03/26/2012
Monday, March 26th
We make our way over to Sun Bay, a HUGE bay with a beautiful beach ringed with palm trees. As we pull in and prepare to anchor I see 3 horses meandering on the beach. These are wild horses that are apparently all over this island, not a sight you see everyday....even on remote islands. We relax today and enjoy this peaceful, beautiful bay.
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03/25/2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Off the mooring and headed for Vieques.
After clearing the mooring and then racing to get ahead of the ferry, we had a great sail down to Vieques today. 7.5 knots steady and up to 9 at times, in 15 knots of breeze off 60 degrees...ahhhhh, yes I remember this! Although the sea was a little bumpy, it eased up after we rounded the east coast of Vieques, and we headed to Ensenada Honda. The day is overcast and cloudy as we pulled into this immense Bay, not entirely sure if the Range control officers were going to kick us out again, but feeling confident since it is a Sunday. After getting anchored, we make plans for Pizza aboard Wind Shepherd for dinner, then Skype with our now 4-year-old grandson to sing Happy Birthday. We picked up a dolphin Puppet in Dewey who sang along with us, and surly was the highlight for Evan!.
We elect not to put up our rain catchment - which turns out to be a big mistake. It rains on and off lightly before and as we are heading over to dinner, then a huge rain storm hits us while we are eating and pours for nearly an hour. We could have filled every spare container aboard...if only! As it turns out, we had a leak in the hatch over our berth, that we have been meaning to replace, and had to dry out sheet and cushion overnight.
Wind Shepherds Pizza was a huge treat and we really enjoyed the homemade crust as well as the special camaraderie of good friends. The night was noisy and loud aboard Regenero and rolly on Wind Shepherd, and we planned to head out in the morning.
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03/24/2012
Saturday, Mar 24th
We decide to stay another day and so leave up our water catchment and canvas as the winds are still up and the rainsqualls coming by intermittently this morning. We were disappointed by the no show of the lobster fishermen today, so who knows what we are having for dinner...but it wont be fresh seafood - too bad. This is a lovely place to sit and we are very much enjoying the peace of Culebra.
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Friday, Mar 23
The catchment system works! By morning we could see water back up to the bar in the primary water tank, and while not perfect, the system works and we can catch water! Ginny stopped by and the girls headed off to shore for a little girl time and shopping expedition. After John dropped us a few feet from shore we walked the mile or so to town. The distance not a problem at all, however the hills....that was a slightly different issue. We enjoyed sniffing around the shops again, and looking for a few things, then lunch at the Dingy Dock, where we were hoping for Key lime pie...to no avail! We happened upon some local fisherman there who were off loading their catch and Ginny tried to make a deal for some lobsters, but they were all spoken for from the restaurant today...however, maybe tomorrow. We told them where we were located and hope that they'll stop by with fresh catch! On our way to our last stop we ran into Charles and Leslie....our friends from Phaedrus (who has a new name) and caught up with them for a short while, then it was off to the grocery store before it closed and then the walk back to the beach. Same up and down hills except now we are carrying 20 lbs. of ice, plus a few sundries, so the walk was a little more taxing! After calling John, who picked us up from shore, and then getting everything back to the boats, Jim and I took a snorkel on the reef that is just off the boat. It was terrific, and we saw great coral heads and more soft coral, fans, etc. that were lovely. We also saw a small lobster hiding under the coral just daring us to pick him up...too bad we are in the national park and NO Fishing signs abound. We also saw a ray just three times behind the boat. This was on of three sightings we have had in this spot. So I guess the rays are happy here! A single Barracuda wanders around beneath the boats as well, but no one comes by when we drop snacks into the water...hmmm.
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Thursday, Mar 22
After a rolly night for Wind Shepherd, we decided we would make our way down the coast to find a calmer anchorage. We poked into two places and found the second to be quite lovely, and within viewing distance of where we spend last night. Over the past few days I have been experimenting with a water catchment system, and we deployed it again after we got to Malones Beach and then discovered we need to put up the rest of our canvas as we had rain for the better part of the afternoon.
Wind Shepherd came over in he afternoon and we played Dominos and drank Pina Coladas...a perfect match. And now Jim and I know how to play Mexican Train Dominos. We found this is a very peaceful anchorage and enjoyed a calm night.
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03/21/2012
Wednesday, Mar 21
There isn't a good place to leave a dingy on the beach, so we decided that after shuttling our stuff to the beach in Wind Shepherds dingy, Ginny tied it back to our boat and then swam in to shore. We took the very obvious path, just past the sign and headed up a steep incline to the top of the hill, then followed the very gentle slope all the way to the chained gate that gave us access to the parking lot for the beach. As we jimmied our way thru the gate, we experienced our first indication that these lovely islands were all part of prior military use....the sign on the other side of the gate warns of unexploded ordinance...hmmm, oh...guess that is why the gate is chained, or maybe it is us to stop people from driving there, as it is easy enough for walkers to make there way thru. The beach here (supposedly one of the worlds top ten) is beautiful, with pounding surf and white powdery sand. After relaxing for a while, we wander to the left to see the two tanks left to decay on the beach and also find one of the prettiest campgrounds just back from the shore, in the shade of the trees, with a breeze off the sea. Lovely! While John took in some rays, Ginny, Jim and I explored the other side of the beach, and passes thru a lovely guest house setup on our way to view the Flamingo Lake. We found out that there really aren't any Flamingos here...but there used to be, hence the name of the lake and the beach, so we returned to the main beach, by We bought some lunch from the vendors set up at the beach, quite possibly the best beach food I have ever eaten, Chicken Parmiagiana Sandwich, Italian sausage and Calamari? From a beach vendor?! We eventually made our way back to thru the locked gate and back to the boats we left on the other side.
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