| PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS |
Puerto Rico (December 2007 - January 2008) - Boqueron was a nice anchorage, but it was not a place that we wanted to spend a lot of
time. The town was okay, but it was sort of a college town atmosphere; lots of bars and restaurants and loud music at all hours. Had the
trades kicked up, we would have stayed for a while anyway, but the weather was so mild we decided to keep moving for a couple of more
days until the trades came back. Our goal was to make it to Salinas on the south coast to wait for the next weather window. Salinas was
reported to be very cruiser friendly in a "hurricane hole" sort of anchorage next to a marina with any services needed after the hard
windward slug. The town of Salinas was also a place to provision and we were getting low on food stores. The trades were forecast to be
very strong for a week or longer, so the timing was great for Salinas.
We left at dawn on Christmas Eve. The weather was forecast to be very light and we did not take Van Sant's advice to only go 10 to 15
miles a day on the south coast. Instead we went close to 30 and anchored off Gilligan's Island by noon. I kid you not - Gilligan's Island.
The anchorage was protected by reefs all around that kept any swells out. It was very peaceful with pretty scenery.
On the way to Gilligan's Island, we accomplished another milestone. As we rounded the southwestern-most point on Puerto Rico (Cabo
Rojo), we were in the Caribbean. Everything prior to that moment was in the southwest North Atlantic. Cool.
We left the next morning to go the remaining 35 miles to Salinas. From there it's only 35 miles to the Spanish Virgin Islands. We left
before daylight so as to arrive by noon. Again, we did not take Van Sant's advice, even though the forecast called for increasing winds, but
still below 15 knots. Mistake.
About 10:30, the wind was about 8 knots and then the next minute (literally) it was blowing 20. Then 25. Remember that the wind is always
out of the east and so the sails don't help in that kind of wind on the nose. We couldn't tack because we were in the midst of reefs. Also, it
didn't take long for the waves to build and slam us hard. Our speed over ground dropped below 4 knots (when we normally make 6 to 7).
We had two options. Turn back to a downwind anchorage or slug it out. We decided to slug it out. After close to two hours of getting the
%&*$#@ stomped out of us we limp into Salinas and drop anchor. We'll try to avoid that next time. Bogey just looked at us like we were
stupid. I guess we are.
One look around told us that we were in a very secure spot. That's good because it would be home for a while.
One of the oddest occurrences happened while we were getting stomped. Just as the wind became the strongest, the direction changed a bit
and was directly on our nose. We couldn't change course because of reefs as I said above. We had to get the main in fast. As we were
struggling with the sail we heard a sound like something akin to breaking glass or clanking dishes. We couldn't stop what we were doing to
check it out and I decided it must be something that had gotten loose below. After anchoring, Leta said there was something odd lying on
Bogey's grass on the swim platform. She picked it up and it took us a while before we realized it was a sail batten. Somehow, the thing got
slung out of our main sail and fell through a six inch gap between our dinghy and bimini (and somehow missing our solar panels and wind
generator) to land on the two or three foot wide swim platform. Impossible. Next morning we pulled the main out and, sure enough, the
bottom batten was missing. The pocket had chaffed through and it came out in the tough conditions. It really is impossible for it to end up
where it did, but there it was. A little sewing ensued and the batten was back snug in its pocket. Unbelievable. We will buy lottery tickets
today.
On to the Virgins (January 2008) - Must be a joke there somewhere (I stole that from Paul Stehfest). We spent way too many days in
Salinas. Christmas Day. New Year's Day. Then part of the following week. The weather just didn't let up. Don't get me wrong, Salinas
was a good place to be stuck for a while. The anchorage was well protected. The marina close by let you use their dinghy dock. It was a
short walk to Cruisers Galley (a very good place to eat a cheap meal and get internet for free). And it was only a two mile walk into the
main town for provisioning at decent stores, including hardware stores. It was really all you could ask for. Except for one thing. Almost
three weeks in one spot is definitely too long.
We had another life changing event in Salinas however. We had been talking for years about getting bicycles, but always decided that they
would be too hard to stow. We see cruisers with bikes from time to time and are always jealous. We had seen Bob and Sheila on Neverland
with bicycles in Sapodilla Bay. I even used one of their bikes to go the six miles to Provo for provisioning and for visiting Immigration.
Bikes just opens up so much more mobility (I sound like a scooter store commercial), but we never saw any folding bike we liked. Well.
Elephant's Child had bikes buried away and, in Salinas, Mike and Janne dug them out. They (the bikes) were exactly what we were looking
for. They were full-sized mountain bikes with full-sized wheels. You could pop the wheels and seat off and fold the remainder in a small
package. The bikes were right in front of our nose in West Marine's catalog. We just had never seen them up close and personal. So this
was it. The only problem was that we were in Puerto Rico and nothing is easy in Puerto Rico. We called the West Marine store in San
Juan and they had only one (it would take at least two weeks to get another). The price was also significantly more than the catalog price
and the store would have nothing to do with a discount price discussion. We knew this might be the last chance for bikes we finally liked
since things would be tougher and tougher the further into the Caribbean we went, so we called the store manager at the Lake Texoma
store in Denison, Texas (Jason). During the years we had spent at Lake Texoma, Jason had always come through for us. Bottom line was
that we got the bikes in four or five days for much less (including shipping) than the San Juan price. The bikes work great and are stowed
neatly in our starboard lazerrette to come tumbling out when the situation calls for something more than bipedal transportation. Cool. We
seem more complete now.
