Vieques is sometimes called La Isla Nina (Daughter Island), referring to its relationship with the larger island of Puerto Rico. The name Vieques came from the Arawak word meaning small island. The Spanish called Vieques and the neighbouring islands 'the useless islands'. The pirates in this region referred to Vieques as Crab Island, due to the presence of land crabs.
The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Vieques came northward through the Caribbean from Venezuela. When the Spanish arrived, two Chiefs lead separate revolutions but they were defeated and killed and what was left of the Arawak population was reduced to slavery and taken to Puerto Rico. From then on a succession of periods of colonisation began, the English, French and Dutch all attempting to succeed but were thwarted by the Puerto Rican Spaniards. Pirates also found Vieques convenient, for its fish, bird life and timber.
The Spaniards decided to colonise Vieques in the 1800's, independent of Puerto Rico, but in 1854 Puerto Rico annexed the island. Vieques had an economic boom, like many other Caribbean islands, in the sugar industry as black slaves were brought in and several sugar mills began operations. Sugar made a few families rich while most of the population of Vieques worked in the fields in oppressive conditions. In 1941 the US Navy arrived in Vieques and in that year over 10,000 inhabitants produced 8000 tons of sugar. The US Navy immediately bought up two thirds of the island, including most of the farming land. This quickly brought a decline to the sugar industry on Vieques.
Initially, there was plenty of employment provided by the US Navy, but after the rapid construction slowed, some 3000 inhabitants were moved to neighbouring St Croix. The economy was in shambles but it was not possible to re-establish an agricultural based economy.
For the last couple of decades Vieques has become a hot topic in Puerto Rico, as the US Navy continued to occupy and use the area for area and naval bombardment. There was constant battle between the US Navy and those who opposed the misuse of Vieques. Finally in 2003, the bombing of Vieque ceased.
Vieque is around 21 miles long and 3.5 miles wide, with a prominent hill at either end of the island. Cattle and horses are main products and sufficient vegetables and tropical fruits for local consumption. The current population s around 10,000 but unemployment is high. Tourism is a fledgling industry.
Our intention was to stay two nights at Vieques, but we were quite put off by the number of 'Danger, stay out' signs on shore and 'Explosives' warnings in the water. The on board pilot book was inadequate and confusing to say the least, so we motor sailed along the north coast until we found Ensenada Sun Bay, that offered protection from the strong easterly swell and had no signage that would suggest we were at risk! Finally at anchor, we jumped in the green (we had become accustomed to turquoise) water to cool off before sunset.
Somehow we were not getting good vibes from this island. It's hard to describe why, but probably the toxic signage everyone left us feeling so uneasy that we decided to depart without even setting foot on the shore. If more time was on our side we would have persevered and gone to the main port in the next bay, where we could see masts from other yachts. However, we opted for an extra day on St Croix Island and so we set sail early the next morning. It was one of the longer sails we've done on this cruise, taking 9 hours to travel 40NM in moderate easterly winds. This meant the wind was on the nose and the skipper worked hard to keep us moving along while not giving too much away. With a series of squalls looming in the early afternoon, we put a second reef in the main and were fortunate to be right on the edge of the ominous clouds as they slipped to our starboard side.
We anchored quite close to shore in Port Frederiksted, a wide bay, fringed with golden sand. A very long jetty projected out into the bay, but was empty except for some local fishermen. No sooner had we anchored than a paddle boarder with a friendly voice came by and introduced himself as Tom. He saw the Aussie flag and said he'd spent a couple of years in Australia as a teenager, mentioning living in Byron Bay and Port Douglas! He welcomed us to Frederiksted and invited us to the Full Moon Beach Party to be held on shore that night. Our spirits immediately lifted after our long sail and we jumped into the cooling water for a swim and walk ashore. We spoke to a lovely older woman who explained she had been gardening in a community garden and proudly showed us the spinach and tomatoes she had picked for her dinner. Then she showed us a cup full of seeds that she said were from 'The Tree of Life' which were good for all sorts of ailments. She issued us each with two, which later we decided initially tasted sweet, but left a strange lingering taste that was hard to get rid of. We were taken with her contentment, enjoyment and pleasure of growing and producing her food.
Showered and refreshed, we took the dinghy ashore to soak up a bit of Saturday night local fun!