Luedke Vacation Blog

Rain at Buck Island

January 16, 2010
Well today is the day. The day we’ve been dreading all week. The day we must return to Virginia and end our vacation.
We woke up to rain in a small cove off Buck Island. Missy made some breakfast sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, sliced marinated pork on English muffins with the more fresh fruit. Marie and I were contemplating one last snorkeling swim when suddenly the cloud broke and the sun came out.
We took that as a sign and jumped into the water. It was like jumping into a fully stocked aquarium. There were fish everywhere. You couldn’t look in any direction without seeing hundreds of different kinds of fish. It was the best snorkeling we’ve done yet.
After swimming around the Catatonic for an hour we headed in. Marie went for a shower, but I wanted to keep the salt of the Caribbean on as long as possible.
Soon we were dropping the mooring ball and heading for Yacht Haven. On the way Marie and I packed then sat up on the bridge in a misty rain for the last time. After docking, Suzy showed up to take us to the airport and the long trip home.
Going home from St Thomas is no fun. You go through Customs, then Security, then Security again then a two hour wait for the plane. A short flight to Puerto Rico for a three hour layer over, then then final flight back to Dulles. At least we were in first class, which made it a little easier.

Sun comes out for a final swim

Our driver was waiting for us, and before we knew it, we were home.
We plan to return to the Virgin Islands as soon as possible and we’re already planning our next trip.

January 15, 2010

We woke up in Little Harbour, a small cove on the East side of Jost Van Dyke, with high winds and rain.  After a quick breakfast of steaming hot banana walnut pancakes we set sail of St. John.  It was really blowing hard as we dropped the mooring ball and Captain Rick carefully guided the Catatonic out to sea.

Sailing in the storm

Since we’ve been in the British Virgin Islands most of the week, we had to go through customs at Cruz Bay on St John.  Even though we obviously looked like an American couple on a yacht charter the customs officials grilled us for information about purchases and food.  These seemed particularly interested in what we do with our trash.

After clearing customs we took on some fuel, water and ice then set sail for the South Coast or St John, to find a place out of the wind and rough seas.  We ended up in a small cove inside Rendezvous Bay.  On the map this cove was called Dittlif Bay.   Here we had a big lunch served as a smorgasbord.  I made a tasty Neapolitan sandwich, with three sections of turkey, chicken and salmon.

After lunch Captain Rick and I were going to explore the land we were anchored off of, but I fell asleep in the cockpit.  Then I went down to our stateroom and took a short nap with Marie. 

After napping we decided to move to a protected cove on Buck Island, just off the Southern coast of St Thomas.  From here we can make an easy run to our final destination, Yacht Haven, even if the big storm continues.  Buck Island was a place unruly slaves were kept during slave trading days and you can still see the remnants of old buildings.

As it got dark, Captain Rick put out the fish light and grilled some delicious marinated pork loins with Missy’s tasty potatoes.  Today’s fish show brought a large puffer fish and a huge sea turtle into our view and I almost caught a small coronet off the port side swim ladder.

Lighthouse on Buck Island

After dinner Captain Rick and Missy went to bed early leaving Marie and I with some solitude on deck for our last night in the Caribbean.  We later went to bed with all the hatched open to enjoy the warm tropical breeze.  But during the night a big rain storm came and I woke up to being rained on.  As I shut all the hatched in our stateroom I could hear Captain Rick starting the generator for the air conditioning.

January 14, 2010

 Today we motored out of Marina Cay early looking for a deserted beach.  We soon found one and set anchor off a beach we termed Chuck and Marie’s beach.  This beach is on the southern edge of a private island called Guana Island.  Here we had a breakfast of some yummy fried egg, ham and cheese sandwiches.  Then Captain Rick took Marie and I to the beach in the Kittytonic.  We ended up diving in and swimming the final few yards to the beach because we didn’t want to roll the Kittytonic in the surf.  Once on the beach, Marie and I explored nature while Captain Rick dived on the small reef protecting the beach.

