Arrival in St. Croix: 2023 Crew Training Voyage Day 11

Dec 15

Christiansted Harbor, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Log written by Sam Johnson (Incoming 2023 AmeriCorps Deckhand Educator)

After passing Puerto Rico’s southern coastline, it was to the delight of the 0400-0800 watch (B watch, which stands for “Best Watch”, I am not biased at all!) to see the distant shape of St. Croix on the horizon just after sunrise, with St. John and St. Thomas further away to the north. There was a great celebration on the quarterdeck, accompanied by semi-melted jolly ranchers and prodigious amounts of coffee and tea.

As the morning passed and our destination drew near, all hands were called to set most of our sails so we could enter the harbour looking our best. Our watchful photographer and Denis Sullivan veteran Paul scaled the rigging to capture our arrival and the green hills and surf of St. Croix, yielding, as usual, spectacular pictures.

For the new deckhands it was a time of great excitement to reach the site of our programming and daily lives for the next several months, while the outgoing deckhands celebrated returning to the island, saluting the harbour and vessels which came out to greet us with numerous blasts on the conch shell horns kept by the helm.

Since coming to St. Croix, we have been busy getting our bearings on the island, bidding the departing deckhands a fond farewell, doing the mountain of laundry produced by 10 days at sea, and giving Denis Sullivan some cleaning and TLC after her stellar work on the transit. Soon, she will be gleaming at the mooring with fresh coats of paint! The new deckhands have also been training to zip around Christiansted harbour with the inflatable “small boat,” which will be our taxi from ship to shore during our stay.

Personally, coming from a muddy river on the Chesapeake, I have been astounded by the clear blue water and the quantity of fish visible from above, along with the various kinds of seabirds which often pay us visits. Although we’ve only just arrived, we are already discovering much to love about St. Croix and cannot wait to begin our winter programming here!