St Thomas & St John

St Thomas and St John sit at the western end of the Virgin Islands chain, under the American flag and connected to the US mainland by direct flights that make them the most accessible Caribbean charter base for American sailors. Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas's capital, is a deep-water harbour town with duty-free shopping, well-stocked supermarkets, and a concentration of charter companies operating from marinas at Red Hook on the island's eastern tip. Red Hook is the primary departure point. The marinas here — American Yacht Harbor and several smaller facilities — sit at the closest point to St John, which lies two miles across Pillsbury Sound. The crossing takes twenty minutes, and St John's north shore opens immediately into a sequence of bays protected by the Virgin Islands National Park: Caneel Bay, Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, and Cinnamon Bay. The park, which covers roughly two-thirds of the island, restricts development and maintains the bays in a condition closer to their natural state than most of the Caribbean. Trunk Bay is the showcase — a curving white sand beach with an underwater snorkelling trail marked by plaques on the reef. It draws day-trippers from St Thomas, so charterers who arrive early or stay overnight have the bay largely to themselves. Cruz Bay, St John's main settlement, provides a dinghy dock, a handful of restaurants, and a small grocery store. The sailing from St Thomas and St John into the BVI is straightforward — the border crossing to Jost Van Dyke or West End, Tortola, adds a customs stop but no significant navigational challenge. Many charterers combine USVI and BVI in a single week, using the US provisioning advantage on day one and the BVI's island diversity for the remaining days. The trade winds blow at 12-20 knots from the east, lighter than the core BVI channel, making the waters around St Thomas and St John comfortable for inexperienced crews. Hurricane season runs June through November; the charter season aligns with the dry months, December through May. Provisioning at Red Hook or in Charlotte Amalie is the strongest in the Virgin Islands — American-standard supermarkets with familiar brands and reasonable prices compared to the BVI. Fuel, water, and ice are readily available at the marinas.