03/27/2009 Spanish Virgin Islands

03/24/2009 Today I pick up my daughters, Sara and Amanda, from San Juan airport. I am excited that they are able to come down here for a week to share this life with me. I can’t say it started out with a bang as we worked to provision the boat, but they seem to be enjoying the day.
03/25/2009 This morning was a day of work trying to clear up some banking issues and waiting for the parts for the auto-pilot. The banking issues might be resolved, but the parts will not until next week when I bring the girls in. The delivery did not make it turned out to be a very busy day and they did not make it as far as the marina. The parts should be at the marina when I return. We can only hope.
After working through all of those details, we set off for Palominos. It is an island about 5 miles out from the marina. It is mostly leased out to El Conquistador. After a pleasant motor over to the island, we caught a mooring ball provided by the Department of Natural Resources. We went snorkeling on the reef that the mooring surround. I was really surprised by how dead the reef is. We moved from north to south along the reef and the north end was nothing but a pile of dead coral. There is no live coral and only a couple of fish. As we moved south along the reef, it did come alive a little bit with some live coral and more fish, but a lot less than I would expect for a place that has the mooring balls and where there are plenty of charter boats bringing out customers for the snorkeling experience.
After that we went ashore to the beach to try out Sara’s skimboard. This is a thin board that as you run down the beach, you throw it on the thin water of an out-going wave and then jump on it to skim the water and sand. It takes a lot of timing, balance and energy. This board was invented out on the beaches of California where they have long flat beaches, compared to the short sloping beaches here in the Caribbean. It took a few tries, but Sara was able to get some good rides. Amanda and I took a lot more time and I believe we each only got in one half decent ride each.
As we were on the beach, a front was rolling in and started to bring rain. The people from the hotel started lining up on the pier waiting for the ferry to pick them up and return them to the hotel. We played in the rain as we were wet and had nothing better to do. We did make it back to the boat and had one of those all night rains. It was also a slightly rocky and windy night. I was disappointed that I had us in an anchorage that had some roll until I remembered that I had two months of this kind of weather. How easy we forget the different conditions.
03/26/2009 After the rocky night on the boat, I put up the main sail and took off of the mooring. Once I cleared the protection of the island, I saw how rough it really was from the front moving through. There were 5-7 foot seas on the channel. We were actually tucked into a pretty good anchorage considering the weather.
The wind was blowing 17-20 knots out of the NE. There is a chain of islands and rocks that form sort of a back-bone that runs from Cape San Juan out to Culebra. I tacked to the north all the way to the chain and then threw in another tack that carried us all the way to Culebra. This was about a 15 mile run and the best sail I have had since I made it to Puerto Rico. I have been on the south side of Puerto Rico and Vieques and that blocks the winter trade winds from the ENE. Now in the open water, and with the front, I had good winds from a good direction. No Rush jumped like a racing horse out of the blocks and sailed fantastically.
The plan was to go into the bay with the town of Dewey, but we made it in such good time, I decided to sail up the west coast towards the north end. There is a beach there that was protected from the weather and a good place to anchor for the afternoon to go ashore.
After we anchored, we were befriended by a family from Australia that has been cruising for a little over a year on a 46’ Leopard Catamaran. They boat the boat in St. Thomas and after refitting, they crossed the Atlantic to Western Europe and then back to the Caribbean. They are heading west to the US to cruise the eastern seaboard. After that they expect to sell the boat and head back to Australia so the boys can finish school.
We went ashore and found a path that took us to Flemenco Beach. It is considered the second most beautiful beach in the world. It truly is a beautiful beach. There was good surf coming in from the ocean due to the front and we had a great time playing in the surf. We also got in more time on the skimboard. Amanda picked up a raspberry on her knee from a spill on the beach. That was after she rolled her ankle walking over to the beach and getting some nice scratches on her other leg.
After a couple of hours playing there, we made our way back to the other beach. I took the girls back to the boat and grabbed my snorkel gear. The girls won’t interested, but I always need to see what is under the water. The reef here was the most lively reef I had seen since being in the Florida Keys. The fish population wasn’t the biggest I have seen, but there were many different kinds. What blew me away was the amount of sea floral. The live coral is so dense, I would almost consider it a forest. There are many different kinds and colors. It was well worth the swim to see it.
After that we slipped the mooring and sailed down to the town of Dewey. It is a small town with two ferry docks. There is a people-only ferry and a separate vehicle ferry. We took the dinghy in and walked around town for a little. It is a quiet little place and most of the shops were closed when we arrived. There was a large regatta sponsored by Heinecken there last week and I am sure the locals are all recovering from the onslaught of the racers for the weekend.
03/27/2009 After a calm night on a mooring ball provided by the town, we raised the main again and sailed over to the eastern end of Vieques. Two days of sailing. What a dream. The seas were choppy with 3-5 foot seas from the aftermath of the front. The skies have cleared and it is a beautiful day. As we came upon the eastern point of the island there were good seas crashing into shore line.
We sailed around the point and as we were making such good time, I decided we could stop in a bay, Bahia Salina del Sur, that used to be part of the military install here on Vieques. The Navy used this installation for practices and maneuvers, that included strafing live bomb drops. This had been going on since the late 40s until local protesting brought the end to the use of the facility in 2003.
