Joy of Shamrock Quay

Joy continues her reputation as a bird magnet– of the feathered variety of course.  Meet Mr Martin and his wife Mabel, they have been visiting us two to three times a day for the last two weeks.  The reason for such an attraction for these love birds is difficult to tell, they have an obsession with the solar panels and in particular underneath them although they seem to only rest there for a few minutes in between swooping joyfully across the surface of the water and hovering alongside the cockpit just a metre away from us, almost asking for recognition.

The confusion starts mid-afternoon when the solar panels get lowered to tilt towards the sun going down behind us, they can’t quite understand how or why their perch is in an awkward position for them to get to.  After a couple of days Mr Martin spotted a cosy hideout in the mizzen sail cover which wraps around the gooseneck (where the boom joins on to the mast), whilst Jez was sitting right underneath, he started a few ‘test’ fly-bys before landing and hopping inside!

One day they returned with a group of three others, word had got out that there maybe some house-building opportunities aboard and they all took turns in flying by, hovering and attempting to settle in the comfort of our sail cover.  Luckily none had the courage to actually get in this time, and so – for now – we are nest free, but the chorus of song and chatter from these little birds on a daily basis has been an absolute joy.

Now, back to boating matters.  In between all this bird activity we have been very productive on the ‘job’ front.  Ensenada Honda is a huge bay, 2 miles wide and 1 mile deep, with reef and the odd set of rocks protecting the bay from the surge of the Caribbean Sea, inside it is fringed with mangroves with fingers of water branching off inland.  The bay is deserted, as is the land that surrounds it as it remains the ‘no-go’ area, and therefore it is remote and peaceful.

After our first night of solitude here we had a visitor, we spotted another yacht entering the bay and making its way along the recommended dog-leg path into the anchorage. We could see from a distance a torn mainsail flapping in the strong wind and as he approached us and anchored close by we could see that not only was it torn but also jammed in the in-mast furling system.  Once anchored he clearly needed help and we hopped in the dinghy and offered assistance, the skipper only had his ten year old nephew as crew and welcomed a couple of extra helpers.  We managed to free the jam and winched the mainsail in as far as we could so that just a slither remained.  Panic over.  Two nights of neighbours and then we were going it alone again in Ensenada Honda, with just the birds and sharks for company…

These ones are juvenile black-tip reef sharks, there are plenty in Ensenada Honda and the water is quite murky so we are not swimming very much..at all, in fact!

With not too many distractions we have managed to repaint the gas-bottle locker, a tight space for Jez as he sands and preps. I can, however, get in to the locker completely (albeit in a sort of foetal position) complete with mask, paint tray, roller and brush.  It’s handy being pixie size. The aft lazarette (that’s a posh nautical word for locker at the back) also had a good clean out and repaint. Both lockers are now gleaming and we can cross another two jobs off the ‘desperate’ list.  It always amazes me how we manage to fit so much ‘stuff’ in to these lockers.

When the fridge contents diminished and the beer stock became dangerously low, we sailed back to Esperanza for some fresh supplies, and after a night anchored off the beach at Sun Bay we headed back to our favourite recluse.

On the way, tacking close hauled, we sailed right through a bubbling patch of water with fish jumping out in every direction and sea birds diving in quick succession.  As we looked down over the side there was a 4 foot shark at the surface of the water and in the middle of the fishy mayhem, he was floating quite still and composed just eating fish, taking whatever mistakenly swam past him as cool as a cucumber.  We couldn’t believe our eyes!  On the next tack a couple of miles further along the coast, I spotted another bubbling mass of water with birds flocking from all directions to join in the feast.  This time I had my camera ready! If you look closely you will see a tuna jumping out, he is in hot pursuit of the little juvenile fish.

Then we spotted what looked like another shark, interestingly enough at this point the birds stopped diving and gradually disappeared, leaving just the huge frigate bird picking remnants of the massacre off the surface.

It will soon be time to head the 420 miles south to Curacao for the hurricane season, tropical waves coming across from Africa have had non favourable conditions as far as storm development go. Dry Saharan air, high wind shear and sea surface temperatures 1 degree below normal for this time of year, have all assisted in preventing hurricane formation.  Quitting whilst we are ahead is always a good idea, so we will start to get ready for our 3 day sail sometime next week.  It will be very hard to say goodbye to this amazing island and peaceful anchorages, but all good things must come to an end!

We hired a jeep last week for an Island tour, having arranged for us to collect it from the Blue Horizon resort near Esperanza we discovered after over an hours walk that the car wasn’t there after all. It was at their base in the town on the north of Vieques, so after complimentary iced water they very kindly gave us a lift.  Whilst at their beautiful airy bar overlooking the ocean we glanced over the bar menu, $12 for most spirits, I quickly shuffled my grubby bag out of sight and brushed off the sand still attached to my toes from the beach walk.

