We have been on the move this week and when I look back on how much we have done, I am not sure how it has only been a week! We began last weekend with a trip to Culebra, Puerto Rico. Culebra was only a couple of hours sail from Vieques so we enjoyed the trip. It is also a known fact that if there are two boats on the water at anytime within sight of each other, it is a race. It doesn’t matter if the other boat knows it is a race or not…it is a race. On this particular day, we had several other sailboats in sight and luckily, Galt had a hefty head start so he won with a blazing speed of around 5 mph. Once we anchored in Culebra, we went on the hunt for an early dinner. Do you remember the tale that your Dad used to tell whenever you would complain about not having a car? The one where he had to walk 10 miles to school in the snow uphill….both ways? Minus the snow, that is Culebra. So, we started our trek by walking over to the car rental company to inquire about a golf cart rental since I had already figured out that walking the island was going to be an impossibility. Luckily, they had a cart available and we happily hopped in and went in search of dinner. Little did we know that adventure was going to be a two hour ordeal…in a town that only had two roads! There were a lot of tourists on the island which was a good thing for Culebra. However, the island residents were so scared of the Stupid that many places were still shut down. As we observed the local population, we began to understand why they were so frightened as the mean age of the locals had to be 82 years. We opened Google maps and began the food hunt. As we made our way to each one, we ticked them off the list one by one. Closed. Closed. Closed. Our trusty little golf cart made its’ way up one hill and down another, up and down, back and forth. Finally, we found a pizza place that would take your order on the sidewalk and then bring your pizza out when it was ready. So, we had a golf cart picnic and decided that fine dining in Culebra was not going to be our destiny. The next day, we headed out to explore the beauties of Culebra. We started at Flamenco Beach which has been voted one of the world’s most beautiful beaches. It had stretches of white sand and beautiful Caribbean blue water. It even had two old military tanks that the locals had turned into art which was very unique. From Flamenco, we made our way to another area that was known for good snorkeling. We spotted our first turtle! It was the first colorful reef that I have seen with a variety of corals and fish. After our snorkel, we settled in our golf cart for our picnic lunch (which we had smartly packed prior to leaving the boat) and battled at least a dozen roosters who decided that they deserved our lunch more than we did. We made our way back to the boat and spent the rest of the day counting the number of airplanes that took off and landed. We weren’t quite sure why there were so many planes flying into such a small island and I am still suspicious that it was not just one plane taking off and landing over and over again to create the illusion of a lot of action!
From Culebra, we sailed over to Culebrita. Culebrita was the perfect picture of a Caribbean island. It had sand beaches, a lighthouse and natural “jacuzzi” pools. We started the day trying to win a snapshot of an elusive turtle who liked to torture us by popping up briefly and then diving deep so that I would give up on trying to get a picture. Then, as soon as I put the camera away, he would pop up again. I told Bill that if I ever did get a picture of the turtle, he would be waving his fins by his ears, sticking his tongue out and saying “nanny nanny boo boo!” On Culebrita, there is an area known as the jacuzzi pools. We decided that would be our adventure for the day so we jumped off of the boat and snorkeled our way over to the far beach. On the way, we spotted our elusive turtle and several friends (I still think they were all laughing at me) as well as a sting ray. We landed on a very rocky shore and Bill made his way easily over to the pools. It took me a bit longer…..I am not a very graceful person and my fear of falling on the rocks and breaking a bone is a well founded fear so I would describe my journey to the pools as more of a crawl. But we made it and it was well worth the effort! As we sat in the pools, huge waves from the open ocean would crash through the rocks and then as soon as we thought they would crush us, the waves would disintegrate into a soft foam turning the pool into a jacuzzi. It was amazing! The next morning, it was time for our jump over to the US Virgin Islands! It had been a long time coming and we were ready for our next island chain. It was an easy crossing and we landed in Brewer’s Bay. We had been warned that the USVIs were very crowded due to the British Virgin Islands still being closed for entry and the warnings were well founded. The only spot we could find was next to a large yacht and I don’t think they were happy with us parking so close to them but since they had a dinghy about the size of Galt, two jet skis and a huge pink flamingo floatie we figured they could share a little of their space. Brewer’s Bay sits next to the only airport on St. Thomas and the planes fly straight over the bay onto a small runway that juts out into the bay. One of my friends and her family were landing that day and I told her to keep an eye out for Galt which was right next to the giant pink flamingo. She said she easily spotted us which was no surprise given the size of that flamingo! On St. Thomas, they have great public transit called safaris. The safaris are flatbed trucks that they have converted into small open buses by welding seats onto the flatbed. For only one to two dollars, you can travel just about anywhere. We walked to the safari stop (uphill both ways, of course!) and made our way into Charlotte Amalie which is the capital of St. Thomas. I