The Spanish Virgin Islands lie to the east of Puerto Rico. They are the least well known and as a result the least often visited of the Virgins. As a result, we had heard, they have beautiful clear water, many empty, sandy beaches, good fishing and excellent snorkelling. We were eager to see for ourselves.
The US Navy has played an important role in the history of the Spanish Virgins since authority over the islands was transferred to the US in 1898. Both the main islands, Vieques and Culebra have been used for naval artillery practice but it is Vieques that has 'suffered' greater hardship as a result. Since 1911 2,800 acres of the 7,000 making up Culebra and her surrounding islets have been designated as a part of the US National Refuge System and the land and surrounding waters are a sanctuary for indigenous plants and animals. Up until recent years, however, 2/3 of Vieques was still used by the Navy for aerial and naval bombardment and clean-up of live ammunition in the waters surrounding the island continues today. As a result, a few of Vieques' easternmost harbours are still 'out of bounds' to non-authorised vessels. Also, as a result we had heard that the welcome on Vieques was not exactly warm. But it was Culebra we really wanted to visit anyway, so after a few nights of relaxation in Ensenada Sun Bay on Vieques' south coast we decided to head for Culebra.
We knew that the first part of our passage would be similar to our passages along the south coast of Puerto Rico; large swells and strong wind on the nose. The alarm was set for 5am so that we could make the 10 miles to Punta Este before 7.30am. Once past Punta Este we would turn NW towards Culebra. Unfortunately, although the alarm went off at 5am, we did not manage to drag ourselves out of bed until closer to 7am, and at 7.30am finally dropped our mooring. We paid for our laziness. By the time we headed out of the bay the wind was gusting over 20kts and the swells were 5ft. It took us 3� hours to tack the 10 miles to Punta Este.
We passed the cape shortly after 11am. Dave had had the fishing rod out for a couple of hours and just as we rounded the eastern point of Vieques the reel whizzed into life. Dave rushed to pick up the rod and started to reel it in while I headed Magic a little more into the wind to try to slow her down. After a few moments Dave called out "It's a mahi. We've finally caught one." I looked back along the fishing line and there, sure enough, about 30 yards off the stern a beautiful brightly coloured mahi-mahi launched itself from the water. It took Dave about 20 minutes to play and finally land the fish. He got it on deck, sprayed vodka into the gills to subdue it (the few fish we have landed all go on to the next world drunk as a lord!), and placed it on the side deck while he went to get a bucket. I put Magic back on course and then disaster! A 22kt gust of wind heeled us over, we took water down the side deck and Dave's beautiful fish was washed overboard. We stared at the departing water in mute amazement. We just couldn't believe it. "Oh well, easy come, easy go", Dave picked up the rod and re-cast his lure and line.
But at least we were finally sailing. And a broad reach no less. 7� kts and flying. At last we were having fun. About 45 minutes later the reel whizzed again. Not another mahi-mahi unfortunately, but this big-eye tuna wasn't going to get away. And it didn't. We enjoyed a wonderful tuna dinner when we arrived at our anchorage and have 4 more steaks in the freezer. Life is good!
We had decided not to go directly to Culebra itself for our first night but to head for Cayo de Luis Pe�a, a small islet to the west of the main island. We had chosen the western anchorage and were delighted when we got there to find ourselves alone. The Puerto Rican equivalent of the Department of Natural Resources has installed moorings all over Culebra and Vieques to discourage boats from anchoring and damaging the coral. All of these mooring balls are free and there was one in this small bay so we picked it up. Dave dug out his snorkelling gear and went to inspect the mooring. It all looked good, so we had a quick lunch and later in the afternoon both went to take a look at the reef just off the beach. We had a fantastic snorkel. The fish life was amazing. Within 5 minutes of being in the water we could have ticked off almost every species on our reef fish identification chart. There were wonderful soft corals and large sea fans waving gently in the current. There were sponges, sea urchins, plume worms and even some staghorn coral. Even Dave was impressed despite the absence of lobsters!
The following morning we got up and snorkelled again before breakfast. 'Someday Came' caught up with us that afternoon, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing. Dave even caught up on some splicing he had been intending to do for some time. The morning after Dave, Shannon and Caroline took the dinghies over to some small islets we could see from the anchorage, determined to find some lobster. They didn't come back with dinner but did come back with tales of nurse shark and octopus sightings, as well as warnings of seeing live munitions on the sea floor. A reminder of the area's naval past.
After lunch we decided it was time to move on and sailed a huge distance of 2� miles to Bahia Tamarindo on Culebra's west coast. Our guide book said that the snorkelling here was exceptional so we wanted to give it a try. We again picked up a mooring and the following morning snorkelled before breakfast but although there was plenty of fish life most of the coral here was dead and it was certainly not as spectacular as the previous two days.
From Bahia Tamarindo we moved 8 miles to Dakity Harbor, just to the south of Dewey, Culebra's main town, actually Culebra's only town. We picked up a mooring right behind the reef that protects the bay from the surge and swells outside it. After a rough dinghy ride into town we had dinner at Mamacitas, a lively restaurant that had been recommended to us. Mamacitas was probably our first real taste of the Caribbean. A shack-like restaurant/bar on the water where people were lining up for dinner 30 minutes before the restaurant opened, Mamacitas had a limited (in other words, fresh) menu and a great ambiance. "Please don't feed the iguanas' notices were nailed at various points around the dining area and although we never did see any of the infamous reptiles they do apparently make appearances with great regularity. Another even lumpier dinghy ride back to Magic and we were back on board by 9pm.
We had intended to spend a few more days here but the weather again dictated our plans. We had started to look at the weather for our crossing from Culebra to St. Thomas, USVI's and it seemed that the following day, Sunday, would present if not ideal conditions then certainly better than we could expect to see for at least another week. We were on the move again. At 6am, first light, Sunday morning we left the mooring and Dakity Harbor. Destination, St. Thomas.