Vieques is 22 miles long and about 4 miles at its widest point.  Both the west and east ends are now uninhabited and managed by the US Fisheries as nature reserves, once occupied by the US Navy from the early 1940’s up until 2001.  The Navy used the west end to store their ammunitions in huge bunkers in the hills, and the east end was used as a training base with live ammunition practice, with the population being relocated to the middle section of the island.  The mile long breakwater on the north coast was intended to provide an area joining nearby Puerto Rico to shelter not only the American fleet but also for the British fleet in the event of defeat in World War II.

The breakwater now has a tarmacked road down the middle so we drove out to the end, choppy windy conditions on the eastern side, flat calm still waters on the west. It is now apparently a good dive and snorkel site with plenty of turtles about.

This is the islands 375 year old Ceiba tree, its roots are so huge it’s like sheltering behind a huge wall of tree.

There are hundreds of semi-wild horses roaming freely all over the island, even in the town of Isabel Segonda we saw one just trotting down the main road oblivious to vehicles and people.  Most are in reasonable condition despite the arid land and lack of grass. Apparently a large number have owners, we noticed a few that had been branded, they just let them roam free as it’s cheaper and less work for them.

The west end wildlife refuge has an unmade track running through it to Punta Arena where the sugar cane was once shipped out and then a network of tracks lead off to different beaches.

We disturbed someone’s afternoon nap! Looks a bit like Charlie Chinchilla.

On a hunt for the old navy bunkers, we went off the beaten track and entered the rabbit-run network of very narrow overgrown roads in the western hills. We found the bunkers eventually, all overgrown and derelict and many dozens of them spread about the hills.  After half an hour of edging our way through brambles we gave up on trying to find a way out, so turned back and made our way back out to the main road.

The eastern end of Vieques is equally as beautiful, a gated entrance to the other wildlife refuge leads to another unmade road which winds along the southern shore.  Plenty more horses and the odd mongoose too, this one dilly dallied on the verge side so I could finally get a photo.

Tracks lead off once again to all the beautiful beaches, each one has dedicated parking spots with litter bins, some even have sun shade areas.  It really looks very well managed and maintained.  The road ends at a weed stricken beach called La Plata and from here the land north and east is all ‘no access’ to the public.  A huge area of about a quarter of the island is off limits due to the risk of unexploded munitions left over from the Navy occupation.   From La Plata we could see across Ensenada Honda, a huge bay protected by reef which lies on the edge of the restricted area so it is very remote.  This will be our next anchorage.

After a day of exploring we returned to Joy to get ready for our evening’s entertainment, kayaking across the bioluminescent bay, Puerto Mosquito.  We took the jeep down the dusty dark track to the water’s edge, the moon had just come up so we had a small amount of light to see our way in.   This is a remote bay spanning 160 acres with no noise or light pollution, so it was rather eerie paddling into the dark. The microscopic organism providing the light show is Pyrodinium Bahamense, a one-celled plankton measuring 1/500^th of an inch. It has two tails which assists its movement in the water and their bodies contain chlorophyll, producing food by photosynthesis.  These tiny organisms create light when they are touched, each one glowing for a 1/10^th of a second, believed to be its form of defence. This bay has a high concentration of them, apparently having perfect conditions for them to thrive; dense mangroves, warm water and a narrow entrance out to sea means that water circulation is very slow.  As we got further away from the shore the lights in the water became brighter, every stroke of the paddle lit up the disturbed water with sparks of fluorescent blue.  The rippled water against the bow also sparked, and then the fish lit up as they darted away from us mad nocturnal paddlers.  They looked like blue toxic missiles shooting under water in all directions, it was quite freaky!  Across the bay and back was enough for us, and with shoulders aching we deflated the kayak, fought off the mosquitos and moths and off-roaded back to the beach where we had left the dinghy.

The following day before we handed the jeep back we did some shopping at the larger supermarket in Isabel Segonda, I was surprised to find a very well stocked store with prices cheaper than on the mainland.  Fresh meat for a change!  We also stumbled across the Friday fruit and veg market, with a great selection to choose from and all in good condition, another change!  It was great to find some mixed salad leaves and herbs, a wonderful alternative to the tasteless iceberg. Now with a good supply of provisions we can sail to the remote anchorage at Ensenada Honda for a few days.

The beach that we had anchored off looked pretty amazing even in the failing light, as the sun went down we were both looking forward to exploring the next day.

Sun Bay has a wonderful sandy beach, about a mile long, a horseshoe shape fringed with coconut trees. Idyllic.

There is a park behind the beach where wild horses and their foals were roaming, really lovely to see them being followed around by cattle egrets (on most of the other islands we usually see them following  mowers or strimmers).

