Great Lameshur Bay, St John's, US Virgin Islands

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Wed 26 Feb 2014 02:27

18:18.94N 64:43.3W

 

Saturday & Sunday -  22nd & 23rd Feb

 

It was still blowing quite hard on Saturday morning but we had decided to make a break for Lameshur Bay regardless and we also assumed that to get a buoy in such a popular spot would need us to be there pretty early in the day, so we headed off first thing and plugged into 25 knots of wind and waves for the 10 miles.

 

We arrived at the bay to find several free buoys so both Ruffian and ourselves were able to pick good spots and make ourselves secure.  Iain, Fiona and Sarah then set off on a hike in the National Park whilst I went snorkelling to explore the coral and sea life for which this area is so well known.   The walkers were away longer than anticipated, visiting the Petroglyph (Carvings) attributed to Pre-Columbian Taino which were by some still water and the reflections were impressive.  They also took in a derelict sugar plantation in pretty good condition – where they also spotted deer, mongooses (mongeese?!), and hundreds of huge red hermit crabs plodding along the paths – and the beautifully sited but decidedly more derelict plantation house high above the mill and full of bats.

 

Sarah would also like to add a brief mention of the walk she did with Iain and Fiona on St Maarten.  Organised by a liveaboard, Mark who had the unenviable task of controlling a large group of independent sailors – yes like the proverbial herding of feline creatures.  Mark arranged 2 buses to pick us up at 0900, but one bus driver was unavailable so another guy stepped in with his posher bus.  We were then driven to the highest point on St Maarten to take the walk back down.  At this point the relief bus driver got very obstreperous demanding a fourfold increase in the bus fare!  Eventually we set off, a fairly motley group some dressed for serious hiking, some in sandals and patently a little unfit…..  We walked downhill, with frequent stops to consult the tourist map featuring the whole island on one side of A4 – the only map available!  We arrived in part of a tourist attraction with zip lines after over an hour’s walking and it became apparent we had gone badly wrong. So Mark suggested you could either take the easy route down the road and catch a bus back (and to some relief the sandal clad fraternity set off) or head back up to where we might have gone wrong.  In the event we walked all the way back to the starting point, in about half an hour despite it being uphill.  Then set off again in a slightly different direction.  We ended up on quite a strenuous walk, walking through shoulder high grass, very narrow paths dodging cactus and overhanging spikey vegetation and for quite a considerable distance, we walked along the top of a derelict dry stone wall with dramatic steep slopes dropping away each side.  We arrived back where we had left the dinghies about three and half hours later – in time to see the end of a carnival procession pass by, accompanied by the loudest, drumming music ever.

 

Free Reign were here when we arrived, but they headed out for Charlotte Amalie in the afternoon.  This is a wonderful anchorage and the snorkelling is superb, but the big surprise was the curious free wifi that defied logic and the laws of science!  We were able to login and use it despite the fact that it was supposed to be a paid service, whilst poor Ruffian were not able to get anything at all.

 

On Sunday along with Iain and Fiona, we all went snorkelling on the coral reef at Yawzi Point which is the headland between Little and Great Lameshur Bays.  This was outstanding and included seeing and photographing a sandtiger shark (completely harmless to humans) and so we returned in the afternoon for a second visit which was equally impressive.  In the evening Iain and Fiona came to dinner and Mexican train (!) after which we all said our goodbyes as Ruffian were heading off first thing in the morning to the Spanish Virgins, then Puerto Rico, Cuba and the USA again, whilst we are staying here in the US Virgins for a few weeks before our youngest son, Ewan flies out to the British Virgin islands for a week’s holiday with us.

 

Ruffian left first thing on Monday morning and we were of course very sad to see them go off again and rather threw ourselves into a few boat jobs to take our minds off their departure.  Another lovely day here with a good fresh breeze and for the first time in a while almost no rain at all.  Sarah encountered the biggest turtle she has ever seen which she estimates was much the same size as her and she filled her day mostly with polishing the hull which is a long and strenuous job in the hot sun.