Boating Journey Blog about boating for the first time

August 15, 2021August 15, 2021

Surprise trip to Fort Lauderdale!

Last month (before covid went rampant again), Scott surprised me with a quick trip to Fort Lauderdale. Other than passing through on our way to the Keys, I had never been to Fort Lauderdale, so I was excited to see what it was all about.

Fort Lauderdale is referred to as the “Venice” of Florida. After our visit, I can see why. All of the blue you see below is water!!

We’re definitely in a different boat world

Scott and I stayed at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina, located right on a canal. We arrived in the evening and after grabbing a bite to eat, we decided to walk around and check things out. Immediately, it was obvious that we were in a different type of “boating world” compared to the Pacific Northwest. Across from the hotel was a business center and most of the businesses were yacht groups and brokerages.

As we walked down the street, we stumbled upon the big guys!

Check out this open air indoor Ferretti Group showroom that is under construction! This is absolutely beautiful!

A few blocks down, we came upon an indoor boat launch under construction. Turns out this is a luxury indoor storage facility with access directly on the water. Check out F3 Marina for more information. This is such a cool project!

Scott and I proceeded to walk down a random street to see what the neighborhood looked like. Boat life is very different in Fort Lauderdale compared to the Pacific Northwest. Granted, we have some very large yachts on Lake Washington and a few marinas, but there were huge yachts in Fort Lauderdale everywhere you went.

Exploring Fort Lauderdale

With only a few days to check things out, we did our best to try a few nice restaurants and go visit the recommended spots. Most of the time, we found ourselves on another canal. Their canals are basically like our roads.

The only difference is these water “roads” have some serious luxury yachts parked along side them.

Looking at this dock, it appears they also can have accidents along their water roadways – yikes!

The following morning, we found a quirky diner, called Joe’s Diner in the middle of a shopping center, about four blocks from the hotel. The food was good and the service was great!

Looking for a public marina to walk around

Since we have public marinas here in Seattle that you can walk around and check out boats, we wanted to know where those were in Fort Lauderdale. I texted a broker I know and he said to go to Bahia Mar or Harbour Towne. Since he was showing his boat at Harbour Towne, we decided to go their first.

Bobby had a gorgeous Manhattan at the dock that he was showing. We could have gotten a quick tour, but he had a full day and we didn’t want to intrude on him.

Hoping to find a boat we might be able to board, we walked up and down a few docks, but unfortunately there wasn’t much to see.

Ironically, Charles & Jess from Folsom Ocean Views had just had their catamaran worked on in Harbour Towne on this dock and we missed them by just a few weeks.

As we were waiting for our Uber, I was excited to see this Intrepid 47 that had just arrived. You can do some serious fishing on this beauty!

Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale

Since this is Fort Lauderdale, there has to be a huge public marina we can walk around. Right? Well, taking Bobby’s advice, Scott and I headed to Bahia Mar Marina. This marina is home to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show held every October. The Uber driver dropped us off at the hotel and we decided to first grab a drink and a snack at Bo’s Beach Bar.

From Bo’s, we walked back towards the Double Tree hotel, hoping to find some boats we could check out. Looking at where we walked, we managed to miss the brokerage docks. However, we did get to see some mega yachts, up close!

Even the Restaurants are Boat Themed

That evening, we walked across the street and grabbed dinner at the Boatyard. We had tried making reservations online, but they were full. Luckily, we walked right on in!

The food was fantastic! This is a definite stop if you are in Fort Lauderdale.

Touring a 1980 Hatteras 53 in Fort Lauderdale

The following morning we met with a local broker (she is also the owner of Luxury Yachts Int’l), to tour a 1980 Hatteras 53 liveaboard. The oldest yacht we have toured (for purchase) would be a 1995, so we were curious to see this particular boat. It was located on a canal and was a current liveaboard. She stated that the owners of the dock were willing to negotiate another liveaboard contract if we were interested in making an offer.

This yacht has a beautiful profile, one that will never go out of style. As we boarded, she had warned us that it was not tidy and man, she was not kidding! As a clean freak AND a marketer in the marine business, I had a hard time looking past the mess. Then Scott reminded me that is all cosmetic and to look at the architecture of the boat.

The Interior

The salon offered the comforts of home and the covered aft deck offered plenty of entertaining space. From the salon, we headed down to see the galley and staterooms. The galley was a bit tight and I was shocked to find a dishwasher under the stovetop!

The front V berth offered bunk bends and is currently being used for storage and as a work shop. It had a large hanging locker too.

Walking down the hall, you’ll find engine access on both sides, allowing you to easily work on them. This yacht is equipped with twin Detroit diesel 871-TI engines and each engine has 2500 hours.

Moving down the hall, you’ll find another guest stateroom with twin beds. There was also a washer and dryer located in the hallway.

The guest bath had plenty of counter space, storage and a separate shower.

This Hatteras has a nice large master aft cabin with plenty of storage, a makeup vanity and a hanging locker that is larger than some apartments!

In the galley, there was a hatch for battery and tank access.

Since we couldn’t do an official tour with proper photos (because the broker and her assistant were with us), I ended up not going up to the fly bridge. However, Scott did a full tour in the YouTube episode, so be sure to watch the complete tour below.

Overall, this was a great layout and could be an awesome project boat. However, we live in Seattle – not Florida, so this was not an option for us today. We certainly appreciated Linda for taking time to meet with us and let us tour the boat. It was an interesting three days in Fort Lauderdale and surely not to be our last. We had planned on attending the Tampa Boat Show in September, but due to the fact that the virus is now rampant again in Florida, we’ve decided to cancel and figure out a different adventure – so stay tuned.

As always, thank you for following our journey! Please be sure to subscribe to our blog and vlog to stay updated on our search. In the meantime, we’ll continue to bring you adventures on the water. Check out our social pages @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney.

