Spanish Virgin Islands

Saturday the 24th of January; we have arrived in the Spanish Virgin Islands. This is over 1000 miles from where we started in Florida and at least 800 miles from Georgetown where we left after Christmas. Culebra is the main island and then there are several other ones nearby. Actually we arrived yesterday at Vieques however given that part of the island is used as a gunnery range by the US Navy we really didn’t think we had arrived quite yet. We were able to see Puerto Rico the whole way. It is kind of neat to look at the island from the east and understand why this island impacts on the weather patterns of the entire region. The easterly trade winds, laden with water from the ocean are forced upward when they hit the eastern shore and cause all of the water to fall as rain.

Well Culebra is not what I expected. From what we had read I expected an almost uninhabited island, not one with an airport, hotel, houses and a small town. We arrived by noon and instead of anchoring we were able to grab a mooring ball right inside a reef. On the other side of this reef the waves are pounding and the wind blows 15-20 knots all day and during the night. We went ashore for a brief tour just to get the lay of the land and find the important things; grocery store, bakery, gas station and ATM. Then one of the following days we rented a jeep and toured all of the island's beaches and other sights.

We expect to hang around these islands for the next week or two before pushing on to St. Thomas, the closest of the US Virgin Islands. While in Puerto Rico we met, Jimmy, a single hander who had lost his mast in the Mona Passage. Jimmy traveled with us for a while before we put into Ponce to get a couple of small things repaired. Jimmy in ¾ Time continued on to St. Thomas and we hope to catch up with him once we get there. He lives there and should be able to point us in the right direction for a few things we’re looking for. We also met Jim and Dinah on Evergreen IV Rest out of Collingwood, Ontario. They have sold everything and are living on their boat full time, not something we can imagine doing. They may catch up with us before we leave the Spanish Virgins.

While traveling we have tried our luck at fishing but apart from a three mackerel day, we caught a bunch of barracuda and a jack, none of which we are interested in eating. It’s 8 at night and we’re sitting in the cockpit enjoying the breeze and relatively cool air. It is actually cooler here than it was on the south coast of Puerto Rico. While it is cool here for the locals, we are enjoying the 27-30 degree days and the 20-22 degree evenings. That’s plus, not minus degrees Celsius. Just thought we would rub it in a little bit.

We went over to the smaller island know as Culebrita and finally were presented with what we expected. An uninhabited island with coral all over the place. The administrators of these islands got it right. Instead of having boats anchoring and damaging the coral, they have made mooring balls available at all of the best anchorages at no cost to the users. Yahoo!! We may come back to these islands if the the US and British Virgins prove too crowded as they're hardly any boats around.

The Long Haul

Well the last couple of weeks have started to blur together and we had to read the last blog to figure out where we left off. We stayed in Southside Marina in Provodinciales in the Turks for two nights and rested up and met a nice couple that have stopped cruising and have started managing the small marina. Because they were cruisers they have really catered the marina facilities to cruisers with internet, laundry, shower, etc. Simon runs a net on the VHF radio every morning providing weather forecasts and information for newly arrived boats. Very helpful and we recommend this marina to anybody putting into the island. We had drinks on their boat one night and went out with them to the Conch Shack the next night with Menno sitting in the back bed of their beat up pick up truck.

We left the marina on a Saturday morning for the outer islands to the east, Ambergris and Big Sand. We made Ambergris just before nightfall and anchored very close into a coral reef. The next morning at day break we picked our way through the reef and faced pounding seas on the other side as the sea tried to make its way through the narrow opening in the reef. Once clear we faced 15-20 knot winds and 6 foot seas that were almost right on the nose. Consequently we tacked back and forth towards Big Sand Cay, our jump off point to the Dominican Republic. The seas smooth out a bit during the day and we made Big Sand by two in the afternoon. We got off the boat and landed on a beach with what we estimated was a 30 degree slope. We wrestled the dinghy up the slope waiting for each wave to push it higher.

We left there at sundown and headed for the DR. Eighty eight miles of open ocean. The weather was pretty good but we still had the wind almost on the nose and had to motor sail the whole way. As we approached the DR the mountains were visible from 25 or more miles away even though it was still dark. As we got a little closer the seas calmed completely due to land effect where the breezes come off the land and counter effect the easterly winds that dominate in the Caribbean.

We pulled into the marina at Oceanworld at 0900 and fueled and received a berth. While we were both tired after napping in the cockpit while the other steered, there was so much to see that we explored. We found a little restaurant run by two Canadians just outside the marina and had a great supper there. The next couple of days we toured Puerto Plata and lounged by a huge pool that we had to ourselves.

