Anchoring in the BVI's

We have decided that we really like St Croix after spending a few days here and to think that someone we had met not too long ago suggested that we give it a miss.  

The town of Christiansted is full of the old colonial buildings from the Danish era and in the town centre many are in excellent condition and as such are still used as administration buildings, offices, houses or shops.  The Danes built the houses using a lot of brick which they imported as ballast on the old sailing ships.  They are grand and extremely strong compared to the modern looking structures and the fact that they are still standing after numerous tropical storms and hurricanes is testament to their construction.  Some of them have solid stone lower ground floor walls and then wooden weatherboard second stories added on.  All have colourful wooden shutters over the windows which contrast sharply with the pastel colours of the walls.  On the larger buildings there are curving staircases leading up to oversize wooden doors.  Many of the buildings have interesting little plaques or signs on them hinting at the history of the place and the street signs have Danish names similar to Charlotte Amalie.  Around the streets old canons have been upended and planted at street corners and walkways.  

Christiansted Buildings

On the outskirts of town some of the buildings start to get a bit more neglected and run down until eventually the buildings are just ruins.  The more interesting ones of these are at a certain stage of decay and have tropical plants and trees growing through the house structure.  The contrast in colours between the vibrant plants and the decaying masonry is really striking.  Some of these amazingly have “for sale” signs up.

Ruins in Christiansted

We had a good look around the fort which while quite small is very well preserved as it was a functioning administration building for the island long after it ceased to be a fort.  We call these school excursions and the kids really enjoy getting off the boat and having a look around although trapsing around with their parents looking at buildings wears pretty thin after a while so we have to keep them going with the promise of ice cream by the waterfront at the end of the day.  The town is quite quiet as this is the end of the tourist season for about three months but that suits us.  At the end of the day we went ashore for a nice meal at a really cool restaurant called Savant.

Dulcinea moored under the guns of the first

More Beautiful Architecture

For our final day on the island we hired a car - well Nic hired a car as Scott has been banned from driving after his Puerto Rico experience - and had a mini road trip.  As the island is only about 18miles long you can easily cover most of it in a day.  We visited the rugged east end and then ended up at Fredericksted.  The countryside varies from gently sloping hills to more rugged terrain covered in thick tropical forests.  There are dramatic cliffs and beautiful beaches along the coasts.  All over the island are what look like holiday homes and also the ruins of many old windmill towers form earlier times.  Fredericksted is the other significant town on the island and is similar to Christiansted with its buildings but no where near as big.  It is situated on a large open bay surrounded by palm fringed sandy beaches and protected from the prevailing weather due to its position on the western coast.  The bay lacks any dangerous coral reefs and as such caters for the cruise liner traffic.  The day we visited there were no liners berthed and so everything was extremely quiet

Church sign

The next day (25th April - Anzac Day) we headed back north.  Scott had leared out from the US Virgin Islands with the Customs and Border Protection authorities in Christiansted and we were making for an island in the British Virgin Islands called Jost Van Dyke, named after a Dutch pirate.  The island is not as big as Tortola or Virgin Gorda (the other major island of the BVI’s) but still large enough to support a small population.  We had a great sail from St Croix close reaching the 30NM on calm seas up to the Sir Francis Drake Chanel and then between the west end of Tortola and the east side of St John into clear water for the final 4NM across to Great Harbour at Jost Van Dyke.  The views when sailing amongst the islands is spectacular - rugged high island with indented coats, the hills steep and covered in green vegetation and all around sparkling blue waters with white sails dotted everywhere.

We arrived late in the afternoon at Great Harbour and there were already many yachts either swinging on a mooring or on their anchor.  We found a spot not too close in with sufficient room around us, dropped the anchor and hoisted our yellow “Q” flag to alert the authorities that we had not yet cleared in which Scott would do the next day.

Nic in Fredericksted

Over the last few months people we have met have told us to beware whilst sailing around the BVI’s.  There are two main reasons: one is that it is a busy place and most of the anchorages will get full, secondly there are varying levels of expertise in command of the yachts and as a result some very dubious anchoring procedures.  We had only just arrived and dropped our anchor at the BVI’s when this became very apparent.  

