I have to get used to moving. A big part of cruising is moving, always visiting somewhere new, but I feel like we are not spending enough time in the places we visit. There are so many islands and so much to do and see on each of them that I know we are missing out by not seeing more.
It’s common for any traveller to have these emotions, this fear of missing out. We are fortunate: most people are in The Virgin Islands for a week on vacation and then have to go home. I have to get more in the mindset of enjoying what we see instead of regretting what we miss. In that spirit, here are my top impressions of The Virgin Islands.
The Virgin Islands compel you to slow down, and for our first several days we did just that, relaxing in St. Thomas. After touring the Spanish Virgin Islands, we were ready for more island hopping, and that we did! A few days rest and we were speeding through The Virgin Islands.
The Virgin Islands are very hilly and filled with loads of sailors. The islands are so close together it makes for easy sailing: sometimes it only takes an hour to get from one island, nay one country, to another so you can visit a lot of places in a short time.
We took up that challenge! First, we welcomed more guests on board: Jeff and Tanya from NYC flew in last weekend and we crammed in a lot in the 4 days they were here. We visited 4 islands and hit up a lot of beach bars while speeding through the Virgin Islands.
Our tour of the Virgin Islands
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Because it is the low season, we didn’t get to enjoy any tourist sites in Charlotte Amelie, the pretty port city of St. Thomas, our first stop in the US Virgin Islands. The Pissarro Gallery and Blackbeard’s Castle were both closed with no word on when that would change.
You may be under the illusion that everything works fine onboard Sava. Not true. While our autopilot is still going strong, a lot of other boat parts don’t work. Below, a comprehensive accounting of what’s broken on Sava, and some things that broke and got fixed.
Also, I am not a handy person so my explanations are very basic because that’s my level of understanding. Thankfully Brian is at a much higher level than me. If he wasn’t so handy, we wouldn’t have made it out of Florida. Brian also recommends a good resource for these jobs, the Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual.
Freezer
We thought we got this fixed after the engine debacle, but this freezer is finicky. A couple of times we noticed it was off and we are now very vigilant about ensuring the freezer is plugged in. We also keep the vents clean – got to get rid of the cat hair.
Yet still the temperature regularly creeps above freezing. This is understandable when we haven’t been under power or it’s cloudy, but we don’t know why the freezer doesn’t work when the solar charge is full and we run the engine.
This freezer is driving me crazy. I obsessively check the temperature, which is not easy to do. Because the freezer is strapped into our salon sofa, we have to peek under the table to see the power and temperature indicators.
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