No.13 Haiti – Ile A Vache – the boat boys.

We never in our wildest dreams thought we would sail to Haiti, as the country, unfortunately, has a bad reputation amongst the sailing community due to various incidents that have been reported in the past.

As mentioned in our previous blog, we were told about Ile A Vache, which is a small island off the southern coast of Haiti. For sailing information about various places in this region, we often refer to Frank Virgintino’s free cruising guides and he mentions Ile A Vache, Haiti. We thought that we would break our journey, as I was reluctant to spend 3 nights at sea, although I will be spending up to 4 nights when we sail to Guatemala from Cuba. ☹

When you approach Ile A Vache, you see large white sails dotted all along the coast line. These are fishermen on their boats called ‘Bois-Fouilles’ – native sailing boats. The sails are disproportionally large to the rest of the boat, with some of the occupants/crew, standing on a board to balance the rest of the boat. We were also mindful of fishermen in dug out canoes fishing far out in the beautiful aqua water around Ile A Vache.

The main bay in Ile A Vache is called the Bay of Feret (Baie de Feret), with the main anchorage known as Port Morgan, after the pirate Henry Morgan. The entrance is large, however, as you make your way into the anchorage area, you are met with small dug out canoes scurrying like crazy to be the first to reach your boat. These are the boat boys eager to make a quick deal with you!

We were met by four young gentlemen who hitched a ride along the side of the boat while we were trying to find a suitable place to anchor. It was quite disconcerting as Mel was trying to give me instructions where to steer the boat, plus chat to the boats boys who were quite relentless. We eventually anchored and took down the names of the four young teenage boys, saying come tomorrow, Monday and we will discuss what they could do for us – we had been told by Bill and Lisanne that Ile A Vache was a great place to have all the stainless polished on the boat, plus have the deck polished. Mel was keen as he had been doing bits and pieces for quite a while – it’s a never-ending job as the salt water is harsh.

Grete and Fred – Sans Peur had arrived in Ile A Vache about an hour or two before us and they had contacted the other boat that was anchored there in Port Morgan as it had a Swedish flag as well – the boats name was Solea and Roger, a lone sailor, was on board. He was a wealth of information as he had been anchored in Port Morgan for over 5 weeks.

The island is very basic and primitive by our western standards – no cars just the odd motor bike, no roads just tracks, people on horse back or donkeys, many walking miles to get basic supplies. Most houses did not have electricity BUT……. many had a small solar panel which was used to charge their mobile phones!

For the rest of the day, we were inundated with visitors offering to do some work for us on the boat. It became quite tiring especially as we were keen to relax after our overnight sail.

Roger was eager to take us to the local market on the island which is only on a Monday or a Thursday. We arranged with everyone that we would meet them at the hotel dock at 10.30am after we had discussed with the four young gentlemen what we wanted them to do on the boat.

Talk about being keen – we had said to the four boys, come to the boat at 8.00am – well 7.00am they were already knocking on the side of the boat. Their names were Bernard, Colbee, Clemens and Johnny. Clemens was the only one that was still in school, so we arranged with him to come to the boat after school and we would find something for him to do. He did the stainless steal trimming around the edge of the boat which we always forget to do as we can’t always see it from the cockpit unlike the rest of the stainless.

Mel gave them all instructions on what they should do – polish the stainless and that we would be walking to the market. They would be paid once we arrived back from the market.

The walk to the market was interesting – at least 5 – 6 kms, meandering up and down the island, along the beaches, through some settlements, passing schools and many homes. As we passed one of the schools, the children were finishing school for the day and two little girls started walking home, which was the same direction that we were going in. Many people were keen to chat to find out where we were from and to let us know what services they could provide, from laundry to music, hull cleaning and scrubbing. As we were walking to the market, it was quite disconcerting to note the amount of litter along the beach front – a third world issue created by the first world – plastic bottles, polystyrene food containers. I am just going to leave it at that…….

The people in the market are very shy or reluctant to have their photo taken. Roger said it was because of the variety of plants that are used by the people for recreational reasons only, of course. They don’t want to be captured smoking/partaking in anything illegal. Whatever!!!!