There is a bit of a herding instinct amongst yachts.  You can be the first to arrive at a secluded wide open bay and anchor at one point and for some strange reason the next yacht to arrive will more than likely decide he should anchor within spitting distance of you even though there is a whole bay available.  For this reason we have adopted a policy of trying to stay away from tight crowded anchorages and if we have to we will anchor on the outer of the anchorage.

So back to Great Harbour.  Within minutes of us setting our anchor a catamaran dropped his anchor in front of us and started dragging towards another boat.  He reset and dropped his anchor further out but now directly in our path and once again started to drag.  He seemed oblivious until Pete gestured to him that the distance between him and us was slowly decreasing.  Finally he reset again further out but still too close for comfort if the wind had got up.  Next day a lot of the yachts departed and we were left with a comfortable amount of space around us however by mid afternoon everyone had begun arriving and once again we had a boat tight off our stern and one in front of us.  At around midnight a rain squall came through and sure enough the guy in front dragged to within a few feet of our bow.  Scott was up on the foredeck and called out.  Luckily the skipper realised he was dragging and had started his engine and moved away to a spot well out before he contacted us. 

Apart from the anchoring drama’s Great Harbour is a nice spot - kind of typical of what you would envisage a Caribbean anchorage to be like.  Scott went ashore first thing and cleared in with the officials and then it was time for some school while Pete and Claire went ashore for an explore.  The town is not much more than a few bars and restaurants lining a sandy road just off the beach.  There is a bar at one end called Foxy’s which is a bit of a local institution so we visited that and had a wander around town. 

You get bad weather even in the Caribbean

The weather around the NE Caribbean and the Virgin Islands has been a bit dodgy since Pete and Claire arrived and seems to be only clearing up now.  We have had high winds constantly for the last few days, around 20kts  and gusting to 25 to 30kts with pretty cloudy skies.  This kind of weather puts a damper on things and Nic especially does not like it.  The wind whistles through the rigging and shakes the canvas dodger and bimini constantly creating a racket on deck.  Whenever you go on deck and leave the shelter of the dodger you get assailed by the wind.  The temperature is still pleasant and the water warm so its still possible to swim or walk around.

Breakfast from Calley, Pete and Claire

Pete managed to get his luggage back after a day of running around.  He decided that the only way he was going to get it was to get back to the airport as the information number American Airlines had given him was next to useless.  In order to retrieve his bag he first had to dingy off the boat into Cruz Bay in the USVI where we were anchored and buy some island clothes.  Then, looking more relaxed, he started out by clearing immigration and boarding a ferry to West End in Tortolla in the British Virgin Islands.  Once at the BVI he had to clear into the BVI territory and catch a cab across Tortolla to Beef island where the airport is.  Having got his case he then had to reverse the entire journey.  But at least he retrieved his bag.  He got his clothes and we got our emergency supplies.  

Having retrieved the lost bag we were free to get underway and moved to a couple of different anchorages on the North side of St Johns seeking a sheltered location to sit out the next few days.    We were waiting for the wind and seas to abate sufficiently so we could make the 30NM passage south to St Croix.  We ended up in a beautiful bay called Francis Bay.  There were a number of other yachts there with the same idea.  Its an interesting place with a couple of beautiful beaches fringing the bay.  We spent a couple of nights here and managed to get some polishing work done on the boat, some schooling and Pete managed to fix a repair I had carried out on the dingy which had not taken.

t the BVI he had to clear into the BVI territory and catch a cab across Tortolla to Beef island where the airport is.  Having got his case he then had to reverse the entire journey.  But at least he retrieved his bag.  He got his clothes and we got our emergency supplies.  

Having retrieved the lost bag we were free to get underway and moved to a couple of different anchorages on the North side of St Johns seeking a sheltered location to sit out the next few days.    We were waiting for the wind and seas to abate sufficiently so we could make the 30NM passage south to St Croix.  We ended up in a beautiful bay called Francis Bay.  There were a number of other yachts there with the same idea.  Its an interesting place with a couple of beautiful beaches fringing the bay.  We spent a couple of nights here and managed to get some polishing work done on the boat, some schooling and Pete managed to fix a repair I had carried out on the dingy which had not taken.

