Hello All,

My crew and I are 10 days out for our trip and I thought I would post my itinerary for feedback since this is our first trip. Thought is to try and see as much as possible but have lots of open time and options for spontaneity, we do want to be in Leverick's on Friday. The trip so for totals just about 100 miles based on my plotting for the 10 days.

Sunday - Arrive STT, provision and overnight on boat at CYOA.

Monday - Boat and chart brief, sail check and 1st night Christmas Cove.

Tuesday - Leinster Bay, relax.

Wednesday - Great Harbor JVD for customs. Stay in Great Harbor or Diamond Cay depending on conditions.

Thursday - Marina Cay/Trellis Bay?

Friday - Leverick Bay, have a slip reserved and made reservations for the BBQ.

Saturday - Head for Cooper or Peter depending on time and a stop and the Baths.

Sunday - Norman with a trip to Indians and Caves.

Monday - Clear back in to USVI hopefully in Red Hook then back to Hawksnest Bay.

Tuesday - Lamesure Bay.

Wednesday - Christmas Cove.

Thursday - Return boat to CYOA, fly home.

Cheers,
Randy

Some suggestions:

Tuesday - get an 8 am start to Lind Point, St John, then dinghy to Cruz Bay. Pull your dinghy up on the beach to the left of the ferries. Explore the shops at Mongoose Junction, walk around town, walk up the hill to Dolphin Market (if you need an last minute provisions), then finish (or start your visit) with breakfast and/or a bushwacker at the The Landings in front of the town square.

From the beach at Leinster Bay, it's a short hike to the Annaberg plantation ruins which is interesting to tour, though I don't know if the there are still some stranded boats blocking the trail or if the ruins have been reopened.


Wednesday - after clearing C&I, taxi or dinghy to White Bay for lunch at Hendo's Hideout or Soggy Dollar.


Thursday - it's about 11.5 nm from Great Harbour, JVD to Monkey Point, Guana Island. Depart by 7:45 am to get there by ~9:30 am after the sun has come over the hillside. You'll often finds schools with a million baitfish in the shallows with a dozen tarpon circling. I would skip Trellis Bay for now as there are still many stranded vessels on shore, and either head to Marina Cay or to Scrub Island marina.


Friday - check the forecast for Friday and Saturday to see if there's a preferred day to visit the Baths. Get an early start and either go to the Baths and then to North Sound, or make a snorkel stop at George Dog or Great Dog (check out the Chimneys if it's settled conditions). Once you get to North Sound, anchor or moor off Vixen Point at Prickly Pear Island, then dinghy with your cooler to the beach for a few hours. Head over to Leverick Bay by 4 pm. Visit the onsite Chef's Pantry for minor provisioning.


Saturday - Cooper Island or Peter Island are good choices. You could try to fit in a snorkel stop at the Rhone at Salt Island - either on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning (between 10am & 2 pm is best viewing).


Sunday - Norman Island, The Indians, The Caves are good choices


Monday - I personally prefer Francis Bay/Maho Bay anchorage to Hawksnest Bay. They are less exposed to swell and ferry wakes, have a longer beach, and better sunset views.


Tuesday - Little Lameshur Bay has the better beach, but can be more exposed to SE-S winds. Only 5 mooring balls at Little Lameshur. Great Lameshur has a cobble beach, but is more protected to SE-S winds. There were 16 mooring balls last November.


Wednesday - I would head to Salt Pond Bay (at least for most of the day). Only 5 mooring balls though. You'll see on your chart that there are exposed rocks at the entrance. They are quite visible. Enter the bay to the east of these rocks. It's 7.7 nm from there to Christmas Cove, and 14.8 nm to Crown Bay fuel dock. I often spend my last night at Salt Pond Bay, then depart at 6 am (sunrise is ~5:43 in mid-June) to arrive at the fuel dock when they open at 8 am, and you're at CYOA by 8:30 am.

Thanks Baardj, much appreciated.

We leave from Moorings on the 19th and plan to be at Leverick for the Fri night BBQ also. See you there. Your Itinerary looks like fun. We are only 7 days. I would make take St John's bays over St Thomas anyday but we don't like crowds.

Hey jredenbaugh, sorry we missed you. Once we were on the boat I didn’t jump on the internet much except to check the weather.

Post trip report for those inclined…

Sunday June 10 - Arrived CYOA base Sunday around 2pm and found the boat plugged in, lit up and AC on, thanks Capt. Jay. Dropped off our bags then lunch at Hook Line and Sinker. Provisions arrived at 5pm, stored the boat and then light dinner aboard.

Monday – Final paperwork, boat brief, chart brief, sail check. Motored for anchor set at Christmas Cove (place was packed), swim, dinner and then I crashed due to dehydration. I should know better.

Tuesday - Crew decided we should stay additional day at Christmas Cove to recuperate/acclimate. Moved to a ball set and actually had a great day of doing nothing but drink water and light snacks, by dinner I was 100%.

Wednesday – Quick sail to Lind Point to check out Cruz Bay. Talked to the C&I folks in their new trailer, had a beer in town, got ice and then sail to Maho Bay. Thanks for the tip BaardJ. Ball set with 3 other boats in the whole bay. Happy Hour with new friends on another CYOA boat that we met Sunday night at the charter base and then happened to show up in Maho, dinner on board.

Thursday – A perfect reach to Great Harbor JVD for a ball set. Check in, get ice then dinghy to White Bay and Soggy for an afternoon of Painkillers, music and playing in the water. Dingy back for drinks at Foxy’s, then dinner aboard.

Friday – Sail, then motor sail, then motor to Leverick Bay. Top off fuel, water tanks, move to an inside side tie, plug in the boat for AC then reprovision ice, drinking water and beer. Showers then BBQ and Mocko Jumbies. Great night.

Saturday – Sail to The Baths, too busy for a stop, then off to Cooper for a ball set in Manchioneel and met up again with our new friends for another Happy Hour. Dinner aboard.

Sunday – Up early to hit The Baths with our new friends, had the whole place to ourselves for 1.5 hours, AWESOME. Off the ball by 9:15 and sail to Peter. Anchor set in Deadman’s Bay for lunch. Sail clockwise around Peter for a ball set in Great Harbor. Willie T was busy, power boats rafted out 4 deep. Dinner aboard.

Monday – Sail to the Indians for a snorkel, then more sailing before we set course back to Peter and an anchor set at Key Bay for lunch and snorkel, the sail to Normal for a ball set in The Bight. Dingy out to The Caves then dinner aboard.

Tuesday – Up early to check back in to USVI at Cruz Bay, get ice and more beer. Weather predicted showers for the afternoon so we elected to go back to Maho Bay. Ball set by 11am, lunch, swim and then the sky opened up for 3 solid hours of rain. It was fantastic. Rain cleared out around 4-5. Dinghy to the beach for a walk and then dinner aboard.

Wednesday – Casual morning then late start and sail to Christmas Cove for a ball set and dinner from Pizza Pi.

Thursday – Off ball by 7:30am for a downwind run to refuel boat at Yacht Haven in Charlotte Amalie. Check in, debrief and at airport by noon for a 2:30pm flight back to California.

All told 10 days, 40 engine hours, 24 gallons diesel, 34 gallons drinking water, 120 cans/bottles of beer, 4 crew and 1 38’ Beneteau. Wow what a great trip, our first but not our last. I think the only mistake made was not drinking enough water on the flight out from California which led to taking an extra day at Christmas Cove to rehydrate.

Can't say enough about the folks at CYOA, they were great, knowledgeable and friendly.

Cheers