We finally got a decent weather window on January 8.
Spanish Virgin Islands (January 2008) - We left Salinas late afternoon and only went five or six miles east to stage at Boca de
Infierno. Before we anchored for the night we went through the narrow reef exit and built a track on our chartplotter for the next morning.
We were off about an hour before daylight with the goal of making it to the Spanish Virgin Island of Vieques. It was only about 35 miles,
but that leg is notorious for rough wind and seas directly on your nose. Van Sant says not to try the entire 35 miles, but to stage one more
time at Punta Patillas, immediately west of Point Tuna. The wind and seas were directly on our nose, but once we rounded Point Tuna we
had our goal in sight. The heck with seas and wind. We were there in a couple of hours and anchored off the very pretty Green Beach.
Green Beach was nice and the view of Puerto Rico was beautiful but we wanted to keep moving. So the next morning we left for the middle
southern anchorage of Sun Bay. Actually, there was no anchoring allowed but there were plenty of mooring balls. That would become a
recurring theme for all the Virgin Islands.
The beach at Sun Bay was nice, but it was nothing special so we were off early the next day. We had all intentions off anchoring on the
southeast tip of Vieques at Bahia del Sur but once we got there decided it wasn't as pretty as it was supposed to be . So we rounded the tip
and sailed north for Culebra. Oh, the unexploded ordinance signs all over the beach at Bahia del Sur didn't do much for the ambiance
either.
The distances are so small between islands we were entering Ensenada Honda in Culebra about mid-afternoon. The entrance through the
reef is narrow but well marked. We picked up a mooring ball in Dakity Harbor shortly thereafter. Dakity Harbor is an interesting
anchorage. It is wide open to the east and southeast (where the prevailing trades come from) but a reef encircles the anchorage sufficiently
to knock down the seas. So the wind could howl, but the anchorage would be calm. As long as you don't mind a lee shore directly behind
you, it's probably okay in most conditions. We left the next day.
We'll have to say, we were under-impressed with the Spanish Virgin Islands. Too bad.
US Virgin Islands (January 2008) - We had a relatively easy time of it going the 25 miles or so to Christmas Cove off the main island
of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. The wind was less than 15 knots and the seas were four to six feet, which was good since we
had to go directly into them. We anchored by mid-afternoon. The small island was nice and the anchorage very pretty (and the water was
clearer than the Spanish Virgin Islands for some reason). The problem was that ferries (big ones) went back and forth between the small
island and St. Thomas (Current Cut) constantly. That meant big wakes at all hours. We stayed there a few days for a couple of reasons.
The wind was now howling and we didn't want to beat into the wind and seas going to St. John, and on the trip over our watermaker died.
Once at anchor, Ellis spent several hours in the nether regions of the boat finding the culprit. The watermaker has two accumulator tanks
so the feed water pump can keep the feed water pressure more or less constant as it goes into the high pressure pump. One of the tanks
had burst. Long story short - Ellis was able to jury rig the thing so that the watermaker worked, hopefully long enough to order and receive
a replacement part from Spectra.
Now is as good a time as any to talk about the watermaker. It makes our life so much easier and independent than without one. We use a
lot of water (showers, dishes, toilets - they are fresh water Vaccu Flush toilets, etc.) and have not set foot in a marina since Nassau, almost
two months. Without the watermaker we would have to find a marina (sometimes not easy to do) once a week to take on water. We have a
Spectra Catalina 400 which makes about 15 to 16 gallons per hour of run time. It works perfectly most of the time with only a couple of
button pushes on its control panel. The failed part was not a Spectra part but was a Shurflo accumulator. However, while sorting out the
accumulator problem I found that the Clark Pump (the high pressure pump that basically squeezes the fresh water out of the salt water) was
leaking very slowly. I spoke to Spectra and they are sending an O-ring kit for the pump at no charge. When I ask them about the reason
for the leak, they said something about salt water under 900 PSI will try to sneak out any way it can. Changing the O-rings will be a
whopper of a task, but it can be done by me if necessary. Since the slow leak will not harm anything, my current thinking is that I run it until
the leak becomes substantial or I have down time during next hurricane season, whichever occurs first. Only time will tell for sure, but I
think Spectra watermakers are a good investment if you can afford the initial purchase.
Two or three days later we traversed the south coast of St. John, USVI and picked up a national park mooring ball in Lameshure Bay. Very
pretty and not crowded. No anchoring is allowed, because the mooring balls are essentially in the midst of live coral all around your boat.
Cool. We would be there for several days because the trades were picking up substantially for a while with lots of squally weather. We
spent several days with snorkeling (mostly Leta - imagine that) and hiking the many mountainous trails throughout the park. Two-thirds of
the island is a national park so you could hike for quite some time and never get bored. Ellis also had enough down time to service the
generator, changing oil and filter, changing fuel filters and replacing the zinc. While that was going on, Leta was in the water scrubbing the
hull.
We may move to another national park in a few days, but we can't leave the USVI until our Spectra parts arrive. That should take about a
week. After that we plan on making a major passage of a mile or two to the British Virgin Islands. We are looking forward to that because
it was there while chartering a boat a few years ago that we decided we could live on a boat and cruise full time. Getting back to the BVI on
our own boat will be double cool.
