Back around St. John: February 3 – February 9 (subtitle: when will we stop making rookie mistakes, take 2! Ugh!)

The seas have settled from the Northerly swells so it was time to leave the marina for our next adventure.  While Jill really wanted to get back to St. Croix to snorkel the famous pier in Frederiksted (and try that vegan restaurant), the wind direction wasn’t favorable for a sail to STX and — another full disclosure — Zack wanted to make sure we were in a place Sunday evening where our WiFi reception was good so he could watch another Tom Brady Super Bowl.  (Zack has his priorities too!).  As a result we settled on another twirl around St. John.  As we mentioned, there are still many places we haven’t explored.

The first night we picked up a mooring in Cinnamon Bay.  Like most of the bays on the island, Cinnamon Bay is part of the National Park.  However, there is a small parcel of land nestled in among the National Park and overlooking Cinnamon Bay called Peter Bay.  Long story short, the land was owned by the Hall family who refused to sell to the National Park when it was buying up island land.  When the Hall family was ready to sell, the National Park was no longer interested, citing budgetary concerns.  As a result, the family sold the land to a developer.  Today, Peter Bay is home to some of the most exquisite vacation villas in the world.  When you pick up a mooring in Cinnamon Bay ($13 a night thanks to Zack’s National Parks “Golden Pass” — being 62 years of age or older does have some privileges), you get to be neighbors with those fortunate enough to have homes there, sharing breathtaking views of the surrounding waters, beaches and topography.  We really enjoyed our time there, snorkeling to and along the shore and taking a long walk across one of the most pristine beaches with some of the whitest and finest sand we’ve seen.  

(Hummel Fun Trivia Fact:  One of Zack’s mentors from early in his career built a home in Peter Bay which he eventually sold to Kenny Chesney.  We visited that home on two separate occasion:  once when Zack and I took an adult only vacation on St. John 30 years ago and a second time when we chartered a catamaran with the kids for a spring break vacation about 22 years ago.  Our daughter used to proudly say that she had been to the house featured in the pictures from Kenny Chesney’s wedding to Renee Zelweger which took place there.)

As much as we enjoyed our stay in Cinnamon Bay, we wanted to continue to explore some bays we haven’t overnighted in and decided to head for Caneel Bay.  Caneel Bay is the home of the now defunct Caneel Bay resort which, unfortunately, did not survive hurricanes Irma and Maria in  2017. Caneel Bay is special to us because it is where, on the recommendation of Zack’s mentor, we took our first adult only vacation, leaving our two children (our 3rd did not yet exist!) in the care of their nanny for 5 days almost exactly 30 years ago.  We thought it would be nice to pick up a mooring there to give us a “two for one” day.  Specifically, we could enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches on St. John while playing tourist for a day with a visit to Cruz Bay (just a short dinghy ride away), strolling among the high-end shops in Mongoose Junction and grabbing a bite to eat.  Sounds like a great plan, right?

But this is when rookie mistakes strike again!  As we were approaching our chosen mooring, and we were close enough that Jill was on the bow of the boat with the boat hook in hand, our engine suddenly died.  We both knew immediately what the problem was — empty gas tank.  Che Figata has 4 gas tanks and you need to switch from one to another as they run low.  Though it was only a very short distance between Cinnamon Bay and Caneel Bay (or perhaps because of that) we didn’t check to make sure we had sufficient fuel in the gas tank feeding the engine.  While having an engine temporally shut down in a mooring field may not sound like a big deal to a non sailor, trust us, it is a big deal.  Without power our heavy boat quickly started to drift and being in a mooring field means that there are many, many boats close by creating a collision danger.  Zack quickly went below deck to switch fuel tanks while Jill kept watch and got the genoa sail ready for hoisting — without power, wind would be our friend.  As we hoisted the genoa we got enough forward motion to avoid hitting the lovely Jenneau 64 behind us (the occupants were away from their boat so, thankfully, we didn’t give them a fright) and Zack was able to quickly get the engine started. In no time, but after a really good scare, we had the genoa furled and had successfully picked up our mooring.  