When we arrived back at the boat, we soon realised that something had gone wrong by the look on the three boys faces, plus our new Rocna anchor was up and our spare anchor was being used. Apparently, the boat had dragged while the boys were cleaning, so they did what they thought was the best situation and waited for us to return. We were shocked as this was our new anchor which should never drag but there is a saying in the boating world, ‘It’s not a case of ‘if’ you drag, but WHEN you are going to drag’. We were extremely grateful to the three young gentlemen that we gave them each a bit extra for all their troubles.

When the young gentlemen left, we re- anchored thinking that we should be fine now but….. 4.00am the following morning our anchor watch alarm went off! AND we were dragging once again!!! So once again we had to reset the anchor. As soon as Mel could, he ‘dived the anchor’ to see what was going on – the holding wasn’t good – just mud and soft weed, so he let out more scope (more chain).

I was reluctant to get off the boat and was planning on staying on the boat even though we had planned with one of the locals, Dedee, to have a traditional Haitian meal prepared by his wife, that Tuesday evening.

Mel dived the anchor twice and decided that it was okay – not as good as we had hoped but enough to make me feel that the boat would be alright and not drag again.

Word got out that we were planning on leaving Ile A Vache for Jamaica on Wednesday morning, so the three young gentlemen came to say “Bye” to us, before we headed out to Dedee’s place for dinner.

We met Dedee at the dinghy dock and then walked to his house which was about 1 -2 kms along the same path we had taken to the market. The whole family treated us like royalty, opening their extremely humble home to us. The main table was set, ready for us to partake in a traditional Haitian family meal of fried fish, rice with black beans and a type of mango chutney/vegetable dish. All very tasty.

Once back at the dinghy dock, Mel and I said our ‘Good byes’ to Grete and Fred as they intended staying for a few more days in Ile A Vache before going to Kingston, Jamaica.

Our plan was to leave early Wednesday morning for Port Antonio, Jamaica which is in the NE corner of the Jamaican island.

Until then….. when I will write about our time in Jamaica – ‘Respec – Yea Mon’, take care.

Mel and Caryn

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No.12 Dominican Republic – Where are the fish??

Well another day, another country. We left Boquerón, Puerto Rico early Monday morning for Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. Two dolphins were swimming around the boat before we left which for me, is quite a reassuring sight.

To sail to the DR from Puerto Rico, we would be sailing across the Mona Passage, but along the bottom/south part of the passage unlike when we crossed from the NE coast of the DR to Puerto Rico in April/May 2014. The passage is notorious due to tidal currents and is one of the main shipping channels between the North Atlantic Ocean and Panama Canal. The Puerto Rico Trench, just north of the passage, is 800 kilometres (497 mi) long and has a maximum depth of 8,648 metres (28,373 ft) or 5.373 miles at Milwaukee Deep, which is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean. Much of this west-flowing water pushes through the Mona Passage, which has an area that is less than 100m deep, resulting in enormous seas at times. (Info from Wikipedia).

As we were leaving Boquerón, we noticed a US Coast Guard ship close to where we were heading and thought that there was a strong possibility they would be paying us a visit. At one stage they were pointing straight for us but then changed angle and went behind us.

Much of the time while sailing, we have the fishing rod out hoping to catch a Mahi Mahi/ Dorado. In 2014, we caught quite a few fish and we had issues with the seaweed called Sargassum or commonly referred to as sargasso. This time round, we are having no such luck catching fish, due to the increase in the amount of the seaweed, which accumulates around the fishing line.

Sargasso has been washing up on beaches in the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, according to a report in the April edition of the Caribbean Compass. It is posing some health risks as well, due to the build-up of hydrogen sulphide gas, along with environmental issues as turtle nesting beaches are being covered with thick layers of the seaweed, trapping the turtle hatchings and adult turtles. Well, it certainly smells and there is so much around. More later.

We arrived off Isla de Mona at 11.00 am and eventually passed her at  4.00pm. Isla de Mona is almost right in the middle between Puerto Rico and the D.R. It belongs to Puerto Rico (U.S) and only rangers and biologists from Puerto Rico's Department of Natural and Environmental Resources reside on the island. The island is recognized as one of the main sites for hawksbill nesting in the Caribbean.