Although Lameshure Bay was beautiful, we decided to go to the north side of the island to wait for our Spectra parts because the winds were
going to pick up to 25-30 knots accompanied by squalls for a few days. Since we were more or less in the middle of th island we would have
to beat into the wind in either direction. So we left on a day when the winds were 20 to 25 to make it a little easier. We picked up a mooring
ball in Francis Bay just as the rain began in earnest. It rained for two days. At least the wind generator kept the batteries charged.
Francis Bay was pretty but way too crowded. The beach was pretty, but again, too many people. Anyway, we got our Spectra parts on a
Tuesday and decided the weather would be calm enough to beat the three miles to Soper's Hole, Tortola, British Virgin Islands on
Thursday. Ellis decided to do some looking and poking at the engine (you should do that periodically) and found a broken engine mount.
Not good. We were thinking that we would waste a week or so trying to deal with that.
Ellis calls Will (customer service at Island Packet) about three in the afternoon. Will puts Ellis in touch with Bob at Mastry Engines
(supplier of the Yanmar engines to Island Packet). Bob puts Ellis in touch with Drew at Tortola Parts and Power and by five Drew had
arranged to have a mechanic with new part in hand to meet us at the dinghy dock in Soper's Hole as soon as we cleared Customs and
Immigration on Thursday. By two o'clock Thursday the new engine mount was installed.
Suffice it to say service like that is pretty amazing. Island Packet and their vendors take customer service very seriously and the three
year bow to stern warranty really works no matter where you are. Thanks Island Packet.
British Virgin Islands (February 2008) - The next day we leave Soper's Hole bound for Norman Island. Soper's Hole is no where you
want to spend much time only because it's a very crowed port of entry. However, it serves its intended purpose very well. It was easy to
pick up a mooring ball and take the dinghy to clear Customs and Immigration. You can also get some provisioning done.
Of course the wind was exactly from the direction we wanted to go, but the wind was only about 18 knots and the distance was only about
seven miles (just enough to get lots of waves over the bow). Our nice clean, salt-free boat (since it had rained cats and dogs for a few days)
was covered in salt when we arrived at the anchorage at the Bight. Oh well, we live on the ocean.
The Bight at Norman Island is very protected but very deep. However, there must be a hundred mooring balls, so it's easy to pick one up.
The downside is that it cost $25 bucks a night - way too expensive for a cruising budget. The next day we scouted the area by dingy and
found one place to anchor in 25 feet of water up close to the Pirates restaurant. We would have moved on, but we needed a place to hole up
for a week that was protected from swells from the north. There are not many anchorages protected from a north swell in any of the Virgin
Islands. During the winter, distant cold fronts in the Atlantic send the big 10 to 12 foot swells periodically.
The Bight at Norman Island is an interesting place. First, it is very pretty. It is also very crowded. We usually stay away from crowds, but
hey, we needed protection for a few days and we actually like the place. The main reason is that the crowds are primarily boat charter
crowds from Tortola. After the charterers get checked out, the Bight is an easy run for that first day on the boat. As a result, it's really
great fun to watch the drama unfold every afternoon as the place fills up. We never knew picking up mooring balls was so difficult. You see
everything you shouldn't do. It's really hilarious. The Bight also has Willie T's, an old permanently moored steel boat that has been
converted long ago into a bar and restaurant. It's primarily a drinking place and most late afternoons the place is packed with vacationers
who have drank way too much. Willie T's also started the tradition long ago of getting drunk and climbing the stairs to the top of the old
boat and jumping into the water naked. They used to give tee shirts for such antics, but we understand they have stopped the give aways.
I'm guessing that if the naked jumpers slow down, the free tee shirts will make a comeback. There is just no place like the Bight on
Normans Island.
We decided that we could not let out enough scope to stay anchored in our small spot in the Bight. The forecast was for squalls and very
windy conditions for a few days. So we took the two or three mile trek to the south side of Peter Island to anchor in White Bay. White Bay
is very protected but since the terrain is so high and surrounding the winds are very fluky and comes at you from every direction except
from the direction it is really blowing. The anchorage is also relatively deep and with lots of sea grass on the bottom. It took us several
times to get the anchor to set and then when we thought it was set we took a look at the anchor using our dinghy and glass bottom bucket
(Ellis built it for exactly that purpose). Our big 75 pound CQR was laying sideways and had logged behind a big piece of turf that it had dug
up. One good gust of wind would send us dragging. We anchored again and finally got the thing set properly. Then several more boats
came into the anchorage and anchored too close for comfort (especially since the winds were fairly strong and swirling all around. Long
story short, we stayed up most of the night making sure we didn't bang another boat and to add insult to injury there were some swim area
buoys that we banged against a few times. As soon as we were up the next morning we went back to the Bight and picked up a mooring ball.
The heck with White Bay. Too bad. White bay is a perfectly beautiful anchorage with a wonderful beach. I guess you can't have
everything.
The next day we were off to the north about five or six miles to stay at Nanny Cay Marina. Ellis had a Board meeting conference call and
needed a reliable internet connection the day before the Board meeting. We stayed three days, two days dealing with the Board meeting
stuff and one day washing the boat and cleaning the bilges and provisioning. We were also able to top off our batteries by plugging into
shore power for several days which helps increase the life of them. We would recommend Nanny Cay to anyone needing a marina. Nanny
Cay is also a full service boat yard if you need such things.
