Return to Charlotte Amalie
Friday 17 - Saturday 18 January 2025
It’s been really relaxing hanging out in Lameshure Bay. When we first tried to find a mooring there in the early hours of Tuesday morning it was completely full, but since then it has emptied out, and half the moorings are free. We think this location was particularly popular earlier in the week because it has great protection from the northerly swells that were prevalent at that time.
Yesterday we took the dinghy along the coast for half a mile or so and tied up to a dive buoy. (There is no anchoring within the National Park - even for dinghies). We had a fantastic snorkel along the rocky shore, with excellent visibility and a good number of fish. I get cold easily in the water and for the first time this season I wore a double wet suit, which kept me much warmer. Later in the afternoon we went to shore for a short walk. Our timing could have been better - it poured down and we hadn’t closed up the windows on Cotinga!
We have two weeks until our friends arrive and we are keen to continue cruising the marine waters of the St John National Park. However, it has been almost two weeks since we last did any shopping back in Antigua and our supplies are running short and we need to make a trip to Charlotte Amalie. On the other hand we hate to give up our hard-gained eastings, knowing that we will have to beat our way back into the trade winds to return to St John from St Thomas. Nonetheless, this morning we decided that we would drop the mooring and sail downwind to Charlotte Amalie and spend a few days there. As predicted, the already stiff trade winds intensified today and we had a wild and rolly ride down-wind with only the Genoa deployed and running the engine gently to charge the batteries and fridge. We had put the outboard motor back on the rail of Cotinga and hauled the dinghy up on to the davits. This is something we wouldn’t normally do offshore (we would put the dinghy on the foredeck), but we only had 12 miles or so to go. About half way through the journey we saw gusts up to 32 knots, and our top speed was 9.3 knots surfing down the waves. Unfortunately, the swells were bad enough that the dinghy ended up scooping up a load of seawater from a large wave from behind. There was no harm done, but it was a salutary lesson not to sail offshore with the dinghy on the davits, and when we do use the davits to try and raise the dinghy higher off the water.
Whilst the anchorage is very busy, we found a good open spot in about 30 feet of water, and anchored easily. We expect to be here a few days, stock up on provisions and then take advantage in a slight dip in the winds, predicted for midweek, to sail back eastwards to St John.
Mike
18 20.072 N, 64 55.637 W
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