A Sail to St Croix: Dolphins, Rainbows, and Swell
St. Croix is like the estranged sibling of the Virgin Islands. This far-away land of sparsely populated countryside intrigued me. After spending considerable time exploring St Thomas and St John, it felt only fair to give St. Croix some attention, too. Perhaps the most enticing part of this adventure was the sail itself. 40 nautical miles south, St Croix offers a beautiful beam reach in both directions, there and back - there’s really no reason not to go!
With one of my new friends on St Thomas, we carved out 3 days for the trip. Sunday morning, we set sail early from St. Thomas. Upon leaving the harbor, we were greeted with a gorgeous 15-20kt breeze that carried us along at about 6-7kts boat speed. Bella’s autopilot took the wheel and it began to feel very similar to the long passage down here from NC. Sporadic rain showers were made beautiful and dream-like by the best rainbows I’ve ever seen! And to top the rainbows, we had a huge pod of dolphins join us for a while, jumping and playing all around us. The easy breeze on the beam carried us there in good time - almost 6 hours on the dot.
When the island appeared in the distance, I was struck by its size, much bigger than St Thomas or St John. As we got closer, it took up the entire horizon. Coming into the harbor, I navigated through the channel markers and found a spot to anchor next to a few other sailboats, most of which looked unoccupied. That would become a general theme around this island - lots of abandoned-looking boats. We waited out another couple rain showers, then hopped into the dinghy and went to town.
Christiansted is a very historic town that carries a certain charm I haven’t quite found in the other US Virgin Islands. The famous boardwalk runs along the bright blue water, bustling with restaurants and bars. Inland a block, quaint cobblestone streets lead you to art galleries and other little shops. Right next to the town is a large yellow fort and customs house - you can’t miss it. Christiansvaern is one of the best preserved Danish colonial forts, built between 1738-1749 to protect the island from pirates and privateers. It’s a beautiful sight to look at from the streets below, but it also offers great views of the town and harbor from above. We somewhat aimlessly wandered the streets until sundown, ending up at a pizza restaurant called The Mill.
The next morning, we dinghied to shore to grab a bite at Toast, a local cafe serving arepas. The plan was to get a rental car and explore the island by land, however, because I am not yet 25, we were unsuccessful. Changing plans, I decided to head west to Salt River Bay. I sailed us through a narrow cut with breakers on either side and entered another graveyard anchorage. Why so many derelict boats? I do not know… There were mangroves here that I wanted to snorkel. Unfortunately, the stormy conditions had stirred up the water and the visibility was next to none. So instead of snorkeling, we zipped around in the dinghy, enjoying the flat, mangrove-lined channels in the misty calm between the storms.
We then set sail towards Buck Island to try another snorkel spot. It was a choppy, upwind motor, complete with more rainbows (and rain). Nearing the island, I could see there was another narrow entrance to the mooring field. The sunny yet stormy skies made the colors of the lush green island and the varying blue waters even more dramatic. All the way at the east end of the island, we grabbed one of the National Park mooring balls and enjoyed a moment of stillness after the bouncy ride here. We were also waiting for the rain to stop, but eventually I got impatient and jumped in anyways.
On this particular day, the reef was very exposed to the ocean swell, and we had little whitecaps breaking over our snorkels. But WOW, the boulder corals were so beautiful and healthy! Diving down, I couldn’t feel the choppy surface anymore, and I relished in the calmness that deeper water provided. Recently graduated as a coral biologist, the scientific names of each coral were still fresh in my brain and I had fun identifying them all. We swam farther, towards the edge of the reef where the waves were really breaking. The park had installed a few little signs to educate snorkelers and lead them on a “snorkel trail.” The trail brought us over some shallows and into a large basin, of sorts. Nothing was as impressive as the beautifully rounded brain and star corals I’d just seen, so I returned to that area. Seeing corals of this great size and health made me very happy! There were also a few big barracuda keeping eyes on us as we swam.
Back on the boat and thoroughly tired out from swimming, I started the engines and motored us out of the cut. The sun was near setting, and I had to find a good overnight spot before it got dark. We headed back towards the main island to the closest anchorage on the chart. And yep, you guessed it, there was yet another narrow entrance through a line of exposed reef and breaking waves! This one actually made me hesitate - the little red and green markers looked so narrow that I wasn’t entirely sure big ol’ Bella could fit between them! But alas, the cruising guide and charts showed that was the way in, so I lined it up and went for it. It turned out that I had a few feet of room on either side, but with the swelly conditions, it did make me a bit nervous. Dropping anchor in the midst of some slightly less-dilapidated boats, we called it a night, cooking up some dinner and heading to bed early.
Just after sunrise, we set sail on an opposite but equally beautiful (and beamy) tack back up to St. Thomas. It was another windy day, but a bit less rainy. The 6 hour sail went by quickly, as Bella fell into her rhythm over the swells and I into my own rhythm - balancing my movement through each wave with the tension needed to hold myself from falling over. Sometimes I feel like a piece of strong kelp swaying in the swell…
After all that, I dropped my friend off in Charlotte Amalie and turned right back around to head to the east end of St Thomas. I had a day sail the next morning in St John and wanted to get myself closer to where I would be picking up the guests. Dropping anchor as the sun set, I kept my energy up enough to wash the salt-sprayed deck (in the dark…) and make a nice little dinner for myself. Sitting outside in the cool breeze, I savored all the feelings of gratitude swirling inside me - gratitude for the freedom and adventures I am able to have with this job, and for the beauty of these islands themselves.