Nanny Cay was a weird experience. It was the marina where we last chartered a boat several years ago. We even saw the boat that we
chartered, apparently still in charter service. During that charter and on that boat we had made our final decision to cruise full time. How
weird is that.
From Nanny Cay we went back to Soper's Hole for a day. We needed propane and after asking around found that Soper's Hole was the
easiest place to get a tank refilled. It was one of those drop your tank in the morning and you may get it back late that afternoon or more
likely the next morning. We got it back the next morning.
The wind was over twenty, but we decided to go to windward at least to Cane Garden Bay on the north side of Tortola or on to Lee Bay on
Great Guana Island if the going was not too tough. It was a slow wet slog and we made only about four and a half to five knots motoring
into the wind and waves getting to Lee Bay by mid-afternoon. Our goal was to find a secure anchorage to spend a couple of weeks. We
needed to do some serious teak maintenance (taping up everything, sanding and putting several coats of varnish on).
We had been by Lee Bay several years before and from memory thought it might make a good spot to stay a while. The cruising guides say
that holding is good. However, when we arrived there were two other boats up close to the pretty beach. The anchorage is not very large
so that put us behind those boats in over thirty feet of water. That's not so bad since we have enough chain to deal with that depth. What
was so bad was that it took us three times to get the anchor to hold. Leta went over the side and took a look at the anchor. She comes back
and says that I need to take a look. I go over the side and find that the bottom is nothing but coral rocks and rubble and our anchor had
wedged itself behind a fairly large rock. Once our anchor held, we had backed down hard so we knew that the rock would keep us in place
even in serious wind. That was a good thing since the wind (as I said before) was over twenty and the forecast called for squalls with winds
over thirty. We were not on a lee shore so even if we dragged we had lots of room behind us. We decided to spend a sleepless night
worrying about the anchor and left the next morning.
More windward work to arrive at our goal of the North Sound on Virgin Gorda. After another day of wet slogging we arrive at our
destination relatively unscathed. The North Sound is a large protected body of water with several marinas, bars and restaurants (cruise
ships stop here) with lots of mooring balls. We anchored more or less between all the activities in a place called Robin Bay. There was
room for only a couple of boats but there was a nice shelf of sand. We ended up in about twelve feet of water and our anchor was buried
nice and deep with lots of chain paid out. This would be home for the next ten days. We did not miss a weather window during that time
since we had lots of wind and rain. It was tough to get the varnish on properly, but we managed to do the work to our satisfaction.
The North Sound has big boats come and go frequently. One day a particularly big one shows up and anchors relatively close. It was a big
blue ocean going vessel that was a couple of hundred feet long. On one of her trips to a close by marina Leta looks Leander up on the
internet. It turned out that Prince Charles and Camilla were on board for a couple of weeks vacation. You never know what you may run
into out here.
Back to the USVI (February 2008) - We finally finished the teak work and were ready to move on to Saint Martin. The problem was
that the weather continued to suck. Saint Martin is only 80 or so miles from the North Sound, but it is directly to windward. The good news
is that the windward stuff is almost over once we get there. The bad news was that the forecast called for very windy, squally weather with
big seas for at least a couple of weeks. Since our thirty day visa was coming to an end we decided to go back to the USVI. That meant we
had to go back to Soper's Hole to clear out and then on to Cruz Bay on St. John to clear back in to the US. The really good news was that it
was a day long downwind sail back to Soper's Hole. What a novel idea; sailing. The next day we pick up a mooring ball in Caneel Bay,
dinghy over to Cruz Bay to clear customs, dinghy back to the boat, then zip over to Francis Bay. We would have preferred to have gone
directly to Lameshure Bay, but the wind and waves were too strong. As we've said before, Francis Bay is very pretty but way too crowded.
After a few days, we decided to make our way to Lameshure Bay even though the wind was still over twenty and the seas were six to eight
feet. Lameshure Bay was to windward so the trip was wet and rough. We were also beating into current so at times our speed over ground
was only three knots. A two hour trip turned into four. We finally get there and see once again why we like Lameshure Bay. Just so pretty
and no boats.
The forecast was finally predicting a weather window in a few days. We spend a couple of days hiking and doing a boat project or two
getting the boat ready for an eighteen hour dash to Saint Martin.
Final Thoughts on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - We spent about two months in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We had planned
to spend that much time from the beginning but we couldn't have gone anywhere else anyway because of the weather. February is usually
windy, but this year is particularly windy and rainy (the winter is supposed to be the dry season). Better weather would have made things
more pleasant but it is what it is.
As we have said before, we were not impressed with the Spanish Virgin Islands. There were many anchorages that we could not visit
because of weather and northerly swells so maybe we would have different thoughts had we visited at a different time of the year.
We liked the south side of St. John. Very pretty and not crowded.
We were a bit disappointed in the BVI. It's very pretty but so crowed with charter boats that you fear for your boat at all times. I guess
you just have a different outlook when you are on your own boat.
