Working our way back. Brewer's Beach, USVI

A Brewer's Beach sunset

Whew!  Way behind on the blog.  Here are the photos and random thoughts you missed if you don't follow us on FaceBook:

"Drinking tea outside this morning, enjoying all the early a.m. activity that is Brewer's Beach. I'm leaning over the side, watching the tarpon have breakfast, when a pelican dives into the water, 4 feet in front of my face. I can hear the WHOOSH of air just before he splahes down. Tea spilled."

Things you need on a boat:

1). Metal skewers.  I'm not sure why I bought these.  We seldom used skewers at home.  Maybe I thought we would be grilling veggies more.  Anyway, they get used for lots of other things.  Today The Captain absconded with one to clear a locker drain...

2).  A really BIG magnet on a really LONG string.  Inevitably, a tool will go overboard.  It's the sound you hear when a kid breaks a toy.... "{splash} AWHHHHHH...".  A ratchet went in today.  He could see it, but we're anchored on 25 ft of water.  I was willing to get in but I can't dive that deep.  Out came the magnet on 30 ft of string!  A boat moves a LOT even in relatively calm water.  Add in some current.  It took me awhile.  The ratchet was under the boat and then "Whoops on the outside of the hull!"  "Nope!  Now I'm inside the hull...".  Got it!

Another beautiful sunset...

Pastelon

Puerto Rican Pastelon--it what's for dinner!  I had been wondering what to do with those frozen plantains I saw at the store.  The Captain said it sounded terrible but ate a bowl, even after catching me pour an egg over the top.  I LOVED it.  Hamburger, bell pepper, onion, tomato sauce & cheese.  What's not to love?  More leftovers for me.  I primarily used this recipe but followed some tips from a second one (added more spices).  Standby for a full write-up over at #OdinEats:  http://www.elboricua.com/recipe_PastelonPlatanoMaduro.html

Ahhhhh

"Don't be alarmed. This is smoking...". Wait, what?  

It could also be captioned, "boat life vs professional aircraft mechanic". 

That's why I'm short a canning jar!

"There's a leek in the boat!"

Bonita's Cantina for #TacoTuesday

So many ideas in my brain that I'm taking notes on my iPad AND a notebook, but not getting any ACTUAL writing done.  #goodproblem

And here is where we made our side hatch sunscreen: http://planesboatsandbicycles.blogspot.com/2017/05/BoatProject-PDQ-SideHatchSunscreen.html

#sailing #sunset #nofilter

For my STT peeps,

We finally got up enough motivation to take the safari bus halfway across the island to grocery shop at Cost-U-Less. We were rewarded with some treats (Ocean Spray grapefruit juice & Presidente) and good deals (if you have room for a case of tonic water)...

Awkward photos are an attempt to show pricing.

FB page, "Odin Eats":  Things are quiet here on Odin, as we count down the days until our haul out.  My current time-filler is flipping through recipes, which usually results in visiting the 5+ grocery stores on the island.  {gulp}:  I have an idea for a pasta dish for lunch.  After flipping through recipes, this looks like my base.  I've attempted versions of this before and they weren't up to par.  I didn't know I needed to look up a recipe for pasta, olive oil & garlic!  

Here's the proper technique for Aglio e Olio...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/spaghetti-aglio-e-olio-recipe-2043225

While scrubbing the dinghy bottom, I glance down & see a group of Blue Tang swimming underneath me.  #Priceless Thanks for the company 

#STT #USVInice

And here's your Sahara Dust #sunset #nofilter

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.

Wildlife of Brewer's Bay

The underwater camera allows pics from a new perspective!

St. Thomas, Part 2: (Yes, this is a long one.  We were here a long time!  Let's wrap this up so we can get moving...)

