Philip M. Haggerty

We arrived at Charlotte Amalie, USVI. We took a taxi to Red Hook for the standard fare of $8.00 and shortly afterwards met Sharon, our Captain. We boarded the Winifred, a beautiful 43 foot ketch with a racing configuration. It was built in 1956 and is constructed of mahogany with teak fittings. It had won several Caribbean races in its class under its original owners. There were two other couples with us, friends who were staying for a vacation on St. Thomas. Sharon has a crew/first mate in the form of Steve, a large, cheerful young man. Sharon is very determined that her passengers should not get sunburned, but Edith and I, like good Arizonans, were well prepared with Solumbra shirts and heavy duty sunscreen.

After about two hours sailing in a delightful breeze we arrived off shore at St. Johns, and there proceeded to snorkel for about an hour and a half. The water was very clear, and I was able to spot some good fish. Unfortunately my underwater camera, a $10.00 Kodak, broke after two shots. We then had lunch and sailed back, arriving at about 3:00 P.M. The cost was a little high, $110.00 (cash - $120.00 if by credit card), but it was a very nice experience. We returned to Charlotte Amalie and walked around the pier side shopping area. St. Thomas has excellent duty free shopping, with a higher allowance than at other ports in an effort to promote business; but we did not buy anything, although a lot of passengers did.

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