While we averted disaster, and this rookie mistake didn’t involve hours of cleaning (and loads of laundry), this mistake could have caused damage to our boat and others so it was no joke.  It reinforced the importance of a check list for FT cruiser newbies as well as the importance of these things being a shared responsibility.  Verifying fuel tanks is not Zack’s job or Jill’s job but rather one we both own.

Following our near miss we both looked forward to some retail therapy in Cruz Bay and did enjoy a really lovely afternoon meandering in and out of the boutiques (not usually our thing but a nice release on this particular day!).  We also splurged on a great lunch at an Asian fusion restaurant where Zack savored some fabulous sushi and Jill enjoyed some wonderful vegan rolls including one that featured tempura batter sweet potatoes, avocados, sprouts, cucumbers, cilantro and a ginger lime vinaigrette dipping sauce.  Yum!

And our day ended with some humor.  Being close to Cruz Bay our boat was along what Zack referred to the I-95 corridor for dinghies headed for Cruz Bay.  While we opted for an afternoon there, many more dinghies were headed into Cruz Bay for some night life.  Of course, being on the main thoroughfare and not being the usual production monohull or catamaran, many admired our boat as they went by and we heard several nice comments about our beautiful boat.  The comment that stands out though is not one about our boat but the one about us.  People do not realize how sounds carries over water and we frequently hear things we were clearly not intended to hear — which is actually kind of fun.  What we heard as one dinghy motored by was “They are an old couple; she has grey hair.”  We don’t know the context of the comment or why Jill’s grey hair was singled out (when Zack is clearly grey as well) but it definitely gave us a chuckle (and some pause) to have graduated to “old couple” when we were under the apparently mistaken impression that we had retired young to enjoy our sailing adventure while we still have the physical ability to do so.  Not only that, we are expecting to have the physical ability to cruise full time for many years to come.  After all, the 60s are the new 40s!

We ended up staying in Cruz Bay for the duration of our excursion.  First, the WiFi reception was quite good, guaranteeing Zack his Super Bowl viewing.  Second we were busy.  One day we organized and uploaded files for our tax accountant and Jill worked on launching this blog.  (Yes, we may live on a boat in paradise but that doesn’t mean we get a pass on annual tax filings.  Cruisers are just like “Us.”)  Another day we snorkeled into shore and walked along the beautiful beach (discovering a hidden pop-up village that is not mentioned in any of the cruising guides).  Jill also had some phone calls, sprinkled throughout our stay, in her pro bono role of mentor, executive coach and business advisor.  On our final day we hiked the Lind Pointe loop trail which gave us fabulous views of Caneel Bay (allowing us to get another picture of Che Figata at rest) and Cruz Bay and providing access to Solomon Beach which we had to ourselves. Solomon Beach is a wisp of a white sandy beach that gets little traffic because it is only accessible by boat or by hiking the trail.  When we got back to the boat on our last day, Zack took a short nap (he had a late night watching Tom Brady win another super bowl) and Jill swam in the crystal clear waters near our boat that featured a “stare off” with a friendly neighborhood barracuda who took up residence under our hull. It is amazing how  still they remain in strong currents. The barracuda won and Jill (unscathed but tired from fighting the current) retreated to the boat to prepare dinner: cold brown rice peanut noodles. A simple but delightful dish which Zack ate with great flourish! 

But we can’t seem to end our excursions without some excitement. On our last day we were awakened by what sounded like some sort of alarm — which is disconcerting to say the least. Though it sounded like it was coming from inside the boat, a quick scan through our port revealed a park ranger boat next to us. We couldn’t imagine what we did, or what happened, to give us the honor of the early visit. Since neither of us were dressed for the occasion, Zack quickly drew the short straw as the captain and went above deck. Our friendly ranger merely wanted to chastise us because, apparently over night, our lines twisted around the mooring ball which, if left unattended for a long period, would put stress on the line that connects the mooring ball to its anchor, ultimately impacting its integrity. While we could question whether the situation was dire enough to warrant the early wake up call we know enough not to argue and Zack quickly released one of our lines which immediately released the wrap. Another crisis (faux or otherwise) averted. 

We arrived back at Sapphire Beach Marina by early afternoon.  After 6 days away from the marina it is time to clean Che Figata inside and out, do laundry, provision for another week at sea and get ready for our next visitor. Our daughter arrives February 11 and we can’t wait to share our adventures with her.