We walked the beach which goes around the headland into another very sheltered bay with another beautiful beach, before arriving at the small village of Esperanza.  The narrow main street running along the seafront has a few restaurants and bars and a well-kept promenade overlooking the bay. It almost feels like somewhere in the Med.

After sampling a traditional Puerto Rican dish, seafood ‘mofongo’, mashed green plantains served with a creamy tomato broth and large chunks of white fish and mussels (lush), we waddled to the small grocery store in search of some provisions for the next couple of days.  The streets off the sea front are quiet with detached single storey houses with beautiful orange flowering trees, and fruit trees bursting with what looked like mangoes. And some random art on the equally random boulders.

We certainly walked off our lunch that day, with an hours beach walk back with our groceries.  The following day we walked some more, the park behind the beach has a sandy track which heads off east to two remote beaches and the bioluminescent lagoon called Mosquito Bay.  Not much to see on the way, surprisingly no obvious wildlife except a mongoose who ambled across the track in front of us before racing back into the undergrowth when he realised he had an audience. The beaches were both covered with large amounts of weed, so we decided not to swim until we got back to the boat.

Mosquito Bay was deserted with not much to see, we will return one evening when we have a hire car and the kayak so that we can experience the bay ‘lit up’ by the microscopic bioluminescent creatures.

Our settled weather window didn’t arrive, strong trade winds continued to howl around the rigging and one day we had a storm come over which tested the holding.  For us, no problem, but two others anchored behind us obviously felt they were dragging and motored around for over an hour still with anchors down waiting out the storm.  We had seen it on the satellite pictures in the morning so knew it was coming.  After a pleasant lunch on board in beautiful sunshine,  I spotted it on the horizon.  By the time we had put the dinghy down and tied it to the back, the storm hit with almost hail like rain and strong winds of over 35 knots.  Once it had passed the wind dropped to nothing and the sun came back out, it was two hours before the 20 knot trade winds returned.

Good job we don’t have too many of these days

We have had some great walks on the island, there are many tracks to explore through the wilderness in search of some lovely beaches.

There is a channel which runs through from Ensenada Honda to a bay called ‘Bahia de Sardinas’ where the ferry from Puerto Rico docks.  The lifting bridge between the two no longer lifts and the channel looks rather shallow in places so it’s now only navigable by small motor boats and dinghies.

When we checked the forecast on Thursday morning last week the prediction was for two days of 10-15 knots (although we actually still had 20). So we decided to leave Culebra and head off to Puerto Rico so that we could top up with diesel.  Our tank gauge is playing a good game of guess the level, some days it reads on the red, others it rockets up to three quarters full.  With a year of very little motoring and solar panels topping up our batteries so the generator isn’t run as regularly, we were a little unsure of our usage and were rather hoping that we weren’t on the red, especially as we hold 1500 litres! But at the equivalent of 52 pence per litre we were eager to fill up before heading south where prices are much higher.

With 20 knots of constant wind from the east we had a wonderful sail to Puerto Del Ray on the east coast of Puerto Rico, a huge marina in Caribbean standards.  As we filled with diesel the gauge continued to skip about joyfully, finally settling on the red again when the fuel came up the breather pipe.  We were full, the tank had been three quarters full after all. Happy days!

There is very little shelter on this windward coast, so we tacked our way north to find shelter behind Isleta Marina, a small island just half a mile offshore with reef and shallow water around it. It has two high rise buildings on it and a small marina.  Wrecks scatter themselves all around, I counted 16 within a couple of hundred metres of us and I am sure there must be many more under water.

The wind howled again all night, not quite the lull that had been predicted, and the next day we decided that getting ashore in the dinghy would be too wet an affair  so we will leave exploring Puerto Rico for another time.  We set sail back down the channel on the outside of the reef toward the island of Vieques, Joy seemed in her element bashing through the waves at 6 knots. As we sheeted in sails to round the western tip of Vieques and head east along the south coast, we came out of the protection of the islands and into a short steep sea. Joy, as ever, amazed us for a 37 ton lump of steel, tacking back and forth with ease along the coast close hauled despite this not being her..or our… favourite point of sail.  We watched as a sail boat in the far distance heading towards us furled in his sails about 5 miles out and motored in to his anchorage.  We put in our last of many tacks and sailed into Sun Bay, just east of the village of Esperanza on Vieques, and dropped anchors just about 6pm.  Yes, two anchors as the swell was rolling in to the bay, so a with a kedge anchor holding the aft into the swell  it was a very pleasant motion. It was WAY past beer O’clock!

After a great sail back up to St Martin where we stocked up again with some maintenance items and parts from the chandleries, and of course some gorgeous French cheeses and pates, we set off east to St Thomas for the third time this year.  Again a wonderful sail with the added bonus of dolphins and their babies coming for a play, and we had a slow but steady 24 hour down-wind run to Charlotte Amalie with our headsail poled out.

