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Craig Harms

@sailsonoma

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Can't resist another Sahara dust photo. This is a picture of St John from just three miles offshore! No rain, no fog, no clouds. To give you perspective, on a clear day, you can see STJ from 30 miles away.
#saharadust #stjohnusvi taken in Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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6 years ago

The sun through the Sahara dust! While you can see a small cloud in this picture the majority of the filter is caused by the Sahara dust currently passing through the Caribbean. So thick you can almost taste it.

#saharadust #nofilter taken in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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6 years ago

Caught this 6-7 lb monster this morning off Salt River. What a great birthday present for Capt Craig!

#islandlife #ilovelobster #lobsterfordinner #stcroix #northshorestx taken in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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6 years ago

Another stowaway found aboard Sonoma

#peepers #treefrogs by @sailsonoma

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6 years ago

Day 6 - Share the Love.

Sonoma sends our "shout out" to a fleet rather than a single yacht. We would like to recognize the fleet of charter boats built right here on St Croix by #goldcoastyachts. In their history they have built over 140 vessels that primarily serve the daysail industry, from Capetown South Africa, throughout the Caribbean, to Hawaii. One of their recent deliveries was the new Lady Lynsey serving the Ritz Carlton on St Thomas. Pictures is the most recent launched boat, Hanu Lani currently being commissioned before delivery to Hawaii.

Aside from supporting our industry, Gold Coast is a great supporter of the local economy with a large island staff and regular training opportunities. Thank you for all you do!

#cuphalffullvi @vipca_usvi #ladylynsey #stxusvi by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Day 5 - Misconceptions:. Based on St Croix, the most common misconception that we get is the length of time it takes to sail to St Thomas/St John. It's not uncommon for someone to ask if we can run over St John and back for lunch. So far our record crossing STX to STT is 4 hours 13 minutes. That's an average speed of 8 knots - it was a glorious sail in heavy air and a big following sea! Our average crossing is 5 hours, but we always budget 6.
On a related note, the time to cross, is one of the things that keeps St Croix so special, she is truly a hidden gem. Come check out the Crucian lifestyle when you have some time to relax!

#cuphalffullvi #stxusvi #crucianlife @vipca_usvi taken in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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Day 4 of 20 - Brightwork is a never ending task aboard Sonoma. Here's Quinlan, one of the marina kids pitching in on the starboard rub rail.
#cuphalffullvi #zenwork #cetol @vipca_usvi taken in Salt River Marina by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Happy Easter everyone!

For this post I thought I'd share a story about a really unique local family that have made me feel welcome here on St Croix.
Out in Salt River Bay, is a lovely family of five that live aboard their 50' ketch. The children are 10 and under, and have known nothing other than living aboard their whole lives. Each year at Easter, they decorate eggs and hang them around the marina; if your lucky on your lifelines too. My first year here I found one on my lifelines and one on my Jeep. It was really a welcoming feeling of home to find those onboard.

This year it occurred to me that they are the least impacted by this lock down. They already live off the grid, no TV and have been homeschooled their whole lives. As we come out of this pandemic, our lives will be different, at least for awhile. Remember this family and remember that there are advantages to a simple life.

#cuphalffullvi @vipca_usvi #happyeaster #liveaboard #marinalife by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Meet Sonoma's crew

Julie signed on this year as crew and steward for our expanded daysail schedule. After sailing all day you'll find her behind the bar at Flyers serving up great cocktails. Off season she heads to the states to run whitewater river tours in the Grand Canyon. Julie is an aspiring captain and it is clear that she will soon reach that goal!

Cal serves as steward on Sonoma's term charters. She began her sailing career at the Boston Harbor Sailing Club in Solings, it's there that she met her instructor, Craig, and soon afterwards became his "first mate". Together they established and ran a community based sailing program in Newburyport MA; where they raised their two boys.

Capt Craig started sailing at age eight, and began teaching at sixteen. He grew up racing Lasers and cruising the coast of New England aboard his Dad's Pearson Vanguard. In addition to teaching in Boston Harbor, Craig served as a US Sailing instructor trainer. During college he raced for Penn and afterwards campaigned in the International Star Class. After a tech career with IBM and PPD, he and Cal sold everything, moved aboard Sonoma, and headed south to the Caribbean. That transition was eased by the warm reception and support @vipca_usvi provided both before and after arriving in the USVI.
#cuphalffullvi #sailingusvi #stx #stxusvi taken in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Sonoma flying the international signal for quarantine, code flag Q, over the VI Professional Charter Association burgee.

The use of a quarantine flag on sailing vessels dates back to the 18th century as a way for ports to manage ships that may be carrying sickness or disease. The word quarantine is based on the Italian "quaranti giorni" or 40 days, which was the time arriving vessels were to remain in isolation to minimize the spread of disease. Sonoma is about halfway through our quaranti giorni
For the next 20 days we will be participating in a social media challenge sponsored by @vipca_usvi. Each day we will post about a specific topic, all of them look like a lot of fun and will help showcase some of the contributions and cool things here in the USVI charter fleet. Stay tuned... #cuphalffullvi #usvi #usvirginislands #charterusvi #quarantinelife taken in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Had four great day charters this past week. On Saturday off Buck Island we were entertained by a pod of dolphins. Here is a mom teaching her calf how to surf our now wave!
#stcroix #buckisland #buckislandreef #dolphins #sailingwithdolphins #islandlife taken in Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago

Sonoma's new apprentice, Quinlan. Training the next gen sailors. Here he is building on the tradition of @rsty_shackleford taken in Salt River Marina by @sailsonoma

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7 years ago