As we were entering the bay, we were hailed on the radio from range control that recommended that we abandon the idea of entering the area as there are still live munitions that are being cleared and cleaned up. There was also a crew on shore using demolitions. We sailed back out of there and headed to Playa Plata Beach and Ensenada Honda Bay to hang out for the day and anchor for the night.
03/28/2009 Today we sailed for Sun Bay. The third day of good sailing and it was all down wind. This is a large bay that I stayed in on my last trip to Vieques. There is a large beach and good protection from the trade winds. We are also in walking distance to the village of Esperanza.
We ran into an Australian family that we met in Culebra. They are about 18 months into their trip. Peter and Sharon stopped by after we anchored and talked for awhile. They are traveling with their two school age boys, John and Harry, along with an American they met in Europe, Alex and their niece that just graduated from high school, Sarah. They bought the boat in St. Thomas, sailed to Ft. Lauderdale to outfit it and then sailed to Europe for a season. They are now back in the Caribbean and trying to decide what to do next. They have the boat up for sale and are heading for the US until the boat sales. It is time to get back home as the boys need to get back in school to finish their studies.

We then went ashore and walked the beach and into town. We stopped at a local waterhole, Bananas, for lunch and did a little shopping from the local artists.
After we made it back to the boat, I put on the snorkel gear and headed out looking for lobsters. I haven’t caught any yet, or even seen any. I was told they are in the area. As I was swimming along, I found a rocky shoal along the shore line. It is an interesting area with the rock formations and how erosion allowed the shelves to collapse. I found some interesting fish and spotted my first lobster since leaving the States. I went back to the boat to get my tickle stick, gloves and net. I found the lobsters again, but need some guidance and practice to catch a lobster.
We then went over to and visit with our new Australian friends for drinks and snacks. It is always interesting to talk with other cruisers about what they have done and learned. We are also able to share what our lives are like from different countries. They are not all that different, but different enough to be interesting. The girls were able to share about going to school and being rugby players, talk about world sports.
All of us then went ashore and walked a trail that took us to Mosquito Bay. This is the bay that has the high concentrations of bio-luminecences. Instead of taking the dinghy in from the sea side, we just swam right off of the beach. We had to wait for dark and all of the paying customers using either the electric engine driven pontoon boat or the mass of sea kayak users. It was just as good as the last time.
03/29/2009 After a good breakfast we set the sails again and headed to Green Beach on the northwest corner of the island. A fourth day of good sailing. The girls have probably got in a higher percentage of sailing than anyone else I have had on the boat. My good luck charms. Sara went ashore to do some shelling and Amanda and I took the snorkel gear to do some exploring. I was amazed at the underwater structure right off of the shore. We swam for a good hour and saw many live corals and fish. I saw a fish here that I had saw in Sun bay. I am not sure of what it is, but it has a square face with big black eyes. It reminds me of a teddy bear. It has a sad face and the fish is quite shy. It is something I have never seen before and get a kick out of finding it.
After lunch we sailed across the channel and back to Isla Pineros for the evening anchor. As in the past, it has been a quiet anchorage that we did not have to share with anyone.
03/30/2009 This morning we got up early and motored over Puerta del Rey Marina. After cleaning up the boat, we checked in, picked up the parts I ordered for the auto-pilot and signed for our rental car.
First order of business was working to straighten a banking issue I have been working on for the last couple of weeks. Thank goodness for wireless in McDonalds. I was finally able to resolve to the issue and all in well in the world again.
After that we headed for El Yungue National Forest. It is the only rainforest in the US. The first thing that grabbed my eye as we entered the forest was the tall stands of bamboo. We spent time driving into the park and stopped at the visitor center. At the visitors center there is a 20 minute movie about the rain forest, the plant life and animals. The forest, as all forests, are essential to our living on this planet and the Forest Service has worked real hard to make this a great place to visit. The first thing that grabbed my eye as we entered the forest was the tall stands of bamboo. We went up the Yokahu Tower. It reminds me of the Will Rogers tower located up on the hill above the Colorado Springs zoo. There are many trails that can be hiked into the forest and up to the peak. Hiking will need to be saved for the next trip to the park.
After the park we headed off for San Juan. The plan was to go to the Bacardi Rum Distillery. We decided we didn’t have time. We made a stop at West Marine. I have a pair of flip-flops I have been wearing and when I was on the beach at Culebra, a wave caught them while I was walking along the beach and ripped the toe strap out of both shoes at the same time. West Marine replaced them free of charge without any questions. A good reason why I do a lot of my shopping there.
After that we decided to make a trip into Old San Juan. We were on a shopping excursion and some sight seeing. This is an old Spanish town with two forts, many squares and parks, narrow streets and interesting architecture. I could spend days here looking around at the forts, parks and such. We stopped in a couple of shops that sell only Puerto Rican or Caribbean made merchandise. Sara was on the hunt for spices that we had bought on our last trip to the BVIs and found them in one shop. The next shop had art work from Puerto Ricans only. They bought gifts for family and friends back home. They got a kick out of the owner. He asked if they were on the cruise ship and when they said they were sailing on my boat, he just talked to us for the longest time. He is also a sailor that kept his boat in the same marina that we are staying in. He ignored everything going on around except for our conversation.
After that we had a good dinner at The Green Parrot, a Latin food restaurant. We had fried Plantain Nachos, sautéed potatoes and some of the most tender ribs we have ever had. It was a perfect end to a great trip with the girls. I am so happy they were and able and decided to make the trip down here.