands with our next visitors, our son Ian and his wife Cassie!

St John Island - Cruz Bay and Hawknest Bay

Lunch in Cruz Bay with friends Karen and Walter

Anchoring in Cruz Bay      
                           

Approaching Hawksnest Bay on St John

Mooring in Hawksnest Bay

After a refreshing swim off the stern

A brief rainstorm in Hawksnest Bay

More rain

A remora, a parasitic fish that attaches itself to larger fish with a sucker on its back

Sunset

Trying to motor sail ahead of the oncoming storm

                           

Christmas Cove and Pizza Pi

Our plan for our destination was to sail east to the island of St John. The seas were rough again as we headed out with Karen and Walter. We stayed close to land, motoring from Water Island through the cut between Hassel Island and Charlotte Amalie, and through the large bay. Sailing east towards St John, the seas continued to be rough, so we decided to moor in Christmas Cove for the night and sail to St John the next day.

Christmas Cove is on an uninhabited island at the southeast end of St Thomas. It's very quiet and and has room for only a few boats. The water sparkles and snorkeling is good along the reefs. 

There is an interesting business in Christmas Cove: a take-out pizza place, called Pizza Pi, run out of a boat on the water. We hunkered down for the night, played some mah jongg, and called in our pizza order. Kent and Walter dinghy-ed over to the boat and picked up our fresh pizza from a carry out window built into the stern of the Pizza Pi boat. Pretty cool. And good pizza too. Plus we got two hours of free WiFi along with our pizza order!

Just a Note - Catching Up

We just want to let everyone know that as we travel, we sometimes have WiFi access and sometimes we don't. That means that our blog gets updated as often as we can, but not always in real time. Right now, for instance, it's March 22 and I am  couple of entries behind. We are still in St Thomas and will be here for at least another month. Today I have WiFi, so you'll see a couple of catch up posts. Thanks everyone! We love and miss you all!

Honeymoon Bay, Water Island - A Favorite Spot

The  next day, we decided to sail west and head for Magens Bay on the north side of St Thomas. Kent and I had visited the gorgeous beach there many years ago when the kids were small, and we wanted to show Karen and Walter what some consider the most beautiful beach in St Thomas. However, the seas were rough with high wind, and the sail was uncomfortable. So, we turned around and sailed to Honeymoon Bay on Water Island instead.

Water Island is a short hop south of Crown Bay. There are some inns and maybe 130 residences on the island, many of which are rentals. Most of the boats moored in Honeymoon Bay are owned by the island's residents, but we were able to find a good spot. There is a lovely beach, clear, turquoise water, a couple of restaurant/bars, some hiking trails, and that's pretty much it. There is live music in the bar a couple nights a week. (We skipped the karaoke night.) A ferry runs hourly from Crown Bay. On days when the chartered party boats visit, it gets a little more crowded, but it's very quiet by the end of the day.

Honeymoon Bay is without a doubt one of our favorite spots to anchor, and we actually returned to this anchorage again after Karen and Walter left for home. That's why we have so many pictures.