Chuck and Marie's Beach

 When we finished frolicking on the beach Captain Rick worked pretty hard to get us back into the Kittytonic – but we finally made it.  We motored back to the Catatonic, and headed out for Jost Van Dyke.  This trip was probably the roughest one we’ve had so far, but once we put the sails up Captain Rick cut the engines and we maintained 8 kts all the way across the North side of Tortola and at one point we we under sail at over 11 kts.  As we approached Jost Van Dyke, Captain Rick started the engines and suddenly out of nowhere a large pod of dolphins started leaping and playing around the boat.  They seemed to especially love swimming in our bow wake.  I did manage to get some short video of them playing off the bow, but they were gone as fast as they appeared.

 When we arrived at Jost we anchored off White Beach, the location of the famous Soggy Dollar Bar.  There were a lot of boats here, filled with mostly younger tourists and their small bikini girls.   Here we had lunch, Greek grilled chicken pasta salad, and then Captain Rick and Missy made a quick run to Great Harbor while Marie and I relaxed on deck.  I wanted to cool off and since no one else was on board I dove off the back of the Catatonic naked.  When I climbed back on board a group of people on a nearby catamaran gave me a standing ovation.

Captain Rick following the storm

 We knew a big storm was coming, so before dinner we raised anchor and motor sailed to another cove called Little Harbour.  Here we grabbed a mooring ball for the night.  

 Tonight’s dinner was Spaghetti with meat sauce and grilled garlic bread.  Tonight there were heavy winds and rain, but we slept well in the Catatonic’s owner’s stateroom while Captain Rick went out several times to check on our mooring.

January 13, 2010

 I woke up before early again and watched the sunrise from the swim platform while having coffee and a Padron cigar and a cup of coffee.  Internet was down so I worked on this blog locally while Marie did a crossword puzzle on the fly bridge.  Missy made a breakfast of fresh made waffles, sausage patties and more fresh fruit.

 Since we were anchored off a beach, not in a cove or marina — last night the wind and swells changed and made sleeping a pretty rough ride.

 First thing we did this morning was move the Catatonic to Anegada Bay, a protect anchorage then we locked up the yacht and went ashore in the Kittytonic.

 Today we decided to rent some motor scooters and see the Island of Anegada.   The scooters rented for $45 each.  Marie and I took one, and Missy and Captain Rick took the others.  After stopping for gas we headed to an area called The Settlement.  Wild goats and cows lined the road.  You could see cow foot prints in the concrete used for a road surface.

Scootering around Anegada

 We stopped for a lunch snack and a swim at Loblolly Bay Beach, which is on the north Atlantic windward side of Anegada.  Then we scootered to Cow Wrecks Beach, where I went skinny dipping.  From there we headed back and returned the scooters and went shopping in a local gift shop.  Marie purchased a bunch of shirts and I got some good Cuban Cigars.

 After reboarding the Catatonic, we dropped the mooring ball and headed for The Dogs.  The Dogs is a small set of uninhabited Islands just North East of Virgin Gorda.  We briefly dropped anchor on the leeward side of the dogs, but the women on the boat voted it as too rough for dinner and sleeping.  So we picked up anchor and motor sailed to Marina Cay.

 While waiting for Missy to prepare another wonderful dinner we put on the fish light and got a great show of the circle of life. About 30 Tarpon and Baracudas lurked outside the green light.  The Tarpon would drift in grabbing small bait fish while the barracudas would come darting in at 40 mph to grab their dinner.  This show continued until we finally went to bed.

 Tonight’s dinner was Captain Rick’s grilled Jack Daniels Chicken with Corn on the Cob and grilled garlic toast.

Captain Rick and Missy

January 12, 2010

 We spent the night off of Fallen Jerusalem Island.  As I have been throughout this trip I got about 4 am and worked on my blog, then watched the sunrise.  As the sun came up everyone else would get up and then Missy would make breakfast. 

Catatonic off The Baths

 For breakfast we had these great ham and cheese omlets with fresh fruit.  After breakfast we motored a short distance to the Baths.  Marie and I went and laid on the beach while Captain Rick and Missy went to a nearby Marina to dump the trash and get some provisions.  When they came back the beach was crowded with people who arrived from the land side.  Captain Rick had  to  swim and pull the dingy into shore because there were too many people to use the engine. Once we got aboard we headed back to the Catatonic.