All things considered, we had a great time but are not yet convinced that we want to come back.
time. The town was okay, but it was sort of a college town atmosphere; lots of bars and restaurants and loud music at all hours. Had the
trades kicked up, we would have stayed for a while anyway, but the weather was so mild we decided to keep moving for a couple of more
days until the trades came back. Our goal was to make it to Salinas on the south coast to wait for the next weather window. Salinas was
reported to be very cruiser friendly in a "hurricane hole" sort of anchorage next to a marina with any services needed after the hard
windward slug. The town of Salinas was also a place to provision and we were getting low on food stores. The trades were forecast to be
very strong for a week or longer, so the timing was great for Salinas.
We left at dawn on Christmas Eve. The weather was forecast to be very light and we did not take Van Sant's advice to only go 10 to 15
miles a day on the south coast. Instead we went close to 30 and anchored off Gilligan's Island by noon. I kid you not - Gilligan's Island.
The anchorage was protected by reefs all around that kept any swells out. It was very peaceful with pretty scenery.
On the way to Gilligan's Island, we accomplished another milestone. As we rounded the southwestern-most point on Puerto Rico (Cabo
Rojo), we were in the Caribbean. Everything prior to that moment was in the southwest North Atlantic. Cool.
We left the next morning to go the remaining 35 miles to Salinas. From there it's only 35 miles to the Spanish Virgin Islands. We left
before daylight so as to arrive by noon. Again, we did not take Van Sant's advice, even though the forecast called for increasing winds, but
still below 15 knots. Mistake.
About 10:30, the wind was about 8 knots and then the next minute (literally) it was blowing 20. Then 25. Remember that the wind is always
out of the east and so the sails don't help in that kind of wind on the nose. We couldn't tack because we were in the midst of reefs. Also, it
didn't take long for the waves to build and slam us hard. Our speed over ground dropped below 4 knots (when we normally make 6 to 7).
We had two options. Turn back to a downwind anchorage or slug it out. We decided to slug it out. After close to two hours of getting the
%&*$#@ stomped out of us we limp into Salinas and drop anchor. We'll try to avoid that next time. Bogey just looked at us like we were
stupid. I guess we are.
One look around told us that we were in a very secure spot. That's good because it would be home for a while.
One of the oddest occurrences happened while we were getting stomped. Just as the wind became the strongest, the direction changed a bit
and was directly on our nose. We couldn't change course because of reefs as I said above. We had to get the main in fast. As we were
struggling with the sail we heard a sound like something akin to breaking glass or clanking dishes. We couldn't stop what we were doing to
check it out and I decided it must be something that had gotten loose below. After anchoring, Leta said there was something odd lying on
Bogey's grass on the swim platform. She picked it up and it took us a while before we realized it was a sail batten. Somehow, the thing got
slung out of our main sail and fell through a six inch gap between our dinghy and bimini (and somehow missing our solar panels and wind
generator) to land on the two or three foot wide swim platform. Impossible. Next morning we pulled the main out and, sure enough, the
bottom batten was missing. The pocket had chaffed through and it came out in the tough conditions. It really is impossible for it to end up
where it did, but there it was. A little sewing ensued and the batten was back snug in its pocket. Unbelievable. We will buy lottery tickets
today.
On to the Virgins (January 2008) - Must be a joke there somewhere (I stole that from Paul Stehfest). We spent way too many days in
Salinas. Christmas Day. New Year's Day. Then part of the following week. The weather just didn't let up. Don't get me wrong, Salinas
was a good place to be stuck for a while. The anchorage was well protected. The marina close by let you use their dinghy dock. It was a
short walk to Cruisers Galley (a very good place to eat a cheap meal and get internet for free). And it was only a two mile walk into the
main town for provisioning at decent stores, including hardware stores. It was really all you could ask for. Except for one thing. Almost
three weeks in one spot is definitely too long.
We had another life changing event in Salinas however. We had been talking for years about getting bicycles, but always decided that they
would be too hard to stow. We see cruisers with bikes from time to time and are always jealous. We had seen Bob and Sheila on Neverland
with bicycles in Sapodilla Bay. I even used one of their bikes to go the six miles to Provo for provisioning and for visiting Immigration.
Bikes just opens up so much more mobility (I sound like a scooter store commercial), but we never saw any folding bike we liked. Well.
Elephant's Child had bikes buried away and, in Salinas, Mike and Janne dug them out. They (the bikes) were exactly what we were looking
for. They were full-sized mountain bikes with full-sized wheels. You could pop the wheels and seat off and fold the remainder in a small
package. The bikes were right in front of our nose in West Marine's catalog. We just had never seen them up close and personal. So this
was it. The only problem was that we were in Puerto Rico and nothing is easy in Puerto Rico. We called the West Marine store in San
Juan and they had only one (it would take at least two weeks to get another). The price was also significantly more than the catalog price
and the store would have nothing to do with a discount price discussion. We knew this might be the last chance for bikes we finally liked
since things would be tougher and tougher the further into the Caribbean we went, so we called the store manager at the Lake Texoma
store in Denison, Texas (Jason). During the years we had spent at Lake Texoma, Jason had always come through for us. Bottom line was
that we got the bikes in four or five days for much less (including shipping) than the San Juan price. The bikes work great and are stowed
neatly in our starboard lazerrette to come tumbling out when the situation calls for something more than bipedal transportation. Cool. We
seem more complete now.
We finally got a decent weather window on January 8.
Spanish Virgin Islands (January 2008) - We left Salinas late afternoon and only went five or six miles east to stage at Boca de
Infierno. Before we anchored for the night we went through the narrow reef exit and built a track on our chartplotter for the next morning.