can’t say that Charlotte Amalie has a lot of flair or charm but it had groceries, restaurants and all necessities so it worked for our needs. We relocated the boat from Brewer’s Bay to the Charlotte Amalie harbor in order to be closer to the ferry so that we could travel over to St. John to visit with my friend, Rachel, and her family while they were on vacation. We hopped onto the safari and made our way over to the town of Redhook to catch the ferry. The ferry moved just a wee bit faster than Galt and we made the crossing in only 10 minutes! Rachel picked us up at the ferry station and we went to Hawksnest beach on St John and had a wonderful day catching up with old friends. Rachel was our first “back home friend” that we have met on our trip and it was a bit surreal to have a piece of my land life mix with my sailing life. It was a great day and we look forward to others of you coming to visit soon! Once we returned to Charlotte Amalie, we spotted a superyacht that had been anchored in the bay. The superyacht had moved into the yacht club so we passed right by it on the way back to the boat on the dinghy. It was massive! When we returned to Galt and looked up the details on the boat, it belonged to the Walmart heiress and it only cost $300 million dollars! Just a drop in the bucket I suppose! We have to be sure and whisper when we talk about the fancy yachts because we don’t want to give Galt a complex! This next week, we are planning on checking out some different anchorages in St. Thomas while we wait for our new dinghy to arrive at the local marine store. Bill found a buyer for our very heavy and difficult to manage on a daily basis dinghy so we have ordered a lighter weight one that will hopefully not kill Bill every time he has to pull it out of the water. We are hoping it will arrive this week but given that St. Thomas is very schooled in Caribbean Maybe Time, we shall have to wait and see! I hope that you all have a wonderful week and that you enjoy the Pulitzer prize winning photo of our elusive turtle! ***more pics on picture tab***
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Exploring Vieques has been a very busy time! Vieques has two main towns, Esperanza and Isabel Segunda. We are anchored at Esperanza and it has a beachy vibe with cool local restaurants and an oceanfront Malecon. We knew that we needed transportation to get to the town of Isabel Segunda in order to get our Covid test completed on Friday. So, on Monday, we started calling around to secure a vehicle. We contacted three of the rental companies and were told that they “perhaps, maybe, possibly” would have a golf cart on Friday. Three more were completely out of any form of transportation. It was at this moment that we realized that our “Covid Plus” existence was coming to an end. Covid Plus was the fact that while travel has been difficult for us the past year, there were some pluses which included never having to compete with other tourists for anything. Not any longer! All of the rental places shared that this week they were sold out of vehicles and all of the restaurant owners reported being much busier. So, excellent news! Start your traveling again…the world is waiting! One of the restaurant owners said she could tell that the Americans had been locked down for a year because all of the forty somethings were acting like they were on Spring Break. Great for the local economy, not great for getting to town for our Stupid test. After striking out with getting transportation over the phone, Bill set out in person to find a golf cart treasure. He found a place that had two golf carts available. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to take his credit card and ID with him so he dashed back to the boat to get them. In the twenty minutes that it took him to come back to the boat, the two golf carts had been rented! The rental girl took pity on him and told him that a cart would be returning at 4pm that day so if he could get there at that time, he could have it. Needless to say, he was ready and waiting at 4pm! We voted that sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico was not as difficult as finding a golf cart on Vieques!
Our first adventure of the week was a tour to Mosquito Bay. Mosquito Bay is the top bioluminescent bay in the world. We were curious to see how it compared to our first bioluminescent adventure in La Paquera. We went on a night with a new moon so it was pitch black. The tour group had glass bottom kayaks but I was doubtful that we would see much since we had to swim in the La Paquera bay to actually see the bioluminescence. Swimming is not allowed in Mosquito Bay. We hopped into the kayaks and began to make our way out into the blackness. With the first dip of the paddle, a magical world appeared. The bioluminescence poured over the paddle like fireflies. Looking through the glass bottomed kayak was like watching the Star Trek Enterprise travel at warp speed. As fish swam by, they would leave streaks of light like a meteor and as they jumped out of the water, they glowed. