December 2021 - U.S. Virgin Islands
After years of dreaming, we made it back to the Virgin Islands for a sailing trip. It was even better than I'd imagined! This gallery has the first half of the trip, in which we sailed from St. Thomas over to the north shore of St. John, and moored at Francis Bay and Leinster Bay. We did snorkeling, hiking, and, of course, sailing. Part two of the trip is right here, where we sail down to the south shore of St. John, and then back to St. Thomas.
Leinster Bay was my favorite place from our last trip to USVI, and it was just as lovely 7 years later.
After years of dreaming, we made it back to the Virgin Islands for a sailing trip. It was even better than I'd imagined! This gallery has the first half of the trip, in which we sailed from St. Thomas over to the north shore of St. John, and moored at Francis Bay and Leinster Bay. We did snorkeling, hiking, and, of course, sailing. Part two of the trip is right here, where we sail down to the south shore of St. John, and then back to St. Thomas.
Leinster Bay was my favorite place from our last trip to USVI, and it was just as lovely 7 years later.
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| At the marina in St. Thomas | Provisioning! | We got the provisions to the boat right as the sun was setting |
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| Feeling great at the helm! | Snorkeling at Whistling Cay | |
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| Some cool underwater rocks | There were some really nice fans at the cay | |
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| This little fish was following her around, hanging out right underneath her for a good fifteen or twenty minutes | A nice school of blue tang | |
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| Taking the dinghy back from Whistling Cay | A sand diver at Maho Bay | |
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| Our first turtle sighting! | ||
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| Surfacing! | A small stingray | |
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| A second turtle | This one surfaced so close I was trying to shimmy backwards to keep it from hitting me | |
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| On the beach at Francis Bay | The boardwalk trail between Francis and Leinster bays | |
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| Black-necked Stilt | A white-cheeked pintail | Quack! |
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| A Little Blue Heron, not quite as small as the name suggests | The sun setting over the bay | |
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| Morning in the Maho Bay anchorage | ||
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| The chief goat on the shore | A little one | A Magnificent Frigatebird |
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| A Brown Booby | Snorkeling action shot at Waterlemon Cay | |
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| Some decent coral, and a lot of reef fish! | A yellow grunt hanging out near some coral | |
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| Really nice coral on the back side of the cay | A curious sargeant major | A beautiful parrotfish |
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| Squid! | A nice squad of them | |
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| A parasitic isopod attached to a yellow grunt | Snorkel action! | |
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| Overlooking Leinster Bay | Wow! Leinster Bay | |
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| Waterlemon Cay, some good snorkeling! | Our boat is the closest | A Gray Kingbird |
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| Looking over to Francis Bay | Looking north to the BVI | |
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| Overlooking the snorkeling grounds at Waterlemon Cay | The Narrows, between St. John and Tortola | |
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| The trail back down to the bay | Just some regular rocks in the water?... | Or a camouflaged flat fish! |
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| A thief!! Likely a cousin of the thief that ate my sandwich on this very beach 7 years earlier... | The incredibly beautiful water, as seen from above at the Annaberg sugar plantation | The sugar mill |
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| All-natural decor on the walls | ||
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| An Antillean Crested Hummingbird. Unfortuately a female without the crest, which is quite magnificent. | A Brown Pelican watching the sunset | Morning in Leinster Bay |
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| A Brown Booby |