Puerto Rico to the BVI

Last I left off – we had just had a great few days in Ponce and were heading further East.  Since I am so far behind in my writing, I’m just going to hit on the high-points for the next few stops…

After a few days going down the Puerto Rican coast, we headed to Vieques – one of the Spanish Virgin Islands (which is part of Puerto Rico – i.e. US – not Spain.  Maybe common knowledge – but it wasn’t to me before we started looking at this trip).  Overall, Vieques was a bit depressing – it got hit hard by the hurricane and was more or less deserted – both because of actual hurricane damage and from the lack of Puerto Rican (and other) tourists which would typically keep the island busy.  The main reason we went there was to visit the best bioluminescence bay around – so we did…. We anchored our boat in a nice harbor next to the bio-bay and hiked to it – carrying our kayak.  It was about a 1/2 mile hike – so not too bad.  We got to the bay just at sundown and waited a bit for ‘real’ darkness.  Julie went first – paddling into the bay, swirling the paddle to energize the bioluminescent stuff.  Nothing…. Now, its worth noting that it has been 2 weeks since we missed the bioluminescent bay near La Paguera – where the conditions were perfect (no moon).  So, 2 weeks later… full moon – and thus, too much light to see any bioluminescence.  Argh… foiled again.

We had originally planned to go to Culebra – the other of the Spanish Virgin Islands.  After our less than great experience we had in Vieques, we decided to take our weather window straight to St. Thomas – figured we could us a change of scenery.  After talking to folks who went to Culebra, it looks like we might have made a mistake – as many folks told us that Culebra was great.  All that being said – we enjoyed St. Thomas – so all was good.

Highlight of St. Thomas – Oma and Opa came to visit for a few days.  It was great to see them!  We motor-sailed to St. John where we stayed in Maho Bay – known for its sea turtles!  It was a really pretty harbor and we had a good time there.

We decided to give Oma and Opa a little excitement on their last day in the USVI – so instead of doing the  smart thing and bringing the boat to a marina to get them and their bags off the boat, we brought our boat to an anchorage right outside of the airport and brought them to the beach. We had been to this anchorage and beach before, and that day, it was very pretty and calm.  The day Oma and Opa had to leave, it was still very pretty – but not exactly calm.  After doing a few very wet trial runs, I finally found a calm(ish) part of the beach to bring them, and we were able to get onshore and to the airport without any real issues (just a little damp).

After Oma and Opa’s visit, we stayed in the USVI for a few more days and then headed to the BVI.

I had somewhat mixed feelings about going to the BVI.  On one hand, I love sailing the BVI – its absolutely beautiful, its fun and easy, and its really set-up for cruisers.  The mixed feelings came from two main reasons… 1) the BVI is where we have had 2 great vacations – but we’re not on vacation now… this is our life – so I knew it would feel different.  (NOTE – I know that ’now’ will feel like a vacation once I have to get a job and re-join the ‘real world’ – but now, its different.  All good, just not vacation).  The second factor is that the last time we sailed the BVI (about 2 1/2 yrs ago), we were with our great friends the Ericsons – and we knew that it be different (and not better!).

That all being said – we did have a good time in the BVI (just different).  We had a nice hike through the Baths – a very cool spot on Virgin Gorda that has huge boulders, caves, and other surreal features that have been carved in to the rock by eons of erosion.  We spent a few days in Cane Garden Bay – a beautiful bay on the coast of Tortola.  We had a painkiller or two at the Soggy Dollar Bar  (my favorite bar ever). We stayed in a beautiful anchorage in Virgin Gorda.  Etc..

It was clear during our visit that the BVI are “open for business” – which is good – as the folks in the BVI need tourists and tourist dollars to rebuild.  While all of the tourist spots have been rebuilt, reletively few homes or other non-revenue generating have been rebuilt.  The kids on Virgin Gorda still don’t have a school to go to and most people are still living in tents or other temporary arrangements.  While the folks are trying to stay positive, it was pretty evidient that many folks were run-down.  Many months of living in difficult, stressful conditions was taking a toll. We asked around if we could help with any rebuilding – but what we found was that folks don’t necessarily need help rebuilding – they need the ‘stuff’ to rebuild – lumber, nails, concrete, etc – as well as insurance settlements.  Unfortunately, not much we could do to help with that.

While we had some great times in the BVI this trip, we only stayed about a week or so – as we were all ready to explore new places.

Next stop (and next post) – Saba.