Many hazards in the Caribbean

Ashore there are the ruins of an old Danish schoolhouse and a sugar plantation and mill which was really interesting.  At one time (1800’s) the Danes used slave labour to grow sugar on plantations all over the islands.  One of the big plantations was at a place called Annaberg which was close to Francis Bay.  One afternoon we went ashore and walked to the ruins. The factory is set on a slightly elevated piece of ground facing Tortolla across a stretch of water called the Narrows.  The ruins are dominated by a huge stone structure which used to be a windmill which they used to crush the sugar cane.  When the wind was not blowing there was a horse drawn mill which could be used.  The ruins of the slave quarters and the processing houses can all be seen and the place is overgrown with trees and bushes.  In its day the hillsides around the factory which are now covered in short trees would have had sugar cane growing on terraces.  The sugar would be crushed and turned into either crystals or molasses and then shipped out.  Once slavery was abolished it became uneconomical and the industry stopped.

The old wind mill at Annaberg

View across narrows from the ruins

We shifted anchorages once to a place on the south side of the island called Coral Bay.  The weather was improving and we wanted to be closer to a departure point for St Croix (pronounced St Croy).  We hung out on a mooring for the best part of the day and then motored in and anchored off the township in the bay.  There were quite a few yachts anchored around us, a number of which looked like they had been there for a while.  There were also quite a few sunk in the harbour which is probably due in no small no part to the presence of a small moored houseboat which turns out to be a floating bar.  Initially it sounds like a fantastic idea but upon closer inspection the safety implications are quite extensive.  That evening we dinghied ashore for a look around and dinner.  Coral Bay is a pretty quiet place and reputed to be the place to come to get away from tourists on St Johns.  We walked around a bit and found a nice place to eat.

Tropical fruits

The wind had slowly been coming down and by the next morning it looked good for the crossing to St Croix.  We got going around 0800 in a fantastic 15kt easterly eventually having all three of Dulcinea’s sails flying.  One of the great things about having Pete and Claire on is that they are really keen on the sailing and especially for Scott with Pete here he can almost shut down and hand over to Pete.  The sail over to St Croix was fantastic with boat sailing around 7kts on average.  You can see the coast of St Croix almost as soon as you leave St Johns.  We motored into the harbour of Christiansted just after lunch.  The route into the harbour is strewn with reef and shallow spots but thankfully the channels are well marked.  We picked our way carefully in as far as we could go and then anchored right under the guns of the old fort and off Protestant Island.  

Christiansted Fort on St Croix

On first glance the island looks very ordered and neat.  The town itself lies in a natural bay with a backdrop of green rolling hills studded with houses.  From where we are anchored we can see the fort right on the waterfront, an old church and a number of other old colonial type buildings which are low lying (two or three story max) and all coloured yellow, white, pink or some other pastel shade all slightly set back.  There are a few Danish flags flying above the buildings alongside the US ones.  On one side of us is the main harbour and wharfs and on the other, the shoreside becomes a broadwalk with shops and cafes behind it.   Claire and Peter managed to get ashore immediately but the Andersons had to get on with school.  

Plan is to have a look around tomorrow.

St Johns

Last few days have been fairly relaxed.  We moved from Charlotte Amalie across to St Johns and picked up a mooring off a spot called Caneel Bay.  Originally we had intended going into the main town here called Cruz Bay but the depth in the harbour was a bit tight at 3m so we moved around the corner to Caneel Bay.  

The whole island of St Johns is basically a national park and to conserve the marine environment moorings have been installed at all the bays around the island.  Its a really great system.  You just sail in and pick up the mooring and it costs you $15 per night.  It saves anchor damage to the seabed and also gives you a secure anchorage for the night.  The National Parks manage the whole system pretty efficiently.  The moorings are for vessels up to 60ft and we are just eligible as the 60ft is measured on deck.

We were in a holding pattern waiting for Claire and Peter to arrive and so spent a couple of nights around Caneel Bay and then moved to another bay just a few miles away called Hawksnest Bay for two more nights.  Hawksnest Bay is a picture perfect Caribbean bay.  There are a couple of pristine beaches fringed with curving palm trees set against steep wooded hillsides which provide protection against the trades.  At both sides of the entrance to the bay are rocky headlands.  Just off the beaches and the entrances are reefs and the water is crystal clear.

Most of our time here has been spent trying to get Sam to complete his test number 80 and then on the reefs and playing with the kids on the beach.  The reefs have spectacular coral and lots of fish.  Its really fun snorkeling with the kids.  Sam is in his element and shows no fear at all.  Calley is a bit more hesitant but normally we can get her in if we swim alongside her holding her hand and you can hear her squealing with excitement when we see the fish.  There are also lots of turtles in the bay which you can see either from the boat or in the water.

