USVI's - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas
Nimue
Tue 3 May 2011 14:08
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After spending a couple of days in Francis Bay, we set off to Charlotte
Amalie (CA) on St Thomas in choppy seas and with 20 knots of wind behind us.
After a lively sail we found a good place to drop the anchor in Long Bay in CA,
but unbeknown to us at the time we
had arrived during the start of the two week Carnival and weren’t
prepared for the onslaught of music every blaring out every night until 0200!
Named after a Danish Queen, Charlotte Amalie is the capital city of the
USVI’s. The town still has many of the original Danish buildings and mansions on
the hillside overlooking the harbour. Charlotte Amalie is a favoured destination
for cruise ships to stop at on the Caribbean circuit, the main attraction being
the multitude of duty free shops along Main St.
Choppy seas on our way to St Thomas
Negotiating the Current Cut passage
One of the larger cruise ships moored in CA.
During Carnival; the locals zoom around showing off their “pride and joy”
This was our first real taste of ‘America’ and a real novelty to see our first yellow school buses and walk/don’t walk signs!
Charlotte Amalie had lots to offer in terms of shopping with a
good supermarket and a KMart (big store selling almost anything), where Chris
and I took to opportunity to purchase a few more summer clothes at good prices!
The public bus was good fun too and although a bit rickety, we were able to get
around most of the island for a dollar or two a ride. Of course a visit to
Budget Marine on the other side of the Island was included, as the boys couldn’t
miss the opportunity for yet another visit to the chandlery!
We delayed our departure for the Bahamas by a day, as
Michael had been concerned that our on board domestic
batteries were coming to the end of their life and didn’t want to risk leaving
it to the USA to replace them. So with Steve’s help off Scott Free they both
managed to pick up 4 new batteries, get them on board Nimue and fit them in a
day!
An iguana we saw patrolling a coffee shop boardwalk
One of the local buses we caught to get around St Thomas
Last night with Rick and Lucy (sitting by the window) in The Greenhouse
Last sight of the USVI’s on our way to The Bahamas |
