Return to Seasons

While charts and cruising guides helped us plan our destinations and get there safely, there were a number of other books and guides that allowed us to enjoy and understand the history and ecology of the Caribbean and Bahamas, specifically St. John and Leinster Bay, where we spent two months as volunteer bay hosts for Virgin Islands National Park.

Much of our exploration of St. John began with Gerald Singer’s St. John Off the Beaten Track, which offers a lifetime of local insight on the beautiful island. The book includes bits of folklore, history, ecology, and anecdotes that Singer intersperses with a more traditional guide to the trails, beaches, and snorkels around St. John. Even after a couple months on the island, we still have a long list of things to see and do on St. John, nearly all of which we came across in Singer’s book. And I will never forget the story Singer relates about the family of four who ate the fruit of the toxic manchineel tree, mistaking them for genips. But there are dozens more interesting anecdotes in the book.

Before we left on this sabbatical year voyage to the Caribbean, I had written posts about the charts and guidebooks that we were planning on purchasing and using on the trip. Now that we are coming to the end of our year in the Caribbean and Bahamas, I thought I would update those posts, reflecting on the resources we had initially purchased and letting you know about what else we either bought or wished we had with us. This week, I will start with the charts.

After two months of Bay Hosting for the Virgin Islands National Park, we are now officially just plain-ole tourists again. Our time living in Leinster Bay was not only rewarding and fulfilling, but also just flat out fun. From making new friends and hosting the morning broadcasts of the Leinster Bay Radio Net to epic snorkel runs right off the back of our boat, we felt a real connection to this place. We both have said, in separate conversations and together, that we hope to return to “our bay” as Bay Hosts again soon.

While Margaret and I were using some of the free internet today at Pirate’s Bight, she turned and said, “I just got some sad news.” And, while telling me about the passing of our friend, Bill Trayfors of s/v Born Free, she turned her computer towards me, which had Bill’s ever-smiling face adorning a Facebook remembrance. He had passed “unexpectedly” on February 15th. Even writing it now, my tears are just at bay.

Over the last couple weeks, Margaret and I have been talking about where we might go after our stint as bay hosts with the National Park Service is over on February 15th. 

People we have met in the bay have already headed down island to Antigua and Grenada. And we had some new and dear friends leave for St. Marten the other day. Thoughts of cheese in St. Marten, hiking in Dominica, and island hopping in the Grenadines have us dreaming of sailing the Lesser Antilles. 

Provisioning: Lessons Learned

We have now been away from the continental US for 3 months, enjoying the British and US Virgin Islands. While we stocked up on a what we thought was a ton of food before we set sail for the Caribbean, we are now able to better assess our eating habits while cruising. There are several factors that have made provisioning different this season – each of which has affected our stores and consequently, our meal selection.