Cruz Bay, St Johns

On Wednesday we were due to shift back around to Caneel Bay in order to pick up Claire and Peter and before we left Scott and the kids went ashore to one of the beaches for a play.  There was a wedding going on at the beach and at one point the celebrant came up to Scott on the beach and asked if he would mind being a witness as they were one short.  Scott duly obliged of course.

Peter and Claire arrived on Wednesday afternoon after a series of travel arrangements.  They had flown from New York to San Juan and then picked up an inter island flight into Beef Island in Tortolla in the BVI’s.  They then had to taxi across Tortolla to West End clear out of the BVI’s and board a ferry to Cruz Bay and clear back into the US.  We were all waiting at the Cruz Bay dock and met them around 5 o’clock in the afternoon.  Everything went well apart from one of their bags had not made it to San Juan.  Getting it back now is a major logistical challenge given that there is no airport on St Johns.  Peter has spent all of today trying to locate and is currently back in the BVI’s trying to find it.  Unfortunately the critical supplies like Vegimite and Tim Tams are in that bag although Nic did get her new computer which Pete and Claire had brought from New York.

Kids waiting for Claire and Peter

Its great to see Pete and Claire again.  They were last with us in Maine which seems like a lifetime ago.  We will let them settle in and then have a look around St Johns before heading down to St Croix which is about 40NM away but south so we should have a reach there and back.

Boat seems to be behaving itself although jury is still out on the watermaker.  Think we will have to splurge for a new one sooner rather than later and its a pretty expensive item although the main problem is time.  Also still haven’t got around to fixing the dingy but that could be another expensive replacement. 

PS - Must apologise to people regarding comms.  Still have not figured out good internet access here and may not until the BVI’s.  We log on when we can get ashore.

This feels like the West Indies

Geographically I am not sure where the West Indies starts and finishes.  I guess it includes the greater and lesser Antilles in which case we have been in the West Indies since reaching the Dominican Republic.  Yesterday however we dropped anchor in St Thomas harbour and it felt as if we were now really in the West Indies for the first time.  

St Thomas is the most west of the American Virgin Islands and so the first one you come to moving east from Puerto Rico.  Up until a couple of weeks ago we knew relatively little about the USVI.  There are three main islands St Johns, St Thomas and St Croix and a few smaller outlying islands and cays.  They all used to be owned by Denmark until relatively recently when they were sold to the US for $25million.  Bit of a bargain really.  As a result a lot of the Danish influence has remained which is evident from the town names like Fredericksted and Christiansted and the road names such as Dronningens Gade and Norre Gade.  St Thomas is the cruise liner port and one of the busiest of the islands while St Johns is essentially one big national park.  These two islands are very close together and then St Croix sits about 40 miles to the south.  We will try and get to all three islands.  

En route to St Thomas we had visited the Puerto Rican Islands of Culebra and Culebrita.  These two islands sit mid way between Puerto Rico and St Thomas and so make for a convenient stopping point.  We first visited a beautifully protected anchorage called Ensenada Honda.  There is a little settlement here called Dewey with a few shops and a couple of restaurants.  We stayed two nights and caught up with some friends we had made earlier in the trip.  Casey and Melanie were onboard a 58ft Oyster called Bliss and had been berthed beside us in Fajardo for a while.  Real nice couple from Austin Texas.  We also saw John and Jen onboard Ayeesha which was the boat we had met in Samana which had to turn back at the start of the Mona Passage.  Calley was especially glad to see John because he owed her money.  When you clear out of the DR you need US$20 for one of the fees.  John was short $10 and so came across to try and borrow the money.  We did not have a $10 dollar note and so had to raid Calley’s wallet.  When Ayeesha had to turn back at the start of the Mona Passage Calley thought she would not see her $10 again and then the second day at anchor they come sailing past us.  Needless to say Calley caught up with John who very kindly paid her back with interest.

Essenada Honda with Red Sky in the foreground

Another boat which had been moored near us in Fajardo was called Red Sky.  This was a magnificent 100ft bright red Nautor Swan and it dropped anchor in front of us towards the end of the second day.  We had not spoken with the guys onboard whilst in Fajardo but the kids had always said hello to them when they saw them on the quayside.  We were sitting in the Dingy Dock restaurant having a drink and the skipper of the boat, Bob, came over initially to meet the kids.  He was real nice and complimentary about Sam and Calley.  He also gave us an intro to a marina in the BVI’s.

