Wind from the back and I needed my spinnaker pole for the first time since I had repaired it. No problems and we had a slow and easy sailing day all the way into Charlotte Amalie Bay where a few cruise ships and other sailboats where already waiting.
Immigration was very easy and the officers were friendly and welcoming. Amy and I had now officially cleared into US waters without a problem. I was overjoyed and took a little stroll through the city, bought a few groceries and looked (in vain) for a simcard.
The US Virgin Islands were until the beginning of the last century when the United Staes bought them the Danish Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie was then the queen of Denmark and the streets all still have danish names. The houses look beautiful but there is a constant very loud noise from the trucks traversing the city at high speeds and shifting gears every few seconds. I got back in the dinghy and went home to spend the evening on board and celebrate with a warm beer.
The next morning a Canadian Single Hander rowed by in his dinghy and he joined me in the cockpit. He was going east while I was going west. So we exchanged a few insights about the next places to go. We then said goodbye. I was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to go through the reef to the next island for the night and just before the reef there was a seaplane takeoff and landing zone and there had just been one landing and a subsequent takeoff. I definitely wanted to be out of the way before the next landing 🙂
Flamingo Bay on Water Island wasn’t quite as romantic as it sounded. The holding in the bay was terrible. There was no protection from the wind but at least there was no swell so I stayed a bit further outside where the anchor held well in sand. I didn’t even go to shore. I wanted to leave for Culebra, Puerto Rico with the first light the next morning and went to bed early.
