End of Day 1 - Caribbean towards Chesapeake

These Blog entries are edited versions of the messages we sent back as we completed the passage. They were sent by radio using a laptop that controls a modem and the HF/SSB radio, using the SailMail system. We sent the messages daily to Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members.

2359 (AST, GMT-4) 7 May 2018

Dear All,

First task of the day was to wave goodbye
to Mark and Lisa on Wild Iriswho left an hour
 before us to head south
towards Bonaire or perhaps Curacao

Well we are off again on another long passage.  This one should take us somewhere between 8 and 12 days (depending on the wind which is looking rather variable) and we will cover something in the region of 1300 nautical miles.  Four months to the day since we arrived in the Caribbean at Barbados, this morning we raised our anchor in Culebra (part of the Spanish Virgin islands) and have set course north towards Chesapeake Bay.  We are on our way to see our good friends Phil and Lesley who live just west of Washington DC, and we've timed that visit to fit in with our insurance company's requirement that we are above the 35 degree north latitude by 1 June to keep us out of the hurricane belt.

We spent the last few days in Culebra making preparations, so BV has been checked and we also have lots of meals already prepared and ready to reheat to make the first part of the passage as easy as possible. We do have a slight problem with the weather forecast which prompted a last-minute job on the engine first thing this morning, delaying our departure slightly, but we're now bowling along nicely.

And the it was our turn to set off from Culebra 

Heading out of Ensenda Honda, Culebra

Once underway, our first priority was to make water so that we had full tanks again (our last anchorage, whilst nice, didn't have water that looked great for watermaking).  Happily, the watermaker worked perfectly so we didn't have to divert to San Juan or Fajardo to fill our tanks from a hosepipe. We'll make a little water every day from now on during the passage to make sure the tanks stay topped up.

A couple of short videos to show you what it’s like:

And one in a rain shower:

The issue with the weather is that the wind is fine for about 5 days but then we will hit a part where it dies off to nothing or comes from the wrong direction for us.  We may well end up motoring through that patch, hence we decided to change the impeller on the engine slightly early, first thing this morning. To keep us going under sail for as long as possible we have elected to head out almost towards Bermuda and will then make an abrupt turn left to head towards the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Our friends Mike and Cate on Kealoha Vset off from Puerto Rico a day ahead of us to sail towards Charleston. They have elected to sail much closer to the American Eastern Seaboard and so it will be interesting to see which routing works better. Our last weather forecast also predicted that a low pressure system was going to build just south of Chesapeake at about the time we'll be approaching that area; we'll have to see how that works out.  But we are also conscious that an 8 day out weather forecast isn't very accurate, and a lot can change.

We'll aim to send in a daily report on where we are and how the passage is going.  We use our HF/SSB radio to send that to Charlotte and she will then send that out to you.  That's all subject to it not getting in the way of her university studies, and so if you don't get a report one day then don't worry, she'll send it out when she has more time.

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 7 May: N18 36 W65 26
Position at 2359 7 May: N19 59 W65 41
Midnight to Midnight distance: n/a nautical miles
Total miles covered:  104 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go: 1194 nautical miles

End of Day 1 - Caribbean towards Chesapeake

Ensenada Honda Culebra Spanish VIs

Thanks to Mark Pollington (Wild Iris) for many of the photos in this blog entry.  I’ve credited some, but perhaps not all of them, in the captions

Anchored in Ensenada Honda, Culebra, once the rainstorm had gone through.
Wild Irisis off to the left of the picture

Mark and Lisa weren’t on board Wild Iris when we arrived in Ensenada Honda, Culebra, on Tuesday 1 May, so we set to calling CBP in Puerto Rico to inform them of our arrival (compulsory even if you intend/need to visit the CBP post at the airport) and getting the dinghy ready for us to report in person to CBP ashore.  Once on terrafirmawe were very kindly give a lift up to the airport by a local lady, Suzie, driving a golf-cart but when we arrived there was no Customs Officer in sight. We waited……and waited…..and waited… and eventually called CBP in Puerto Rico to check that the officer was intending returning to the airport that day.  After another quarter of an hour or so, he arrived (after a long, late lunchbreak), cleared BV into the US customs area and issued us a US Cruising Permit for her (cost US$37).  So, BV is now permitted to remain in the US for up to a year whereas we have to leave the country no later than 20 October 2018 (6 months after we immigrated in St Thomas).  I guess we’ll need to go to Canada then….