Cheers, Scott and Ally

August 8, 2021August 9, 2021

Tour a 1994 Bayliner 4587 Aft Cabin M/Y

Scott and I are always on the hunt for our liveaboard boat and we were able to tour a 1994 Bayliner 4587 Aft Cabin moored at Shilshole last month. I was very curious to see how similar it would be to our 4087 Aft Cabin. The owner is a single mom and the ad was on Craigslist. As a result we didn’t do an “official” Boating Journey tour on camera, as she was with us the entire time.

Right away, I had a small panic attack, wondering how I was going to get onto the boat. To board it, I used the blue steps on the dock, but I’m really short. The distance from the top step to the side deck of the boat was pretty far, so I was worried I couldn’t make the stretch (but I managed to). Luckily, there is also access from the stern swim step like our 4087 and that’s how I disembarked!

The Cockpit

Scott and I both loved the cockpit and the entertainment space. This Bayliner 4587 has a built in bar and plenty of seating / room to entertain quite a few people.

Just like our 4087, you walk up a few steps from the cockpit to the fly bridge. There was plenty of seating and lots of storage under each of the seats. The Eisenglass and canvas was in great shape too.

The helm of the Bayliner 4587, had all original instruments with a few added electronics.

The owner actually lived on the boat for a few years. She was a sailor, but was looking for a liveaboard boat. At the time she bought it, she was also able to sublet a liveaboard spot at Shilshole. Those are since long gone. Unfortunately, because she single handedly operated the boat, she didn’t take it out much for cruising. Equipped with twin Hino 250hp engines, they only had a few hours added to them from the time she purchased it.

We seriously considered putting an offer on the boat, but without a guarantee that we can find a slip for it, we didn’t move forward. Scott and I didn’t feel like investing $2000 in a sea trial and mechanical inspection with that risk existing.

Bayliner 4587 Salon & Galley

As with our other Bayliner, you step down a few steps from the cockpit, into the salon. The salon was nicely decorated and everything was in great condition. The couch was big enough to allow for sleeping and the coffee table was a large storage unit.

This Bayliner 4587 also has the interior helm station, though Scott and I have never used ours in the past.

The galley had good space to move around in and plenty of storage! Just like our 4087 (are you getting the idea they are very much the same?) it had a Princess stovetop and the same fridge.

It also had a trash compactor and a HUGE microwave!

The settee was across from the galley and you could easily seat five people (two on each side and one at the end). The settee also turns into another bed.

The 4587 Living Space

Heading forward, you will find one day head on your port side and the guest suite in the V-berth. There was good storage under the bed, including good size lockers for your clothes. The day head is a wet head, meaning there is not a separate shower.

The aft cabin had a walk around bed (a must!) and so much storage. I don’t think we have that much storage at home with our dresser drawers!

The master head has lots of storage and it also has a nice walk in shower.

Overall Impression of the Bayliner 4587

Scott and I are so glad we finally toured this motor yacht! It was a great lay out and it checked all of our lists. We simply did not (and still do not) have a solid place to moor it, which is too risky of an investment right now. The owner did mention she would offer a sublet through her for regular moorage, but that’s not our objective. We don’t want to pay rent, plus a boat and moorage.

In the meantime, we’ll keep looking and doing our tours. Perhaps we tour a boat we’ve never considered and fall in love. We’re still pretty hooked on the Navigator Sundance 51. Next week, we’ll take you on a unique trip to Fort Lauderdale, FL! Stay tuned.

As always, thanks for following our journey! Please be sure to subscribe to our blog and YouTube channel (watch the video below). Follow us on social media @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. Cheers, Scott and Ally

August 1, 2021August 5, 2021

Classic Yacht Show 2021 at Bell Harbor Marina

Last month Scott and I attended the Classic Yacht Show at Bell Harbor Marina. There were about twenty yachts on display, which was hosted by the Classic Yacht Association. This association was organized in 1969 to promote and encourage the preservation of fine old power driven crafts. At the end of your tour, they asked us to vote for our favorite classic yacht. Let’s see who we select.

Yes, that is a Bayliner 4588 on display – guess you could say it’s a classic yacht! (not really). I think they simply were visiting the show. By the way, next week we tour a Bayliner 4588, so be sure to tune in. This was my second in-person show for the year and Scott’s first. While it was small, it was great to be out. The show did request that you sign in for contact tracing due to covid.

Touring the Classic Yachts

We weren’t sure what to expect as we started walking down the docks. Turns out some boats were not open for tours, but we still got to view them from the dock.

As we came upon classic yacht MY Comrade, the owner welcomed us aboard. Once we saw his golden retriever, we couldn’t resist!

This classic yacht has a really cool story. Turns out, he and his wife were NOT boaters. She had spent time on boats as a kid, but they have never owned a boat before. This classic yacht was originally custom built in 1930 by Franck & McCrary on Seattle’s Lake Union. The owner, HW Davis was actually the great grandfather of the current owner’s wife. Her mother was a pack rat and had tons of photos of the boat and she knew who the third owners were. She called them up and asked if they wanted the photos and they told her they were thinking about selling it. Immediately, she called her daughter and said “You have to buy this yacht” and so they did!

Many of these yachts were built around the 1940’s and it was awesome to see how they were designed on the interior. To think that they are all wooden and still look so great, is amazing!

Classic and Timeless

Chris Craft has done a fabulous job recently, of bringing back a retro look of their brand new boats. There’s something about a Chris Craft that is simply classy and timeless.

Everything on this classic yacht was wooden, including the kayaks and dinghy up on top!

MY Dearleap 1929

Next on the tour, was MY Deerleap, a gorgeous 1929 85′ yacht built by Hoffar-Beeching. The current owners have had it for quite a long time (33 years) and they live on the Olympic Peninsula. They did try it out as a charter for one year, but it was too much work. Now they simply cruise and enjoy it themselves with friends and family.