After two nights at Ensenada Honda we upped anchor and motored around to the smaller island of Culebrita.  There is a bay on the North side which has a lot of turtles.  Unfortunately there was a nasty swell curling around the point and rolling through the anchorage when we arrived and so we returned to a more sheltered anchorage on the western side of the island.  Luckily Culebrita is only small and so you can hike overland to the various sights.  The first day we spent climbing a small hill to an old lighthouse before walking around to the bay to visit a place called the “Jacuzzi”.  This is a series of rock pools on the exposed shore which sit about 6ft higher than the sea level.  Every now and then a big surge will roll in and send foaming water across the pool but in a relatively benign way so that you can sit in the water without getting pummelled.  On the walk back the kids had a play in the surf on the beach.  One of the boats that was moored out was called Blue Guitar - someone said it used to be owned by Eric Clapton.

The view from Culebrita lighthouse towards Culebra

The "Jacuzzi"

The next day we spent snorkelling the nearby reefs and then had a picnic around at the Turtle Bay.  We did manage to spot a couple of turtles but they are pretty skittish.  Our inflatable dingy is suffering from the batterings it has been taking for the past few months and has sprung a leak or a series of leaks.  We first noticed it in Fajardo just before we left and Scott did a quick repair job on the most likely spot but since then it has continued to leak.  The fear is that it may have a number of smaller pin prick type holes from the sun.  Casey told us about a product called Toobseal which we need to get to fix the problem.  The dingy is pretty important to us.  Someone rightly compared it to the family car onshore.  

Sam doing anything but school

We are up to test lesson 80 with the schooling - halfway yeah.  We have a groove now and get into it but it is still a slog for all concerned.  Calley still seems to breeze through where Sam really struggles to get the work content done.  Looks like we will be able to complete the course in the time allocated but only just.

So back to St Thomas.  The town is called Charlotte Amalie.  We went ashore yesterday afternoon and immediately liked the place.  Along the waterfront are a series of what used to be old warehouses used for the storage of goods when St Thomas was an important trading point.   The building are very interesting and really solidly built.  The walls are rubble and mortar with brick corners, they have huge wooden doors with iron fittings and shutters on all the windows.  They look very traditionally Danish.  In between the warehouses are narrow alleyways - some covered and some open which now house small stores.   The alleyways are cool and more often than not lined with small trees and plants.  Behind the warehouses is the main street which runs parallel with the waterfront and it is lined with more shops in old two storey buildings many with narrow balconies with ornate railing.  Further back are the more modern developments and the occasional larger colonial style building.

Main street in Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie Alleyway

The place is geared to the cruise liner traffic and so lots of duty free shops selling watches, jewelry and alcohol but the setting in the old buildings is beautiful and there are the odd interesting local arts stores.  There were two cruise liners in when we arrived and they dominate the harbour.  Apparently in the high season as many as seven cruise liners can be moored here at one time.  The harbour is the busiest place we have been since Nassau.  Apart from the cruise liners there are lots of cruising yachts moored, ferries and charter boats ploughing back and forth and seaplanes taking off and landing.  The harbour is surrounded on three sides by steep hillsides mostly covered with houses which lead down to the town centre on the waterfront.  One side of the harbour is bordered by Hassel island which has the ruins of old fortifications on it.  Again here there is lots of history from the privateering days.  There was actually a find of hidden treasure on the island.

We stayed out for the afternoon wandering around the town and then had a gorgeous dinner of tapas at a restaurant down one of the alleys.  The evenings here are beautiful - the easterly trade moderates to a light breeze which is just enough to cool you down.  We are anchored in the middle of the harbour and at night are surrounded by the shore lights.  It really is beautiful.

Dulcinea dwarfed by one of the cruise liners

We will move on tomorrow or the day after to St Johns which is the place everyone says is to spend the time due to the national park.  We are hoping to catch up with our friends on Windchasers in the next few days as they are still in the area.  Peter and Claire arrive in a few days which we are all looking forward to.

San Juan

Its been a while since the last blog and during that time have been based in Fajardo in a huge marina called Puerto del Rey.  There are over 1000 slips here and we as usual are on an outer berth.  Luckily we can get a lift into the marina centre along the docks on a golf buggy.

