May 5th 2014 Marina Puerto Del Rey
We left Salinas for Patillas Feb. 24th for an overnighter on the way to Vieques. Pretty little bay with a couple of reefs in it that were not where the GPS said they were! Luckily it was a good sunny day and we saw them. Ate lunch at a cute bar/restaurant right across the road and enjoyed the sunset.
However Stew hurt his back and one day turned into a week till he was better. We did some rolling as the wind picked up.
Headed on to Vieques on March 2nd to Green Beach which was a tropical looking paradise with the most fantastic sunsets over Yunque (mountain) you could imagine. Swam and snorkeled the reef near us which was very nice.
Stew was still having back spasms so our day there also turned into a week. Although it was a beautiful spot to hang out, again the winds picked up and we were rolling constantly. Rolling is the most uncomfortable thing you can do on a boat long term.

Finally headed on to Culebra on March 9th. Culebra was a surprise as it looked like a dry barren land mass. The anchorage is like a lake, very well protected and calm even with a good wind. The Dinghy Dock restaurant was fun, good food, happy hours and a great staff.
The whole island is set up with little canals and docks so you can dinghy up to almost everything from restaurants to the gas station. There are great little stores and restaurants in the little town of Dewey along with the ferry dock that has a ferry to Fajardo.
We took the ferry one day which was quite an adventure ( be sure to get your tickets the day before!!!). Up at 5 to dinghy to the public dock, walk to the ferry for the 6:30 departure, an hour and a half on the ferry, walk a few blocks to the World Car Rental and finally on our way to Ft. Buchanan Base near San Juan.
The area at the dock in Fajardo is very dirty and quite disappointing. There is a nice bakery with a good breakfast just before the stoplight on your way out though.

Went out for a nice sail around the island one day and then headed over to Culebrita for a night on our way to St. Thomas. Culebrita is a spectacular beach with lots of clear water and reefs to snorkel and turtles!. We were there on Sunday and it was packed with people doing everything fun you could imagine.
Motorsailed on to St. Thomas on March 26th and stayed for 5 days. Huge cruise ships in and out, seaplanes landing, lots of ferries and boats, along with the usual island roll made it fun but VERY rolly. We enjoyed riding the local buses around the island to Red Hook for lunch at a waterside restaurant. You can pick up the “Safari” buses everywhere for 1 or $2 each! (You just have to make sure its not one of the hotel ones that charge taxi rates)
If you want to buy high end stuff, it’s the place to shop for all your jewelry needs, but other wise there is not much to do.
Headed back to Culebra the 31st for a night and then decided we had had enough. We wanted to anchor out for a couple more months to save money for our trip to New Zealand, but first of all it was costing a small fortune just for food! Wine was like gold water!
I know this will sound terrible to some but we were also just plain bored stiff and getting depressed!!! You can only lay around in the heat and not sleep for so long before it starts taking a toll on your sense of humor………….so we jointly decided to head on back to the marina Puerto Del Rey at Fajardo.

April 1st, 2014 Marina Puerto Del Rey. WOW what a place! First time we have had cable tv since we left the states! (even have HBO and ESPN). This place rocks! We love it here.
Stores, restaurants, car rental, golf cart service and a great friendly staff all for only $508 a month! Yes and that includes electric!
Stew had word that one of his students, Mag Ma, was coming to PR for a vacation with her friend Sophie. Well Stew would not be the one to not invite two beautiful French girls to go out for the day for a sail!
We took them to another little island just 6 miles away called Las Palaminos for a wonderful day!
We had such a great time and they did all the work!
We met with them again the next week to go the huge radio telescope at Arecibo and again had so much fun. What a great pair of successful young women! They spent 2 weeks going and doing everything here! We hope to have them come down again next year and sail to a nice French island on down the lesser Antilles!

So much to see and do here, and sooo beautiful. Alan and Carla Olden are coming in July for a week’s vacation and we can’t wait to see them and show them around.

The Plan: Sarah has just got offered (and accepted) a job at Otago University! Now we at least know where we will be heading to in November. Her graduation is in Dec. and now she and Mark are planning their wedding for March 28th so we will be staying there till April.
We will put the boat on the hard here and see how it goes next year.