We were off about an hour before daylight with the goal of making it to the Spanish Virgin Island of Vieques. It was only about 35 miles,
but that leg is notorious for rough wind and seas directly on your nose. Van Sant says not to try the entire 35 miles, but to stage one more
time at Punta Patillas, immediately west of Point Tuna. The wind and seas were directly on our nose, but once we rounded Point Tuna we
had our goal in sight. The heck with seas and wind. We were there in a couple of hours and anchored off the very pretty Green Beach.
Green Beach was nice and the view of Puerto Rico was beautiful but we wanted to keep moving. So the next morning we left for the middle
southern anchorage of Sun Bay. Actually, there was no anchoring allowed but there were plenty of mooring balls. That would become a
recurring theme for all the Virgin Islands.
The beach at Sun Bay was nice, but it was nothing special so we were off early the next day. We had all intentions off anchoring on the
southeast tip of Vieques at Bahia del Sur but once we got there decided it wasn't as pretty as it was supposed to be . So we rounded the tip
and sailed north for Culebra. Oh, the unexploded ordinance signs all over the beach at Bahia del Sur didn't do much for the ambiance
either.
The distances are so small between islands we were entering Ensenada Honda in Culebra about mid-afternoon. The entrance through the
reef is narrow but well marked. We picked up a mooring ball in Dakity Harbor shortly thereafter. Dakity Harbor is an interesting
anchorage. It is wide open to the east and southeast (where the prevailing trades come from) but a reef encircles the anchorage sufficiently
to knock down the seas. So the wind could howl, but the anchorage would be calm. As long as you don't mind a lee shore directly behind
you, it's probably okay in most conditions. We left the next day.
We'll have to say, we were under-impressed with the Spanish Virgin Islands. Too bad.
US Virgin Islands (January 2008) - We had a relatively easy time of it going the 25 miles or so to Christmas Cove off the main island
of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. The wind was less than 15 knots and the seas were four to six feet, which was good since we
had to go directly into them. We anchored by mid-afternoon. The small island was nice and the anchorage very pretty (and the water was
clearer than the Spanish Virgin Islands for some reason). The problem was that ferries (big ones) went back and forth between the small
island and St. Thomas (Current Cut) constantly. That meant big wakes at all hours. We stayed there a few days for a couple of reasons.
The wind was now howling and we didn't want to beat into the wind and seas going to St. John, and on the trip over our watermaker died.
Once at anchor, Ellis spent several hours in the nether regions of the boat finding the culprit. The watermaker has two accumulator tanks
so the feed water pump can keep the feed water pressure more or less constant as it goes into the high pressure pump. One of the tanks
had burst. Long story short - Ellis was able to jury rig the thing so that the watermaker worked, hopefully long enough to order and receive
a replacement part from Spectra.
Now is as good a time as any to talk about the watermaker. It makes our life so much easier and independent than without one. We use a
lot of water (showers, dishes, toilets - they are fresh water Vaccu Flush toilets, etc.) and have not set foot in a marina since Nassau, almost
two months. Without the watermaker we would have to find a marina (sometimes not easy to do) once a week to take on water. We have a
Spectra Catalina 400 which makes about 15 to 16 gallons per hour of run time. It works perfectly most of the time with only a couple of
button pushes on its control panel. The failed part was not a Spectra part but was a Shurflo accumulator. However, while sorting out the
accumulator problem I found that the Clark Pump (the high pressure pump that basically squeezes the fresh water out of the salt water) was
leaking very slowly. I spoke to Spectra and they are sending an O-ring kit for the pump at no charge. When I ask them about the reason
for the leak, they said something about salt water under 900 PSI will try to sneak out any way it can. Changing the O-rings will be a
whopper of a task, but it can be done by me if necessary. Since the slow leak will not harm anything, my current thinking is that I run it until
the leak becomes substantial or I have down time during next hurricane season, whichever occurs first. Only time will tell for sure, but I
think Spectra watermakers are a good investment if you can afford the initial purchase.
Two or three days later we traversed the south coast of St. John, USVI and picked up a national park mooring ball in Lameshure Bay. Very
pretty and not crowded. No anchoring is allowed, because the mooring balls are essentially in the midst of live coral all around your boat.
Cool. We would be there for several days because the trades were picking up substantially for a while with lots of squally weather. We
spent several days with snorkeling (mostly Leta - imagine that) and hiking the many mountainous trails throughout the park. Two-thirds of
the island is a national park so you could hike for quite some time and never get bored. Ellis also had enough down time to service the
generator, changing oil and filter, changing fuel filters and replacing the zinc. While that was going on, Leta was in the water scrubbing the
hull.
We may move to another national park in a few days, but we can't leave the USVI until our Spectra parts arrive. That should take about a
week. After that we plan on making a major passage of a mile or two to the British Virgin Islands. We are looking forward to that because
it was there while chartering a boat a few years ago that we decided we could live on a boat and cruise full time. Getting back to the BVI on
our own boat will be double cool.
Although Lameshure Bay was beautiful, we decided to go to the north side of the island to wait for our Spectra parts because the winds were
going to pick up to 25-30 knots accompanied by squalls for a few days. Since we were more or less in the middle of th island we would have
to beat into the wind in either direction. So we left on a day when the winds were 20 to 25 to make it a little easier. We picked up a mooring
ball in Francis Bay just as the rain began in earnest. It rained for two days. At least the wind generator kept the batteries charged.