 While he as gone, Captain Rick decided we should take the Catatonic back to the Virgin Gorda Yaught Harbor for water and ice.  So we motored the short distance to get there.  I went ashore and bought a baseball cap, which turned out to be a woman’s cap and a nice Cuban cigar.  I smoked the cigar while we took on fresh water.

 Next we motor sailed a long distance into the wind to the Island of Anegada.  There we anchored  next to a large catamaran, the Kings Ransom.  While underway we had some sandwiches and left over burgers since it was a fairly rough trip.  At Anegada we used Kittytonic to motor around the Western edge were some beach bungalows had succumbed to the sea.  From there we motored to a Marina were the natives were preparing for a big lobster roast.  They had 55 gallon drums cut in half with large piles of some local scrub wood.

Marie and I sailing the Catatonic

 At this Marina I purchased a few more nice Cubans.  I smoked one at an outdoor bar, while sipping run on ice and I gave the second one to Missy who expressed a liking for smoking cigars.  We all had drinks and watched the local fisherman cleaning the lobster.  Then we headed back to the Catatonic for dinner and drinks. 

 For tonight’s dinner Captain Rick grilled flank steak which Missy served on a bed of wild rice.

 We went to bed rather early because of this exhausting day. That night the swells came up and gave us the most active sleeping ever.  I got up around midnight to see what the movement was all about and ran into Captain Rick who was checking the Catatonic’s location compared to a nearby reef.   Whenever we were anchored Captain Rick was up many times through the night to check if we were pulling the anchor.

Approaching Anegada

Monday morning we had a fine breakfast of some hot fresh cinnamon rolls.  Then we dropped the mooring ball and move to another ball closed to a reef.  Everyone then went snorkeling on this reef were we witnessed first hand a large selection of fish and coral.  Captain Rick found a sea urchin that didn’t have spines.  We each took turns holding it in our hands and feeling the little urchin sucking itself to our hands.

After getting all wrinkly and refreshed from our snorkel trip we dropped the mooring ball and motorsailed into the wind for several hours to Spanish Town. 

On the way we passed a recent shipwreck on some dangerous rocks which were right in the middle of the channel.  Captain Rick sailed real close so we could see how big the ship was under the water.

Ship Wreck

When we arrived at Spaish Town, we grabbed another mooring ball and settled down for lunch.  Captain Rick grilled hamburgers while Missy cooked bacon and prepared the fixings for a fine bacon cheese burger lunch.  I had blue cheese on mine.

After lunch, Captain Rick and Missy took our passports into Spanish Town, on the Island of Virgin Gorda. to clear customs while Marie and I enjoyed more alone time aboard the Catatonic.  During this time a man showed up on a sea kayak with a wet dog on the back.  He wanted to know if we had a compressor for the 8 scuba tanks that were lashed to the Catatonic’s side rail.

After clearing customs we motored a short distance to Fallen Jerusalem Island.  We broke out the Kittytonic and motored over to a tiny beach.  Here we played in the sand and watched the surf smash against some huge boulders.

 When we returned to the Catatonic, Captain Rick grilled some tasty, very thick, pork loin chops while Missy prepared mashed potatoes and sautéd spinach.   After dinner, Captain Rick put the fish light back out and we watched the fish show will having an evening of cocktails.  We also had a wonder show of the stars this evening.

Anchored off Fallen Jerusalem Island

January 10, 2010

Sunday morning Marie and I watched a fine sunrise over St Thomas while Missy made some yummy pancakes. There were two kinds of pancakes, apple walnut and banana! Then Captain Rick took Marie and I out in the Kittytonic, the Catatonic’s dingy tender, around Magen’s bay and then to a nude beach to learn how to snorkel.

This was really the first time Marie and I snorkeled together. Since we were so close to a beach we only saw small fish, but there were lots of them and they were a multitude of colors. We also saw a squid family, all in a tight formation. At one point they would look clear, then they would all change colors to match the sand and rocks below.

After swimming we raised the anchor and headed out. We motorsailed through a wicked rain squall back to Red Hook. Captain Rick stayed up on the fly bridge getting soaked while the rest of us stayed in the Main Salon. As soon as we got around St Thomas to the entrance to Red Hook the rain stopped and we all went up to the bridge.

