The Virgin Islands

Apr 30th, 2023 James Destinations

After our enjoyable month in Puerto Rico, it was time to start the final three parts of our journey: the Virgin, then Leeward, then Windward Islands.

Our first stop was to be the US Virgin Islands, which meant we didn’t even have to get our passports out. Rather than fighting due east into the wind towards the largest island, St Thomas, we opted to reach south-east towards St Croix, an island neither of us had been to before. Apart from a few squalls, it was a fast and uneventful 40 mile ride or so.

We anchored just off the shore of Christiansted, once the center of Danish colonial ambitions in the region. As a result, the architecture had some curiously Nordic traits.

Cobbled streets and interesting facades abound.

The town was small and friendly, and after Puerto Rico, started to feel a little more remote and tropical. There were definitely similar vibes to what we remembered from previous trips to the West Indies islands further south: and laid back for sure!

St Croix was the first island on the trip where we were reminded again of the vast influence on the region by colonization, plantations - and of course, slavery - during past centuries. As well as the ruined plantation buildings and overgrown once-‘great houses’ that dot the landscape, the disproportionately armed fort in the city recalls just how critical these outposts were to European economies at the time.

On a driving trip along the island, we came upon an old Danish farmstead called Little La Grange Farm.

Previously a plantation, it was a time capsule of the history of the Lawaetz family, and a glimpse into chapters of the island’s past.

The kitchen, apparently untouched for decades.

After a few more days on the island to let some bad weather pass, we headed back north again, this time to St John. It’s a small island but with a large national park protecting both the land and sea around it.

But first we had to get there: our efforts were confounded by a fishing float and line that we snagged in our rudder about five miles south of the island. I had to jump in, knife in hand, to cut ourselves clear. It felt like our lobster pot adventures in Maine again…

...but with more appealing water to jump into.

By the evening, we were ready to settle into our mooring on the north side of the island, with a cocktail and the famous view of the sun setting over St Thomas.

St John has beautiful beaches, lovely reefs, and some great eating. We hung out for a few days, in both kayak…

…and Cruz Bay restaurant alike:

But the rest of the Caribbean called, and it was finally time to leave the safe embrace of the US and its territories. We had one more major easterly sail to go, and we spotted a northward shift in the trade winds coming the following evening that would help.

We had a plan! We decided to spend the day sailing up through the British Virgin Islands - along a somewhat protected body of water called the Sir Francis Drake Channel - that would get us some progress to the east and north before the offshore passage.

As planned, we didn’t need to stop in the BVI - we’ve sailed there before - and by the time we popped out by Necker Island that evening, the wind had performed its shift as expected. Even better, the swell was very mild! We set the sails, set the autopilot, and headed out on the 140° course we needed for a comfortable run to Saba…

The chain of jewel-like islands that stretch down this side of the Caribbean, all the way to South America, lies ahead!

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Read the next post: The Leeward Islands