They have done a fantastic job replicating how it originally looked in the 1930’s.

The galley was very large with plenty of room to prep.

They did have the lower level blocked off, but you will see on our next tour, what it possibly looks like.

Classic Yacht MY Linmar

After walking around the show, our last stop was MY Linmar. This 78′ yacht was built in 1932 by New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Co. in New York. The current owners recently purchased this boat after an extensive remodel due to an electrical fire. The work they have done on this yacht to bring it back to life is remarkable.

We were able to go down below and check out the guest staterooms. The current owners rent the yacht out as an air b & b – click here for rental info.

The dining room was one area that was spared from the fire.

When they did the restoration, they purposely left a bit of the char on the wall as a remembrance of the fire. Ironically, they store the fire extinguisher right next to it.

If you want more information on all of the classic yachts we saw, be sure to visit their website at https://classicyacht.org/search/node. Who did we vote for? Watch our video to find out – link at the bottom.

As always, thank you for following our journey. Please subscribe to our blog and vlog to stay updated as we search for our liveaboard. You can also follow us on social @BoatingJourney and #BoatingJourney. Next week, we’ll take you on a tour of a Bayliner 4587! See you next time!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

July 25, 2021July 25, 2021

Tour a 2004 Meridian Pilothouse Motoryacht

Finally after a few years touring boats, Scott and I toured our first 490 Meridian Pilothouse. I had been told it was in pristine condition and I was still surprised how great it looked. I only took a few photos for this week’s blog, so be sure to check out our YouTube episode (link at the bottom of this blog) for an up close tour.

This is a consignment listing at Union Marine and though it is out of our budget, we still wanted to check it out. Remember, that the larger Bayliner yachts actually became Meridian. In fact, our 2002 Bayliner 4087 was the last year that model was a Bayliner. In 2003 it became the Meridian 411. Same happened with the Bayliner 4788, which became the Meridian 490. With that said, it was remarkable how similar the two yachts are. Check out our 4788 tour from a few months ago.

This yacht has plenty of space at the stern to hang out or go fishing. It also had lots of extra storage and two large lazarettes.

Meticulous Care

It is obvious when you walk into the salon how well maintained the boat has been kept. Not only did it look fantastic, but it smelled great too! That’s not normal for a 17 year old boat!

The galley was nice and spacious with plenty of counter space and storage. Not only did it come with a HUGE microwave, but it also came with a trash compactor! It has the same Princess stovetop/oven and fridge we had on the 4087.

Ready for Entertaining

This yacht is ready to cruise and entertain guests. The owners have decorated it beautifully and the salon has plenty of entertainment space.

Heading up to the inside helm station, there’s more space to invite your guests to enjoy the cruise. The captain’s chair looks brand new and VERY expensive! We loved how easily you can see everything from the dash to the bow with plenty of visibility.

Meridian 490 Outdoor Space

There are two pilothouse doors in the helm station that lead out to a large walk around. The railings are high and very sturdy; allowing for paddle board storage.

Up on the fly bridge, they had canvas covers for all of the seats, dinghy and grill. The canvas on this Meridian 490 looks brand new too. Our only caveat for any boat we buy, is we do want a full enclosure for the fly bridge. You could easily add Eisenglass to this canvas though.

Could We Live in the Staterooms?

As I mentioned earlier, the Meridian 490 is basically the Bayliner 4788 and this model comes with an island berth in the forward cabin. With me only being 5’3″, it’s difficult for me (and my bad back!) to climb into this bed on a daily basis.

However, the master stateroom came with an enormous amount of storage! You could easily store all of your clothes and then some on this yacht. This yacht also has the bath tub in the master head, which I would never use. In fact, I worry that I would kill myself climbing in and out of the shower! LOL

This Meridian 490 does have two other staterooms, including bunks and a double size bed.

Plus it comes with a washer and dryer, which is located in the hall way. That’s a great feature, compared to some that have them tucked away in the corner of the master stateroom and a must for any liveaboard for us.

This Meridian 490 is equipped with two 330hp Cummins diesel engines with only 650 hours! Wow! The engine room was spotless and the cleanest engine room we have ever seen.

Be sure to watch the full tour below on our YouTube channel. This boat is ready for cruising and fantastic for the Pacific Northwest. We’re glad we toured it, but we’re still holding out for an aft cabin. As always, thank you for following our journey! Follow us on social on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok @BoatingJourney.

Next week we head to the Classic Yacht Show, so come along. Cheers, Scott and Ally

July 18, 2021July 19, 2021

The Ruins of St. John

With only one day left of our epic USVI tour, Scott and I hired a taxi to tour the island and explore the ruins of St. John. This is a great way to see the sites, without having to join a tour . What we weren’t expecting was an open air safari bus for this tour!

Our tour guide was very friendly and knew just about everyone on the island. He wanted to make sure we stopped and saw everything and he almost literally did. We scheduled him for four hours @$75/hour and he was worth it. Since the truck is open air, you want to make sure you hang on tight!

First stop the Bethany Moravian Mission Church

Tony took us to the Bethany Moravian Church and his parents are actually laid to rest in the cemetery there. The first Moravians came to St. John in 1741. This building was erected in 1919 and the sanctuary was restored after the storms of 2017. It is still an active church today and it has a beautiful view.

Neptune’s Lookout

Our next stop was the Susannaberg sugar mill at Neptune’s Lookout which was built in the 1700’s. The windmill tower of Estate Susannaberg was erected between 1780 and 1800 and is the second oldest windmill on the island of St. John. The estate is owned by the Neptune Richards family since they purchased it in the 1950s and they still live in the house which is on the grounds. The estate is now used for weddings, special events and camping.

The views are amazing from every vantage point, which look down at Caneel Bay (where we were the day before). At the top of the hill, there is The Windmill Bar, which was currently closed due to covid.

