The Lighthouse - Culebrita

The now abandoned lighthouse was built in l880. It is the only structure on the entire island of Culebrita.
Sitting 305 feet above the beach it offers a wonderful view of the surrounding reefs and islands.

Culebrita

Off Culebra's east coast lies the wildlife refuge island of Culebrita.
One of its 6 beaches, in Bahia de Tortuga (Turtle Bay) was our next anchorage. True to its name we spotted sea turtles upon our arrival but its real claim to fame is that it is a nesting area for the endangered giant leather-back turtles.
The island has no occupants and is only open for day-time use. Indeed the only structure on the island is the abandoned 128 year old lighthouse.
In the northeast corner of the bay is the "baths" or "jacuzzis". We enjoyed swimming in the natural pools formed between the dark boulders.
The beach here is spectacular - white sand, palm lined, crystal clear water, private and secluded.
While here we spotted sting rays and many sea turtles.

Circumnavigating Culebra

In anticipation of our daughter Robin and her husband Matt's arrival over March break, we decided to circumnavigate Culebra and check out the points of interest.
Our tour was in a counter clock-wise direction. Our first night's anchorage was on Culebra's southeast corner behind tiny Pela Island in Bahia Almodovar. The blue/green colour of the water was gorgeous. We did some snorkelling, shell collecting and exploring in this very pretty location.
While snorkelling Barry discovered 4 shark sucker remoras (3' long) stuck to our hull. We wondered where their sharks had gone or if they were perhaps nearby. Enough snorkelling for one day.
We spent a quiet night secured behind the expansive reef as we viewed the lights of St. Thomas in the distance.

Lunar Eclipse - February 20, 2008

Our position behind the reef at Dakity gave us a perfect vantage point, as we lay on deck, to view the lunar eclipse.
The full moon was spectacular as it rose in a clear sky reflecting beautifully across the sea.
Regretfully as the eclipse progressed along clouds moved across the sky blurring our view of the moon. All was not lost though as the clouds did eventually clear towards the end of the eclipse.

Ensenada Dakity and Reef (Culebra)

We moved a short distance from our anchorage location off the town of Dewey in Ensenada Honda to just behind the reef in the channel that leads to Ensenada Dakity. We picked up one of the many free mooring balls. Here we were completely open to the wind but thanks to the reef, the waters were calm.
Snorkelling revealed a vast number of both orange and yellow cushion sea stars as well as sea cucumbers.

Side-trip to Puerto Rico

Culebra is a small island (7 miles X 3 miles in size) that lies 14 miles east of Puerto Rico. Its 2,000 residents enjoy the quiet seclusion that the island offers yet at the same time they have the convenience of the 3 times daily high speed ferry to Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
We jumped on board the ferry for the 75 minute ride (ticket price $2.25 U.S.) to have a look at life in Fajardo (the rumors of a Wal-Mart there had nothing to do with us going - well, maybe a bit).
We got along very well in this Spanish speaking community and found everyone to be extremely friendly and helpful. We had a most enjoyable day on shore, found the view from the ferry very beautiful, and yes, we even found the Wal-Mart.

Culebra - Good Friends - Flamenco Beach

We made our way along the marked channel, between the reefs to enter Ensenada Honda lagoon, in the Spanish Virgin Island of Culebra on February 11, 2008.
After we checked through customs we caught up with some friends that we've made along the way that were anchored in Culebra's lagoon.
It was great to meet up again with Carmelle and Yvon on Taima whom we haven't seen since Luperson (9 months ago). As well we enjoyed "catching up" with Cheryl and Renee on Gypsy Blues, Michelle and David on Alhambra and Bev and Ross on Raft.
We met a new friend in the lagoon - "Jens", who is an amazing fellow out of Calgary, alone, on board his Bristol 28 foot Channel cutter "There You Are". During the past 4 years since he retired at the age of 72 he has sailed "There You Are" from Florida to Scotland, then on down to the Caribbean. Our time with him in Culebra was while he was stopped over on route to Panama, then on to Vancouver.
We had great fun with our cruiser friends in Culebra. We shared a delicious fish dinner with Carmelle and Yvon (Taima) as they introduced us to their friends out of Montreal. Michelle and David (Alhambra) taught us the fine art of enjoying the "Bruce Van Sant famed gin and tonic" after which we toured Culebra's night spots. Bev and Ross (Raft) pointed the way for us as we hiked together across the island to the famous, beautiful Flamenco beach (unforgetable and gorgeous - now we know why it is listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world).

Still Moving West - Norman Island (B.V.I.) to St. Thomas (U.S.V.I.)

After a much needed rest we headed off again, west for Culebra. As the wind and seas were higher than our liking we followed a route along the Sir Francis Drake channel, north of St. John and St. Thomas. This allowed us the shelter to travel in the lee of Tortola and the other islands, however when we rounded the northwest tip of St. Thomas the wind and wave showed us their true force and we realized just how sheltered our passage had been. Rather than carry on for Culebra we chose to tuck in for the night in St. Thomas. We lay anchor in the calm waters just north of the airport.
Here it was with great interest that we made Stephanie's acquaintance. We found her living on board "Tally Ho" with her 3 dogs. We're not sure what was more interesting; her or her 77 year old, engineless wooden Atkins design boat, but both were definitely quite unique.

Passages West - St. Martin to Norman Island, B.V.I.

On February 6, 2008 we left the Simpson Bay lagoon by way of the bridge at Marigot, on the French side, with yet another new, warranty replaced windlass on board.
We set a course of 308 degrees magnetic for Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.
As we plotted our way it soon became obvious that with the strong swell and winds pushing us we would arrive before dawn. We therefore changed course to travel down the east side of Virgin Gorda and south of the other islands in the chain.
It was a very "rock and rolly" night with no moon. The complete darkness and constant bounce made it difficult to fix the horizon not to mention hold the course (albeit great star gazing).
At daybreak we attempted to take shelter at Peter Island but the 2 anchorages that we tried were both too deep and crowded. We carried on to Norman Island where we layed anchor in Benures Bay, completely exhausted from steering throughout this dark and difficult passage.
It's supposed to be easy going this way.

Life in the Lagoon

Watching the flow of boat traffic at bridge opening times became a pleasant pastime while in the lagoon.
The Simpson Bay Marina and Yacht Club, located just inside the lagoon, is a popular stopping point for a huge number of mega-yachts. We anxiously watched as they squeezed through the narrow bridge opening to gain access to the marina. The lifestyles of the rich and famous always keep us curious and entertained.
On one of our visits to the Sunset beach bar, at the end of the airport runway, we were surprised to find the swell, coming out of the north, washing right over the road; adding even more excitement to the "landing" experience.

Waiting at the Witch's Tit

We based ourselves in the Simpson Bay lagoon, St. Martin, while awaiting mail delivery of a replacement battery for our laptop. We used this opportunity to pursue warranty repairs on our Lewmar windlass, which had once again failed, this being the 2nd time in less than one year of ownership.
The lagoon area offers many comforts and amenities for cruisers, with easy dinghy access to both the French and Dutch sides of the island.
Our anchorage location at the base of the "witch's tit" hill offered us an excellent view of the wild goats who appeared to take great pleasure daily in watching the sunset from the hill's peak. Their constant bleating made them hard to ignore.