2012-02-28: Culebra, Culebrita, St. Thomas

Sunday 2-12-12,

Anchor up Buck Island, St. Croix at 8 am.

Anchor down off Dewey, Culebra at 4 pm.

50 nautical miles today, 3000 nautical miles since we left Marco.

 Ensenada Honda anchorage,

Rainbow over town of Dewey

Geography time guys:

Virgin Islands, East to West are:

BVI (British Virgins) - very popular, but over-commercialized.

USVI (US) - St. Thomas - pretty commercial, St. John - 66% National Park

and St. Croix - off the beaten track.

Spanish Virgins - Off East coast of Puerto Rico, part of PR.

2 main islands are Vieques & Culebra.

We love Culebra.  Came here on the way down.

It's a peaceful spot with a large protected harbor

called Ensenada Honda,

off the quiet town of Dewey.

Lots of room to anchor & free WiFi!!

Valentine's Day lunch at Mamacita's in Dewey

Sign in Mamacita's rafters

Sorry old boy, not allowed

Had a lazy time in Dewey. 

Relaxed, did laundry, bought groceries.

Excellent pizza from Heather's.

Lift bridge in Dewey

The lift bridge was originally built

for 2 (obviously influential) fishing boats.

They no longer exist.

The bridge is no longer functional,

but is an attractive landmark.

Dakity anchorage

Moved to the Dakity anchorage

at the entrance to Ensenada Honda.

Picked up a free mooring.

Nice & calm behind the reef.

Relaxing in the cockpit

Looking back at Dewey from Dakity

Saturday Feb 18, we we made the 6 mile run to Bahia del Tortuga

on the North coast of nearby Culebrita.

Whale sighting

On the way over we thought we saw a large overturned sailboat.

Turned out to be a huge whale.

Wouldn't want to run into him on a dark night.

Bahia del Tortuga, Culebrita

Bahia del Tortuga is a beautiful bay

with a coconut lined, white sand beach.

It is open to the North & dangerous in Northerly swells.

Picking a time of relative calm,

we arrived to find 4 boats in the bay.

And then they came!

Holiday weekend, good weather,

it's party time!!!!

Sportfishers by the dozen

Bad boys off our stern

By day's end we counted over 70 boats present!

Not to worry. 

The Puerto Ricans have it down to a fine art.

They drop an anchor off the beach,

back in & take a stern anchor to shore.

Line 'em up

Party time!

Muscle Beach: Three Yamaha 350's!

Despite the number of boats, it worked out just fine.

We even enjoyed the madatory salsa music,

played at full blast.

Dance Aweigh eyeing the festivities

Another beautiful beach!

The crowd thins in the gathering dusk

Well relaxed, we backtracked to St. Thomas,

excited about the impending visit

of our son Dave & his friend Amy.

They arrive March 3

& will join us aboard for several days.

We filled our diesel tank at Crown Bay Marina

& anchored in St. Thomas Harbor

off Charlotte Amalie.

Charlotte Amalie at dusk

Cruise ship at West Indies dock

We bought groceries at the Pueblo Supermarket.

Then, having a few days before our "guests" arrived,

we moved over to beautiful Christmas Cove

to do some snorkeling.

Sunset at Christmas Cove, St. Thomas

Resort on Cowpet Bay

We dinghied around a bit.

Checked out nearby Cowpet Bay

and saw a powerboat wrecked on the rocks.

Too much Tequilla???

Lots of friendly turtles

And different types of "brain coral".

And of course, fish

Sailboat or Powerboat???

I think this guy got tired of sailing,

removed boom & mainsail

& had Herm build him a hard top!

Hey Dave & Amy:

Hurry on down,

we be waitin'!!!!!!!!!!!