We also got a peak a view site of country singer Kenney Chesney‘s home at the top of the hill. Sadly, his home was nearly destroyed by hurricane Irma and he’s now rebuilding.

Catherineberg Sugar Mill Ruins

Heading northeast, we entered the Virgin Islands National Park to check out the Catherineberg Sugar Mill Ruins. The ruins are an example of an 18th-century sugar and rum factory. The “most impressive” ruin is that of an unusual windmill tower and the very large cistern. It was amazing to see how intact the ruins still are.

One very interesting thing we discovered was the sugar mills were constructed using coral! Could you imagine?! We can’t even step on coral, let alone dig it up for building materials.

Along the way, we saw wild donkeys and all kinds of fruit trees.

We came upon tons of soursop trees too. With an aroma similar to pineapple, the flavor of the fruit has been described as a combination of strawberries and apple with sour citrus flavor notes, contrasting with an underlying thick creamy texture reminiscent of banana.

As we drove down the windy narrow highway, Tony took time to pull over and share the views with us.

At this viewpoint is was awesome to see how close Tortola & Jost Van Dyke of the BVI were to us.

Francis Bay

Our next stop was the Francis Bay walking trail and home of George Francis.

In 1863, the Annaberg Plantation was purchased by Thomas Letsom Lloyd of Tortola from the James Murphy heirs (one of the original owners). For a time, Lloyd struggled to keep the estate in operation, but in 1867 a violent hurricane, followed by a series of devastating earthquakes, finally put an end to sugar production at Annaberg.

With his factory in ruin, in the spring of 1871 Thomas Lloyd sold Annaberg to his property overseer, George Francis, and returned to Tortola. George Francis was born enslaved on the Annaberg plantation. His name first appears in the earliest existing census for the property compiled in 1835, in which he was recorded as a thirteen-year-old field laborer.

Over the course of his life, George Francis encountered opportunities that in his youth must have seemed wholly unimaginable. By 1860, he had gained the position of estate overseer, and two years later he received outright title to a 2-acre parcel of land on the Annaberg property from the will of his former owner, Hans H. Berg.

In 1871, George Francis acquirred the entire Annaberg estate from Thomas Lloyd and immediately set out to renew sugar production on the property. At the time of his death in 1875, Francis had recently completed the construction of a new sugar-boiling house and horse mill on the isthmus between Mary’s Creek and Francis Bay. It was the last facility ever to produce sugar on the Annaberg property. [credit US Parks Online].

Once again, you’ll notice all of the coral used to construct the buildings!

From Francis Bay, we headed to the Annaberg Ruins passing by Mary Creek. The water was amazing, but the sewer smell was horrid!

Annaberg Plantation Ruins

As with looking at churches in Europe, this was now our third sugar mill ruin we visited in two hours. Had it been our first one of the day, we might have spent more time exploring the ruins. Annaberg Plantation, as of 1780, was one of 25 active sugar producing factories on St. John. Other products produced at Annaberg were molasses and rum. Annaberg was named after William Gottschalk’s daughter and translates to Anna’s Hill. Gottschalk was the plantation owner.

The windmill at the Annaberg ruins, one of focal points of the site, was built possibly between 1810 and 1830, and was one of the largest in the islands.

When the windmill wouldn’t churn due to lack of winds, they then used horses and mules instead.

Today the plantation ruins are protected by the Virgin Islands National Park and are open to the public. Trees have reclaimed the hillsides around Annaberg.

In the 17th to 19th centuries, boiling rooms were used to convert sugarcane juice into raw sugar.

What was super cool to see from the plantation was how close we were to Tortola and the BVI. I’m literally pointing at Road Town, where we will pick up our bare boat charter next February!

Heading back to Cruz Bay

After three hours, it was time to head back to Cruz Bay. It was interesting to pass by Maho Beach, Caneel Beach and Honeymoon Beach by car this time. Both Maho and Honeymoon were packed and cars were parked everywhere along the street.

Tony was fantastic and we’re so glad that the concierge at Gallows Point Resort booked him for us!

Since Tony dropped us off at the market, we decided to do a little shopping and support the locals.

After a full day of walking and exploring, we were hungry and thirsty! We stopped at The Taproom for a quick snack and cocktail.

Right across the street is the dinghy dock! How convenient.

On our walk back, we noticed another boat rental company at Cruz Bay called Ocean Runner and you can rent Boston Whalers!

We finished our amazing day, enjoying the sunset and a beautiful dinner at Ocean 3-6-2 at our hotel. This was a highly recommended restaurant and we were very happy we spent our last night there.

Goodbye St John – Until we meet again

Scott and I had a wonderful time in St. John and we can’t wait to return and explore more. Out of the three US Virgin Islands, St. John was our favorite. As we were enjoying our last morning, we had a new visitor who tried to come into the condo. He (she?) was a very friendly and curious peacock.

Of course our neighborly iguana had to come say goodbye too.

We headed to the ferry terminal around 1pm and enjoyed another quick boat ride across the bay.

As soon as the plane started down the runway, it began to rain again. We timed it perfectly. Until we meet again US Virgin Islands – see you next February, when we fly in for our bareboat charter in the BVI.

As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and our YouTube Channel. You can follow us on social @BoatingJourney on FB, IG, TW and TikTok!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

July 12, 2021July 12, 2021

Exploring Caneel Beach by Dinghy

Scott and I decided to rent a dinghy for the day and explore the northern beaches of St. John, including Caneel Beach. The dinghy rentals were very affordable and you had the freedom to go where ever you chose (following their guidelines of course).

We started the morning having breakfast at The Landing, which was very busy. They also have a deli counter, so we purchased sandwiches for our journey.

Wharfside Watersports Dinghy Rentals

Surprisingly, we went on-line to Wharfside Watersports the night before and were able to book a 12′ dinghy for $249/full day. They also offered larger Zodiak inflatables, but they were around $750/day. If you want anything extra, like a cooler or snorkel gear, you can rent that too.