Views around Culebra Town canal/cut-through.  Clockwise from top left:  Looking north from the lifting bridge into Ensenada Honda; looking south from the lifting bridge along the canal/cut-through; view from Mamachita’s veranda; looking back towards the lifting bridge from Mamachita’s veranda.
Note:  the lifting bridge no longer lifts

We wandered back to Culebra Town and took a look around, visiting the supermarket near the airport that Suzie had pointed out earlier and then also taking in the supermarket on the cut-through/canal.  We found both to be surprisingly well-stocked for a small island.  So much so that we knew that we would be okay for victualling when, a few days later, we decided to depart for the US mainland from Culebra rather than from San Juan on mainland Puerto Rico as we had originally intended.

Views of Culebra Town.  Bottom left:  all the advertising signs on the island are hand painted

We thoroughly enjoyed our wander around the town and particularly enjoyed the bright paintwork on the buildings and the hand-painted advertising hoardings on the walls.

Flamenco Beach, described to us as ‘the best beach on the island’.  Centre picture by Mark

Back at BV we were visited by Mark and Lisa Pollington from Wild Iris.  We had last met up with them in Leverick Bay at the Cruising Association get together and by this time we had rather expected them to be further south or east. However, Lisa’s knee (injured in an accident getting into/out of the dinghy in a swell) had slowed down their progress and though her knee was much recovered, with a 3-4 day hard-on-the-wind passage south to Bonaire or Curacao ahead of them they didn’t want to set off until a) her knee was almost fully recovered and b) the forecast looked reasonable.  So, over the next 5 days we spent a lot of time discussing the forecast weather situation and deciding on the best day to set off north and south, whilst preparing both yachts for long-distance passages.

Looking northwest along Flamenco Beach

But not before we had hired a petrol-driven golf cart and spent a day exploring the island.  We had been recommended to visit Flamenco Beach, ‘the best beach on the island’ so we went there first and, yes, it truly is a spectacular beach.  It has a beautiful crescent of fine, soft, white sand with gloriously turquoise waters breaking onto the sand and the beach is backed by tropical island palm trees. It’s perfectly wonderful and all the locals and other tourists know it too.  So much so that in the carpark behind the beach there’s a large building with security lockers as well as a café and toilets.  None of the other beaches we visited had such facilities but then most of them were further away from ‘civilisation’ (the airport and the main town).

Flamenco Beach

There’s a reef to the north of Flamenco Beach which keeps it relatively calm, even with the prevailing northeasterly wind and, when we arrived, there were a couple of yachts anchored in the southeast corner of the bay.  It looked like a lovely place to spend the night, particularly given the colour of the sea, which was far prettier than that in Ensenada Honda.

Tamarindo Beach – great snorkelling!

From Flamenco Beach we put Lisa’s injured knee to the test and took the footpath from the rear of the car-park (through a gate that looked very locked but wasn’t) across to Tamarindo Beach, where we had been told the snorkelling is excellent.  It was a reasonably long walk for Lisa and, when we came to it, the beach was nothing like as sheltered as we had hoped.  This beach is within a nature reserve that extends some distance offshore and within this area fishing and potting are not permitted, hence our source had said that the snorkelling and diving here is very good.  Lisa wanted to rest her knee and stayed on the beach whilst Mark, Nicky and I braved the uneven bottom and swam out to see what we could find.

Top left:  Front right of picture shows Sea rod coral in front of Corky sea fingers with Lobed star coral behind.  Brain coral back left.  Top right: Sea rod and Brain coral.  Bottom right: Common sea fan and Sea rod. Bottom left:  Elkhorn coral?

We had a very enjoyable swim and saw a good amount of soft coral – the most we had seen for a considerable time. Whilst there were coral heads off the beach, the best display was along the headland to the western end of the beach…..

Top:  Hawksbill turtle (note the jagged edge to the back of the shell). Bottom:  Green turtle (no jagged edge to the shell).  Hawksbill turtles tend to be smaller than Green turtles (30-100lb vs 100-200lb) but it’s difficult to estimate size in these photos

…..where we also had a great view of a couple of turtles.