Francis Bay was pretty but way too crowded. The beach was pretty, but again, too many people. Anyway, we got our Spectra parts on a
Tuesday and decided the weather would be calm enough to beat the three miles to Soper's Hole, Tortola, British Virgin Islands on
Thursday. Ellis decided to do some looking and poking at the engine (you should do that periodically) and found a broken engine mount.
Not good. We were thinking that we would waste a week or so trying to deal with that.
Ellis calls Will (customer service at Island Packet) about three in the afternoon. Will puts Ellis in touch with Bob at Mastry Engines
(supplier of the Yanmar engines to Island Packet). Bob puts Ellis in touch with Drew at Tortola Parts and Power and by five Drew had
arranged to have a mechanic with new part in hand to meet us at the dinghy dock in Soper's Hole as soon as we cleared Customs and
Immigration on Thursday. By two o'clock Thursday the new engine mount was installed.
Suffice it to say service like that is pretty amazing. Island Packet and their vendors take customer service very seriously and the three
year bow to stern warranty really works no matter where you are. Thanks Island Packet.
British Virgin Islands (February 2008) - The next day we leave Soper's Hole bound for Norman Island. Soper's Hole is no where you
want to spend much time only because it's a very crowed port of entry. However, it serves its intended purpose very well. It was easy to
pick up a mooring ball and take the dinghy to clear Customs and Immigration. You can also get some provisioning done.
Of course the wind was exactly from the direction we wanted to go, but the wind was only about 18 knots and the distance was only about
seven miles (just enough to get lots of waves over the bow). Our nice clean, salt-free boat (since it had rained cats and dogs for a few days)
was covered in salt when we arrived at the anchorage at the Bight. Oh well, we live on the ocean.
The Bight at Norman Island is very protected but very deep. However, there must be a hundred mooring balls, so it's easy to pick one up.
The downside is that it cost $25 bucks a night - way too expensive for a cruising budget. The next day we scouted the area by dingy and
found one place to anchor in 25 feet of water up close to the Pirates restaurant. We would have moved on, but we needed a place to hole up
for a week that was protected from swells from the north. There are not many anchorages protected from a north swell in any of the Virgin
Islands. During the winter, distant cold fronts in the Atlantic send the big 10 to 12 foot swells periodically.
The Bight at Norman Island is an interesting place. First, it is very pretty. It is also very crowded. We usually stay away from crowds, but
hey, we needed protection for a few days and we actually like the place. The main reason is that the crowds are primarily boat charter
crowds from Tortola. After the charterers get checked out, the Bight is an easy run for that first day on the boat. As a result, it's really
great fun to watch the drama unfold every afternoon as the place fills up. We never knew picking up mooring balls was so difficult. You see
everything you shouldn't do. It's really hilarious. The Bight also has Willie T's, an old permanently moored steel boat that has been
converted long ago into a bar and restaurant. It's primarily a drinking place and most late afternoons the place is packed with vacationers
who have drank way too much. Willie T's also started the tradition long ago of getting drunk and climbing the stairs to the top of the old
boat and jumping into the water naked. They used to give tee shirts for such antics, but we understand they have stopped the give aways.
I'm guessing that if the naked jumpers slow down, the free tee shirts will make a comeback. There is just no place like the Bight on
Normans Island.
We decided that we could not let out enough scope to stay anchored in our small spot in the Bight. The forecast was for squalls and very
windy conditions for a few days. So we took the two or three mile trek to the south side of Peter Island to anchor in White Bay. White Bay
is very protected but since the terrain is so high and surrounding the winds are very fluky and comes at you from every direction except
from the direction it is really blowing. The anchorage is also relatively deep and with lots of sea grass on the bottom. It took us several
times to get the anchor to set and then when we thought it was set we took a look at the anchor using our dinghy and glass bottom bucket
(Ellis built it for exactly that purpose). Our big 75 pound CQR was laying sideways and had logged behind a big piece of turf that it had dug
up. One good gust of wind would send us dragging. We anchored again and finally got the thing set properly. Then several more boats
came into the anchorage and anchored too close for comfort (especially since the winds were fairly strong and swirling all around. Long
story short, we stayed up most of the night making sure we didn't bang another boat and to add insult to injury there were some swim area
buoys that we banged against a few times. As soon as we were up the next morning we went back to the Bight and picked up a mooring ball.
The heck with White Bay. Too bad. White bay is a perfectly beautiful anchorage with a wonderful beach. I guess you can't have
everything.
The next day we were off to the north about five or six miles to stay at Nanny Cay Marina. Ellis had a Board meeting conference call and
needed a reliable internet connection the day before the Board meeting. We stayed three days, two days dealing with the Board meeting
stuff and one day washing the boat and cleaning the bilges and provisioning. We were also able to top off our batteries by plugging into
shore power for several days which helps increase the life of them. We would recommend Nanny Cay to anyone needing a marina. Nanny
Cay is also a full service boat yard if you need such things.
Nanny Cay was a weird experience. It was the marina where we last chartered a boat several years ago. We even saw the boat that we
chartered, apparently still in charter service. During that charter and on that boat we had made our final decision to cruise full time. How
weird is that.