Once you arrive, they have you do an online registration about yourself and experience, which takes about 5 min.

From there they give you a map and recommended beaches. Since the beaches we could visit were on the northern end of the island, they did have a few cautions for us. We were allowed to go all the way to Maho Beach (where the turtles were abundant), but they warned us that the northern winds could easily make for rough seas and landing at the beach. More on that later.

Their shop also offers lots of gift items and beach accessories.

The staff was super helpful at the beach. They give you a quick rundown on the motor and then they push you off.

Scott and I left Cruz Bay and headed to what we thought was Hawksnest Beach. We pulled up and it was just a nice quiet sandy beach, with no one around.

The first beach we landed, was gorgeous, but it was ALL sand, so we knew the snorkeling wouldn’t have any marine life.

After checking things out, we decided to hop back into the dinghy and head east towards Maho. As we entered the channel, the seas were getting a bit rough and I was sitting on the bow. Within a few minutes cruising fast, the dinghy caught some air and we slammed down hard. This wreaked havoc on my already bad back. Great. I told Scott I didn’t feel comfortable cruising into large waves in a 12′ dinghy, so we headed to Caneel Beach instead.

Wharfide had recommended Caneel Beach, but now looking at Google, I wonder if we were at the wrong beach, yet again? Either way, we loved where we ended up for the day.

Caneel Beach

As we pulled up to the beach, we immediately saw the abandoned Caneel Bay Resort. Sadly the resort was destroyed by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. The owners only have two years left on their lease, so they are waiting until then to find out if they will renew their lease before they invest money into rebuilding it. The restaurant (ZoZo’s) did survive and they only serve lunch. You can only access it by dinghy or small boat.

Walking around the property, it was pretty sad to see all of the abandoned buildings. It had to be an amazing resort. They did still have a security guard on the property, watching our every move.

Scott would normally have gotten some drone footage, but this resort was located inside the National Park, where drones are prohibited. I was amazed to how clear and blue the water was everywhere we went.

There was a good size anchorage in Caneel Bay with about twenty boats anchored. Notice the power cat below – that’s what we are chartering next February in the BVIs.

We had a small picnic lunch, then did some snorkeling (be sure to check out our YouTube video below) and then headed back to Cruz Bay after about four hours.

One thing I noticed during our entire trip, was this long line of clouds. It was really cool.

Finishing the Day

Before we returned the dinghy, we decided to head towards our resort at Gallows Bay and check out the Lagoon 77 that was anchored outside our room. It was gorgeous. It’s available for rent by Chillaxinaxin’ Charters.

For dinner, we decided to head into town towards Mongoose Junction. This is a small retail complex, about 4 blocks from the center of Cruz Bay. It was built of stone and surrounded by trees, so it reminded us of a treehouse.

Inside, there were a number of great restaurants and shops. After checking everything out, we had dinner at 1864, which was outstanding.

We did make dinner reservations the day we arrived, so we recommend doing that when you visit. Mongoose Junction offers so many cool places, so be sure to check it out when you visit St. John.

Tomorrow we tour St. John by land

Tune in next week, as we hire a taxi for the day (and that is a story!) and tour the island by safari-like taxi. As always, thank you for following our journey. Be sure to subscribe to our blog and vlog to stay updated on our adventures. Follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. Until next time!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021

Arriving to St John by Ferry

After five days on St Croix, Scott and I said goodbye to Ben and Maria and headed to St John for a few days. We arrived very early at the airport terminal, to ensure our bags would make it on the plane (see our previous blog about weight). While we waited for our flight, we walked along the boardwalk in Christiansted and enjoyed the views.

We flew back to St Thomas on Seaborne Air and we had a great view of St Croix and sail boats cruising along the way.

I was shocked when we came into Charlotte Amalie, as the plane did not fly directly into the bay. Instead, it flew OVER the CITY and then into the bay, it scared the living daylights out of me.

St John Ferry Terminal

Before we left St Thomas, we made arrangements with a taxi driver for a pickup upon our return. Interestingly, he drove along the shoreline to Red Hook, which was the first time we had ever gone that way. We’re still not sure why the navigation kept sending us up and over the island during our previous trips?

Scott and I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at the ferry terminal. Would it be like the Washington State ferries, or more like a charter boat? Turns out it was pretty straight forward. Reminded me a little bit of a train terminal.

The St John Ferry Terminal is decently sized and you don’t need to make reservations in advance. Simply walk up to the ticket window and buy your one way ticket. You can buy them three days in advance, but we chose to buy our return on our departure day.

If you have a large suit case, you leave it on the dock and the staff will place it on the ferry at the stern. No, you don’t get any kind of claim ticket for it! We hopped on and Scott went to sit down inside and I said, “don’t you want to be upstairs and enjoy the ride?” He didn’t realize they had an outdoor upper deck.

I was surprised to see so many boats moored in the bay. With the ferries coming and going, it had to be a very rolly bay.

That was a quick trip!

The entire trip from Red Hook to Cruz Bay took only about 13 minutes. We were guessing we were traveling about 25 knots.

Arriving in Cruz Bay there were a lot of boats. Sadly, a few had seen better days. On our starboard side, we got a great view of the Gallows Point Resort, where we were staying.

Disembarking the ferry took about five minutes and our luggage was waiting for us on the dock. Outside the terminal, it was a bit hectic with taxis and lots of cars. We called the hotel for pickup and within 10 minutes we were checking in!

Just like the ferries, all of the hotels we stayed at in the USVI didn’t really have luggage storage. Since our room wasn’t ready, they simply left it at the end of this hall, next to the plant. That would never happen here on mainland!