After checking in we had some entertainment in the harbour that afternoon when the border patrol boat pounced on a charter catamaran coming in, several other officials turned up including a helicopter circling around.  We could see numerous people on board, some made to sit on the front well into the evening, and the cockpit was also full.  It was obvious that they had many more occupants on board than they should have done, and we heard the next day from another cruiser that apparently 65 illegal immigrants had been found including women and children.  They were held on board overnight and then taken off the following day on numerous boats which headed out of the harbour, complete with helicopter escort.

We were feeling rather guilty as we too had some stowaways on board, Stanley the spider had been caught when he jumped on me from the bookcase and his pal Simon crawled across the sofa shortly afterwards and was apprehended.  They had unwittingly had a free passage all the way from St Kitts..perhaps. A jar made a temporary holding centre, we even caught a fly in the evening and gave them supper!  Yes, we did actually take them ashore and set them free on the dinghy dock the next morning…the heat must be getting to us.

I finally managed to get my iPhone fixed at the Tutu Mall, the screen had decided to part company with the phone so I thought it was time I got it sorted.  After a week on the island, and a couple of days chilling at Brewers Bay watching dolphins, turtles and pelicans (it’s a tough life), we set sail for Culebra just 15 miles to the west.

Culebra is a small island off the east coast of Puerto Rico, although it is actually closer to St Thomas, once in the hands of Spain it was invaded by America in 1898.  The entrance to the main harbour, Ensenada Honda, is via a narrow channel through the reef.  With wind on our side (for a change) we sailed the whole way in through the dog leg channel and across the vast bay to the (only) town of Dewey where we anchored.

Checking in here was actually a pleasant experience for the first time ever.  We called Border Patrol to announce our arrival and after taking down a few details the very professional gentleman directed us to the small airport where we could find Customs and Immigration, and said that he would call ahead and let them know we were coming.  A 10 minute walk through the small town took us to a very tiny and well-kept airport, the Customs Officer was very friendly and helpful and issued us with a cruising permit for one year which entitles us to enter any US port during that time without any further form filling or charges. We just have to telephone to announce our arrival.  He then took us into the airport lobby to find us a map and give us advice on where to explore and snorkel.  What a breath of fresh air!   We thought we had lucked out last week in St Thomas when the Customs lady had offered us a pen to fill out the form (actually, it was 10 minutes before her lunch break and she wanted us both to complete the forms to speed up the process), but this topped it.

What a wonderful start to our visit here.  We noticed a lot of people whizzing about on golf carts so the following day we hired one from Jerry’s Jeeps, again very helpful and friendly staff.  It was great fun, a little unnerving at times as there are some very steep hills and lots of pot holes, but we explored the island for the day for less than $40 and only used $2 in fuel!

Flamenco Beach on the north west point is popular with day trippers from Puerto Rico, understandably so as it has beautiful soft sand and calm waters protected by the reef. The beach and surroundings are part of a National Wildlife Refuge area and behind the beach is a designated camping ground, very clean and quiet and what a fab place to come camping.

At the end of the beach are remnants of the US Navy occupation, a strange sight on a typical looking Caribbean beach.  The Navy set up a base here in 1903 and started using the island in 1939 as a gunnery and bombing practice site in preparation for their involvement in World War II.  In 1971 protests led to an eventual withdrawal of the Navy in 1975, there are still areas fenced off with warnings of unexploded bombs!

Plenty of these Thrashers about too, they look like a thrush and have the most beautiful call.

Views looking across Ensenada Honda.

We stopped at the small Museum to learn a little more about the island and its history, the building itself is pretty and well maintained with beautiful trees and shrubs around it.

I also spotted a peacock, we have heard them calling from the boat but I just didn’t believe they would be here.

Culebra has 23 smaller off lying islands, all uninhabited and part of the protected wildlife refuge set up by President Roosevelt in 1903.

We found another gorgeous beach on the east coast called Zoni Beach.  This is where turtles including the ‘leatherbacks’ come to lay their eggs, there were many nests roped off as we walked along the beach.  When we first walked onto the beach we could see a black dog swimming in from offshore, we looked around and saw no one waiting for her and couldn’t understand where she was swimming in from as the islands are half a mile away.  When she reached the beach she ran as if her life depended upon it, straight into the thick undergrowth behind the beach.  She was very skinny and looked as though she had not long had pups.

We are really taken with this island, it is again so different from the others just a few miles away.  With only 1800 residents, the 7×5 mile island seems peaceful and quiet – even on the weekend when the ferry loads of Puerto Ricans arrive and double the islands numbers.  We really want to anchor off and explore the smaller island of Culebrita off the east shore , so are waiting for a settled weather window to do that as it is rather exposed with reef around its anchorages.