Lavers blog, 12th 2008-2009 entry, April 1-15, 2009

April 1, 2009, Maho Bay, St. John – Jost Van Dyke, BVI

Elisabeth and April get a history lesson at the Annaberg sugar plantation

A tame pelican at Francis Bay

We take the dinghy ashore at about 8:00 and climb the steps to the Maho Bay Camps restaurant where we all order omelets.  We enjoy the great view over multiple cups of coffee, then go for a long walk to the Annaberg sugar mill ruins on Leinster Bay.  We do not stay very long as a bus load of very pale people, average size XL, wearing bright red Disney cruise line hats, arrives and infests the place. We walk back to the  ruins of the Danish school for slave children, then take  the trail down to Francis Bay.  We walk along the pretty beach, climb over the rocks along the shore and the point separating Maho  Bay from Francis Bay, then  take the dinghy back out to Singoalla. We stop by the “fee boat”, drop our envelope in the box (honor system) and depart from the mooring.  We reach out past Mary Point and Great Thatch Island to Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. Larry clears in at customs while the others head for Foxy’s. Foxy’s is less crowded and really more pleasant at lunch than at dinner.  During lunch a waiter comes to the table and asks which boat we are from. When we tell him, he says there is a phone call in the kitchen for the captain. Fearing that something has happened to the boat, Larry hurries in to the kitchen, only to be told that the phone is in the store next door. As he emerges from the kitchen heading for the store, Elisabeth calls him over to the table asking him if he knows what date it is today. Of course, April fool’s day! We watch with quiet amusement during lunch as several other skippers fall prey for the same ploy. We go to the store where April buys a tee shirt for Hudson and Michael gets a hat and a tee shirt to prove that he has been to this Mecca for cruising sailors. After the big lunch at Foxy’s we content ourselves with cheese and crackers, and of course wine, for dinner. Afterwards Larry and Elisabeth teach Michael and April gin rummy -- now that they are experts at the game that they learned three weeks ago from the Swansons .

April 2, 2009 Jost Van Dyke-Virgin Gorda- Marina Cay

Michael rows April and Larry to the Baths

We get a feathered visitor at Marina Cay

We get an early start, reach across to Thatch island Cut and beat through Soper’s Hole and up Sir Francis Drake channel to the baths at Virgin Gorda. The wind is moderate, the water flat and the sailing is glorious. Just off Peter Island we are met by at Yacht Shots photographer who takes many pictures of the boat including one unsuccessful tack when the starboard genoa sheet gets kinked up inside the turning block. We manage to avoid a Chinese fire drill and get back on course in reasonably good time.   Just off Salt Island we see a very attractive Oyster 56 coming downwind towards us and realize that it must be our friends the Hibbitts from Bristol.  We wave, but are not sure they have recognized us.  The Baths prove to be more of an adventure than we have bargained for.  First, while picking up the mooring line April decides to give our boat hook the float test.  Fortunately it passes the test, and Larry quickly strips to his undershorts and dives overboard while the boat hook is still floating.  Then April, Michael and Larry take the dinghy while Elisabeth remains on board. We tie the dinghy to the dinghy float about 40-50 yards from shore and swim in. The water is rougher than we thought, and there is a foul current and Michael has made the mistake of trying to swim with his sandals on. For a while we are afraid we are going to lose Michael, but he rallies, and makes it to the shore, exhausted. We enjoy the tour through the nooks and crannies of the Baths. We decide that Michael should not attempt the return swim, so Larry swims out and rows the dinghy ashore to pick up Michael and April. We have lunch onboard, and then decide it is too late to sail to North Sound, our original destination.  We go to Marina Cay instead. After a nice broad reach we pick up a vacant mooring near the dock. We are surprised to see that the boat next to us is Satori. We met Paul and Diane last year at Norman Island and Diane and Elisabeth have maintained email contact during the year. Diane comes over by dinghy and suggests that we go ashore and listen to Michael Bean’s humorous (and loud) pirate music. He is a lot of fun, but conversation in a non starter. We do find out that we will and be returning to the States at about the same time and route, so we agree to maintain contact and try to return together.