On a Wednesday night we waited for the land effect breezes to take over the easterly trade winds and left Oceanworld. Well we were greeted by water we estimate at 8-10 foot rollers that bounced us around until we could clear of the shallower water near shore. We were off for Puerto Rico. Once clear of the rougher water we wanted to put up the main sail, however, the bouncing around had caused our halyard to wrap around another line at the mast and we only could use the jib. In the morning light we saw what had happened and after a little cursing and bouncing around on deck the halyard was freed. During the night we kept hearing two other boats on the radio and we finally contacted them. They were about an hour behind us so we had a little more comfort that we weren’t the only ones out there. By late morning we decided we needed a break and put into what almost looked like a fjord on the northeast tip of the DR.

We re-grouped there on one of the most spectacular sceneries we have ever seen. The other two boats also put in there however we decided to leave before they did. We were on the go again to cross the Mona Passage between the DR and Puerto Rico. This passage can be a nasty one and the distance we had to cover was about 130 miles. Weather cooperated and we made the Puerto Rico coast just after nightfall and anchored at Mayaguez, a seaport on the west side of the island. We tried to get hold of US Customs the next day because PR is a US protectorate and only finally managed to check in at the end of the afternoon on Saturday. The next morning we motored south for about 10 miles to Boqueron, a well know anchorage for cruising boats. Of course on the way down we caught a fish for supper and had it cleaned before entering the anchorage.

Looking back, we left Georgetown, Exuma exactly 12 days before arriving in PR. During that time we were laid up in the T & C for 2 days and Oceanworld for another 2 days. So in 8 days we covered over 500 miles, many of those at night. From here on in we slow down and enjoy the wonderful little bays and reefs of the islands as we will very slowly move east and south over the next couple of months.

The First Long Passage

New Years and we’re moving from Mayaguana to the Turks & Caicos. We left one of the nicest anchorages we have seen in the Bahamas with 15 feet of crystal clear water on a white sand bottom. (Liz only looked at it from near the boat ladder due to the overly curious 4 foot barracuda). At midnight we started our last leg of a 250 nautical mile passage that started at Georgetown on the Monday morning. We had left there more than a little nervous and bucking 15 knot winds and 4-6 foot waves that were right on the nose. The first leg of our journey would be relatively short, 25 miles, because we got a late start that morning as we needed to access the internet weather and try one last time to extend our Bahamian visa before leaving their waters. No success with the visa as a boat load of Haitians arrived somewhere nearby and the immigration folk were in an uproar.

We made Long Island in the afternoon after tacking back and forth along our designated route. We stayed at a beautiful beach at Hog Cay. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The next morning bright and early we left for Rum Cay. A great trip with both fishing rods out. We must have had 3-4 hits before we got into a school of mahi mahi. First one rod started to sing and before we could get more than 10 feet of line in the second one started to tear of line. Liz proceeded to slowly bring in the first fish while I tried to bring in the second on the lighter rod. Both fish were jumping and in the end the one on the lighter rod got away. Liz brought hers in close to the boat and we got it on board. A nice 8-10 pound mahi. Cleaned it that afternoon when we got into Rum Cay and had it that night for supper. Better than anything we have had in any restaurant. A 6 foot nurse shark cleaned up the mess we had thrown overboard. Talk about efficient garbage service.

We left Rum right after supper on our first overnight passage. Both of us were quite nervous as we hadn’t ever done this before and we did not have a buddy boat with us. The conditions were perfect. Almost flat seas with no chop but a 4 foot easy swell that didn’t give us any problems. Winds were light so we were motor sailing with full sails up and we were doing more than 7 knots most through the night. Instead of arriving at our next destination in the middle of the afternoon, we arrived at the Plana Cays at day break. Both of us had napped during the night and sunrise was a spectacular and welcome sight. We decided to keep going right on through to Mayaguana and arrived in the middle of the afternoon to enjoy a dip in the water before having supper and getting to sleep before our last step of the trip. The dolphins we saw as we were coming in unfortunately did not come around the boat.

We left Mayaguana at midnight and wished each other a Happy New Year. We believe that we saw the fireworks at the Turks and Caicos reflected off the clouds on the horizon to the south. As we weighed anchor the bioluminescence in the water was spectacular. So its 2:00 AM, I’m watching the meteorites zipping across the sky, Liz is having a nap on one of the cockpit cushions, there is very little wind and we’re making our way south at 6 knots using the engine. After having worried about the first night passage, this second one is peaceful and enjoyable. We left in the middle of the night because we wanted to arrive first thing in the morning before the convection winds started to blow from the east over the shallow Caicos Bank.

Our next big step will be to jump to the Dominican Republic from the Turks and Caicos, another 80 mile passage in very open water. After having sailed in the Bahamas where the water is very shallow, to be in several thousand feet of water is also a little unnerving. The deep blue colour of the water is also something we’ll both remember. Time to get back to the helm.