From Culebra to St. Thomas

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands – The invitation read “Please Come and Celebrate Katy’s Birthday this Sunday – Honeymoon Bay, St. Thomas.”  The problem was… we were in Culebra, Puerto Rico! But that’s the benefit of living on a sailboat, your home and main means of transportation and having the flexibility to have fun events like this determine your next port of call!  We made it to Honeymoon Bay in time to give Katy a nice cake (I am getting better at baking on Begonia) and to shake our bones a little on the dance floor.  The “place” was literally a cart on wheels with someone selling (tons of) alcoholic beverages… and the “dance floor” was a little space someone designated on the sandy beach, with a guy in the back with a guitar playing Jimmy Buffet covers.  Honeymoon Bay is a haven for many children of the sixties and seventies who came here to St. Thomas when it still was a “virgin” island and they have not left since. Notes of patchouli were in the air.  (Not that there's anything wrong with patchouli.... I'm just trying to give you accurate imagery).

Since then we have visited Charlotte Amalie, the capital city, where I am writing from now.  This is a very different scene… lots of cruise ships and pleasure yachts.  Notes of Gucci, Versace, Louis Vitton in the air!

Back in Culebra we met two other families with lots of kids.  Needless to say our little ones were very happy to commiserate with others on their “same boat.” We ended up spending more time there than expected due to this reason.  Sofia and Benjie are getting a little tired of having just each other…. The little tiffs between them are getting a little more frequent and Sofia now has decided she “wants her own room.”

We have spent the last couple of days running “drills” for the children on the boat.  In the event they were to fall in the water we want them to know exactly what to do:  what does it feel like to fall in from the bow of Begonia (5 feet high), and if we’re at anchor, we discussed remaining calm and swimming to the bridle and/or anchor lines.  If we are running, we discussed remaining calm and floating on their back until we can come back and pick them up.  I was glad we did this…. Since if you can believe we’ve already been at sea 3 months and this is the first time.  Sofia feels very comfortable in the water and her personality is adventurous.  Benjie is more cautious and never liked getting water in his face.  You can imagine how difficult it was to convince him to jump – just once – off the bow to practice the drill.  And that was with me standing next to him and Sebastian in the water waiting for him. Now… the little guy is a fishie… once he jumped once, he could not stop… and now wants to do it every day.

We have met back up with our friends Joanne and George from RomantaSea and are travelling with them today.

Charlotte Amalie has been nice for a different scene than what we have been used to these past few months.  The city itself is very “Caribbean.”  You can imagine the pirates hanging out in the alleys of the town, which are now lines with jewelry store after jewelry store.  The people are extremely friendly.  The highlight was visiting the Jewish synagogue which is the oldest on the Western Hemisphere.  A two-day respite – but it’s time to move on.

NEXT STOP:  Christmas Cove, St. James Island, St. Thomas, USVI

Get the play on words?

The t-shirt was a creation of our dear friends "Los To"

Hats are a must... the sun is getting stronger the further south we go!

I thought the sign on this cart was hilarious.... every time we passed it, it was closed!

Here's Katy and a friend celebrating their birthdays in Christmas Cove.

Charlotte Amalie harbor

No one can stop him now!

Sofia, always the adventurous one, takes a dive....

Now getting fancy... jumping with Papa!

Good guard dog... makes us miss Martita

Big cruise ships, Charlotte Amalie

Street scenes of Charlotte Amalie

Sofia's rendition of the trip so far.... that's her a Benj snorkeling

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.