Back in the USVI (sung to the tune of Back in the USSR)

Sailed into the BVI on a catamaran. Didn’t get to bed last night. All the way the wind was at my back…..

 We spent the night anchored in front of Spanish Town, leaving early the following morning. Note the house on the hill above our anchorage. It is a mile from the boatyard pictured in the last post.

Hurricane force winds took a 60 foor mast and moved it up a mountain a mile away.

This house is 300 feet up the hill and over a mile from the boatyard. Take a look at the close-up below.

Hurricane Irma spread pieces of boats far and wide.
Yes, that is a mast.

Stopped by Paraquita Bay (the infamous “pile of boats in the hurricane hole”) on Tortola. Beachcombed out front and man, there was a lot of stuff. Water toys, lifejackets, really stinky dead conch and fenders, lots of fenders…. While I played Beachcomber Bill, Ryan flew his drone over the bay. Did not look as polluted as I thought it would be. But how much radiator coolant and battery acid can you see? Diesel is more obvious of course (but did not see any of that).

Sailed back to Cruz Bay, St John in the midmorning and saw one other sailboat. Though expected, it was still amazing to be the only ones on the water. Felt like it could have been 50 years ago. And on an up note, the vegetation is coming back nicely. In fact, since all the leaves are sprouting from the ends and the small branches are missing, it looks like a garden of giant bonsai (is that an oxymoron?

Cruz Bay on St John and 1/3 the boats in the water. 1/3 of them were still on land (who knows about the other 1/3).

St John Post Irma

Coming into St John.

For all former students of VI Sailing School, (and anyone checking in to the U.S. through St John) you should recognize where we checked back in to the USA over the years.

Hurricane Irma in St John

St John Immigration and Customs, or whats left of it.

Check-in is now in Charlotte Amaile. A safari ride into town once a week is now part of the routine for a while.

Red Hook was amazingly untouched, even Duffy’s Love Shack (and it is/was a shack) is still up and running. Vessup Bay looks the same as the rest of the VIs. Boats on shore, a mast or two sticking out of the water. A lot of open space. Check out our drone footage on our V.I. Sailing School Facebook page.

Now back in Red Hook St Thomas we cooked up some dinner as the boat swung lazily on the mooring ball. I had a chunk of fish that we put on a large hook (so only the big fish could swallow it) and threw it over the side. Ryan was questioning this operation, “We can really catch something here at the mooring ball?”

“Sure, maybe a big grouper”, I said. Though I had only caught a shark and a ray. We say down to dinner about 5 minutes later and WHAM! The pole bends over lines starts running out. Ryan put up a good fight and what did we get?

Fishing in Vessup Bay

Tomorrow’s night dinner caught during tonight’s dinner.

The School is now back up and running. Classes have begun again, There are a few less beachside restaurants (for a few months at least) and a lot fewer boats and people (again, for a few months at least).

Cheers, Capt Scott

VI Sailing School

scott@visailingschool.com