The rest of our sail went well although during the night we did see quite a few cargo/container ships and tankers. I can never quite get over just how big these ships can be. The closest one passed us at 2 nmiles distance but still looked enormous!

The wind started to die on us with still about 30 nmiles to go and it looked like another very long day or possible night until we reached Boca Chica in the DR. We wanted to arrive in Boca Chica in good light as we knew there was a large reef near the entrance and the charts on our plot charter are not as detailed as what we have become accustomed to. Any place in the Caribbean where LOTS of American frequent, the charts are detailed. Supply and demand I suppose.

At about 7.00am, Mel went back on watch as I needed just another hour’s sleep, when crash, bang, something ‘hit’ the boat. The boom had fallen onto the deck as the main pin’s cotter pin, which secures the boom pin, had broken. We were extremely lucky that nothing was damaged. Mel tied the boom securely onto the deck and we continued to sail with the genoa although the winds were down to 3 knots and we were going less than 2 nmiles per hour. We decided to motor, not something that we enjoy doing but at the rate we were going, we would only be arriving at the entrance to the harbour at Boca Chica after midnight!

The immigrations and customs formalities in the D.R. are quite onerous. Like most things in life, if you want to do or go somewhere, there is no point in complaining about it. One must just smile and go through the procedures or don’t sail to the D.R. We knew from our previous time in the D.R. – April 2014, that it’s best to ask the marina to organise the formalities. It costs, of course, but with our EXTREMELY limited knowledge of Spanish (we get by) we asked for assistance. The coast guard does not like you anchoring off just anywhere! Wherever you go in the D.R., you must get a “despacho” for leaving an anchorage/marina to sail to the new area. There is meant to be a one-off fee for entry and exist, however, like in certain countries around the world, ‘tipping’ or some under hand payment is always expected. This can become extremely annoying and tiresome.

Boca Chica is approximately 50kms east of the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. It is a seaside resort for tourists and locals who want to enjoy the lovely clear and beautiful waters behind La Piedra Island and the Reef. When we went for a walk from the Marina (Marina Zar Par) to the centre of Boca Chica, it was interesting to see who frequented the small town – lots of people enjoying a DW with the local working girls.

Boca Chica also has a huge container port called Port of Andres and this is the entrance to the marina as well. When you are up close to a container ship, you feel rather vulnerable as they are the giants of the sea. I am often extremely grateful that we have AIS (Automatic Identification System) so we are alerted to any ships that we might cross paths with. They are also able to see us on their AIS.

We were fortunate to meet up with many interesting people who were also staying at the marina:

 Bill (from Alaska, U.S.A.)  and Lisanne (originally from Holland) – on their boat Rocinante. Bill is a writer – Bill Streever and has published several books, Lisanne is a marine biologist.

Grete and Fred Vithen – on their boat Sans Peur (French for ‘Without Fear’) Grete is originally from Denmark and Fred is from Sweden. Have they travelled and seen the world. Wow!!

Bill and Lisanne are heading east, then south down to the ABC islands, while Grete and Fred are heading our way. Fred and Grete were also interested in going into Santo Domingo, particularly the Colonial City, so on Friday 4 May 2018, we caught a taxi into the main area of the Colonial City, Santo Domingo called El Conde.

Catedral Primada de America.

Santo Domingo is the oldest city in the New World. It was founded in August 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus Esq. It is a mixture of old and modern plus a blend of different cultures within the Caribbean. Calle El Conde is the central walkway starting in the west at Altar de la Patria/ Parque Independencia and ending in the east at the Catedral Primada de America.

I was keen to see the oldest and the first cathedral in the Americas, Catedral Primada de America. We went inside to have a look and to walk around the cathedral. I am always in awe of how people built such a beautiful and elaborate structure with the basics of building machinery, unlike today.

