Francis Bay, St. John, USVI to Great St. James Island, St. John, USVI

March 19, 2014

My fun with the kayak yesterday really wore me out and I was sound asleep by 8:00 pm last night.  Of course, that means, I’m up with the chickens the next morning.  So, before the sun rose, I set out in the kayak again for some early morning fun.  After I got back on board, Daniel was ready for some exercise, so we took D-Time ashore and went for a walk.  We walked about 2 miles ending back up on the beach and walking the length of the beach as well.  Daniel was ahead of me and as I was walking to catch up, I looked off into the woods right next to the beach and saw two donkeys.  I shook my head.  No, I had NOT been drinking.  There were two donkeys, not on any leash (do you put donkeys on leashes?) or anything.  They were just standing in the woods close to the sandy beach.  I tried to motion with hand gestures mimicking donkey ears over my head, but Daniel said, I thought you were telling me that there was a buck in the woods.  Kind of hard to simulate a donkey.  Anyway, it was a very weird feeling seeing them there. 

We motored around to Caneel Bay and picked up a mooring ball, and then took D-Time into Cruz Bay for some shopping.  Daniel hit the auto parts store and I hit the grocery store.  Prices here on St. John are about double what you would pay in the states.  A gallon of milk was $6.00.  A head of lettuce was $2.00.  A medium sized container of orange juice was $5.00.  I didn’t do a lot of shopping, just some essentials.

Back on C-Time we decided to proceed on over to Great St. James Island and spend the night there.  We like the anchorage and there is no mooring fee – even better.  As we left the protection of Caneel Bay and headed across the channel to Great St. James Island, the wind had really picked up and we were riding huge waves across the channel.  Suddenly, a steep 8’ wave hit us broadside and came into the cockpit – first time that ever happened.  We saw one sailboat that was ahead of us, turn around and head back to Caneel Bay.  We were so entranced by the huge waves (and holding on) we forgot to close the portholes in our state room.  So by the time we arrived at Great St. James Island, all of our bedding was soaked with salt water.  We spent hours washing, hanging sheets, pillows and a comforter out to dry.  We would almost get one of the sheets dry and before we could put it away, it fell in the water.  Do over.  We got the comforter almost dry, it fell in the water.  Do over.  What a messy afternoon.  Everything is back together now.  Daniel said, at least the sheets will smell really good from hanging outside all day.  Atta-a-boy, keep that positive attitude!