USVI January trip Planning

[dbergman]

Hello Hive mind!!! I am in the process of planning a trip this coming January to the USVI. I will be bareboat chartering a 2024 FP Tana 47 out of St. Thomas. My current sail plan is Jan 5th-St. Thomas to St. John. Jan 6th- St. John to St. Croix. Jan 7th St. Croix. Jan 8th St. Croix to Culebra SVI. Jan 9th Culebra, Jan 10th Culebrita, Jan 1th Culebrita to St. Thomas. Jan 12th Return boat by noon and return home. My crew enjoys spending time on the boat and doing some hikes. We really aren't the go out to eat at restaurants very much. We love to cook some fresh caught fish when we can! Any tips, tricks or thoughts on this would be appreciated!

[fnees]

Sounds like you have a plan! Weather permitting it sounds feasible. It is clear you will spend a lot of time sailing, not much hiking.
I have been to the USVI 6 times but never been to St Croix. You seem to love the island, please let us know what's so special over there? I am going through those Islands again in the next few months and would love to get to know different places.
I myself love st John's, one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean. I would spend the whole week there, again!

[BrianInBoston]

Originally Posted by dbergman

Hello Hive mind!!! I am in the process of planning a trip this coming January to the USVI. I will be bareboat chartering a 2024 FP Tana 47 out of St. Thomas. My current sail plan is Jan 5th-St. Thomas to St. John. Jan 6th- St. John to St. Croix. Jan 7th St. Croix. Jan 8th St. Croix to Culebra SVI. Jan 9th Culebra, Jan 10th Culebrita, Jan 1th Culebrita to St. Thomas. Jan 12th Return boat by noon and return home. My crew enjoys spending time on the boat and doing some hikes. We really aren't the go out to eat at restaurants very much. We love to cook some fresh caught fish when we can! Any tips, tricks or thoughts on this would be appreciated!

Weighing in on that week long agenda, personally I wouldn't try to cover St Thomas, St John, St Croix and Culebrita all in the same week. Pick two or three and eliminate some of those long crossings. We chartered quite a bit down there during Covid when the BVI was shut down. First thing, verify St Croix is even an option, many of the charter companies restrict that destination due to distance and all that open water. Culebrita may be restricted as well, that is a separate Customs check in and the vessel needs to be pre-registered with the Puerto Rico region US Customs office to do that remotely through their CPB Roam app and a video call. Not intuitive since it's all technically US Territory. But it's also why you can't sail charter boats to Puerto Rico from St Thomas.

That said, the open water crossings can be rough, especially if the NE swell is running. That 15 miles getting back to St John from Culebrita can be gross. I did it once in 4-6' seas against the usual 18 knots of trade winds and half the crew was sick two hours in with no where to pull over. With your schedule, you won't have time to wait out conditions. Culebrita by the way is really marginal for overnighting. Don't be fooled by that picturesque open bay on the north side, big NE swells wrap in there hard and ricochet in all directions.

Lastly, planning only a single day at St John is a crime against nature! The north side beaches and bays (Maho, Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, Waterlemon) need at least two days, especially if hiking to Annenberg Plantation. Add a day at Coral Bay on the east side (Limeout swim-up floating taco bar, big hit!), and one at Salt Pond or Lameshur Bay on the south coast if hiking the trails to the Petroglyphs. St John is 2/3 National Park, much too beautiful to race by all that.

[dbergman]

Originally Posted by BrianInBoston

Weighing in on that week long agenda, personally I wouldn't try to cover St Thomas, St John, St Croix and Culebrita all in the same week. Pick two or three and eliminate some of those long crossings. We chartered quite a bit down there during Covid when the BVI was shut down. First thing, verify St Croix is even an option, many of the charter companies restrict that destination due to distance and all that open water. Culebrita may be restricted as well, that is a separate Customs check in and the vessel needs to be pre-registered with the Puerto Rico region US Customs office to do that remotely through their CPB Roam app and a video call. Not intuitive since it's all technically US Territory. But it's also why you can't sail charter boats to Puerto Rico from St Thomas.

That said, the open water crossings can be rough, especially if the NE swell is running. That 15 miles getting back to St John from Culebrita can be gross. I did it once in 4-6' seas against the usual 18 knots of trade winds and half the crew was sick two hours in with no where to pull over. With your schedule, you won't have time to wait out conditions. Culebrita by the way is really marginal for overnighting. Don't be fooled by that picturesque open bay on the north side, big NE swells wrap in there hard and ricochet in all directions.

Lastly, planning only a single day at St John is a crime against nature! The north side beaches and bays (Maho, Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, Waterlemon) need at least two days, especially if hiking to Annenberg Plantation. Add a day at Coral Bay on the east side (Limeout swim-up floating taco bar, big hit!), and one at Salt Pond or Lameshur Bay on the south coast if hiking the trails to the Petroglyphs. St John is 2/3 National Park, much too beautiful to race by all that.

Thank you so much for this post! It is probably the most helpful I have received! My crew are definitely happy with the long passages and more time on the boat. That said I will for sure look at weather and sea state more closely as we get closer. This makes me see the need for a "plan B' sail plan if sea state gets too big. We as a crew, I think are looking for a couple long sailing days just to learn about sailing and the boat. I have done several long days sailing 70+nm from San Diego bay to Catalina island in pretty big swell . Any other advice or experience you can offer is much appreciated!

[Jim Woodall]

I’ve sailed all the areas you mentioned extensively over the last 2 years. The passage to St. Croix is the biggest logistical hurdle, not because the passage is particularly challenging but because you need a good 3-day weather window. If your charter company allows that passage you don’t want weather to pin you down in St. Croix. Personally, I think St. John is great. We spent over a month there last season. Just have solid alternatives if:

1) You don’t get a good weather window for St. Croix.
2) Weather pins you down in St. Croix.

Finally, neither Christiansted nor Frederiksted are particularly well-protected anchorages so take swell direction into account before committing to St. Croix.