Are US Virgins purer? (Part 2)

Moorglade's Voyage
Ted Wilson
Sun 29 Jan 2012 15:08

Our position is 17:45.561N 64:40.127W

 

The following day we set off early to sail to St Croix (pronounced St Croy which is a bit tricky for a French speaker like me!) some 35Nm to the South. St Croix is not much visited by cruising yachts as it can be hard to get back upwind from, but as we are heading westwards we thought it would be worth a look. All the USVI  were Danish before the USA bought them in 1917, for a large amount of money, to give them a base nearer to Panama and to stop them falling into German hands (I think the Danes were a bit hard up and looking for the highest bidder). The books reckon the USVI all have very different characters – St John is green and unspoiled; St Thomas is modern and touristy (which is why we chose not to go there) and St Croix is living in its colonial past. As its history is mainly all Danish, Danes do go to St Croix and there is a Danish travel agency on the island but the mainstay of its economy is a huge oil refinery on the south coast. I read that it was the largest in the Western Hemisphere but that felt hard to believe. However a couple of weeks before we got there, the company responsible (a joint US/Venezuelan venture) announced the plant was closing in February and 1,200 people were losing their jobs. The knock on from this will, of course, be huge as the supply chain is hit and the 1200 stop spending money and many of them will leave the island in search of other, similar work. Apparently the capital cost of bringing the plant up to modern, environmental requirements was uneconomic and, in any case, oil refineries are all losing money and closing the world over. We couldn’t help feeling for the rest of the people living there as the general feeling was that the US government would not be providing any assistance, particularly in the current economic climate.

We arrived in the capital, Christiansted, after a brisk broad reach lasting about 6 hours. We then had to negotiate the tricky passage through the reefs to St Croix marina, near the town. This proved to be a very bad choice as the amount of surge and roll in the marina was unbelievable. We tied up in such a way that the boat was held off the pontoon but that made getting ashore tricky as the gap widened and narrowed and the warps creaked and groaned.  We went for a walk into town to top up supplies and see some sights, which included a sea plane taking off ( an inter-island service operates this way) and then back to the boat for a restless night. The next day we moved along the coast to Green Cay Marina (we should have gone there in the first place), which although slightly costlier had better showers, washing machines and a resort hotel with tennis courts, a pool and beach equipment which we had use of. The marina mostly seemed to be used by local boats as there didn’t seem to be many boats with people on and the showers seemed to be hardly used. Some people living on their boats seemed to be earning free mooring by working for the marina – in the office or cleaning – so the atmosphere was very friendly and intimate.

One of the other visiting boats we made contact with was Honningpupp II, the smallest boat in the 2010 ARC. The young Norwegian couple and their 5 month old baby were supposedly sailing it back to Norway for the owner and trying to spend some time in the Caribbean first. They had picked the boat up in the Dominican Republic, where it was waiting for a new engine. The owner had paid the fitter but he, unbeknownst to Kristian and Helene had used the money to buy a car and no engine was forthcoming. Eventually the marina owner took pity on them and got the car impounded and sold to provide the money for the engine, which was duly but somewhat belatedly fitted. This had disrupted their Christmas plans to meet up with family in St Lucia but they had gone there and chartered instead. The owner had also had some rigging work done in DR. Suffice to say that was the bigger mistake as no sooner had they set sail eastwards, after the engine was completed, than the mast fell down. They had managed to get to St Croix and were hoping the replacement mast would be fitted the following week. They both seemed remarkably philosophical about this catalogue of disasters and seemed to be enjoying life on St Croix.

