Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico

After a quick lesson on Puerto Rican time — waiting around forty-five minutes to rent three vans — the skippers (and skipper delegate) drove back to the airport to pick up the rest of the crew. Hitting construction traffic on the way to the marina, we finally made it around 1530. So started our adventure to the Spanish Virgins.

We unloaded and were transported via golf carts with hitched baggage carts to our boats: Do Over, a Lagoon 38 catamaran with Jack Buckley skipper, No Shoes, a Lagoon 45 catamaran with Julio Menendez skipper, and Eugenie, a Hunter 38 monohull with Bob Rainey skipper. After waiting for late-comers from other parts of the country, the group split up to do boat check outs and to go provisioning. How we ever got all that stuff in the vans and on the boats, I’ll never know.

Finally, it was cocktail hour and time to relax for a few minutes before heading to the marina restaurant for dinner. We were all too tired to drive to dinner elsewhere. In fact, Eugenia’s crew spotted a taco place on the way back from the supermarket and decided to stop, rather than trekking all the way out the long dock to the boat with the provisions, then trekking back to find dinner.

Next day was a leisurely start since we had a short distance to cover to our first anchorage. After boat check-outs by Sail Caribe staff and some last minute shopping we returned the rented vans right at the marina and departed around 1330 headed for Palomino island. It was a short, but satisfying first day sail, arriving in Palomino around 1500. Still tired from the prior day’s traveling, crews decided to stay on board and relax. The crew of No Shoes proceeded to become acquainted with extensive conversation and discussions while beginning the process of lightening the alcohol load we had on board. Dinner was prepared by able First Mate Bruce Gollob grilling steaks and skipper Julio baking potatoes and making a salad. Crew seemed to be satisfied with the meal.

Wednesday we had an early start on our way to Carlos Rosario Marine Reserve off the Western coast of Culebra. We had a glorious five hours sail in twelve to fifteen knot winds. The cats had to tack a few times while Eugenie made it in a long, straight reach. About mid-way along, sharp-eyed crews on all the boats spotted a white plume rising from the water off to leeward. Soon enough, the enormous flukes of a whale rose out of the water and slipped back under.

After picking up moorings at Culebra we went snorkeling in very beautiful coral reefs, finding many colorful fish and lots of turtles, with a few rays thrown in. This was possibly the best snorkeling we found during the trip. That night No Shoes was treated to another delicious dinner of grilled chicken breasts over rice and beans (this is PR after all) with salad on the side. After a competitive round of dominoes, crew hit the sack by 2200.

Thursday we headed to Culebrita sailing around the north shore of Culebra in twelve to fifteen knot winds and several tacks, at least for the cats. We saw world famous Flamenco Beach from a distance and the rest of the very lush Culebra north coast. We anchored on the southwest side of Culebrita and went snorkeling on nearby reefs. Sadly, we found much dead coral and not a lot of fish. After cocktails and dinner, our new to TSC crew, Cherie Comley, introduced us to some card games because of the annoying noise the dominoes made on the fiberglass cockpit. Hence, Farkle and No S**t became the games to be played every night to the annoyance of the skipper who was sleeping in the cockpit where the games were being played.

On Friday crews of all boats decided to explore the North coast of Culebrita. Folks from Do Over and Eugenie hiked across the island on a well–marked path while No Shoes motored around and found its way into Tortuga Bay (absolutely gorgeous). All crews made their way to the natural “Jacuzzi” pools found on the northeast side of the beach, where surf breaking across enormous boulders washes effervescent foam into deeper pools. Everyone enjoyed the challenging trek across slippery rocks to get there, and the payoff of warm bubbly pools was spectacular.

Later we all made our way back to Culebra and the protection of Ensenada Honda anchorage next to the town of Dewey. This night found all crews having dinner ashore, some at Susie’s and others at Mamacita’s. The crews eating at Susie’s raved about the food there. Nothing was heard regarding food at Mamacita’s.

