summer plans

[boneboy]

Well, my nine month old boat took 17 months to fix, but she floats! The drama we have endured since Irma is almost too long to go through(lots of lawyers, and lots of heart ache), but by almost new Voyage 480 is back in action. Just finished a week on her (repeat maiden voyage, - basically had to rebuild the boat), and I am looking to put the past behind. That being said, I have about 10 days on her in July planned. I was thinking of leaving Tortola and heading to St. Croix, then on to Vieques/Culebra and back. We spent some time in Culebra during the summer of 2017 (third time on the boat, -pre Irma) and loved it. Looking for tips and tidbits about St. Croix...........

[Jeannius]

It's been a while since I've done that trip so I won't give advice on things to do, places to see, but I will give a suggestion about your route.

If you go the route you outline you'll end up with a long dead upwind leg to get back from Culebra to the BVI. I go the other way round... BVI, Culebra/Vieques then St Croix then back up to the BVI. Although Vieques - St Croix can be fairly tight on the wind if the trades have gone south of east you should be able to make it on a single tack.

[Perfect Ride]

Buck Island, St Croix is a marine park that requires advance booking to get permitted to anchor there. They can be slow to respond via fax so start the process early if interested.

[Blackie Swart]

We've just spent 2 weeks in St Croix. First off in Christiansted to find out about anchoring at Buck Island. The DPNR office is at the fort in Christiansted. We were told by the Parks officer that permits are not being issued for Buck island. Not sure what the reason was but we were told it was ok to go there. We spent a few days at the designated anchor site then went onto Frederiksted, which was awesome. Went back to Buck Island after that for 2 nights and sailed over to St Thomas.