We hired a car for a day and took advantage of it to stock up with heavy supplies – beer, wine, chocolate – and also see if we could get the gas bottle refilled. This proved impossible as the fitting on the bottle we had bought in Barbados proved incompatible with the American system. The gas company directed us to a hardware store to purchase a new bottle and, lo and behold, it was B&Q, Caribbean style right down to the elderly assistants strategically placed to advise the helpless customer. After that we could get down to a hard afternoon’s sightseeing. This proved slightly harder than expected due to lack of signage and poor navigation caused by misunderstanding of the road numbering, but we eventually managed to find the botanical gardens housed in the grounds of an old sugar plantation. These proved pleasant if unexciting and not extensive and insufficiently well attended to warrant a cafe. We failed to locate yet another rum distillery and also missed going to the alleged site of Christopher Columbus’s landing, however we did make it to the St Croix Yacht Club (a mainly dinghy sailing club, restricted by the off-lying reef which makes access for yachts difficult, but with the feel of an active and thriving group) and the easternmost point of the USA, where a millennium sculpture had been erected.

By this time it was dark so we went back to the boat with the intention of having a nice cup of tea and then later eating in the beach restaurant attached to the marina hotel.  First though Ted tried to install the new gas cylinder and its regulator so we could boil the kettle. You can imagine his frustration when no gas could be made to leave the cooker, or indeed the cylinder. The fault was isolated to the new regulator but nothing could be done until morning so we set off for our evening meal. The screaming could be heard emanating from the restaurant before we had hardly left the boat and when we arrived, it transpired that the special activity that evening was hermit crab racing and there were loads of small children cheering for their favourites.  This was all too much for Ted after his disappointment over the gas so we went back to the boat and he reinstalled the Camping Gaz so we could cook on board.

We were up bright and early the next day so we could revisit B&Q before the car needed to be returned. Our desire to be brisk was slightly thwarted by coming across some sort of sponsored walk in aid of a diabetes charity, which was taking up all the road , but we managed to negotiate the successfully. First stop was at the gas supplier where it was confirmed that the regulator was the wrong sort. He also advised that if we were unable to exchange it then the plumbers’ merchant down the road would probably have the right one. Needless to say B&Q only had the sort they’d sold us but the plumbers’ merchant came up trumps when they opened at 8am and we still had time to get the car back by 8.45am. The rest of the day was taken up with laundry and boat jobs, including successfully fitting the gas cylinder with its new regulator and another unsuccessful session with the water maker. We also managed to have lunch in the beach restaurant we had rejected on crab racing night, but although the food was good the service was appallingly slow.

We had intended to leave on Sunday but apathy and strongish winds defeated us so it was Monday before we set sail again.

 

    

 

First views of St Croix                                                             The uncomfortable berth at St Croix marina - I couldn't photograph the surge!

 

    

 

We were lost in a trading estate while looking for the shop when we came across these 2!

 

  

 

The forst at Christiansted. Ted is reading the information board - it never saw action. The Danes were far too sensible to fight!

 

    

Not everything is well cared for like the fort                          But a nice boardwalk along the seafront at Christiansted

 

    

You wonder if it'll get in the air.................................but it manages it

 

  

 

Churches abound as they do on all the islands and the Danish flag flies everywhere including the Government offices

 

   

 

Green Cay from the marina entrance                                             Green Cay Marina entrance looking back

 

   

 

Snug inside Green Cay Marina                                  Moorglade looking smaller than everything else as usual

 

    

 

B&Q Caribbean style                                                               and where to get the cylinder filled

 

   

 

Is this really the largest oil refinery in the western hemishpere??

 

   

 

 

 

The botanical gardens

 

 At the top of a hill known as The Beast. The Ironman triathletes cycle up it

 

    

Salt River Marina. I wanted to kayak into the mangroves   Salt River Bay - obviously not as sheltered as people thought

but there wasn't time

Columbus's landing was apparently at the seaward end of Salt River Bay

 

    

 

St Croix Yacht Club                                                       V.L. Baseline array telescope - not quite sure what it's for but it featured on the map!

 

  

The Millenium monument at Point Udall

 

 

 

Point Udall - the easternmost point of the USA                          Sponsored walk for diabetes charity