CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored in Ensenada Honda, off the town of Dewey, on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico

18 18.245' N, 065 17.867' W

Robert and Tammy stepped off the plane with wide eyes and big smiles. Having both flown and fled from a frigid Michigan winter, the final leg of travel had been an exciting one for them. Both have more frequent flyer miles than they know what to do with; however, the short flight from San Juan to Culebra on such a tiny plane was a new experience for both. Especially when they flew down into the valley for their landing. "When we started down for the landing, we really went down," remarked Robert, "the wing seemed to come close to touching the trees."

It was much to Tammy's chagrin, immediately upon their arrival, when one of our on-island friends made a comment about our pale-skinned guests from up north. Considering that it was their first time in seven months to dig out a pair of shorts, could one expect otherwise? We would soon give them adequate opportunity to get a little bit of color. But first, we needed to check them into their hotel and find some dinner.

Dinner came in the most delightful of environments. The establishment is called Susie's, and Susie quickly informed us that it is a BYOB restaurant. Fortunately, the liquor store is only several paces away, and we were soon armed with a bottle of red and a bottle of white. The food was presented as haute cuisine, with all the trappings of a several star restaurant. Except for the fact that we were eating off of paper plates with plastic silverware. The portion sizes were perfect and the food was excellent. Despite the absence of fine china and any other sort of pretence, it was still too pricey for us to become regulars on a cruiser's budget. However, it was the perfect introduction to the casual elegance of Culebra and may be a nice place for us to take future guests.

Since Robert and Tammy are on vacation, the first order of the following day was sleeping in. The crew of Prudence was, as usual, up with the sun. So, we spent the morning hours watching all the regatta-related activity in the harbor. Boats with very expensive-looking sails maneuvered a zig-zag course around those of us at anchor (warming up for the big race) while numerous spectators milled about in powerboats. The sleepy little town of Dewey had woken up. Eventually, our guests followed suit.

A late-breakfast/early-lunch fueled us for our own regatta (of sorts), as our fleet of tenders took to the water. Initially, Robert and I set out in the kayaks and the ladies rode in Patience. Destination: the western side of the island, Goal: snorkeling. We spent the entire afternoon working our way slowly northward along the coast, stopping to tie our little boats to the free mooring balls. After donning snorkel gear we departed this world and entered another, each of us finding our own underwater treasures to talk about later.

Those treasures included...

...a Spotted Eagle Ray:



...a Green Turtle:


...a Conch (note the eye stalks):


...and a cute little coral community with a Juvenile French Angelfish, Spotted Drum, Sea Anemone, and a Nassau Grouper hiding within:


We traded rides such that everyone got a good mix of paddling, dinghy riding, and fin-powered locomotion. The early evening sun found us rinsing the salt from our skins and checking out the town. The party was just starting to gear up when a famished look on the faces of our friends suggested that we retreat to the boat for dinner. Patience managed four adults (her largest payload to date) admirably, and we all arrived at the big boat relatively dry.

Although dinner was a simple affair of salad and pasta, our guests enjoyed the motion of being on a boat as much as the food and the company. Since they currently live in Michigan and their 37-foot Hunter, s/v Motivation, is docked way down in North Carolina, opportunities for them to be on the boat are few and far between. We were happy that Prudence could provide a bit of that 'motion of the ocean' (even while at anchor) which land-bound boaters come to crave. The smooth motion and day's activities soon exerted their inevitable somnambulant effect, so we ferried our yawning guests back to their hotel. Sleep for Team Prudence followed shortly thereafter; tomorrow is bound to be another busy day in Paradise.