Category: 2014 April Positions

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/15 16:36
LATITUDE: 18-20.17N
LONGITUDE: 064-55.57W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 16
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 50%
VISIBILITY: 30
BARO: 1012.3
AIR_TEMP: 29.4C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (USVI)

We had a nice time at Cruz Bay last night in St. John. Fuelled up this morning and we\’re now in \”Cruise Ship Central\”..
Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas. Doubt we\’ll stay here long. Contemplating going to St. Croix?

We had a perfectly clear night last night (3 am to 4 am local time) and got to see the full lunar eclipse for about an hour. The blood red color of the moon
was noticeable to to the refraction of light.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/14 20:16
LATITUDE: 18-19.18N
LONGITUDE: 064-47.43W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 50%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1011
AIR_TEMP: 32.8C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Grand Cruz Bay, St. John (USVI)

We took a tour of the island by sea but ended back just south of Cruz Bay in Grand Cruz Bay where the Westin Resort is.
We rented a private mooring for the night and we\’ll dinghy the one mile back into town.
Most likely head to St. John\’s tomorrow.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/14 15:27
LATITUDE: 18-20.02N
LONGITUDE: 064-47.73W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 60%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1014.1
AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Cruz Bay, St. John (USVI)

OK! Nikki took the Ferry to enter the USVI \”via commercial carrier\”.
I checked in and waved to her as the Ferry went by. Fortunately only 7 miles each way!
So were in The USA…sort of…:-)

We\’ll move in a bit and decide our plan within the islands of the USVI (St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix). After leaving here we\’ll go to the Spanish Virgins (which are part of
Puerto Rico) and then decide from there!
KIT,
Scott

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/14 15:27
LATITUDE: 18-20.02N
LONGITUDE: 064-47.73W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 60%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1014.1
AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Cruz Bay, St. John (USVI)

OK! Nikki took the Ferry to enter the USVI \”via commercial carrier\”.
I checked in and waved to her as the Ferry went by. Fortunately only 7 miles each way!
So were in The USA…sort of…:-)

We\’ll move in a bit and decide our plan within the islands of the USVI (St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix). After leaving here we\’ll go to the Spanish Virgins (which are part of
Puerto Rico) and then decide from there!
KIT,
Scott

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 201 4/04/14 00:35
LATITUDE: 18-23.17N
LONGITUDE: 064-42.19W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 65%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1016.7
AIR_TEMP: 26.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Soper\’s Hole, Tortola (BVI)

We\’re back in the BVI and Nikki will take the 8:30 a.m. Ferry to Cruz Bay in St. John\’s. So she can arrive by \”Commercial Carrier\”.
There are so many ways this could have been done simply, but the bureaucracy simply dug in it\’s heels.
I will meet here there an send an update then.

We had a lovely dinner and are more than quite tired. Tomorrow will be \”another day\” and a big one.
Though most of us don\’t realize it – The US Virgin Islands, the Spanish Virgin Islands (part of Puerto Rico) and Puerto Rico are ALL effectively
\”inside\” the USA. As such, it\’s like landing in a big American city near you as far as Customs and Immigration are concerned.
More in the blog!
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 201 4/04/14 00:35
LATITUDE: 18-23.17N
LONGITUDE: 064-42.19W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 65%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1016.7
AIR_TEMP: 26.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Soper\’s Hole, Tortola (BVI)

We\’re back in the BVI and Nikki will take the 8:30 a.m. Ferry to Cruz Bay in St. John\’s. So she can arrive by \”Commercial Carrier\”.
There are so many ways this could have been done simply, but the bureaucracy simply dug in it\’s heels.
I will meet here there an send an update then.

We had a lovely dinner and are more than quite tired. Tomorrow will be \”another day\” and a big one.
Though most of us don\’t realize it – The US Virgin Islands, the Spanish Virgin Islands (part of Puerto Rico) and Puerto Rico are ALL effectively
\”inside\” the USA. As such, it\’s like landing in a big American city near you as far as Customs and Immigration are concerned.
More in the blog!
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/13 10:13
LATITUDE: 18-20.01N
LONGITUDE: 064-47.35W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 15
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 40%
VISIBILITY: 25
BARO: 1014
AIR_TEMP: 30.0C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Cruz Bay, St. John (USVI)

Well, I\’m a little red faced at the moment. My experience is, \”the bigger the country, the easier customs and immigration is\”.
That turned out NOT TO BE THE CASE today! Beach House entered US Territorial waters for the first time in 6 years and 4 months.
We went ashore to check in and were \”mugged\” by US Customs. They would not let Nikki enter the USA as once she had been in the US for 90 days,
she is required to leave (which she did) and re-enter… \”On a COMMERCIAL carrier\”. That means commercial vessel or aircraft. NOT a private boat.
As such, we had to LEAVE the USVI, and return to Soper\’s Hole, BVI – fortunately less than 2 hours of back-tracking.

We have re-checked in, Nikki has been removed from the crew list. Tomorrow morning, she will take a Ferry Boat (Commercial craft) and enter Cruz Bay where her Visa Wavier will then take effect for another 90 days. I will bring the boat by myself to Cruz Bay where I will solo check in, meet Nikki who will be arriving before me and re-add her to the crew list. This does mean that we will have to be in Florida by July 15th, so she can re-enter the US and depart as planned for South Africa and Australia. I will join her a few months later; most likely in \”OZ\”.

YES, there will be a blog on this nonsense. I\’m embarrassed for our bureaucracy. The Customs officers were \”following the letter of the law\” and quite frankly, being shameful and handled us very poorly. More later, all is well.
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/12 16:07
LATITUDE: 18-26.57N
LONGITUDE: 064-45.04W
COURSE: 297T
SPEED: 1.1
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 18
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 40%
VISIBILITY: 25
BARO: 1016.7
AIR_TEMP: 30.0C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke (BVI)

A lovely evening in Cane Garden Bay which is a very nice anchorage. The beach scene was nice, the service…strictly Caribbean…
We explored going by Bomba Surf Shack and the Sugar Mill Resort en route to Sand Cay, a buzz by Little Harbour and White Bay.
We decided to come in here at noon as it was filling up. When I was here 18 years ago, you felt you could walk ashore it was so tight for
anchoring space. The famous Foxy\’s Bar is here as well as the Sandy Dollar in White Bay. More on them in the blog.
We\’ll post St. Kitt/Nevis tonight…then St. Barth\’s (we are catching up!)
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/11 16:21
LATITUDE: 18-25.59N
LONGITUDE: 064-39.55W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 18
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 80%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1018.1
AIR_TEMP: 28.9C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Cane Garden Bay, Tortola (north side)-(BVI)

This is a very nice and well protected bay with views of Joost Van Dyke to our northwest.
Far less crowded and quite relaxed looking with some nice looking shore side amenities.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/04/10 20:29
LATITUDE: 18-23.20N
LONGITUDE: 064-42.14W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 15
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 50%
VISIBILITY: 25
BARO: 1016
AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Soper\’s Hole, Tortola (BVI)

We did a short dive at \”The Indians\” and then took a quick tour of Road Town and a buzz by Nanny Cay before coming here to the \”west end\”.
Every mooring was taken and finally one opened up. The harbor is 55-70 feet deep (which we could anchor in – it\’s so calm), but I prefer the mooring
in such deep water. Might go ashore, we\’ll soon head to Jost Van Dyke (Island) by way of (maybe) Cane Garden Bay on Tortola\’s north side?
KIT,
Scott and Nikki