April 3, 2009, Marina Cay-Benures Bay, Norman Island

Michael steers most of the way to Norman Island

Elisabeth heads below to make lunch

After a leisurely breakfast we chat with Paul Neuhoff from Satori to discuss how we will stay in touch for the trip north.  Midmorning we leave the mooring bound for Norman island.  We broad reach to the west end of Peter island and head up into a stiff breeze for Benures Bay.  We anchor as usual in the north east corner of the bay and settle down to a quiet afternoon of reading, swimming and criticizing other boats’ anchoring techniques.  We watch very carefully as Sea Viz, about a 65 foot power boat, drops anchor near us and backs upwind to a spot near the shore.  The woman on board jumps overboard wearing a mask, wetsuit and fins, and pulls a line to shore where she ties it around a tree.  We are worried about their position, and think there is a possibility that the anchor chain may cross ours, which would make it difficult for us to leave tomorrow.  Larry rows over and talks to the captain, who says that as soon as they are settled he will dive on the anchors to make sure they ae clear of one another.  He makes good on his promise and tells us that in fact there is no problem.  He is kind enough to lend us his cruising guide of Puerto Rico so that we can begin to plan our next passage.  Dinner is tenderloin tips, part of the goody package brought from Rhode Island by April and Michael.  After dinner we play a little gin rummy before retiring by “cruiser’s midnight”.

April 4, 2009, Benures Bay – Soper’s Hole, Tortola – Cruz Bay, St. John – Red Hook, St. Thomas

April and Michael go shopping

Larry, Elisabeth, April and Michael relaxing at Pusser's

Today is a busy day.  We raise the anchor soon after breakfast and broad reach over to Thatch Island Cut where we drop the sails and pick up a mooring in Soper’s Hole.  We take the dinghy to Pusser’s dock and Larry walks around the end of the bay to the customs office while Elisabeth, April and Michael explore the local stores.  Elisabeth sits at Pusser’s to try to do Internet banking with limited success.  We eat lunch at Pusser’s and return to Singoalla for the run to St. John.  On the way out we see Grace, the Hibbitts’ lovely Oyster 56, and we motor over to have a brief chat with them.  At St. John we pick up a mooring just off Lind Point and take the dinghy around to Cruz bay where we clear in.  We go immediately back to Singoalla and set sail for Red Hook.  Al Whittemore has arranged for us to borrow a mooring near Simplicity, his boat, and he comes over in his dinghy to greet us just as we are picking up the mooring.  It is a good thing, because the previous “tenant” has left the mooring line hopelessly tangled.  Al struggles with the lines for several minutes and finally gives up and cuts the offending tether to free the main mooring lines.  Finally secured to the mooring, we clean up and go into Lattitude’s for dinner with Al and Irene.  The food is great and we are entertained by the Sun Mountain Band, a terrific bluegrass band that is just finishing a 12 week gig at Lattitude’s.  We stay for all three of their sets before making our way back to the boat.  It is much later than our usual cruising bedtime, and lights are out almost immediately.

April 5, 2009, Red Hook

Elisabeth, April and Michael go ashore for showers, do laundry and have breakfast at molly Mollones.  Larry is suffering from allergies today.  He stays on board and works on the log.  In late morning Larry is picked up by dinghy so he can go in and shower.  Al takes Elisabeth and April to a giant market for provisioning while Michael keeps Larry company for breakfast.  Back on board Larry naps, hoping the allergy attack will subside.  Michael picks up the ladies when they return from the market.  Larry’s allergies are much better by the time Al and Irene join us for dinner.  Larry prepares pina coladas, then Elisabeth serves a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, saffron rice and mixed salad.  Al and Irene make dessert on board – pears and raspberries in vanilla yoghurt with chocolate sauce.  Delicious!