Top:  Carlos Rosario Beach.  Bottom: Vieques as seen from Carlos Rosario Beach

From the headland we had looked north along the coast and seen an even more stunning beach and so once we had dried off from swim number one we continued along the path to Carlos Rosario Beach.  Here the water was beautifully protected from the northeasterly wind and, having found an area where the sand continued all the way to the water’s edge (no rocky bottom to negotiate), Lisa joined the 3 of us for a swim over the reef close offshore.

Venus sea fan next to Corky sea fingers 

A school of Clown wrasse (L)

Brain coral with Elkhorn coral in front

If anything, this was even better than the snorkelling off Tamarindo Beach, with myriad fish and plenty of Common sea fans and Sea rods as well as a huge variety of hard corals.

Carlos Rosario Beach

We had another long swim and by the time we got out it was 1300 – time for lunch – and if we didn’t hurry all the places to eat might be closed.  So, reluctantly, we turned our backs on Carlos Rosario beach and headed to the golf-cart for the drive back to town.

Lunch at Zaco’s Tacos.  Bottom (L-R):  Nicky, me, Lisa and Mark.  The picture looks a little odd as it was taken as a 360°panoramic shot on Mark’s iPod

The chap in the vehicle hire shop had recommended that we eat at Zaco’s Tacos so we headed straight there. Amazingly, the restaurant didn’t open until 1400 so we had a short wait, along with about 10 other people (a sign of a good restaurant – a place where all the locals eat), until the sign was turned around and the front door opened.  (Opening hours 1400-2100 Mon-Thu, 1700-2100 Fri).  We had a fabulous meal!  Lisa and Mark each had a burrito and Nicky and I shared a burrito and a shrimp taco.  Each was delicious, with fresh flavours and interesting ingredients – Mexican food as you didn’t know it could be done!

Zoni Beach with views out towards Culebrita (bottom photo by Mark)

Hunger pangs sated we headed out once more, this time to the northeast coast and Zoni Beach – another recommendation.

Compulsory tropical paradise pictures

Yet more beautiful white sand, turquoise waters and lovely views out to nearby islands, in this instance Culebrita. It has  a couple of good anchorages which we had intended to visit but didn’t actually get to – one for next time!

Zoni Beach is a Leatherback Turtle nesting site

Mark, Nicky and I took a stroll northeast along the beach, intrigued by some fencing we could see a short distance away.  We found that the stakes marked out an area where a Leatherback turtle had laid her eggs. Looking closely we could see the indentation in the sand from her excavation and even the track up along the sand where she had made her way from and to the sea.  There were information boards about Leatherback turtles at the entrance to the beach so it seems likely that the nesting sites are carefully observed and, probably, the baby turtles watched over when they hatch from the eggs and make their way to the sea.

The anchorage behind the reef at the southeastern entrance to Ensenada Honda

With the afternoon drawing on we decided to take a drive out to view the anchorage behind the reef at the entrance to Ensenada Honda and then to find a suitable bar from which to enjoy the sunset. Lisa and Mark had spent their first night in Culebra in the reef-protected anchorage and it certainly looks to be a lovely place to stop.  Windswept perhaps but protected from most seas by the reef – a bit like the anchorage in Clifton Harbour on Union Island or behind Green Island in Antigua.

Melones Beach and the locals

We tried to end our tour on Melones Beach, which would be the perfect place from which to watch the sunset – had we had some beers to hand.  As it is, there is no beach bar and the locals, a large flock of chickens with a protective rooster and a few hermit crabs, weren’t able to help with the (lack of) beer situation, so we headed back to the town and a bar at the harbour. It had been a fantastic day out and, based on it, we certainly plan to return to Culebra and visit by boat some of those beautiful beaches and islands that we saw on our tour.

For the next 4 days we were kept busy with tasks preparing BV for the long passage north to the Chespeake Bay.  As I alluded to earlier, we had planned to explore Culebra for a few days before moving on to some of the other Spanish Virgin Islands, including Puerto Rico.  After that we had intended to head north to Charleston, stay there for about a week and then continue north to the Chesapeake Bay. But looking at the recent forecasts and, once again, calculating distances, estimating the time required to cover those distances and making allowances for unforeseen occurrences, we decided that our plan was too ambitious for the available time.  We need to be north of 35°N no later than 1 June to comply with the requirements of our insurance company, to say nothing of the fact that we have committed to stay with good friends near Washington DC at the beginning of June.  So, instead of a relaxed cruise in the Spanish Virgin Islands, we started to make preparations for sailing BV 1300nm north.

