St Thomas USVI day 1

We officially arrived in the United States Virgin Islands when we dropped anchor off Water Island, near St. Thomas. We anchored next to Island Packet 38 ULLR, Cristine and James who alerted us to the fun Sunday afternoon on Honeymoon Beach. With this news our "Team Six Knots" pushed hard and we joined the party and enjoyed swimming, paddle boarding, beach walks and cold beers. What a blast, welcome to the USVI and we all needed this nice break after pushing 1,568nm from Florida to reach here. Now, we will spend 6 weeks exploring the USVI and the BVIs! What a treasure this will be. Here are some photos of pushing east from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands as we powered on past Sail Rock and Saba....

After a really fun time playing in the water, we returned to our boat and we were immediately boarded by a wild Pirate Boarding party of Lauren & Bill of SEA STAR and Meloney and Don of FEZYWIG. This crazy boarding party arrived via paddleboards and dinghies and NOW it was TIME for some more celebrations of our proud accomplishments. So, out came the cheese and crackers and the Champagne, and we all toasted our arrival to the USVI. After the bubbly we pan seared some fresh tuna that Hayden caught en route and we all savored this delicious fish with a nice bottle of red j.Lohr.  What a very very fun time with our team. We were so happy they boarded us....

The next morning we had the pleasure of visiting James and Cristine on ULLR as they have just completed their 4th year in the Caribbean doing the West and the East and they had some security items made to keep them and their boat safe. We really need to work on these items as we move south because the crime is increasing in the islands and we need be smart and secure as we cruise. Here is a photo of ULLR and Island Spirit next to each other with a full moon rising over Honeymoon Beach....

The next day, it was time to move on over to the harbor, re-anchor there and take Radeen into our favorite place, "The Greenhouse" and then shop for some jewelry as St Thomas is known for this and their duty free, tax free, great prices. What an overwhelming joy it was to drive our boat into the harbor of Charlotte Amelia, St. Thomas for the first time after we have been here eight times before. We have spent vacations here, chartered boats from here, and ran family and friends through here enroute to the BVIs and now, we are driving little 35 footer Island Spirit into the harbor that we have visited since 1986! This was really a highlight and a lifetime memory. Here is the route in...

NOW.....that we were in STT and anchored, it was time to go to town. Job #1, lets hit THE GREENHOUSE for lunch and overlook the harbor and reflect on the fact that we have finally sailed/motored :-) our boat to STT. The reflecting back on all the times we have been here and all the times we have said....some day....we will sail here, and NOW....here we are! This was one amazing feeling. Radeen and I count our blessing every day, and we appreciate every second. We are so thankful that we can do this. We never want to forget that. Here are some fun happy photos from our favorite spot in town...

With lunch over, it was time to hit the jewelry store and find something special for Radeen to commemorate this lifetime goal. We did not know what this would be, but we knew we would find something in St Thomas. We went directly to one store, that of GRAND JEWELERS, the highest rated shop on Google and Trip Advisor. We met the owner Navin and he found us the perfect gift. Diamond rings called jackets that frame Radeen's wedding ring. These were not too large and not too loud, but looked beautiful with her current ring. SOLD, that is IT. It is something she can wear every day and she can look at it and recall the great accomplishment of running our sailboat to the Virgin Islands. I am so proud of  Radeen's skills at running our boat. She runs it at night using radar going full speed ahead, she runs it on long passagesof 200-300+ nm, she handles high winds, sailing, and motoring. But most of all she is great at making this boat a home. These rings are a very small token of appreciation for all of this. Thank you Radeen....LOVE YOU sailor GrL. You make it all possible....

We NOW have sailed into St. Thomas and we are living a dream. Next it is onto St. Johns and then onto Jost Van Dyke and FOXY's and then Soggy Dollar Bar, then Sandy Spit, then Cane Garden Bay, then North Sound and the Bitter End Yacht Club, then Virgin Gorda and The Baths, down to Cooper and Peter Island, the Wiliy T and the Pelicans. The British Virgin Islands we know from the many charters taken here, but this will be different on our own boat with no timeframe. We have many weeks to play here . We are really, really looking forward to this time. Thank you all for sharing in our adventures, it is great to have you along.....