Saturday was a layover day, so many participants took the taxis ($3) to Flamenco beach or explored the very small Dewey. Crews also took the opportunity to re-supply food and drink in the nearby colmado. That night we had a group dinner at the Dinghy Dock to everybody’s enjoyment.

Sunday, we headed across Sonda de Vieques with Bahia de la Chiva as our destination. Just as on the last long passage, sea life rose to entertain the watchful — crew on Eugenie watched an eagle ray jump and fly several times right along side the boat. To our detriment, winds had shifted to the Southeast so we had to tack a few times before we could turn the corner around the east end of Vieques. On top of that a heavy rain and wind storm dumped a lot of fresh water on us. But we made it safely to our destination and as usual, went snorkeling and exploring. Because of the wind shift, these and subsequent locations in Vieques became lee shores and somewhat rolly, especially for the keelboat Eugenie.

Monday, after more snorkeling and beachcombing, we had a very short sail to Sun Bay, another delightful beach on the South coast of Vieques. Crews partook of more beachcombing and snorkeling. While beached, one of our dinghies (to remain anonymous) was swamped by a couple of waves. After some arduous bailing by hand, another dinghy came to the rescue and towed the swamped dinghy back to the owner’s boat and then returned to pick up the stranded crew. All ended well with no harm to crew or dinghy.

Some crew decided to walk to Mosquito Bay (the bioluminescent bay), a terrible dirt road with huge holes full of water. Other than exercise and seeing some stray horses, it was a waste of time in daylight.

Tuesday turned out to be a very eventful day, especially for the crew of No Shoes. Our destination was Esperanza, the main town in Vieques, a short motor from Sun Bay just next door. The bay was full of working boats and other sailboats, with no moorings available for visiting boats. While maneuvering in the anchorage, the dinghy painter wrapped around the port propeller on No Shoes and stopped the engine. After some exciting maneuvers, we were able to anchor safely and the diving team (Bruce and Cherie) was able to unwrap the line from the propeller, so all was well.

That night, all crews planned to go on a tour of Mosquito Bay offered by a local tour company. All crews also planned to eat ashore before the tour. While preparing to go ashore, one of the crew of No Shoes (name not disclosed) could not find his or her shore bag with money, ID and credit cards in it. After a frantic search, it was decided that the bag probably went into the water. Since it was getting late, search for the bag was postponed until the next morning. After dinner ashore, a small bus from the tour company made two pickups in town and took us to its offices. After a brief explanation of the tour, we loaded onto a larger bus and started the road trip to the bay. The bus took the same dirt road full of holes some crew had walked before, so the bus trip was an interesting experience in itself. After arriving at the loading point, we boarded an electric pontoon boat (only boats propelled by wind, oars, and electric motors are allowed in the bay) for the exceptional experience of the bioluminescence of this bay and the beauty of a clear night sky where we could easily see the Southern Cross. This night was truly enjoyed by all as an experience not to be missed. Next came the dinghy ride in the dark from the docks through many moored local boats back to our boats: priceless.

Wednesday early morning we had a crack team of divers searching for the missing bag. Some of us had doubts that we would find the bag, but into the water we went. The wind had shifted during the night to the East, so we were not in the same location as the night before. After determining the approximate location of where the boat had been, the team started the search. Eureka! The same person who lost the bag found the bag thanks to a royal blue towel that had been inside the bag and started to come out. The weight of the towel kept the bag (did I mentioned the bag was green and about the same color as the water?) in the same location in about eight feet depth. Another member of the team dove in and rescued the bag. So life went back to normal and we prepared for the sail back to Puerto del Rey Marina.

It started as a pleasant sail and after some rain and another wind shift, we ended up motoring towards the end of the trip. After refueling, we returned to our slips and the cleaning up and packing process began. All crews made a valiant effort to finish up leftovers with cocktails. There was still room for dinner ashore at the same restaurant as the first night.

Thursday, end of the trip, saw some participants taking an early van for early flights and to various locations in San Juan for an extended stay, while the rest took later vans for the trek to the airport for the 1700 flight to Newark.

Jack and I hope you all had as good a trip as we did. Muchas gracias to all. — Julio Menendez