Information taken from Eyewitness Caribbean (2013) – the first foundation stone for the cathedral was laid by Diego Columbus in 1514. Alonso de Rodrigues was the architecture and was inspired by the cathedral in Seville, Spain. In 1541 it was completed, and additions made to it throughout the 18^th century. It was elevated to the status of Basilica Menor de la Virgen de la Anunciation by Pope Benedict XV, in 1920. The floor of the cathedral is black and white checkered marble, with 14 columns supporting the structure.

We walked around the Colonial Zone, admiring all the old buildings, visiting a rum distillery (of course) and a chocolate factory – Mel had fun enjoying all the samples; a cigar shop where we saw cigars being made by hand, had lunch in a quaint restaurant over looking the El Conde. We walked around the Parque

 Independencia – the entrance to the Parque Independencia is where the Dominican flag was first raised in 1844. Inside the Parque Independencia, is the Altar de la Patria where the DR’s three main heroes, Juan Pablo Duarte, Franciso del Rosario Sanchez and Raamon Marias Mella are buried and where an eternal flame burns in their honour. There were soldiers guarding the tombs. After walking around the Parque Independencia, with all the statues of local heroes, we then caught a taxi to…… IKEA!!!

Grete and Fred are from Sweden and were keen to buy a few things for their boat (so was I) and to have IKEA’ s famous meatballs. It also gave us the opportunity to see a part of Santo Domingo that we wouldn’t have the opportunity to see as it was out in the suburbs.

We had fun walking around IKEA and buying the odd thing for the galley and heads/bathrooms – well I did and so did Grete. Mel went to an electrical/hardware store that was close by and then met us in the IKEA restaurant for lunch/early supper.

We spent the next couple of days at Marina Zar Par preparing for the next stage of our journey west. Over the weekend and early evening, the jet ski’s and motor boats came out to play. It’s total madness (my opinion of course) – with the wakes that the boats and jet skis made, in what is meant to be the main channel, which has a speed limit of 5 – 8 knots. Bill, the writer referred to the jet ski’s as ‘mosquitoes’ and how right he was! They would whizz between the moored boats and cause such a wake that all the boats tied up in the marina would rock and roll. Thank goodness we have fenders as they were being squashed and bashed against the deck and the boat. The fender covers have been ripped due to the constant movement. We were looking forward to leaving Boca Chica, which we did on late Monday afternoon.

As is usual in the DR, we obtained our despacho and left by 4.30pm for Las Salinas, in the Bay of Calderas. Leaving the channel around the La Piedra Island and into the bay where Port of Andres is situated, was an extremely challenging ride, as the swell was up and we were fighting against it. The surfers were out in force as they were enjoying the swell. We knew once we were away from the main land and further out to sea, everything would settle down which it did, although I still did not enjoy the swell. It was running slightly aft of us but the intervals between them were quite close, which made for a corking screwing motion.

Las Salinas.

Sans Peur – Grete and Fred, left with us. Their engine came to a halt just as they made it clear of the entrance channel, where the swells were close to breaking. Thank goodness they managed to get out of the channel and start sailing, as we shudder to think what might have happened if their engine had stopped in the channel.

Our sail to Las Salinas was uneventful. We arrived in Las Salinas just after 8.00am and waited for the officials to contact us, so we could become official once again. Sans Peur managed to anchor under sail.

By mid-morning we were all official after ‘tipping’ the officials. Mel went across to Sans Peur to assist Fred with his engine. By the afternoon, it was all sorted and the engine running once again.

Las Salinas’ claim to fame is the large salt lakes and salt production, otherwise there wasn’t much else in the town other than a few elaborate homes which looked like holiday homes for the wealthy and small shops with the very basic of food stuff.

We stayed in Las Salinas for two nights – the anchorage was well protected, and it was a good change from the hustle and bustle of Boca Chica.

We left Las Salinas and headed west to Barahona. Once again, the fishing rod went out, but still no fish, just seaweed. It’s such a pity that the seaweed is so prolific, as all sorts of foreign bodies, plastics, rubbish, etc, get trapped in the seaweed. When we arrived in Barahona, we were planning on anchoring in front of the small marina, but we couldn’t as the entire small bay was covered with the sargasso seaweed. We managed to anchor just outside of the main channel but even then, as the tide came in, we were surrounded by sargasso seaweed. The smell is awful as we it smells like rotten eggs!