April 6, 2009, Red Hook, St. Thomas – Ensenada Honda, Culebra

Elisabeth gets a kick out of sailing with the spinnaker

The spinnaker flying in light air between St. Thomas and St. John

In the morning we go ashore to the chandlery and buy cruising guides for Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.  We also find at Ace Hardware the sink stopper we have been looking for for months.   We buy a few last minute supplies at the Marina Market and prepare Singoalla for departure.  We leave the mooring at about 11:00, raise the main and motor sail through Current Cut.  The wind is light and we decide to break out the spinnaker for the first time this year.  It adds about two knots to our speed as we sail downwind past Sail Rock to the entrance buoy for Ensenada Honda on Culebra.  Reefs abound here, and since it is our first visit we drop the sails and motor up the long channel into the very protected bay.  We anchor near the lift bridge.  After a dinner in the cockpit of smoked turkey, saffron rice and salad we go below and play gin rummy until we begin to fall asleep – about ½ hour.

April 7, 2009, Culebra – Culebrita

For some reason, although Puerto Rico, of which Culebra is a part, is a U.S. territory and we arrived from a U.S. port we are required to clear in with customs.  We try to find a public dock near the airport but we are unsuccessful, so we tie up to the town dock in Dewey.  We walk to the customs office at the airport and are treated very cordially by the friendly and efficient customs officer.  We walk back to the center of town to look around, but many of the streets are torn up, apparently to replace water and sewer lines. We take a short walk to the ferry terminal on the west side, then return to Singoalla.  We leave the harbor and have an enjoyable short sail to Culebrita – close hauled at first, falling off to a brisk beam reach, then a short beat at the north side of Culebrita.  This is a truly magical harbor, one of the most beautiful we have seen in the Caribbean.  Soon after arrival Elisabeth serves a wonderful chef salad for lunch.  Michael and April row ashore for a walk on the beach.  Larry elects to swim ashore and finds that it is farther than it looks.  He makes it OK, but is glad to feel the sand under his feet as the water shoals.  Elisabeth enjoys being alone for an hour or so.  As evening approaches most of the boats in the harbor leave, so only a half dozen or so remain.  The moon is full and the bay is even more beautiful at night, if that is possible.  Larry tries to prepare farewell pina coladas but finds that we have coconut milk instead of Coco Lopez coconut cream and a pineapple fruit drink mixture instead of pineapple juice.  The result is sort of like a frothy rum punch, but we manage to enjoy them anyway.  We had a late lunch, so dinner is cheeses, pate and crackers.  We are more than satisfied.  We play a few hands of gin rummy before trundling off to bed.

April 8, 2009, Culebrita – Ensenada Honda, Culebra

Bahia Flamenco, Culebra

Elisabeth goes for an early morning swim, then, to everyone’s delight, she makes French toast for breakfast.  After breakfast we raise the anchor and tack downwind along the north shore of Culebra to Bahia Flamenco, a lovely, protected bay with a long, very attractive white sand beach.  We turn into the bay and anchor close to the beach for a pleasant lunch stop.  After lunch we sail around Cabo Noroeste, then furl the jib and motor sail down the west side of Culebra through the Canal de luis Pena, around Punta del Soldato and back into Ensenada Honda.  We take the dinghy into the Dinghy Dock restaurant where Michael and April treat us to a farewell dinner.  We decide that last night’s counterfeit pina coladas don’t qualify as an official farewell drink, so we try again at the bar with much better results.  After returning to the boat we decide that we need to work on our in rummy, so we play until very late – maybe 9:30.

