We made it!
Saturday afternoon at about 1700, the gregarious “Max” met us at the Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas. Since we were arriving late, he had a quick discussion with our sailboat Captain about the best route to take, whether scenic or an attempt at quicker due to the traffic. It ended up being a combination of both, and in about 45 minutes he safely delivered us to the American Yacht Harbour fuel dock to board the Black Pearl for a week of sailing adventures around the Virgin Islands. After being warmly greeted by our crew, Captain Diego, Chef Val and First Mate Amber, we jumped onboard and headed straight away for Christmas Cove to try and catch a glimpse of our first sunset that was rapidly approaching. (we didn’t really make it)
After getting into comfy clothes, we watched the crew expertly weave their way through the busy Christmas Cove and then provide safety speeches and an overview of essentials in our state room…wow, even a nice size stand-up shower in the ensuite! While enjoying Painkiller cocktails on the back deck, John was excited to discover that Pizza Pi was moored nearby. We had just read about them in a Yachting Magazine about this great Pizza business that operates off a boat in St. Thomas, USVI…and now we’re anchored in the same cove!
We were delighted with our first meal on the boat – our favourite Caprese Salad followed by shrimp scampi with white wine lemon caper sauce over angel hair pasta…so delicious I even had seconds! It was really impressive to see what Val could prepare from scratch in her galley. While we enjoyed a second glass of wine, John made a quick phone call to wish his mom Happy Birthday (awww), and reassure her she could stop worrying now that we were safely onboard and in good hands.
After dinner settled John couldn’t resist hopping in the warm water, and I couldn’t resist joining him! We loved swimming around the stern, watching fish flicker in the underwater lights. One of my favourite things about the Lagoon throughout the week, was how easily we could access the water by just hopping off the stern to go swimming, diving, or climb aboard a kayak to paddle around. I was also happy with its stability (completely different than a monohull). Another feature which impressed me right away was the spacious interior and how much covered outdoor area we could enjoy, especially handy if it started to rain (which it frequently did).
As we ended the evening with stargazing from the flybridge, we swapped a few stories with the crew, and lucky for us, discovered their sense of humour was as fun as their sense of adventure.
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