Barahona was founded in 1802 by a Haitian general by the name Toussaint L’Ouverture. Sugar cane production played a significant part in its development in the 20^th century.

A few hours’ drive inland from Barahona, encircled by mountains is Lago (Lake) Enriquillo. It is the largest lake found in the Caribbean as well as being the lowest point – 39m below sea level. So, we thought we would hire a driver/guide to take us to see the lake and the surrounding areas.

The following day at 7.00am, we (Mel, Grete, Fred and I) tied up the dinghy at the main commercial dock and met our tour guide. In the D.R. nothing is without some form of payment. Even tying up at the commercial dock one must ‘pay’ someone to do this and they will ‘look after’ your dinghy for you.

Like always, it’s interesting to see different parts of the visiting city and surrounding country side, instead of just seeing what is around the anchorage. On our way to the lake, we stopped at some pools which are fed by the underlying streams of water from the surrounding mountains. We also went through several police/security check points as we were about 3kms from the Haitian border.

We arrived at Lago Enriquillo just after 10.00am. In the carpark, when you arrive, iguanas scurry to

greet you as they associate cars with food. Our driver had bought some bread rolls, so we could feed the iguanas, who varied in size (not a good practice, but everyone does it). They are the endangered rhino iguanas as they have a small horn on the tip of their nose. After feeding the iguanas, we organised a boat to take us on the lake to see the bird life and the American saltwater crocodiles, for a fee of course.

While on the boat, we saw a mother crocodile protecting her babies, a few crocodiles were sunning themselves under logs. There were plenty of birds’ nests and trees encrusted with salt after the lake rose and then receded to its present level a few years back.

Mother crocodile protecting her babies.

After visiting the lake, we headed back to Barahona – circling the entire lake, passing rock formations, some of which contained pre–Columbian petroglyphs and many different vegetation from thick forest areas to dry sparse vegetation.

In the city centre is the market which isn’t for the faint hearted as it’s crowded, smelly but vibrant and the availability and cost of the fruit and vegetables is amazing. The produce is so fresh and cheap, it’s a pity one can’t store more on a boat. I must always be very careful not to buy too much as the fruit ripens very quickly in the heat and I have, on a few occasions, been forced to throw some of the produce away, as it has gone off before we have had a chance to eat it.

Mel and I bought a HUGE pineapple and paw papaya for less than $4. In Australia I am sure I would have paid well over $10 just for the papaya. The fruit is so tasty and juicy!

When we arrived in Barahona, we informed the Customs and Immigration Officials that we would be leaving the D.R. early Saturday morning (12 May 2018) for Jamaica and asked if they could have all the necessary paper work (despacho) ready for collection at 4.00pm on the Friday afternoon. Naturally, the paper work was not ready for us after visiting the lake and markets and naturally we had to ‘tip’ the officials. It can become rather tiring, as they want  US dollar tips, so it’s $10 here, $20 there, with it all mounting  up. Anyway by 5.00pm on Friday 11 May 2018, we had all the necessary papers to say we could officially leave the D.R.

Our plans were to sail to Jamaica from Barahona which would be a 2 -3 days sail. We had been told

by Bill and Lisa in Boca Chica about the option of stopping off at Isla Beata, which is a small island just off the mainland of the D.R. and also at Ile A Vache, an island off Haiti. We decided that if we arrived at Isla Beata at lunch time we would sailing to Ile A Vache as that would mean we would arrive there mid-morning the following day (Sunday). The winds were behind us, so we were effectively ‘running with the wind’ and making good progress, so when we arrived at Isla Beata, we decided to continue sailing to Ile A Vache, Haiti, which is just a well, as the DR coast guard were visiting Isla Beata. They could have given us a hard time if we stopped there.

Several times along the way, we attempted to put the fishing rod out but sadly we were only catching sagrasso seaweed. There is so much seaweed around that it looks like an oil slick.

So until next time when I’ll write all about Ile A Vache and the boat boys - Keep well and safe.

Bye for now.

Mel and Caryn

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Making cigars

Santo Domingo.

