Buck Island #2

We left Leinster Bay at 8 am and rounded the eastern edge of St. John. Once we had our bow pointed toward St. Croix the engine was shut down and we had a beautiful 30 mile sail to Christiansted. The windvane did the steering and we spent most of the time lounging down below keeping out of the sun. The first two night's were spent at St. Croix Marine to arrange our haul-out date, do laundry and load up on food and water. We also went to the fort downtown to get a permit for anchoring overnight at the Buck Island wildlife refuge. 

The national park service is trying to remove all invasive species and foliage off Buck island and return it to it's natural sate. They reintroduced the St. Croix ground lizard to the island and the beach is a frequented turtle nesting area. That said, there are no dogs allowed.

During the day a bunch of sailing charters showed up and would pull up right to the beach by dropping an anchor off the stern and then stopping abruptly as one of the crew launched another anchor onto the beach. Pretty impressive to be doing under sail. At dusk a few powerboats would show up and leave after sunset leaving us alone with the island creatures and turtles. 

 Not to pleased with the rules (we did sneak her to shore twice though… shhh)

 View from the observation deck, the entire reef north of the island is protected as well. Talking to locals... the reef could be seen poking out of the water before hurricane Hugo came and knocked it down. 

 View of St. Croix from the hiking trail

 Some interesting rock layers on the beach caused by tectonic upheaval. 

A huge tamarin tree that must have fallen over in a hurricane but is still growing like nothing happened. Not sure how the national park service plans to remove this thing...

So Dan nearly was run down by wild horses on Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island and Blackbeard Island are very similar in terms of wildlife and forest flora but a world apart in terms of accessibility. Cumberland Island has been inhabited for at least 4000 years. In the 1800s the wealthy Carnegie Family built the Dungeness Mansion which then burned down in 1959. The site of the mansion and grounds are open to be explored by tourists. We thought we would take a look!

As we pulled our dingy to the dock we heard the nays of wild horses on shore and then found of herd of them coming our way as we walked the road to Dungeness. "Wow!" we thought. "can you believe you are THIS close to wild horses." The group slowly ambled across the road and disappeared in to the woods.

"Aw! Look at this little-wittle guy. Hey there fella. Where is your mom? Do you want to come home with us." I couldn't help but baby talk to the cute colt. Still oblivious to the possible danger of approaching an unattended wild colt. "and look at that, he is posing in front of the ruins for us!" "Neigh!!!" Said the colt. 

Here comes mom (see the resemblance?). With deafening neighs the herd of horses galloped full speed into view. I have no experience around horses and had no idea how loud they are. A couple of shrill cries had me climbing the gate as they ran by. 

Dan on the other hand just stood there. I wish I'd had peace of mind to get some better action shots! "It's like running of the bulls!" Exclaimed Dan as he helped me down from my perch. 

After all that, mom and baby reunited at last. With no one trampled we were able to continue on our way. 

He told me we were going to the beach...

The day after we arrived at Blackbeard Island we had finally recovered from our overnight and decided to venture inland to picnic on a white sand beach. The island has no cell phone service and we had no map. We walked for 4 hours before finding the beach... The island is gorgeous. Enormous trees covered with spanish moss with palm tree undergrowth. We startled several deer just as badly as they startled us as we walked. There are apparently even wild boar on the island. The walking paths are well cleared but full of burrs. Our flip flops were not appropriate as we later were told there are Rattlesnakes and Water Moccasins on the island. As we walked we noticed there were little to no human footprints in the sand. Just as we were about to give up our search after Dan took us down a path that wasn't a path we met two hikers/hunters who happily showed us a map. We had been circling the island. We were within 1/2 mile of the beach several times on our journey. By the time we got to the beach we were dehydrated, starving, and our feet were bleeding. 

 I think we found Jurassic Park

 Boar trap set up by park rangers. 

 Mile after mile of beautiful canopy.

 We found the beach! My orange shower sandals have never been worn as walking shoes. By this point my poor blistered feet are happy to have found respite from the burrs and sandals alike.

Perfect sand beaches and  forests of driftwood brought us back to our dinghy. I complain and I joke, but getting lost is the best way to discover a new location. The island is 5,618 acres total and we were able to see just a bit of it. 

Cuttyhunk Island

Full sails from Nantucket to Vineyard Haven

We saw 8 kts on the GPS with some help from the Current in Vineyard Sound

Some scottish highland cattle taking a dip on Nashawena Island.

Obligatory Raw Bar photo

Half dozen oysters delivered to the boat.

The halo around the sun is not a good sign for the next day, storms a brewin.

20-30 kt winds - This boat dragged and came within 2 ft of Sarah. Luckily I was on watch when it happened and we were able to get the engine started in case we needed to steer clear. Allyson blasted the airhorn into their open companionway, but the owner was still on the island. Some good samaritans rushed over after the horn blast with their dinghys before the boat was aground and steered it toward this dock to tie off. 

Priorites - off to get cheese!

Survived the wind. The anchor held really well. When we hauled it up the windlass could barely break it out of the deep mud. 

Post-storm sunset

$45 or you can anchor for free if there's room and save the money for 2 dozen oysters.

Sailboat in the wilderness

Tow boat in the wliderness

Calm waters after the windy day.

The islands only restaurant. Blues Brothers on watch. Note the whale rib in the grass behind them (whale was not on the menu).

No cars to deal with, just golf carts.

Lookout over Buzzards Bay and Rhode Island Sound

Old World War II bunkers in the grass

Cuttyhunk is a peaceful island at the end of the Elizabethan Island chain separating Buzzards bay from Vineyard Sound. It is a blast from the past. It reminded me of that movie Pleasantville.  This is the place to cruise if you want to spend the day relaxing and reading a book. You can explore the entire island in a day on foot. When exploring the island everyone you pass sends a hello and a smile. 

Middle Brewster

Very little wind this weekend left us with time to explore new places.    

Quick, Duck! I mean...

Tom, clearing out our new living room with a Boston Lighthouse overlook. 

The lichen moss is beautiful gold. 

According to Wikipedia this arch once held a bell. 

Dan, contimplates jumping to escape deafening seagull chatter. 

It was not nesting season. Had it been, we'd be dead. 

Middle Brewster Island is the home of approximately 1 million seagulls. It's a little scary and very smelly. For some reason this island is not visited often by mariners. Our friends Tom and Cynthia convinced us to join them for some leisurely bushwacking. Almost all of the 34+ Boston Harbor Islands have a long and usually grim history. Many were used in the Civil War and World War II. Before the invention of GPS countless ships were lost to their shores. Middle Brewster is no exception. We found the foundations of homes built in the late 1800s and the rusting remains of a wreck. We also found many dead birds.

We spent that night discussing Harbor Island ghost stories over a few drinks. I awoke at 130am to strange noises and the boat rolling ominously. This was disconcerting considering what a calm night it had been. I was convinced the Lady In Black had come for me. That is the last time I let Tom tell me bed time stories. 

Fall Rivah Ahmahda

Translation- Fall River Armada. A group of dedicated boat enthusiasts and self proclaimed marina rats set sail this Saturday for Great Brewster Island. Bedlam ensued. But prior to becoming sodden with rum, I used my fancy camera and got some lovely photos. I wish I had a way to document the Great Brewster bonfire, construction of the Brewster fire break water, inevitable flood of our beloved campsite, and our harrowing relocation. But some things are better left to memory. -A