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. You look down into water full of sparkle and you look up to see a million stars. Once again, if not on your bucket list, add it! On Thursday, we set out for our first adventure day in the golf cart. First, we visited Hombre de Puerto Ferro which is known as the Vieques Stonehenge. Well….maybe not but the rocks were definitely an impressive size. We headed out to Puerto Ferro which is a lighthouse that was last used in 1926. It has fallen into decay but the views on the point were spectacular. We then went on a great snorkel at La Chiva reef and toured Isabel Segunda which took all of about ten minutes. We headed to the local Black Sand beach which is where we had a close encounter with the Vieques horses and a wild tarantula. The horses on Vieques wander freely. They were originally brought to Vieques by the Spanish conquistadors. They are everywhere! Which leads us to our new game that we invented. Vieques has wild horses. Vieques was also used as a military practice range from 1941 to 2001. Vieques has paved roads but the potholes are deep and they fill them with sand to repair them so you can imagine how well that works. So, what is the game? If we were computer programmers, we would make a computer game called, “Poop, Pothole or Bomb?” Instead of race cars, the game would have golf carts. Instead of hazards such as mafia, cops or street gangs, the game would have piles of horse poop, huge potholes and unexploded bombs. The adventure would be making your way through Vieques deciding whether to drive through poop, hit a pothole or venture off road with the knowledge that you could easily explode from an old bomb….oh, wait a minute…..it isn’t a game…..it was our two days on a golf cart in Vieques! I know that you probably think I am exaggerating so I took a picture of one of the signs as proof that you are warned in certain areas not to venture off road because you may explode. Seriously? I know the military needs to practice and I am all for it…but did it never occur to anyone to possibly use, oh, I don’t know, perhaps….fake bombs?! We even had to change our anchoring plan for the weekend because the bay we had chosen sits directly in the middle of the “if you anchor here you could hit a bomb” zone. That’s comforting. After successfully avoiding bombs, only hitting a few potholes and running through more horse poop piles that I want to remember, we reached our destination for the week. The lab for our Covid tests so that we could apply to enter St. Thomas, USVI. The test was simple and thankfully, unlike her American counterpart last June, the Puerto Rican lab tech did not feel the need to shove the swab completely through my brain. I am sure that you will be as surprised as we were that we tested negative…. Tomorrow we set sail for Culebra, possibly Culebrita and then St. Thomas. We should arrive in the USVIs mid-week if all goes well. Until then, take my word for it…the correct order to win the game is Poop, then Pothole….and if no other course of action….Bomb! ***More pictures on Pictures tab We made it to Vieques, PR! We spent the week in Palmas del Mar getting a few projects completed, swimming in the pool, meeting some great people and waiting on weather. On Thursday, an amazing weather window opened so we headed out from mainland Puerto Rico over to Vieques. We spent the first night in Green Beach which was beautiful. The water was so clear you could see at least 30 feet to the bottom. Once we had anchored, we hopped off the boat and swam over to the beach. There were only a couple of boats in the bay so we enjoyed a private walk down the beach to the snorkel area. One thing about beaches in the Caribbean….most of them are not soft, white sand. This beach had rocks, shells and even sea urchins just waiting for unsuspecting feet. I had on my swim shoes but Mr. Tough Feet forgot his because he had his snorkel fins. I have been tweezing small, unknown prickles out of his feet ever since! Once we got to the snorkel site, we made our way out to the reef and enjoyed a leisurely float down the reef back to the boat. There were so many fish and different types of coral including fan coral and brain coral. As we floated by the neighboring boat, the captain asked if we had seen the manatees…we had not! I was sad to have missed swimming with the manatees but I am holding out hope.
I had a realization this week about goals versus dreams. Goals are something that we set and have plans to achieve. Goals have timelines and sub-goals. They are made up of definitive words such as “I will” or “by this time”. Goals are consciously made and when you achieve them, you know it and you usually pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Dreams on the other hand are whispers that occur in your mind. Sometimes you make note of them and remember them but most of the time, they just flicker in and out without too much acknowledgement. Dreams are made up of subjective words such as “I wish” or “someday”. In my life, I have set more goals than I can even count but it’s the dreams that sneak up on me and take my breath away. I think that dreams just slip away most of the time and when they do come true, we may not even take the time to remember that they were once only a dream. For example, I always had a goal to go on a trip to the Galapagos Islands. I planned and saved for 25 years and in 2017, I finally achieved that goal. It wasn’t until I returned from the trip and started looking at the pictures that I realized how many dreams had been associated with that goal. Dreams that were never consciously made but were there nonetheless. As I looked at my pictures, the dreams began to course through me and come to light. I dreamed of standing next to a giant Galapagos tortoise, there I was in a picture with the largest tortoise I could find. I dreamed of swimming with penguins and iguanas….there was the picture. I dreamed of seeing beautiful red sand beaches, picture. When I got to a picture of me lying on a lava rock where Charles Darwin had sat contemplating his theories of evolution, it hit me that moment was a dream I had not even known that I had! I could not help but wonder how many other dreams have come true in my life that I never even recognized as a dream nor appreciated them when they came to be. This week, as we crossed over to Vieques, a dream moment hit me. Bill and I had set many goals to accomplish our Caribbean adventure. Research a boat, buy a boat, take classes, study information online, read books, etc. Goals that were easy to track and were achieved. Not until crossing over to Vieques and dropping the anchor did a dream-realized hit me. Before we left the States, Bill and I always watched the tv show “Caribbean Life” (aka House Hunters in the Caribbean). Whenever