April 9, 2009, Ensenada Honda, Culebra – Ensenada Honda, Vieques

Dinghy Dock restaurant in Culebra

Total solitude in Ensenada Honda

We have no idea what it means but most of the Spanish-speaking islands seem to have an Ensenada Honda.  After breakfast we take April and Michael to a dock within an easy walk of the airport and say goodbye.  We return to the town dock and are successful in finding a functioning ATM and a small but well stocked grocery store.  We weigh anchor around 11:00  and reach across the short distance to Punta Este, the east end of Vieques.  We plan to anchor in Bahia Salina del Sur, but Elisabeth feels that it is too open to the waves and points out that Ensenada Honda, a few miles farther on, is a much better protected anchorage.  What she doesn’t see is that entrance to the bay s a very tricky navigational challenge involving very carefully following compass courses to specific turning points identified by the compass bearing of shoreside features.  At one point Larry cuts a corner a little short and finds only about six inches of water under the keel.  But when we get to the anchorage it is extraordinarily beautiful.  Perfectly quiet water surrounded by mangroves, and only four other boats in the enormous bay, the nearest about one half mile away.  Dinner is grilled chicken, saffron rice and salad.  We spend a wonderful quiet evening together in this peaceful place.

April 10, 2009, Ensenada Honda – Sun Bay

Incredible turquoise water in Ensenada Honda

Singoalla at anchor in Ensenada Honda, Vieques

Singoalla at anchor in Ensenada Honda, Vieques

We spend a lazy morning swimming and reading before raising the anchor for the short trip west along the coast to Sun Bay.  The trip out of Ensenada Honda is a little less tense than the trip in as we have a better idea of what to expect.  Sun Bay has a big, beautiful, very popular beach, and is as easy to enter as Ensenada Honda s difficult.  We pick up the only remaining mooring and call Rick Bedell, who with Larry’s brother owns a house on Vieques that Larry and Elisabeth have never seen.  Rick and Terri are here for the Easter weekend and invite us to dinner at their house.  Rick picks us up at the beach and takes us to bananas for an “adult beverage” as he puts it with Del and Barb Herr, their guests from Indiana.  When we arrive at the house Elisabeth and Larry immediately take advantage of the opportunity for shore side showers with virtually unlimited water.  Larry is impressed both by the location of the house – on the spine of the island with views of the Caribbean both to the north and to the south of the island – and the enormous amount of work that has gone into turning the 30 year old structure into a beautiful modern and comfortable home.  We have cocktails on the patio while Rick grills steaks and lobsters, then we move to the pool-side table for dinner.  It is a very enjoyable evening and we are sorry that we have to return to the boat early.  But we have left the dinghy unlocked on the beach and are worried that someone will take advantage of the darkness to spirit the dinghy away.  It is still there when we arrive and we are successful in locating Singoalla in the intense darkness.  Larry reads a novel, The Private Patient, and Elisabeth reads Loving Frank, a fictionalized story of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Elisabeth does not love Frank, although she does like the book.

April 11, 2009, Sun Bay – Esperanza

Cocktails on Singoalla with the Bedells and Herrs

Today we move the boat from Sun Bay the two miles or so around Cayo Real to Puerto Real and the town of Esperanza.  Here it is easier to take the dinghy ashore and there is a dock to which we can lock the dinghy.  We spend the day cleaning the boat and doing miscellaneous small maintenance chores and reading.  We have invited the Bedells and the Herrs for cocktails and at 5:00 Larry goes in to pick them up.  We discover that the dock does not have a ladder and it is too much of a challenge for Terri to climb down from the high dock.  We put plan B into operation.  We beach the dinghy.  Terri and Barb climb on board.  We push it out until it floats.  Larry and Del get on board and Rick pushes us out and leaps on board at the last minute.  There are some waves in the anchorage, but everyone manages to get up the stern ladder and into the cockpit without too much drama.  Rick and Del enjoy the fine single malt scotch that Mike Rossi brought us while the rest of us have various flavors of wine.  We make two trips back to shore, but we have gotten pretty good at this now and no one gets wetter than they deserve.  Rick hosts us all for dinner at Mucho Gusto, a restaurant on the Malecon (beach front walkway) run by an American expat – if that is the correct term, this being an American territory of sorts.  We say goodbye to our hosts and have very fond memories of this island that was the subject of so many protests just a few years ago.

