Wednesday, November 9, 2011

St. Johns and the Southside of the Channel Today

     Today we head for the south side of St. John and the string of islands on the Southside of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.      As we leave Red Hook Harbour, the seas are angry and jousting us around leaving us wondering if we are going to have another day of heavy seas to contend with.     Fortunately, the sea calmed down as we approached the Southside of St. John.    

     St. John’s South coast is absolutely beautiful, with the cliffs and the phenomenal houses perched on them.    The sea has the most beautiful shades of blue that can hardly be described.     It’s like Jimmy Buffett says in his song, “don’t try to describe the water if you haven’t seen it,”  it is really hard to describe even if you have seen it.     As we cruise toward the east South of St. John, we saw Flying Fish skimming the water for hundreds of yards at a time over the water.

     This day is a shorter day of traveling than yesterday, and will be spent in more ports for a longer  time than yesterday.     Our first stop of the day is at Ginger Island  and the Ginger Island Hotel.    This beautiful resort boast a newly renovated property that has a great bar and restaurant.     There are cute little Boutiques  and  a beautiful beach making this one of the neatest little resorts that we have come across.    We spent some time sitting at the bar and enjoying their fine and unique cocktails.    Between the cocktails, the beautiful waters, and beach made this a great place to hang out.

     Next is one of the BVI’s favorite and most popular hangouts.     The Willie T, also known as the William Thornton, this ship is a restaurant, bar and party palace from opening until closing.    We had a great lunch onboard along with fine cocktails and hijinks.       After lunch and a few cocktail, it was up to the second story deck for a dive into the clear blue sea and a short swim.     The word is if you dive naked off the aft second story deck you get a free tee shirt.    We sat and enjoyed the waters and the fun at the bar, but it was time for us to head back to St. John and Skinny Legs.

     The waters were still flat and easy to cruise on as we traveled from Norman Island to Coral Bay to visit Skinny Legs and have an afternoon snack and cocktail.     We pushed our nose in among the dinghy’s and threw an anchor aft  to hold the boat in place and we were ashore headed into the jungle and searching for Skinny Legs.     It is a real adventure just to find this quaint little place, but it is well worth the search.   The vibe at the place is local warm and friendly, and the food is great and the beer is ice cold.     All of us  really enjoyed our short stay at Skinny Legs, but the sands were running out of the hour glass a t a rate to quick, and it was time for us to head back to Red Hook and the end of another fun day on the waters of the Virgin Islands.       It was up to the Caribbean Saloon for a couple of cocktail for the Captain, me and the rest of the crew before returning to the condo for the night.

     Tomorrow it is a day at Jost Van Dyke with stops at White Bay, Great Bay, and the Northeast corner of the island with stops at some the BVI’s most famous watering holes.     If the Seas allow we will also be making a stop in Cane Garden Bay to visit the Callwood Distillery.     ;o)