On our way back to PR. Lindbergh Bay, St. Thomas, USVI

Here's a short clip from our sail to St. Thomas^^^

Look at that speed!

Whew!  Almost two months since I've blogged about sailing.  Ack! It didn't feel exciting enough for a blog, but there are some great pics to share (if you don't follow us on FaceBook).

It's time to depart St. Croix and head towards our home marina for hurricane season.

4/27 Tweet:  "Exactly 4 weeks after arriving, departing #STX for Lameshur Bay #STJ, or Lindberg Bay #STT.  Wherever the wind takes us, baby!"

Main sail & anchor up by 8:00 am (after loosing up wheel to fix a frozen autopilot lock) to motor-sail out of the channel.  (Phone rang.  Our permit for Buck Island?  Next time).  It can be a little rough in the channel, but as soon as we cleared the island, it improved and the genoa was 3/4 unfurled.  We were quickly doing 7 kts and both engines were shut off and retracted.  A beam reach is usually desirable but we're also riding over 4 ft waves.  At least today their more consistent instead of a washing machine.

Heading for St John would put us on a close reach and more into the waves so we immediately fall off for St. Thomas and hear from our friends on sv Eva.  "We're here until Saturday."  Lindberg it is!  Beach bar.  Wifi.  Safari to Havensight to return my non-waterproof camera.  Yeah!

We're not familiar with this point of sail. Gonna have to get out the book! 

(Double reef main, 3/4 genoa. Engines retracted)

We pass the propane tanker and the ferry that go back & forth to St. Croix along with a sailboat going the other way before dropping anchor in Lindbergh.

Tweet:  "Did I mention we sailed the WHOLE way?!  Departing the channel of Christiansted to the entrance of Lindberg Bay. Definitely a top 10, maybe a top 5 (which would include St Croix last year to/from different anchorages)" 

The marine environment is hard on things!  The Captain's first project was to finally dig this bin out of the locker & find out what was leaking in the bottom.  Turns out it wasn't the epoxy resin, but the epoxy hardener.  Messy, messy, messy.  

(Remember, we've lived on the boat 2 years.  Most of those rusty cans were purchased in that time frame!)

While playing around on the computer, we realize our friends on sv Outta Control are in the Google Earth picture for the anchorage!

We caught lunch at Beachcomers with our friends on sv "Eva" before they departed for their haul out in Anguilla.  Good times.  

Important info they shared:  

• It's Carnival on the island (so DO NOT go downtown this weekend to return my camera!)
• The new grocery store (VI Finest Foods d/b/a West Bay Supermarket) down near Brewer's is open!
• Inspect all guests luggage for cheese they forgot to unpack!

A view of Odin from Beachcombers

Dinghying over to Krum Bay to get propane...

How come the propane only goes out when you're making coffee?  Never when you're making lunch or dinner!

The dinghy dock

I rode along on the dinghy ride around the corner to Krum Bay for a propane refill.  Shorter walk to Pueblo Grocery, quick stop Crown Bay Marina Gourmet Gallery for curry paste, & met The Captain at Tickles, Crown Bay Marina, St. Thomas, USVI's.  Dinghy ride back with groceries instead of walking was AWESOME!

A different view of the dinghy dock

It's Raven's (aka ding ding--our dinghy's) one year birthday.  It came with an awesome seat cover/organizer that we get a lot of compliments on.  However, it's starting to suffer and The Captain is going to use it as a template then improve on it.  He's cut into the VERY expensive spare roll of pfifertex that we've been carrying around for a year.  I guess that's what it's for!

Check out the separate "Highfield Underseat Bag" blog: http://planesboatsandbicycles.blogspot.com/2017/05/boat-project-upgrading-dinghy-bag.html

Look at that brightly lit grocery store with wide aisles!  Nice.

Excitement for this cruiser is a new grocery store!  West Bay is 1.0 miles from Lindbergh Bay but only 0.6 (with a hill) from Brewer's (yes, along the safari route).  It is well-lit with big wide aisles (something I took for granted back in the States).  

The prices seem similar to Pueblo with lots of little things we like (the "good" grapefruit juice and some yummy veggie burgers) but missing some others (hamburger, bananas, vanilla & less than 2 lbs of chicken thighs).  The staff is friendly (seriously Pueblo cashiers, at least look up...) and are actively asking customers what products they don't see that they would like them to stock.  The manager stopped me today to chat.  See below for some pricing (Yes, there's a vegetarian section.  Gluten-free pizza?  Yes!  With tofurky pepperoni.  No, thank you). Oh, and the baggers are excellent, even when you hand them a duffle bag!  This will always be our first stop.

The moment you realize oar locks are perfect for hanging grocery bags...

Watch the video above to see the big tourist draw at Lindbergh Beach.  People come out here from the cruiser ship dock just to do this!  (You need a Captain's 6-pack license to drive that jet ski!)

One of the best parts of living on a boat

You know you're a cruiser when your husband compliments you on your newest scent...

and it's bug spray!  (Citronella, lemongrass & cedar)

"Things I've learned in the Caribbean: Fixing potholes & installing speed bumps is redundant."

Good night, from Lindbergh Bay!

All of our neighbors have gone. No cruise ship in port, so a quiet beach day. This season is winding down.