Over those 4 days we checked the engine, generator and other equipment, bringing forward some routine servicing (eg an engine impeller change) and making sure that there were no potential problems with the mechanical systems of which we were not aware.  We transferred the fuel from the jerry cans that we keep on deck into BV’s main tanks and then did some dinghy runs ashore with the jerry cans to ensure that both BVand Wild Iriswere chock-a-block full of fuel.  Nicky did some nav planning and prepared charts for the US mainland whilst keeping a close eye on the weather and I studied the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) books to check on bridge clearances between Beaufort, NC and Norfolk, VA should we make landfall further south than we intended at this point (answer: lowest bridge = 63ft, BV’s air draft = 65ft; the offshore route looks to be the sensible one!).  Nicky also winched me up the mast so that I could check and remake a connection on the AIS aerial and whilst I was up there I put the foam pads back on the spreaders, as we had done before our Atlantic crossing, to help protect the mainsail from chafe.  I also carried out another rig check and, happily, found nothing untoward.  We spent the last 2 days food shopping and cooking up meals to make the first half of the passage easier.  It was all go, but in amongst all that busy-ness we still found time to relax in the evening (sundowners, dinners and cocktails) with Mark and Lisa, each checking on the others’ progress and discussing problems and issues.

With a 10 day passage ahead of us, and some pretty variable conditions likely, Sunday evening was a quiet one.  We’ve had a wonderful time in the Caribbean and are very much looking forward to returning for winter 2018/9 but then we’re also looking forward to an American summer and a new country, or countries (if we get to Canada), to explore.

Sunset at Melone Beach (photo by Mark)

Ensenda Honda, Culebra, Spanish VIs

Sailing to Culebra Spanish VIs

Leaving St Croix

It’s about 50nm from Frederiksted on St Croix to Ensenada Honda on Culebra and we knew that we needed to arrive in time to get to the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) post at the airport during working hours.  So, it was an 0600 start from St Croix on Tuesday 1 May and we had the engine on and off a few times before the wind settled down to a good 15-18knots from the southeast.

We made good speed downwind (about 7.5knots) with plenty of blue skies and a lovely blue sea to go with them.

And a large pod of dolphins spent 10 minutes of so playing around the bow wave and diving under BV from one side to the other until, suddenly, as quickly as they had arrived, they were gone.

Entrance to Ensenada Honda, Culebra, ahead.  The reef is visible between BV’s port bow and the island, with yachts anchored behind it

We arrived off the entrance channel through the reefs outside the bay at about 1230. Unfortunately we arrived at exactly the same time as a huge black squall and so made our way in through the wide, well-marked channel in torrential rain.

Passing the reef out to our port side

The channel runs really rather close to the reef in places, which was particularly disconcerting in the poor light conditions, but we were soon past all the buoys and into the bay beyond.  From there we had a further 2nm to go to the anchorage off Culebra Town.  With the wind from the east there is space for a good fetch here, though it is possible to anchor behind Pirate Cay for added protection.  Not intending to stay too long, we anchored between Pirate Cay and the town quay, quite close to a very familiar looking yacht – Wild Iris.

Ensenda Honda, Culebra, Spanish VIs

Frederiksted St Croix USVIs

BVat anchor off Frederiksted

By the time that we got ashore at Frederiksted on the afternoon of Saturday 28 April, it was getting late and most of the shops were closing up for the day/weekend if they had not already done so.

Frederiksted’s main square close to the root of the cruise-ship pier

So it was a very quiet town that we wandered around, looking for signs of a food store (for perishables, like bread) and a bar.  In comparison to Christiansted, Frederiksted struck us as a real sleepy-hollow, with little to see, but because it has the deep-water pier it is the entry point to St Croix for cruise-ship passengers.  It seemed a little odd to us, but I guess most of the passengers are bussed into the interior of the island [Ed: or to Christiansted!] or jump immediately into dive boats for a spot of diving or snorkelling.