Our time at Brewer's Beach could be summed with TURTLES!  I could sit in the cockpit on any given day and count 6.  If I snorkel, I usually lose count at 10.  We even saw a humpback whale!  For The Captain, is was all about free water and the safari.  "Where should we go on the Safari today?"  We averaged a trip every other day, for a monthly total of $60--less than putting gas in a car.  We just added the $2-4 dollars to each errand.  Groceries--skip the cookie purchase, take the safari.  Laundry?  Go to The Washboard downtown and it will cost less than Crown Bay Marina if we take the Safari.

ALWAYS near our anchor chain.  Good job, buddy.

All the boats anchored along the beach LEFT!  So we repositioned. Closer to the dinghy dock/beach, better snorkeling, more sheltered, no rocks!  After a quick snorkel to verify our anchor set (much better), I left the pufferfish, a ray and a turtle on anchor watch (no lie. Can't make that stuff up!)

Panorama of Brewer's Beach

Thanks to cruiser happy hour aboard s/v SeaSparrow with Beagle Knot & Nauti Dog, we know the password at Bad Ass Coffee in Yacht Haven Grande is "mango" (and they were closed when we got there, so good thing we knew the password!).  Netflix me.

The very first photo with the new camera

More errands.  The Captain headed in to check on battery prices at the marina.  I braved the downtown cruise ship dock to buy an underwater camera ("No, I don't want the $300 one.  I want the $130 one!"  And cruise ship passengers, please put something on over your bathing suit before coming into town.  It's rude).  Upon returning & a quick lunch, we noticed our unattended neighbor was dragging (the wind is howling a steady 20-25 today.  Go Windy!).  We made a quick radio announcement then jumped in the dinghy.  Another boat knew how to get a hold of them on the phone (and confirmed there wasn't a key onboard).  I did a quick change to snorkel their anchor and confirmed deeper water but temporarily set with minimum scope.  As I returned to check our anchor, the owner's appeared, so I continued on and found the 4 resident turtles that live near our section of the beach.  I also found the ray, still on anchor watch--just missing the pic of him SITTING on the chain.   "I'm ON it, lady!"  Our resident pufferfish has eluded me for the last two days.  I'll find him!

Hello, DUDE!

Day #2 with the underwater camera!  After finding the 4 turtles that live close by, I went on a longer snorkel and lost count at 10 turtles and 10 rays (I was starting to think they were circling back but the turtles were really more interested in lunch--and the rays were more interested in getting away from me)!

The crap that can snag your anchor in Brewer's Bay (and I didn't make it all the way over to our last anchoring spot).  If you're chart plotter doesn't show the fiber optic cable--you should be looking for those tiny floating buoys that mark it coming off the beach

Pipe, but not the cable?

Wrapping your chain around this will be fun

Jury is still out on this one, but it was BIG.  8ftish

I'm winning at Scrabble and still had time for a sunset photo

Photos from around town. Our neighbors...

Public service announcement:  Our anchorage is dead calm, so I decided to work on treading water (sans snorkel gear).  I usually only last a few minutes with a flutter kick before I panic & grab a hold of something.  After some internet research on technique, I stayed in for an hour and for the first time ever, could float on my back!  You really can learn to do anything on the internet.  Sheldon Cooper would be proud.  I may be sore tomorrow...

http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/how-to-tread-water.html

Happy sunset!

Contemplating life & the sunrise with a cup of coffee and Amelia-Baby Bear

Laundry day!  Sun and breeze, do your magic...

I work up a sweat so it was followed by a jump in the water.  Yesterday, I completed 6 laps of the boat--200 yards (turns out I'm not a terrible swimmer when motivated.  We'll call that free-freestyle.  Kind of a backstroke doggie paddle).  Today was Noodling at Sea, or Staying Fit with Water Aerobics - Willie Haskins (basically, deep-water aerobics).  I did "cross country skiing" below the galley hatch while The Captain cooked Beef & Broccoli for lunch.  He even did dishes.  Win--win.  "Did you save any leftover rice?"  "Yeah, it's in the fridge."  "Got it."

One of the 7 tarpon...