Time to check out Cruz Bay

Our hotel was literally a 5 minute walk to “town”. Along the way are two cemeteries, one on either side of the road. Word of CAUTION: if you are susceptible to bug bites, be sure to slather yourself in bug spray. I got eaten alive from the minute we started walking and the entire time I was having lunch!

Scott and I walked into the first bar we saw and ironically it was called “The Beach Bar”. The food was great, including the Reuben Egg Rolls!

After lunch, we headed to the center of town where a farmer’s market was set up. We chatted with a couple of the locals and bought a few gift items. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and happy!

The streets were lined with lots of cute stores and we were told to find the Lime Inn bar and inside we would find a really cool gift shop called the Pink Papaya. It’s a definite must see when you are in St John.

Gallows Point Resort

Just a few minutes by foot to the center of town, Gallows Point Resort is the ideal location. Scott and I were pleasantly surprised when we checked in and saw what an awesome room we had. We were in 7A, on the bottom floor, right in the middle of the resort. Each building has four units- two upstairs and two downstairs.

From our room, we could walk right out onto the lawn, down the stairs to the beach and then over to the pool! Just watch out for large reptiles!

There were lots of small lizards and I loved them as they were really cute!

Our room was actually a condo owned by a couple in Michigan and they have owned it for the past fourteen years. It was nicely appointed and the a/c was nice and cold. It was definitely the best room we stayed in during our vacation! For a full tour, be sure to watch the YouTube episode below.

Off of the bedroom, was a sunroom with a sky light where you could relax and unwind.

The shower was huge AND it had this shelf (sitting area?) adorned with shells.

Another cool feature of the resort, was they had a water purification station. I never drink the water in the hotels we stay at, so this was comforting to see. In fact each condo had pitchers in the fridge for the water.

The weather was nice and hot the entire time we were in St John and we were glad to be near the pool. We managed to grab a chair every time, but not necessarily an umbrella. From our room, you can take the stairs down to the beach or you can walk out on the dock and go snorkeling (they call this the “outdoor pool”. Since we didn’t have snorkel gear, we didn’t get the chance to do that.

Our first night in St John

Traveling by plane, taxi and ferry Scott and I were exhausted by the end of the day. We enjoyed the sunset and then headed into Cruz Bay for dinner. We didn’t have reservations and we hoped we wouldn’t run into the same problem we had on St Croix.

Luckily we were able to get a table at the High Tide restaurant, which is themed around “Livin the Dream”.

The food was good, but unfortunately the service was super slow. We talked to a number of restaurants and they currently have a shortage of labor, due to the pandemic. Now that things are back in full swing, they just don’t have enough people.

After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel. The restaurants and bars were packed with people (nice to see, but we’re not quite used to that yet).

The following day we rented a dinghy and spent the day exploring around St John. Be sure to tune in next week and see what we discovered. As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe for future blogs and follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. Check out the latest episode below. Please also subscribe to our channel and leave any comments below.

Cheers, Ally & Scott

June 20, 2021June 20, 2021

Sunset Cruise around St. Croix

The four of us had so much fun sailing to Buck Island and we couldn’t wait for our sunset cruise the following day. I had booked the sunset cruise before we left with Lyric Sails, as they offered a sunset cruise with a live band. What a perfect way to soak up the Caribbean vibe!

The day started by relaxing by the pool and enjoying some time to read another great book. (all of the books I’ve read can be found on our book page). I finished “Off the Grid” during the trip and it is a must read! The author is hysterical and very down to earth.

Be careful around the beach

The Buccaneer Resort has two beaches and we were staying near the west beach. There is a section that is rocky and thank God it was low tide, as we could not only see the rocks but the sea urchins! Trust me, you do not want to step on these.

Looks like rain might ruin our sunset cruise

As the day went on, I couldn’t help but notice the skies were getting darker and gloomier. This wasn’t looking good for our sunset cruise.

We had reserved a driver to take us into Frederiksted that afternoon, so we headed in and hoped the weather would turn nice. Once we got into the van, it began to pour down rain – great, this is not looking good.

Dining in Frederiksted

Our captain the day before highly recommended that we grab a sandwich at the Turtle’s Deli. These were the best sandwiches we have had. It is a take out joint, but you can take your sandwich upstairs to Louie & Nacho’s Beach Bar. Just order a drink and grab a seat.

From there we headed to the infamous “The Fred” resort and lounge. Ben had wanted to stay there, so we had to check it out. It has a very 1950’s vibe and was pretty cool. Right as we were headed to the dock, we got a call cancelling the cruise and they moved it to the next day.

Unfortunately, we had no luck finding anything available for dinner in Frederiksted (be sure to call ahead and make your dinner reservations before you arrive to St. Croix).

Our only option for dinner was to head to the grocery store to pick up some wine, cheese and crackers and call it a night. The sunset was amazing though.

Point Udall

The next morning, we drove east to check out Point Udall, which was about a 20 minute drive.

Along the way, we came upon a huge Satellite! Turns out this is a Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) which is is a system of ten radio telescopes which are operated remotely from their Array Operations Center located in Socorro, New Mexico, as a part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). (per Wikipedia).

Point Udall is the eastern most point in the US which is marked by a giant sundial that was installed in January 2000 for the millennium. The views were stunning, but you definitely would not want to boat ashore to these beaches.

We were saddened to see so much litter thrown over the hillside and that the monument itself had graffiti on it. It makes no sense why people do this!

Shopping and Lunch in Christiansted

Originally we thought about visiting the infamous light house on St Croix and go for a hike. But we only had flip flops on, so we opted to head back into Christiansted to do some shopping. Christiansted is where everything is happening and you’ll find plenty of gift shops and restaurants along the boardwalk.

After a few hours of walking around we grabbed lunch at Rum Runners right on the boardwalk. Our server was fantastic and super friendly. The wall even has a Pike Brewing sign on it!

It’s a great spot to sit and soak up the scenery. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this dinghy!