Frederiksted’s main street – a bustling hive of activity for a Saturday late afternoon!

We had a pleasant wander around the town and made a note of the bus stop and the tourist office.  On the Monday we would need to clear out of the USVIs and one of us probably needed to get to the airport to do so.  We hoped that we would be able to catch a bus or a public taxi to the airport, rather than an expensive private hire cab but our biggest hope was that a Customs official would visit the port to clear in the cruise-ship that we knew was due in on Monday and that we would therefore be able to clear out with them.

Views of Frederiksted.  Top left:  Nicky with the pier behind her.  Top right:  tourist office in one of the older buildings in the town.  Bottom:  The old Customs House

Fort Frederik.  A National Historic Landmark in need of some TLC

Frederiksted from the pier

On Sunday we dinghied across to Frederiksted pier and joined the several other snorkelers and divers around the pilings.

Snorkelling between the legs of the pier.  There’s a profusion of sponges and corals growing on the uprights.  Even though a vast amount of damage was done to the flora and fauna by Hurricane Irma the dive-shop staff members we spoke to said that the ecosystem is making a good recovery

Patrolling barracuda

Very soon after entering the water we spotted 2 patrolling barracuda that loitered around for the duration of our swim.  Happily, for once, they didn’t decide to spend the whole time following Nicky! Despite their presence we saw many large schools of fish in and around the pier’s legs.

Left:  Smooth trunkfish.  And to think that for months now we have thought that this was a Pufferfish! Thanks to our new Pocket Guide to Corals and Fishes (Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean), purchased in Christiansted, we might do better with underwater identification

Left:  Fire sponge (reddish-orange) Right:  Square fire coral

The pilings are all hugely encrusted with corals and sponges, apparently much depleted since Hurricane Irma’s ravaging in 2017, but still very impressive and, by all accounts, recovering well.

We had great fun swimming up and down the legs, joining the shoaling fish and taking a close-up look at the various creatures on display.

Left: azure vase sponges?  Top right:  yellow tube sponges developing

Close to the surface the colours were spectacular.  Lower down, where the water filters the colour from the sunlight , everything was much bluer but still the variety was impressive.

Top:  Christmas tree worms with mustard hill coral. 
Bottom:  Finger coral and barrel sponges?

We must have been in the water for well over an hour and still we felt we could have stayed longer but we had jobs to do back on board and so, reluctantly, we returned to BV.

A small school of sergeant majors

One of those jobs was cleaning BV’s hull something we hadn’t done for a few weeks.  It’s usually quite a fun chore as frequently lots of fish join us for a free feeding session as we scrape weed and slime off the hull.  This time, however, few fish came our way, probably all intent on eating from the pier.  Nicky was feeling somewhat dizzy from so much descending and ascending in the morning and got out of the water much sooner than usual, so I rather had my work cut out.  But the job was done in the end and BV will sail a bit faster for it too I am sure!

Monday and the cruise-ship is in. No diving on the pier today!

Nicky got up early on Monday morning to call Customs to see if they would be sending anyone down to the pier to meet the incoming cruise-ship.  Unfortunately for us, it was on a domestic itinerary and so did not need to clear in or out.  So Nicky went ashore with the ship’s documents to visit the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) post at the airport.  Having asked at the Tourist Office she was informed that there is no public bus or taxi service to the airport but one of the ladies in the office took pity on her and ran her out to the airport herself.  Customs paperwork complete, Nicky took a long walk to the main road and caught a public taxi back to the town; only $2.50 as opposed to $20 in a private hire cab.  In previous years CBP have manned an office in Gallows Bay at Christiansted but it was wrecked by Hurricane Irma and has not yet been reopened.  But the lady in the airport office said that it was only temporarily closed and should be reopened for winter 2018/9.  We have our fingers crossed that is the case as it’s a far more convenient place to get to, even allowing for an 18nm passage there from Frederiksted, most of which is to windward.  With our check-out paperwork stamped we had 24 hours to get BV clear of the USVIs.  Our next planned stop was Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands (Puerto Rico) where we would be able to complete BV’s customs clearance for entry to the USA.

Frederiksted, St Croix, USVIs