At Red Hook we picked up Suzie’s husband Don, who fixed the Catatonic’s anchor winch. Don brought with him a couple fine St Thomas cigars that Suzie makes, one of which I soon smoked off the swim platform. Even though we could manually lower and raise the anchor, Captain Rick explained we needed more room when we did it manually and that we wouldn’t be able to enter any of the private coves we’re seeking. Also while in Red Hook, Missy and Marie went ashore for some fresh vegetables, so the trip back to Red Hook was worth it.

Sailing to Drunk Bay

Don fixed the winch quickly and we were off to Drunk Bay, on the Southern tip of St John. At Drunk Bay, Missy showed me how to grab a mooring ball. Then she made a delicious Caesar salad while Captain Rick grilled shrimp and chicken. Everyone had shrimp on their Caesar salad, accept for me since I’m allergic to shrimp. I enjoyed a very juicey marinated chicken breast on my salad.

After lunch we played in the water off the Catatonic. There a huge sea turtle came right up behind me and I was able to touch it. As soon as Marie and I completed our swim, we were drying off aboard the Catatonic when a huge Eagle Ray showed up off our stern. His massive wings would break the surface of the water as he swam for one lap around us, checking out the Catatonic. Next Captain Rick and Missy swam to the beach where they relaxed while Marie and I enjoyed some alone time.

As the sun went down, we put on the fish light for another underwater show of the circle of life, while Captain Rick grilled some fresh grouper, with wild rice and asparagus.

Sunset at Drunk Bay

January 9, 2010
Day 0 Slide Show
Today we left Woodbridge, Virginia for St Thomas.  Our driver picked us up promptly at 0530 for the first leg of the trip to Dulles International Airport.  We cleared security and took our first class seats aboard United flight 0963. 

Four hours later we were in St Thomas. 

Landing in St Thomas

 The St Thomas airport is a small town type airport that doesn’t have the fancy boarding walkways like new airports have.  You walk down a set of stairs and some ground crew members direct you to a covered sidewalk along side a building.  From there you walk all the way around the building right into the baggage claim area.  There we met Suzie, the woman who was going to take us to Red Hook Marina.

 While we waited for our checked luggage, Suzie told us all about St Thomas, she was super friendly.  She explained St Thomas the entire time she was with us–  from the airport, driving around to the other side of the island to meet the boat, and while waiting for the boat to pull-up to the dock where we were – she explained all the sights and particulars of St Thomas.  One cool thing I did learn was that Suzie made cigars, which later I found to be very good.

 We waited on a dock for a while, then I saw the S/Y Catatonic pulling up nearby to the fuel dock.  So we grabbed our bags and walked down past all the moored boats to the end of the dock.  There we met Missy and Rick, our First Mate and Captain for the week.  Captain Rick helped us aboard and took our bags down to our cabin.  Then while the Captain fueled and watered the boat Missy briefed us in the Catatonic’s Main Salon.  She explained the safety rules and some of the ecology guidelines of living on a green boat. Then she took us a tour of the boat and showed us how to run the shower and flush the toilet.

 Soon we were off, and Marie and I moved up to the bridge for the view of Red Hook harbor.  From Red Hook we sailed out to an Island called Hans Lollic.  We pulled into a tiny little cove, but found there was a problem with the anchor motor.  So rather then risk ending up on the reef we turned around and sailed to Magen’s Bay.  Captain Rick had more room to anchor there. 

 Magen’s Bay happens to be the location of one of the worlds top 10 beaches.  By the time we arrived it was getting dark, so Captain Rick fired up the grill while Missy prepared the meal.  Our first dinner on board the Catatonic was grilled some nice New York strip steaks and linguini alfreado,

 After dinner Captain Rick put out a fish light which attracted millions of tiny sea creatures.  As the night went on, larger and larger fish were attracted to the feeding frenzy.  Marie and I enjoyed this show which we would repeat every night.  The light attracts micro organisms and this attracts baby fish.  The baby fish attracts larger fish, and soon there are even bigger fish lurking in the shadows outside of the light that then rushing in to snatch a meal.