Left Jost Van Dyke early - but not too early to have some great French toast for breakfast.  Broad  reached  SW to the cut between the west end of Tortola and the east end of St. John.  Had a great view into Soppers hole (West End) where I remember clearing customs 25 years ago when chartering.  Sailed south along the east end of St. John, rounded the point on the SE corner and jibed over to a broad reach into Hansen Bay.  This was our original (3 days ago) first day destination.  Was sure glad we made it because it is a beautiful anchorage with good shelter.  We are not in but are adjacent to the National Park.   Snorkeled in the afternoon and had another fantastic meal, thanks to Bri.  See Photo page for shots from the last 3 days.

It's Wednesday, 2/26.  We were up this morning at 6:30, fixed coffee and took on water (Pintita holds about 200 gallons and we take on about a hundred every 3 or 4 days - with 4 people on board).  We had a nice breakfast and got underway around 9am.  We motored out toward Ft. Sumter and then headed north into the ICW.  As we did, one of the more interesting events of the trip began to unfold.  A good size tug pushing a small barge was gaining on us from the rear.  We assumed he was going somewhere else but started getting nervous the closer he got.  When he was about a hundred yards behind us, we radioed him and he told us that he, too, was going up the ICW.  He wanted to pass us before entering the narrow cut and told us that about 3 miles into the cut, he expected that we both would be running aground since the area was known for severe shoaling - we both drew 6'.  We followed him up the canal and soon, another tug with a larger barge came up from behind us.  We were now sandwiched in between two VERY large vessels with very little room to maneuver.  The tug/barge behind us asked to pass us and we obliged.  As he began to pass, the barge in front of us ran aground and stopped. We quickly stopped and were a little fearful of being run over by the one still behind. The three of us ended up spending about an hour, from 10:30am to 11:30am maneuvering around trying to get off the shoals all over the channel.  We exchanged positions in line twice with the second tug.  My video shows the two tugs jockeying around trying to break free.  Around 11am, the first tug made it through. We got off at around 11:15 and never again saw the second tug (who drew 7').  It was quite an ordeal with all three captains chatting and sharing possible strategies over the VHF on channel 1. 

It has been raining lightly all day.  Thank goodness for the enclosure that is keeping us dry.  The temp is around 50 so it's a pretty miserable day.  To add to the excitement, the ICW north of Charlestown is about the most boring part of the ICW I've ever experienced - mile after mile of treeless grasslands.

 

Note: posted this 2/27