There were a number of reasons for the stopoff here.  We had to get Beth off at a place with decent flight connections to New York, we also needed a place to re-provision and get a couple of things done on the boat.  In addition we all wanted to take a look at old San Juan.

Work first.  Called in people to look at the freezer and genset.  On the freezer we knew we had lost the gas from one evaporator through a hole on the evaporator tube.  A couple of techs came in and repaired the leak and re-gassed the system.  In the other evaporator there is still a leak but we could not find it and it is very small.  In the end the system is now working and we have pulled down the temperature to -20deg C but will probably look at replacing the evaporators in Grenada.

We also had the genset looked at.  It had been running at a low oil pressure and we thought there may have been a leak but everything checked out.   

We managed to get the new waterpump sent down from Lars and installed.  We flushed the watermaker membranes with cleaner but the quality of the water we are producing is still a bit off.  Probably need to get new membranes.  So the water situation is that we will use bottled water for drinking and produced water for everything else.  The good news is that with the new pump we will have as much water as needed for the showers, toilets, cooking etc.

There were a host of smaller routine jobs which we completed while we had access to good stores in Fajardo.  Its been since West Palm Beach almost 4 months ago that we really had good marine stores to access.

We had to say goodbye to Beth here.  She caught a flight to New York where she was planning to visit with Scotts brother for a week before flying home to Australia.  Having Beth on board was great especially for the additional hands and the interaction with the kids who really appreciated having her onboard.  She also provided a string of memorable events for us to remember - of special note must be when we were at Big Sand Quay and going into the beach in the dingy.  As we were approaching the shore Sam told Beth to jump over the side to hold the dingy.  Unfortunately he had misread the depth and Beth disappeared under water.  Luckily we were near shore and she was holding on.  Anyway Beth got off OK and we will miss her.

Prior to Beth leaving we managed a trip to old San Juan.  This is a beautiful old city with an incredible fortress complex called El Morro.  Puerto Rico was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage and it became strategically very important to the Spanish.  You can see why by its position on the sailing route from Europe and it being an entry point to the Caribbean and beyond.  The Spanish built the original fortifications and they were used continuously through to the second world war.  There were a few attempts to take the citadel over the years but few were succesful.

We drove up to San Juan in the morning.  We had been told that San Juan can be a bit dodgy but the  old city is safe and as it is on a peninsula it is somewhat seperated from the rest of the town.  The peninsula is surrounded by the old city walls interspersed with small watch towers all of which are still in remarkably good shape being up to 500 years old.  At two locations are fortresses the most impressive of which is El Morro.  El Morrow sits at the entrance to the harbour and towers over the approaches.  Another fort on an island on the otherside of the harbour mouth makes it very secure.  The fortress itself is a significant structure with about 5 or six different levels.  From the fortress a huge clear green leads down to the town which is composed of beautiful buildings lining narrow streets which are cobbled in some places.  We had a good look around the fortress and then wandered the streets and got some lunch in a local place.  The old town has a couple of busy streets but the rest are quite quiet and its pleasant to just wander around taking in the sights and occasionally sitting in the shaded squares to rest.  Am sure at night the place would become very lively but we headed home in the evening.

El Moro and city walls

El Moro

As with the DR rum and cigars seem to be the big items here.  There are lots of old guys wearing Panama hats and speaking loudly in Spanish and brandishing these huge stogies. As none of us partake of either we had to contend ourselves on buying some coffee instead.

Lunch in San Juan

San Juan Street

The next few days were spent shopping to re-provision the boat, schooling and then on our last day we took a drive up to the El Yunque national park in the highlands behind Fajardo where we hiked through the rainforest to some waterfalls to go swimming.  It was a great day out and enjoyed by everyone.  Unfortunately on the way back Scott clipped a parked car and so we had to spend a couple of hours negotiating our way out of a traffic violation with the local police.  We managed to settle with the owner and everyone went away satisfied.

Sam and Calley under the waterfall

Waterfall in El Yunque

We left Fajardo on Monday morning.  We fueled up as this is one of the cheapest places for diesel in the Caribbean and then headed across to the island of Culebra about 20 miles due east of PR and dropped anchor in a protected bay called Esenada Honda.  This is another small island owned by PR.  We will spend a few days here and then head off to St Thomas.