Exploring a bit of Frederiksted

Later that afternoon, we headed into Frederiksted a few hours before our sunset cruise to do some shopping and explore. Along the boardwalk there is a beautiful military memorial park.

Five massive, eight-foot-tall black marble obelisks stand on the Frederiksted waterfront in the Verne I. Richards Veterans Memorial Park, representing the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Air Force, and graven with the names of St. Croix soldiers who died serving their country.

We found a few shops that were open including a fun gift shop called Franklin’s.

Time for our sunset cruise around St. Croix

Finally it was time for us to head to the Anne Abramson Marine Facility for our much anticipated sunset cruise.

The sun was shining and our crew was so excited to get back on the water!

As we waited for the crew to set up, I couldn’t help notice more bad weather coming our way.

Seriously, this can’t be happening to us again!

I decided to check the radar and it didn’t look pretty.

Here comes the rain

Within a few minutes, the rain showed up in full force and all of the guests ran to under a porch for shelter. Here the crew made us some rum punches, while we waited out the squall.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and our sunset cruise was cancelled again. The crew was so gracious and in fact, refunded us that night! We’ll definitely rebook this tour when we visit St. Croix next time.

The rain continued to pour that we had to make a decision to make a run for it. We were absolutely soaked as we made our way to the Tap Deck Bar & Grill for some good food and fun drinks. The Aviator was awesome!

Guess that’s part of sailing life. The weather can change on you in a quick minute and you need to be able to adjust your plans. In the end, we had no complaints – I mean, we were in the Caribbean! Everything’s better in the Caribbean.

Next week, we fly back to St. Thomas and take a ferry ride over to St. John for a few days of fun.

As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and our YouTube channel (see video episode below) for future updates. You can also follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. See you next week!

Cheers,

Scott and Ally

June 13, 2021June 13, 2021

Fort Christiansvaern & Sailing to Buck Island

With five days on St. Croix, our group had plenty of time to explore Fort Christiansvaern and get in some sailing around Buck Island. After we grabbed lunch in Christiansted, we headed over to Fort Christiansvaern to check it out.

This fort is part of a national historical site, founded in 1952 in order to preserve the history and story of the Danish heritage and culture. It is made up of numerous buildings including Fort Christiansvaern (1738), the Danish West India & Guinea Company Warehouse (1749), the Steeple Building (1753), Danish Custom House (1844), and the Scale House (1856).

St Croix has done a great job of adding legends for each of the buildings and telling the story of what happened in the 17th & 18th centuries at Fort Christiansvaern.

Fort Christiansvaern

It was really hot and humid the day we toured the Fort, so it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit. There is a visitor’s center as you approach the Fort, then you are free to roam the grounds.

The first thing you come upon, are the prison cells. Perhaps these were temporary holding cells, as there were more in the dungeon, but I wouldn’t want to be in one. These prison cells can’t be taller than four feet! Could you imagine?

The Officers’ Quarters were rather nice and they certainly couldn’t beat the view they had!

The Arsenal was right around the corner from the officer quarters.

The view from the upper deck was gorgeous and with the trade winds, you stayed nice and cool.

The four of us decided to explore the dungeon and I can’t believe how cruel and horrific this must have been for the slaves and prisoners! Not only was it pitch dark with no light, but again it was only four feet tall.

As you come around the other side of the Fort, you enter into the latrines and the officers sleeping quarters.

In the visitor’s center, you can stamp your passport with the official National Park stamp, which we did! It was a very cool tour and really put perspective into how things were back then. For more detailed information, be sure to visit their website.

What was interesting, is these two sail boats remain under water and abandoned in the port. You would think this would be a hazard to the marine life.

Time to go sailing to Buck Island!

I had booked our snorkeling excursion before we left Seattle. With a little research on Tripadvisor.com, I felt confident with Caribbean Sea Adventures. Somehow, I didn’t realize how small the boat actually was, until the night before when we saw it at the boardwalk!

Our excursion was the full day 9am to 4pm sailing trip for about 12 people. We checked in 15 minutes early and waited for the rest of the guests to arrive.

Our captain Kendall and his first mate Bethany were fantastic and you couldn’t have asked for a better crew. We had light winds at about 8 knots, so we raised the sails and headed to Buck Island.

The sail took about 40 minutes. We had squalls all around us and Kendall was trying to avoid them. When you arrive to the island, it’s important to stay inside the reef. Once inside, we headed to the underwater trail for some snorkeling.

The underwater trail is pretty cool and very well marked. I’m a “struggling snorkeler” and it takes me a bit to get calm. Once my mask felt good, I followed our group along the trail.

As you go around the trail, you come upon a sign that says “Enter Grotto Here” on your left. We didn’t go into the grotto, but instead headed towards the boat. The current is pretty fast on the far east of the island, so they recommend that you stay clear of there. Be sure to check out our YouTube episode for all of the footage from our DJI Action. As I was following a beautiful blue fish, a lemon shark decided to surprise me and swim by. Not expecting him, I freaked out and swam to the surface screaming “SHARK!!”. LOL

Exploring Buck Island

The group snorkeled for about an hour and then we headed over to the beach for some fun in the sun. There the sand is so white and the surf is crystal clear; it’s magical.

The island is part of the National Park and there are many rules you must follow when visiting the island. Overnight anchoring is not allowed inside the lagoon, you must pack out all of your trash and you cannot take anything from the island off (shells, sand, etc). For all of the rules, visit here. In addition, their turtles were laying eggs near the shrubbery, so we were told that the trails were off-limits. Instead, the four of us walked along the sandy beach exploring.

Along our walk we came upon trees that had shells in them. Not sure why, so if you know, please leave your comment down below.

There are restrooms which are “out-houses” on the island. We didn’t use them, so we don’t know what condition they were in.

As you approach the northwest corner of the island, it’s solid rock and is a bit dangerous if you are in the surf.

