Saratoga comes to St. Thomas

Before the authorities arrived we made a break for it and journeyed east to St. Thomas, USVI.

We were able to sail most of the way that morning until the wind and current started giving us too much cross track error. Again, we saw the Watt family, this time at their condo in Red Hook Bay next to the local St. Thomas Yacht Club.

A yacht club cruiser-hater was quick to inform us that we were anchored illegally in a marine park, we could not stay overnight. I was pleasant and thanked her for her dissertation and assumed her we would not dump our sewage overboard. Our friend Chris, a member of the yacht club introduced us to the president of the Yacht club and all welcomed us and our boat to St. Thomas. The boat wasn’t movin’.

The Christina, Sabrina, Parker and Meghan reconnected and we had a great time lounging for the next few days. After enjoying the space of condos and the luxury of a pool, bar, restaurants, kayaks, hammocks and the company of good friends, our host family had to go back to Saratoga. We rented a car to tour the island. The roads were busy, steep and twisted. St Thomas also had some beautiful, bays, architecture, and views. Charlotte Amalie, the cruise ship hub of the Caribbean offered up duty free shopping in rehabbed shipping warehouses around the bay. Except for the rum (which we stocked up on), we sailors don’t have any use for high end boutique clothing, fine jewelry and perfumes.

Early the next morning we visited some of the historic places including the 99 steps. “Why are we having to climb all these steps?” the children wined. When we reached the top we had only counted 87. Hhhmm, what happened to the other 17 steps we wondered? As we strolled along the hillside historic area, we found the 99 steps for the walk back down. St Thomas is a delightful island overall. They are blessed with beautiful harbors, beaches, and lush mountains. They and many of the other islands are challenged as they try to retain their history, support their locals’ needs, guide their development, and preserve their natural resources.