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

With a week to get to Puerto Rico (from St. Thomas), we developed a cruising plan last night.  The plan was to go from St. Thomas to the SE end of St. John where there is an underwater national park.  From there, we would sail to the West end of Tortolla to Soppers hole.  Then on 1/26, we would sail north to Jost Van Dyke. The next day would be back to St. Thomas for the night and then to Calebra - one of the Spanish Virgin Islands at the east end of Puerto Rico.  An overnight there on the 28th, to the east end of Puerto Rico on the 29th and then on to San Juan on the 30th.  Bri is flying home from Puerto Rico on the 31st. 

We left St. Thomas at around 10am this morning after a provisioning run.  We sailed on a close reach to the SE for about 15 miles and then tacked back to toward St. John.  Around 1pm, the wind picked up to around 20 and we reefed the main.  Around 1:30, it picked up another 5 knots and we furlled the jib (never did set the mizzen).  With only a reefed main and staysail, we were headed into the East end of St. Thomas and with rain setting in, we decided to pull into and drop anchor (mooring ball) at the east end behind Great St. James Island.  That was the right move since it rained on the way in and during our first hour at anchor.

Made it to Baltimore without much trouble.  Snowed till around 10pm with accumulations to about 8".   Temps overnight dropped to below 10 making cleaning off the car a pain.  Picked Tom up at 5:10am and then drove to the airport with Joan's brother in law Robert.  Luckely, our flight was on time (thank you Southwest).  The plane took a flightpath down the western side of the Bay that enabled Tom and I to see every river off the western shore, Norfolk, the Dismal Swamp, the sounds of North Carolina, as well as Beaufort and Cape lookout bight. 

Got into San Juan at 2 (a little late), got bags and onto the Seaborne puddle jumper to St. Thomas.

Well, it's T = minus 1.  The good news is I'm packed and ready for Joan to pick me up in an hour for the drive down to Baltimore.  The bad news is the worst snow storm of the year began this morning and is scheduled to be over at around midnight tonight.  Joan cancelled her appointments tomorrow morning and plans to leave Baltimore early in the morning for the drive back.  I'll be riding to the airport with Tom Hosford (Pintita crew member) in the morning.  I wonder what the chances will be of a delay in the flights tomorrow.