So, we made it to Francis Bay on St John with only one minor hitch (a lost flip flop) after our midday libations in Cruz Bay. Cruz Bay is well worth the visit for interesting arty shops and a selection of good restaurants; whereas Francis Bay is a wonderful peaceful bay that is part of the National Park that covers 2/3 of the island of St John. However, it is the only bay in the National Park where vessels between 125 and 210 feet can anchor so we had the company (fortunately not too close to us) of some mega private yachts that had such things as their own inflatable water slides with perhaps a 20 ft or more vertical drop off the deck …. just a little OTT! We picked up a NPS mooring and dutifully paid our dues (only $7.50/night thanks to Howard’s purchase of a pensioner’s NPS pass) at the floating dock.
Thanks to Howard’s provisioning and Scott’s gift, we enjoyed a very special Christmas dinner on board that consisted of smoked Sea Bear wild salmon from Seattle as appetizer, entree of roast pork fillet, potatoes and broccoli followed by mince pies and ice cream …. pretty darned good, if you ask me!
We spent a couple of days in Francis Bay and enjoyed burning off a few of the excess calories in a hike along NPS trails (and roads) to the Annaberg Ruins of a former sugar cane distillery. Sonia of course needed to burn off more energy so did her “doggy” thing of running on in front of us, then circling back to us several times. The views from the ruins over to Soper’s Hole and across Great Thatch and Little Thatch to Jost Van Dyke in the distance was spectacular. We also met up with dock-mates from Village Cay, Kim and Marinez, for sun-downers, which was very pleasant.