Vieques visit with Hoffman's
22 February 2012 | Vieques
Toby Hynes
Hard decisions on where to sail come with any trip to the BVI's. It is one on the "jumping off" spots. Boats go east and west as a regular pattern or South to St. Marten and the string of Islands that take you to Granada. For 2011-12, we picked East-West. This includes the BVI's, U.S.V.I and Spanish Virgins.
Shortly after our arrival in the 1500, crewmember John Hoffman accepted our invitation, and he and his wife Sue sent us thoughts on a way to celebrate my 65th birthday with a cruise to the Spanish Virgins. He attached a great itinerary from one of the bareboat companies (
http://mainsailcharters.com/spanish-virgin-islands.html ). We signed up and I bought Stephen Pavilidis guide to Puerto Rico and the Spanish Virgins to help us understand the voyage.... Just to be honest, this is no Doyle book. Doyle’s guides on the BVI's and other Caribbean destinations is outstanding. ith a Doyle guide you get the information you need to really enjoy the visit. You get his opinions on where to go. For sailors headed for the Spanish Virgins, you are blind by comparison, but get good info from Pavilidis on how to enter the various ports or harbors.
Having celebrated my 65th at a fabulous party held be john and Sue at the home of Jackie and John Coleman, we quickly provisioned for a 24 mile run to Vieques. The Hoffman's had brought the meat for a great trip, frozen in a cooler. Pork Loin, Salmon, Chicken and the beautiful tenderloin that was consumed for the 65th celebration. Wines, beer and soft drinks plus all the accompaniments were added.
The run to Vieques was fast. We headed out the west passage of St. Thomas past Water Island and made a quick crossing with winds out of the ENE giving us a pleasant broad reach with 3-5 foot swells. We decided to find a safe anchorage for the first night and ended up in Puerto Ferro. Here, we were the only occupied boat. Three boats were well anchored and obviously left there for a brief period. Two other boats were deserted, obvious losses from some previous hurricane. For us it was a beautiful, heavily protected site to spend the night. The entry is easy with plenty of depth for boats up to seven-foot draft. The evening we went out and ran the dingy in the bioluminescent waters after a great pork loin dinner. Thank you Sue and John!
The next day led to our encounter in Esperanza (see previous blog). The dinner that night was exceptionally memorable. Blue Macaw is just off the Esperanza pier. Directly across the street with rounded doors. It is owned and run by a couple from the U.S. Except for the loud sounds from the beach, it had a great atmosphere and superior food.
After our "run in with the stranger on the pier" we decided to get out of the Esparanza anchorage and head back to Puerto Ferro. As luck would have it, we finally hooked up tight...on a fouled, and left to drift in the channel, old mooring chain. With John in the dinghy and water, we tied a rope on the end of the Rochna anchor, released the anchor, while tying off the anchor head, and were loose. That night was salmon with mustard and mayonnaise sauce, cooked outdoors to perfection. We planned our next leg, a trip to Culebra, over a competitive round of dominoes.