1 – 10 May 2014: Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas – 18 20N 64 55W
Time To Hit The Streets
We so rarely return to previous anchorages that when we do we seem to enjoy them even more. Knowing where to anchor and take the dinghy, where the supermarket and laundry are, are generally new experiences for us so familiarity is always a treat.
We were back in St Thomas for a few reasons, a major one was to try and have the drive assembly on our water maker repaired. Unfortunately the cheap option of repairing was not possible so we had to order a new one to come from the States.
But we had picked a good time to be here waiting, we had our British friends Rob and Sarah on Serafina anchored close by to play with and it was Carnival Week with outdoor parties, festivities and parades happening daily. Lots of other yachts were coming and going, we got a chance to meet Keith and Pam off New Zealand yacht Savarna where we had a lovely evening onboard feasting on a rather decedent selection of potluck deserts and watching the fireworks display.
Work, Play, Work, Play
We used our waiting time well, getting small jobs done onboard that we normally would have left for the down season but we spent hours ashore too, watching the parades. One day we saw about 100 floats go by with youngsters in all manner of costumes parading along, some singing and dancing, a few beauty queens were all dressed up and just waving at the crowds as they drove by in someone's convertible, but for us our favourites were the steel bands, they were magnificent.
The parties went long into the night, certainly not a quiet time at anchor but we tried our best to stay in the spirit of things, Carnival comes but once a year and that was why we were here!
The Grand Finale
On the last day it was the adults parade, it didn’t flow nearly as well as the youngsters had, so we spent our time walking up and down rather than waiting for the floats to come to us. The weather was very hot and sticky and there was minimal shade. The costumes were excellent, feathers and frills with skimpy tops and bottoms was the attire of choice, I’ll let the photos explain a little better!!
Lets not forget the spectators, rather an interesting assortment ….
And Then ….. The Carnival Was Over
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