April 12, 2009, Esperanza, Vieques – Jobos, Puerto Rico

Cayo Puerca in Bahia de Jobos PR

Happy Easter!  Today’s trip is about 45 miles and light winds are forecast, so we make an early departure.  We definitely do not want to motor the whole way, so we decide that it is time for us to break out the spinnaker.  Although we have both sailed under spinnaker hundreds if not thousands of times, this will be the first time with just the two of us.  Our new cruising spinnaker sets from a cuff around the head stay instead of from a pole, and is covered by a sleeve sort of like the casing on a sausage until it is fully hoisted.  The sleeve is then pulled up by a continuous loop of line through a pulley system.  The spinnaker works very well, and we maintain an average speed of at least a knot and a half greater than we would using the genoa.  We cross the open channel between Vieques and Puerto Rico and sail along the south coast of the “main island” to Jobos.  The cruising guide describes an idyllic scene of mangrove lined waterways with a good chance to see manatees.  As we approach Boca del Infierno (“mouth of the inferno”, a not too comforting name) we are disappointed to see an enormous refinery, or perhaps a chemical plant, and a number of other major industrial structures with obvious plumes of smoke everywhere.  As we round Cayo de Puerca we are surprised to find the quiet, mangrove-lined harbor that had been promised by the cruising guide.  At least the water is quiet.  There is a quite audible low frequency hum coming from the plants that goes on all night.  But the smoke blows well to the north of us, so smell is not an issue.  As we work our way into the shallow anchorage we see a man on a group of rafted-up boats waving his arms and indicating that we should go further in.  We are not sure whether he is being helpful or just officious, but in either event he hops into his dinghy and comes over to show us where he thinks we should anchor.  Since it is about where we have planned to anchor anyway, we smile and thank him and go about our business.  We hope that the four boats don’t make too much noise tonight, but instead they break up the raft and all disappear about 30 minutes after we arrive.  We wonder f it was something we said or, more likely, they are just finishing the Easter weekend.

April 13, 2009, Jobos – Ponce

Southern coastline of PR reminds you of southern California

After morning swims and breakfast we retrieve the anchor and head for a few miles down the protected channel behind Cayos de Barca and Cayos de Pajarda to emerge past Cayos de Ratones (“Cays of Rats”, a truly enchanting name) to the open waters of the Caribbean.  The wind is still light, so we fly the spinnaker again and keep the average speed above six knots.  Today’s run is only 23 miles, and we drop the spinnaker soon after passing Isla Cayo de Muertos – so named because a pirate is said to have kept his deceased lady love in a glass covered coffin here to which he would return periodically to see her.  We round Punta Carenere and Isla de Gata, drop the main and motor into the protected harbor of the Ponce yacht and Fishing Club.  Elisabeth calls the club on the VHF to see if they have any moorings.  They do not, but they do have a slip.  Can the dock boys help us into the slip?  No, they are all at lunch, but we can tie up to the fuel dock and wait for them to return.  That is fine with us as we need to top up the fuel anyway.  We approach the fuel dock very cautiously, which is fortunate because about 15 feet away from the dock we slide to a stop in the mud.  At about one knot there is no harm done so we simply back away.  A helpful person on the dock tells us that the water is deeper further along he dock, and he even helps us with our lines when we make the second approach.  While we are waiting for someone to come to the fuel dock to open the pumps we look around the marina.  The slip they have promised us is set up in such a way as to make it almost impossible to secure the boat to the pilings with our bimini and side curtains up, and definitely impossible to do without shore side help.  We decide to anchor in the harbor instead and find a spot conveniently close to the marina.  The little bay is not very picturesque.  Between it and the town is a commercial area where the cargo ships come in to be loaded and unloaded.  But the marina itself has very tight security, nice grounds including tennis courts, and a fuel dock that sells high quality fuel and water – once you are able to get into it.