(video) Life under our boat is all about the food chain.  The tiny fish live under out boat.  There must be 100's of thousands.  Small fish (6") arrive and eat the tiny fish.  Then the pelicans arrive.  This 4-foot tarpon is also clearly visible from deck (apparently what has been causing all the bigger splashes) and is currently eating the buffet under our boat.  Keep it down out there kids!  We're trying to take a nap!  THIS MORNING WE HAVE 7, yes SEVEN, large tarpon circling our boat!  And some medium fish have also arrived, that were quite territorial when I tried to clean the bottom of the boat yesterday--"Go away!  We're hiding under here!  Our spot!"  NOTE:  We also now have tiny fish in our toilet.  Well, that makes sense...

My elusive pufferfish is bashful, but always close to the boat.

Today, the water is so calm, we could see this turtle munching grass off the stern, so I waited for him to surface--RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT!  Love it here.  Never leaving..."TURTLE!"

Another cold front has reached us in the USVI.  (Dang it!  Don't get me wrong--I still jumped in for a swim yesterday). We knew when the winds switched SW it would get choppy because we're not protected from that direction, but it was already moving WNW as we went to bed.  I was awoken at 2:30 am by gusty winds (wind generator!  I should have made yogurt!), a pitching boat, waves slapping the bridge deck and the feel of our anchor chain jerking.  I can't sleep through that.  I go into the cockpit, expecting the winds have gone back west but they're NW and gusting.  A check of the chart plotter indicates we've either: stretched out our chain farther than we have since we've been here (The Captain), or the anchor has reset in the wind shift (First Mate).  Either way, we are closer to the swim beach but more importantly, our catamaran neighbor (who snuggled up while we were in town) is still over there.  The Captain is already back to sleep and Amelia the Princess also rolls over and goes back to sleep.  Goobers.  The good news is the unlocked guest network in the bay actually works at 2:30 am and I'm all caught up on the world.  We've settled down to simply a bouncy castle but I still can't sleep.

Our dolphins are back!  Steve from the Marine Science division confirmed they frequent the area.  It's been approximately 5 weeks since we last saw the two adults & two juveniles.   

Humpback whale sighting off the end of St. Thomas airport & Brewers Beach. Apparently took an hour long nap, then swam away!

There was speculation she may have actually had a calf!  Photos courtesy of the local paper

I dropped some sunglasses in the water.  Some nice, wrap-around cycling glasses that should have gone back to the RV.  We were headed into town.  They did a slow-motion skip down the back step and drifted on top of the water for a few seconds.  I could have jumped in.  I could have grabbed a boat hook but the wind swung us away, right then.  The Captain considered stripping and jumping in.  "Ahhhh, you can dive for them later".  Dang. 

I can barely scrape the bottom of our 3 ft keels, more or less dive the 8-10 ft of water we're anchored in.  I had hoped DH would retrieve them but his sinuses have been acting up.  The one afternoon I didn't feel like a swim, but in I go.  "Should we try a boat hook?"  No, it floats.  "What about the fishing line?"  You can try...  The current & wind kept moving me & the fishing line around.  I got konked on the head a few times by the dinghy--(this WAS his fault to begin with)!  I got the hook close a few times and was hoping to drag it across.  Instead, I finally got it on top of the sunglasses and contemplating my next move--the current gave the hook a jerk and they were off the bottom!  Quickly (but not too quickly), I reeled them in.  MUCH MORE SATISFYING than going to the mall for a new pair!  I'm pretty impressed with myself right now.  It's the little things in life, when you live on a boat.

Some of the best shell collecting since the Bahamas

"It's blowing a gale so let's get on a boat & go snorkeling!"  20 gust 30+.   We've never seen this tour boat before...2 failed attempts at anchoring & waved off of picking up the fiber optic mooring before they left. 

Note Cyril King airport 45 mph!

Our last evening in Brewer's will be happy hour on sv Encore.  Perfect end to a perfect anchorage.