From Nanny Cay we went back to Soper's Hole for a day. We needed propane and after asking around found that Soper's Hole was the
easiest place to get a tank refilled. It was one of those drop your tank in the morning and you may get it back late that afternoon or more
likely the next morning. We got it back the next morning.
The wind was over twenty, but we decided to go to windward at least to Cane Garden Bay on the north side of Tortola or on to Lee Bay on
Great Guana Island if the going was not too tough. It was a slow wet slog and we made only about four and a half to five knots motoring
into the wind and waves getting to Lee Bay by mid-afternoon. Our goal was to find a secure anchorage to spend a couple of weeks. We
needed to do some serious teak maintenance (taping up everything, sanding and putting several coats of varnish on).
We had been by Lee Bay several years before and from memory thought it might make a good spot to stay a while. The cruising guides say
that holding is good. However, when we arrived there were two other boats up close to the pretty beach. The anchorage is not very large
so that put us behind those boats in over thirty feet of water. That's not so bad since we have enough chain to deal with that depth. What
was so bad was that it took us three times to get the anchor to hold. Leta went over the side and took a look at the anchor. She comes back
and says that I need to take a look. I go over the side and find that the bottom is nothing but coral rocks and rubble and our anchor had
wedged itself behind a fairly large rock. Once our anchor held, we had backed down hard so we knew that the rock would keep us in place
even in serious wind. That was a good thing since the wind (as I said before) was over twenty and the forecast called for squalls with winds
over thirty. We were not on a lee shore so even if we dragged we had lots of room behind us. We decided to spend a sleepless night
worrying about the anchor and left the next morning.
More windward work to arrive at our goal of the North Sound on Virgin Gorda. After another day of wet slogging we arrive at our
destination relatively unscathed. The North Sound is a large protected body of water with several marinas, bars and restaurants (cruise
ships stop here) with lots of mooring balls. We anchored more or less between all the activities in a place called Robin Bay. There was
room for only a couple of boats but there was a nice shelf of sand. We ended up in about twelve feet of water and our anchor was buried
nice and deep with lots of chain paid out. This would be home for the next ten days. We did not miss a weather window during that time
since we had lots of wind and rain. It was tough to get the varnish on properly, but we managed to do the work to our satisfaction.
The North Sound has big boats come and go frequently. One day a particularly big one shows up and anchors relatively close. It was a big
blue ocean going vessel that was a couple of hundred feet long. On one of her trips to a close by marina Leta looks Leander up on the
internet. It turned out that Prince Charles and Camilla were on board for a couple of weeks vacation. You never know what you may run
into out here.
Back to the USVI (February 2008) - We finally finished the teak work and were ready to move on to Saint Martin. The problem was
that the weather continued to suck. Saint Martin is only 80 or so miles from the North Sound, but it is directly to windward. The good news
is that the windward stuff is almost over once we get there. The bad news was that the forecast called for very windy, squally weather with
big seas for at least a couple of weeks. Since our thirty day visa was coming to an end we decided to go back to the USVI. That meant we
had to go back to Soper's Hole to clear out and then on to Cruz Bay on St. John to clear back in to the US. The really good news was that it
was a day long downwind sail back to Soper's Hole. What a novel idea; sailing. The next day we pick up a mooring ball in Caneel Bay,
dinghy over to Cruz Bay to clear customs, dinghy back to the boat, then zip over to Francis Bay. We would have preferred to have gone
directly to Lameshure Bay, but the wind and waves were too strong. As we've said before, Francis Bay is very pretty but way too crowded.
After a few days, we decided to make our way to Lameshure Bay even though the wind was still over twenty and the seas were six to eight
feet. Lameshure Bay was to windward so the trip was wet and rough. We were also beating into current so at times our speed over ground
was only three knots. A two hour trip turned into four. We finally get there and see once again why we like Lameshure Bay. Just so pretty
and no boats.
The forecast was finally predicting a weather window in a few days. We spend a couple of days hiking and doing a boat project or two
getting the boat ready for an eighteen hour dash to Saint Martin.
Final Thoughts on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - We spent about two months in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We had planned
to spend that much time from the beginning but we couldn't have gone anywhere else anyway because of the weather. February is usually
windy, but this year is particularly windy and rainy (the winter is supposed to be the dry season). Better weather would have made things
more pleasant but it is what it is.
As we have said before, we were not impressed with the Spanish Virgin Islands. There were many anchorages that we could not visit
because of weather and northerly swells so maybe we would have different thoughts had we visited at a different time of the year.
We liked the south side of St. John. Very pretty and not crowded.
We were a bit disappointed in the BVI. It's very pretty but so crowed with charter boats that you fear for your boat at all times. I guess
you just have a different outlook when you are on your own boat.
All things considered, we had a great time but are not yet convinced that we want to come back.
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Boqueron anchorage |
| Surrounded by mountains and mangroves in Salinas |
| Rounding Cabo Rojo |
| The Caribbean! South coast of Puerto Rico |
| Green Beach and the view of Puerto Rico from the Green Beach anchorage |
| Scenes from the mountains surrounding Lameshure Bay, St. John, USVI |
| Francis Bay St John, USVI |
| The Bight, Normans Island BVI |
| Bogey getting some down time |
| Scenes from White Bay, Peter Island |
| Scenes from Lee Bay |