Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie, the capitol of the US Virgin Islands, was named after a Danish Queen.  It is a major seaport and about 200 years ago, was used extensively by pirates and privateers.  In 1815, St. Thomas was declared a free port by the Danes, thus allowing for the sale of goods, livestock and ships acquired either from honest trade or under the flag of piracy.  (Some of that may still be happening today!)

The harbor itself is well protected, deep enough for all the major cruise ships and, when the United States bought the islands from the Dutch, they had in mind to operate a naval base that would help protect the trade routes from the Panama Canal and throughout the Caribbean. 

As many as 3 of these show up in a day

The town itself is historic and there are several walking tours one can take.  Over the years, we’ve chosen to fly to St. Thomas, and then catch a ferry over to the British part of the Virgins.  But, for several reasons, we sailed into the harbor and have spent two nights anchored near the cruise ships and the mega yachts at the Yacht Haven Grande Marina (“the 2016 best marina in the world for mega yachts” – so their flags and signs declare).

When I first started sailing down here, I remember seeing a photo of this harbor at night.  It was beautiful.  Just the right amount of town lights and reflection off the water.   All those old Dutch warehouses and government buildings and mansions had disappeared into the dark hillside and it was the lights that were so delightful.  There is no place else in the Caribbean where you can sit at anchor in front of a town this size.

The pic doesn't do the view justice...

A stop here has been on my bucket list for years.  We arrived two days ago and have admired the town lights from the water.  Re-provisioned and even enjoyed a dinner on land one evening.  Bucket list item…checked off.

In some ways harbors like this are a version of today’s suburbs.  Not the kind where all the houses look the same, and the lots are all the same size, and there are rules and regs from the homeowner’s association.   But rather those earlier neighborhoods that still exist where a person can put whatever shape and color of house they wanted on their lot.  A two story here, painted blue; a red brick ranch style house there; a bungalow across the street…that sort of thing.  Charlotte Amalie harbor is an unregulated neighborhood.  And just like today’s land-based neighorhoods, where people move in and move out and most folks tend to leave their neighbors alone, it’s the way of today’s harbors – moving in, moving on, leaving each other alone.  Like the suburbs, we wave when we see someone in another yard or boat, but only the curious go knocking on doors to introduce themselves (or they’re collecting donations for some cause). 

Harbors are like that.  The boats come in all shapes and sizes and colors and… did I say sizes?  And once the anchor is dropped, life is lived mostly within the confines of their boat and the water-yard right around it.  People drive/motor to town/shore where they do their shopping and errands.  And of course, they wave when they dinghy by.  But to stop and talk?  Only if they recognize the name of the boat and know the owners.  Or if they’re looking for a bit of help.  People come and go.  The neighborhood changes, but we have little sense of our neighbors today – whether on land or the water.

Harbors were once confined to merchant vessels and day sailors or small fishing boats.  Now they are the venue for journeyers, moving about, even if some occasionally stay in a harbor for a month or so.  

We now look for certain boats and are delighted when we recognize one and visit its owners.  Such a treat, in an otherwise lonely kind of existence.  Sitting in God’s world in such beautiful and different settings is wonderful.  Getting to know the island people through your favorite institution is interesting.  But fellow sailors?  We’re something of a mystery to each other.  We mostly like it that way; but it’s kind of sad.  Just like in today’s modern neighborhoods.

Watchman tell us of the night;  Traveller where are you bound?  Scriptures suggest that there are two types of people.   Those who stay in one place and watch…people come and go.  And those who travel and journey and move from place to place.  Community is shaped very differently for both.  That’s important to know, remember, and thus engage because for most of us, we are not meant to be alone.  Not really.

Well.

Looks to be a good weather day today.  Think we’ll head out and check out a different neighborhood.  Maybe we’ll see a boat we know.

Fair winds and calm seas.

This is NOT the tug boat that brought the cruise ship to the dock!