Time to head back

Scott and I jumped back onboard to sit down with Captain Kendall and get some insight from him on sailing here in the USVI and how he got here. Be sure to watch our interview on our channel for all of the scoop. This was not a party cruise, but they did offer rum punches. There were no snacks, so bring your own if you want any.

We had squalls all around us, we were ready to head back (we had no Bimini top, so if it rained, we would be soaked!) And yes, it rained on us!

A big thank you to the crew of Caribbean Sea Adventures, Kendall and Bethany for an awesome day sailing around Buck Island! We had such a great time and you guys made it all worth it.

Another day in paradise

We had just enough time to rinse off and relax before getting ready for dinner when we got back. On our end of the resort, our beach was a bit rocky and had lots of sea urchins, so you have to be very careful!

Not to mention our scaly four legged friends that roamed the property!

Make sure if you are visiting St. Croix that you make dinner reservations in advance, as they fill up fast. The four of us were lucky enough to get into Too Chez! The food, service and wine were amazing and I highly recommend them for dinner. They don’t have a website, but they do have a Facebook Page.

As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and our channel for future stories. You can follow us on social media @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney.

Tune in next week, as we explore the island a bit more and take a sunset sailing cruise!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

May 16, 2021May 18, 2021

We’re finally headed to the USVI!

Our channel wouldn’t be called Boating Journey if we didn’t always have a journey to get to our destination and this trip to the USVI was no exception. After postponing our bareboat charter to February 2022, we opted to keep our flights and visit all three islands in the USVI. The entry requirements seemed fairly straightforward so what could go wrong? We should know not to ask that question!

USVI Travel Portal

Before you’re allowed to enter the USVI, you must fill out the travel portal, upload your negative covid test and be approved to enter. According to the site, we needed a negative covid molecular (e.g., RT-PCR, viral or nucleic acid amplification) or an antigen (rapid) taken 5 days prior to arrival to the territory. Our friends, Ben and Maria were traveling two days before us and all of us were on a red-eye flight. Their airline stated they needed the test taken 5 days prior to departure, but when they uploaded it, it was rejected as it was actually 6 days prior to arrival.

Lots of travelers we know recommended we go to Walgreens for our test, so we made an appointment at the Tukwila location for Monday (5 days from our arrival date). When we arrived, we found out that they DO NOT do the test we needed AND the results would be ready in 7 days! Yikes. The pharmacist recommended we drive to the Burien Walgreens and when we arrived there, we were informed they don’t take same day appointments. Great!

Trying not to panic, I jumped online and immediately booked an appointment for 11am (it was now 10:25am) at Rite Aid and Scott did the same. The test was easy, as you simply pull up to the drive thru window, swap your nose and give the vial back to the tech.

After we handed our tests back, we were informed we would have our results in 7 days! OMG, this can’t be happening!

Trying not to panic now

If you search the web for rapid covid tests, there are many sites that will give you your results in a few hours for a large fee $200 to $350. Scott and I were so desperate, that we were about to sign up for one of these. Then I remembered seeing another rapid test site, called GS Labs. Before I tried booking it, I first made sure that they were CLIA approved by the USVI portal. Thank God they were! The closest lab to us, was back in Downtown Seattle, so I made an appointment for 11:30am. As we drove, I used Scott’s phone to book the appointments and in the process, I managed to book 4 appointments for myself and none for him! Luckily, they took care of everything and after about 40 min, we were all done.

Ironically as I got ready to drive away, one of the workers shouted out my name. Turns out an old high school classmate owns the business and not only that, but he’s close friends with Ben! Now remember, Ben and Maria still at this point hadn’t gotten their results and were scheduled to fly out the next day. So I called them and told them to go get another test at GS Labs (which billed our insurance, so we were not out of pocket). Two hours later, we all had our results and we were good to go! Talk about a journey.

Are we there yet?

This trip has been planned for over two years and we couldn’t wait to finally get on the plane! We flew out on Thursday night around 11:15pm and arrived in Miami the following morning.

The flight to Miami was about 6 hours and we had about a 2 hour layover before our 2 hour flight to St. Thomas.

Finally we arrived around 1:30pm (11 hours later) to St Thomas! Ben and Maria had rented a Jeep, so they picked us up. We stopped by the local Publix grocery store for some drinks and snacks, before heading to the resort.

Though the USVI are a US Territory, they drive on the left with American cars and the roads on St. Thomas are very rough and steep!

Ben took the route that Google gave us. During the rest of our trip, our drivers took a few other different ways, all of which were still pretty steep!

What you don’t see well in the route above were the hairpin switchbacks! Talk about white knuckle drive – on the left side of the road!

We were really impressed with Ben’s driving skills!

Welcome to Margaritaville!

If you do have a car, parking can be limited near the hotel. But they do have golf carts that will take you to your room.

Ben and Maria had a fabulous room up on the hill, overlooking the bay.

Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. We were in the last building and our view was of a tree. Oh well, we were still in paradise!

The rooms were great, as they were kitchenettes that came with blenders! These rooms are actually condos and so we didn’t get housekeeping service. If you want extra coffee or towels, you have to go to the front desk and ask for them.

Time for some food and drinks

After checking in, the four of us headed to 5’Oclock Somewhere for a cocktail and enjoy the view and a few appetizers. Traveling to the Caribbean from the West Coast is exhausting, but worth it in the end.

That night, we took a taxi into Red Hook and grabbed some pizza at the Island Time Pub, which was fantastic! I highly recommend it and I don’t eat pizza! Overlooking the bay at Red Hook, the view is also fantastic!

For the next 10 days, we had a lot on the itinerary and we’ll share that journey with you over the next few weeks! Be sure to subscribe to both our blog and YouTube channel for the upcoming tour!

As always, thank you for following our journey! You can also follow us on social media @BoatingJourney and use the hashtag #boatingjourney. Cheers, Scott and Ally