Provisioning / St. Thomas July '09

[2dedge]

Headed down in July and this time I am picking up the boat in Frenchtown Marina. Usually we have come out of Tortola so am not up to date on the area. I do remember Pueblo and have seen some other posts about cost u less and others. What is the current scoop?

Thanks

[osirissail]

French town is at the western end of the main Charlotte Amalie Harbor. In the complex is a small convenience food store.
Just down the street eastbound (towards downtown) is a Pueblo market where a lot of the locals shop. It looks like a warehouse and does not have "fancy foods."
Go west and you come to Crown Bay marina and a major "upscale" market catering to charter boats and crewed charter boats.
Of course there are lots of restaurants in this area including in Frenchtown some of the best gourmet restaurants. Over in Crown Bay marina is a very popular "waterhole/restaurant" popular with cruisers, locals, and charter people.
Way down at the east end of the harbor is a large Pueblo just up the street from Yacht Haven Grande complex ( a major mega-yacht marina).
One popular route I like to take is westbound out of Charlotte Amalie via west gregorie channel then clockwise around the island of St Thomas to inner Brass Island channel then bypass Magen's Bay (horrible mosquito problems there) and drop the hook in the little gap between Little Hans Lollik and Hans Lollik Island for a really (nobody else around) swimming and snokeling location. The continue east along the north side of Thatch Cay, Grass Cay, Mingo Cay and drop the hook on the shelf between Lovango Cay and Congo Cay. Or take a mooring there. Then for the night hang a right south to Hawksnest Bay and take a mooring at the extreme east end of the bay for the night. That's day one.
But first you might want to just anchor out Charlotte Amalie eight at Water Island or Long Bay and clean the bottom of the rental boat. Go to Walmarts or K-marts and buy the absolute cheapest pancake metal spatula ($1 or less) - they are metal and very flexible because they are so thin. Use this when you get to St Thomas to scrape the 1 to 3 inches of sea growth from the bottom of the boat, especially the propeller.
St Thomas has the 2nd and 3rd level bareboat companies and they rarely keep the bottoms clean. After scraping the bottom you will notice a doubling of your boat speed as you won't be dragging the Miami Sea Aquarium along with you.
Another alternative is to head out of Charlotte Amalie south to Buck Island and anchor or take a mooring in the little cove on the western side. Great snorkeling and diving. There is a great wreck in only 20-30 feet of water in that cove.
St John has fabulous anchorages (actually moorings these days) and lots of great snorkeling on the islands between St Thomas and St John.
If you plan on "crossing over" to the BVI's check the latest news whether Jost Van Dyke is open for Check-in. It was closed recently due to the Swine Flu scare. But Soper's Hole is open for Check-in, as is Roadtown and Spanish Town on V. Gorda.
Enjoy!

[Rubikoop]

My comments in red.

Originally Posted by osirissail

French town is at the western end of the main Charlotte Amalie Harbor. In the complex is a small convenience food store called the Frenchtown Deli.
Just down the street eastbound (towards downtown) is a Pueblo market where a lot of the locals shop. It looks like a warehouse and does not have "fancy foods."
Go west and you come to Crown Bay marina and a major "upscale" market called Gourmet Gallery catering to charter boats and crewed charter boats.
Of course there are lots of restaurants in this area including in Frenchtown some of the best gourmet restaurants. Over in Crown Bay marina is a very popular "waterhole/restaurant" called Tickles popular with cruisers, locals, and charter people.
Way down at the east end of the harbor is a large Pueblo just up the street from Yacht Haven Grande complex ( a major mega-yacht marina).
One popular route I like to take is westbound out of Charlotte Amalie via west gregorie channel then clockwise around the island suggest you check with your charter company as that may not be permitted of St Thomas to inner Brass Island channel then bypass Magen's Bay (horrible mosquito problems there) and drop the hook in the little gap between Little Hans Lollik and Hans Lollik Island for a really (nobody else around) swimming and snokeling location. The continue east along the north side of Thatch Cay, Grass Cay, Mingo Cay and drop the hook on the shelf between Lovango Cay and Congo Cay. Or take a mooring there. Then for the night hang a right south to Hawksnest Bay and take a mooring at the extreme east end of the bay for the night. That's day one.
But first you might want to just anchor out Charlotte Amalie eight at Water Island or Long Bay and clean the bottom of the rental boat. Go to Walmarts sorry no Walmarts in the USVI or K-marts and buy the absolute cheapest pancake metal spatula ($1 or less) - they are metal and very flexible because they are so thin. Use this when you get to St Thomas to scrape the 1 to 3 inches of sea growth from the bottom of the boat, especially the propeller.
St Thomas has the 2nd and 3rd level bareboat companies and they rarely keep the bottoms clean. Really? I see 15 of the 22 boats at CYOA are 1-5 years old. Is there some other bareboat company you are referring to near Charlotte Amalie? After scraping the bottom you will notice a doubling of your boat speed as you won't be dragging the Miami Sea Aquarium along with you.
Another alternative is to head out of Charlotte Amalie south to Buck Island and anchor anchoring is not allowed around Buck Island or take a mooring in the little cove on the western side. Great snorkeling and diving. There is a great wreck in only 20-30 feet of water in that cove.
St John has fabulous anchorages (actually moorings these days) and lots of great snorkeling on the islands between St Thomas and St John.
If you plan on "crossing over" to the BVI's check the latest news whether Jost Van Dyke is open for Check-in. It was closed recently due to the Swine Flu scare. It has been reopened for the past few weeks. But Soper's Hole is open for Check-in, as is Roadtown and Spanish Town on V. Gorda.
Enjoy!