the program would show a shot of boats in the bay, Bill would point and say, “There we are!” and we would laugh and keep watching. Many of those episodes focused on the island of Vieques. As we dropped anchor in the bay of Vieques, a rush of excitement came over me as I realized that dream had come true. We were officially the boat in the bay! I also learned this week that while there are goals and there are dreams, there are also things that happen in life that fall into the “well, I would never have even known to think that was a thing” category. Such as, you ask? Well, see if you have ever thought of this one….strap your butt into a small, flimsy seat called a bosun chair; attach that chair to the halyard that runs up the mast (halyard is the main line that lifts the sail); have your partner pull the halyard to lift your butt 35 or 40 feet off the deck as you swing around the mast like a carnival ride; attempt to get close enough to the radar dome to write down the serial number on a piece of paper (by the way, there is a reason that birds don’t write things down on paper); change plan and attempt to call number down to partner; note that number is so scratched that at least several letters have to be guessed; decide to take phone out of pocket and attempt to take pictures of the serial number while gripping mast with legs; forget to take pictures of the top of mast view for blog; partner lowers you carefully back down the mast to the deck and everyone sighs in relief….yep, never saw that one coming in life! The good news is that we were able to successfully retrieve the serial number with the phone pictures so mission accomplished! This next week we will be adventuring on Vieques (which is so small you can see the entire island via golf cart). Then, per requirements of the US Virgin Islands, we will be getting another swab stuck up our nose and making our way into the Virgin Islands via the small island of Culebra….all within five days of getting the test for The Stupid. Obviously, the powers that are making up these rules have perfect weather all the time and travel faster than 6 miles per hour! It is what it is! Have a wonderful week and be sure to take a few moments to watch out for those dreams that sneak up on you so they don’t just sneak on past. We had a very quiet week for a change. The weather has been beautiful and the crazy Christmas winds finally seemed to pass early last week. We headed out of Salinas and made our way to Jobos which was a quiet anchorage that we had all to ourselves. The town was little more than a dot on the map but there was a beach bar restaurant that overlooked the ocean which is always a win. We enjoyed our lunch in spite of the Greater Antillean Grackles that decided we were a way to a free lunch. As impressive as their name sounds, they are really just a black bird with a voracious appetite for crumbs. Once they figured out to stay at their end of the table and wait patiently, they hit the jackpot at the end of the meal with our leftover chips. After our two nights in Jobos, we spent one night in Patillas staging for our move around the southern tip of Puerto Rico. We woke to an amazing day and glided easily around the corner, made our way up the east coast and slid into Palmas Del Mar without any issues. Palmas Del Mar is a huge resort that covers 2700 acres. The beauty of living on a boat is that you get to stay in these amazing resorts without having to pay for a $300 a night room. Dock fees are usually around $70 a night and we get to enjoy the same amenities….quite the deal! We are now waiting on some packages to arrive so Bill can continue work on the systems this week. While waiting, we have enjoyed the swimming pool and a walk through the Pterocarpus Swamp which is here on property. We are not sure when we will be leaving Palmas because we are getting some quotes on projects and the Puerto Ricans definitely work on Caribbean Maybe Time. So, it could be a week or it could be a while. In the meantime, we will just continue to enjoy the resort life!
While we have been in Puerto Rico, we have made an observation that has us quite puzzled. We first noticed it when we arrived in PR and rented a car to go exploring. On that day, we began to poke fun about how many of the cars we were behind had only one rear light. We must have been behind at least four that day which gave us a chuckle. Now that we have been in PR a while, we have calculated that we have now reached statistical improbability numbers for the one rear light phenomenon. At least one out of every five cars has only one rear light! Why would that be? Are bulbs here outrageously overpriced? No. Are there no mechanic shops available? No. Does no one ever stop or turn? No. So why? Inquiring minds want to know! We have decided if a mobile bulb replacement company started on the island, the owner would be rich beyond his wildest dreams. Another query that we have had…where have all of the trash and the iguanas gone? When we were here in 2018, there was trash and iguanas everywhere. Our comments were, “If they would just pick up the trash and shoot the iguanas, this would be a lovely island.” Perhaps someone overheard our conversation in 2018 because all of the trash is gone and we have only seen a few iguanas since our arrival. Today, we were walking along the pier admiring the other boats when we came across this huge sport fishing boat. It was named “Basurita” with a picture of Oscar the Grouch in his trashcan. Given that the boat was easily pushing the million dollar mark, we decided that the person who overheard our conversation in 2018 started a trash collection company and made a fortune over the past two years. Job well done, Trashman! A short blog for a quiet week! I hope that you enjoy the upcoming Spring weather and get out to have some fun! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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