April 14, 2009, Ponce

U.S. boats leaving U.S. waters are not required by U.S. Customs to clear out.  But many other countries< style="mso-spacerun:yes"> Since Boqueron, our last anticipated port of call on Puerto Rico is not a port of entry, we have to clear out here in Ponce or go around to Mayaguez on the west end of the island, which no one recommends.  We also hear that provisioning is very limited in Boqueron so we decide to spend one more day here.  Customs does not appear on the map to be too far away, so we decide to walk.  After we have gone about a quarter of a mile a man in an incredibly dilapidated car stops to ask if we would like a ride. As so often happens when people who do not understand each other’s language try to communicate, we understand each other almost perfectly.  He has pictures of Muhammad Ali in the car.  They are so old that they still refer to the name Cassius Clay.  The man lets us know that he is aldo a boxer (or more likely was a boxer) and Ali was his hero.  He drives us through a very ugly industrial area, further than we expected, and drops us near the customs office.  We get our clearance papers without difficulty, but meet a Dutch couple who have made the mistake of sailing into U.S. waters without a visa.  This used to be OK for Europeans, and it never occurred to them that the rules might have changed in this time of heightened security.  They were required to pay a penalty of $500 per person in addition to the regular visa fee, and it had to be in cash.  Since you can only withdraw $400 per day from an ATM it took them two days to raise the cash and they have just returned to the customs office to make the payment.  At least that is better than it would have been a few year ago when there were no ATM’s.  We take a taxi back to our dinghy and return to Singoalla.  We have received an email from Sam and Wendy telling us in answer to Elisabeth’s question that we should definitely provision in Ponce as almost nothing is available in any of our next three planned stops.  We decide to spend another night here.  We go into the marina for lunch and showers.  We then relax for the afternoon, have a light supper and retire early.

April 15, 2009, Ponce – La Parguera

The marina calls a taxi to take us to the large Pueblo supermarket where we buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of groceries.  They are not expensive, we just buy a lot.  After a detour by way of the post office we return to the marina and stow all our purchases.  We have definitively not seen the charming part of Ponce – we are assured that there is one – but we want to be on our way so we prepare to weigh anchor.  As is our custom, Elisabeth is at the bow to raise the anchor and Larry is at the helm for this maneuver.  We have developed a series of hand signals that tell Larry where the anchor is and in what direction and how fast he should go.  Today the signals break down after the anchor has come off the bottom.  Elisabeth begins waving and shouting and Larry thinks he hears her say something like “bicycle”.   Sure enough, we have hooked a bicycle that was lying at the bottom of the harbor.  A nearby sailor sees us trying to get the bike off the hook.  Elisabeth is now steering and Larry has gone to the bow to take over the chore of swearing at the bicycle.  The neighbor comes over in his dinghy, helps to get the bike off the anchor and takes it ashore so the same thing can’t happen to someone else.  It is blowing close to 20 knots when we raise the sails, so the main and partial jib send us along in comfort at almost seven knots.  We cover the 25 miles or so to La Parguera in well under four hours.  The entrance to the anchorage is very tricky, so we drop the sails well outside the first reef and motor in very carefully. There is an island just in front of the town.  The guide book says to pass close to the island and turn to port when you are abeam of the town dock.  But it doesn’t say on which side you should pass the island.  There are several very shallow spots in the harbor that are only partially marked, but we evidently make the right decisions since we arrive at the designated anchorage without bumping the bottom.  The town is quite picturesque with gaily colored houses on stilts built out over the water, but there is not much activity to be seen ashore, even at what appears to be a resort hotel.   It is very quiet here with only a few other boats in sight, and we spend a quiet evening and go to bed even earlier than usual.