2012-03-12: Vieques to Puerto Rico

April 12 we departed Brewers Bay, St. Thomas for Vieques.

Traveling behind us were Sharon & Andy in Finally Fun,

their De Fever 50.

Sail Rock with Culebra in background

We passed South of aptly named Sail Rock
with jib to port 

& preventer holding  main to stbd.

Broken Eye Bolt

Halfway into the 25 mile trip

the preventer went flying:

the eyebolt/ padeye in the cap rail had broken into 3 pieces

- crevice corrosion strikes again.

Undaunted, we pulled in the main

& motorsailed with jib only

arriving just before the faster travelling Finally Fun.

Dance Aweigh & Finally Fun anchored in Salina del Sur, Vieques

Beach at Salina del Sur, Vieques

Control Tower overlooking Salina del Sur

The Eastern half of Vieques was used as a bombing range by the US until 2003.

Today it is still a restricted area, with danger from un-exploded ordinance.

Keep out!!!

I guess cruisers don't always do as they are told

We decided to snorkel some of the

bombed out wrecks that litter the harbor.

Hard as we tried, we couldn't find anything vaguely resembling

"un-exploded ordinances".

Another bombed out wreck

Mangrove Snapper in Wreck

After 2 nights in a somewhat rolly anchorage

we motored 7 miles with Finally Fun

to the protected mangrove anchorage of

Ensenada Honda

(not to be confused with anchorage

of the same name in Culebra).

Margaret & Sharon

exploring the mangroves

The Queen!

Bird Photo - just for my sister

Finally Fun took off the next day for Sun Bay,

near the town of Esperanza.

Dance Aweigh had a very peaceful time;

no other boats; dead calm.

Next morning we got a VHF call from Andy:

Stolen dinghy!

They padlocked/ chained their dinghy ashore the previous night.

Returned in 40 minutes

to find nothing but a broken padlock on the beach.

Fortunately, they were able to reach another cruiser

by handheld VHF.

He ferried them back to their boat.

Police say there's a lot of crime in Vieques - watch out!

Dance Aweigh at anchor in Sun Bay, Viequez

We motored over to Sun Bay to offer moral support

& dinner

(& dinghy rides as necessary)

Their dinghy was never found

& Finally Fun left for Fajardo, Puerto Rico

the next day

to buy a new dinghy & motor.

On our way over to Sun Bay, we looked into

Isla Chiva & the bioluminescent bays -

Ferro & Mosquito.

But we didn't stop.

Beach at Ensenada Sun Bay

Turtle swimming in Sun Bay

Can you see the queen?

Green Beach, Vieques

A bit soured to Vieques by the dinghy theft

& by several other similar stories floating around,

we staged to Green Beach on the West end of the island.

Then it was off to Puerto Rico for the upcoming visit

of our Atlanta gang!  Woo hoo!

Approaching Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico

Dance Aweigh, slip B25, Palmas del Mar Marina

Rich, Cam, Mike & Sarah will be staying

at a condo in Palmas del Mar for a week.

We'll be right next door in the marina/ yacht club.

The yacht club is great

- except for a bad surge/ swell/ roll.

How 'bout that club house!

Pool's not too shabby either!

Westerbeke Racor

Almost done

Yeah, it's not all just fun.

Some of us have to work!

Strolled over to check out the condo Rich rented.

Looks nice

Pretty beach

Speaking of pretty -

here's "Grandma" by the pool!

It's all good!

Rich, Cam, Mike, Sarah:

See you in 5 days!