No 11. Vieques, Fajardo Puerto Rico – Fairy Dust.

Passages anchored in Sun Bay, Vieques.

Sunday morning at 7.00am the clanking of our anchor was heard by others in Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas as we were preparing to sail to Vieques, which is part of the Puerto Rico. Sometimes referred to as the Spanish Virgin Islands or the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands.  A bit of UI (Useless Information) – they were once known as the Passage Islands. As we were leaving the harbour, a large container/freight ship was waiting for us to pass so they could enter the harbour. On top of the container/freighter was a rather large yacht. 

Our sail to Vieques was enjoyable despite once again the swell. Winds were 20 odd knots but as we are now running/going with the wind, you don’t feel the affects of the wind other than the swell or wind-driven waves. Our plan was to anchor in the bay of Esperanza which is the main town of Vieques or in the bay next to Esperanza, Sun Bay. We really wanted to go to some of the other

The beach at Sun Bay.

lovely bays and anchorages along the south coast of Vieques, but we had the annoying yet necessary formality of ‘checking in’ to Puerto Rico. We knew we would have to go to the airport on Vieques and Esperanza was the closest anchorage on the south of the island to the airport.

It took us approximately 6 hours to reach the entrance of Sun Bay, passing the southern coastline of Vieques as Esperanza and Sun Bay are both located on the western part of the south coast.

Sun Bay was a large beautiful sandy bay with turquoise blue waters. We tried to tuck in as close to the NE side of the bay as there was a slight swell which made us rock a bit.

We took the dinghy down as we needed to contact the U.S. Coast Guard as is the procedure when entering U.S waters. It can be frustrating as we felt we had just left St Thomas, which is U.S. and now we are in Vieques which is also U.S. Anyway, that is the way things are so off we went in search of Wi-Fi so Mel could use Skype to contact the U.S. Coast Guard in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We dinghied to the far side of Sun Bay to the Esperanza side, where Mel left me to watch the dinghy as we had no secure place to tie her up too. While I was waiting for Mel to return, a few horses came galloping along the beach and into the bush along the side of the beach. While on the island and anchored off Sun Bay, we saw quite several horses just grazing along the edge of the beach, occasionally walking along the beach, like what their human counter parts would do.

Mel managed to contact the US Coast Guard in San Juan and advised us to go to the airport to complete our immigration and customs requirements, which we had intended doing the following morning, Monday 16 April 2018.

Trying to launch the dinghy was another ‘Dunkirk’ landing type event where we got totally saturated by the waves as we were attempting to motor back out into the bay. Luckily the water was warm although the wind was coolish. 

Entrance to Sun Bay, Vieques.

Bright and early Monday morning, we dinghied to the beach closest to where we had anchored at Sun Bay. We managed to drag the dinghy up the beach and tie her up securely onto a large tree. Close by was a gentleman sitting in his deck chair under and umbrella, sipping a glass of what looked like, champagne. We greeted him, and he was keen for a chat and to find out where we had sailed from etc. He was the owner of one of the stores aptly named, ‘The Green Store’ and was on his three-week vacation, camped on the beach. He was extremely helpful when we asked about finding our way to the airport, finding a taxi etc. After chatting to him for a while off we walked along the beautiful white beach, to find the main road and a taxi.

We were in luck as we were approaching The Green Store where the friendly gentleman had advised us to go to find a taxi, one passed us and took us to the airport. Along the way we could see once again the affects of the Hurricanes of September 2017.  Vegetation had been ripped out, roofs had been blown away. Even palms trees looked whittled and bent from the force of the hurricanes.

The airport was extremely small and ‘manned’ by a few people whom, I must say all looked quite annoyed that we had disturbed their morning chat. The Customs and Border Protection person was not sure of what he should do as their system is in the process of going from paper to computer based and as always when there is change, there is a bit of uncertainty and ambiguity in what the appropriate procedures are. Almost 2 hours later, all the forms, paper work were completed and payments  made.

Mel and I often remark on the difference between the islands and their Customs and Immigrations procedures but it’s the way it is, so there is nothing we can do about it if we intend travelling/sailing. It can be frustrating at times and of course quite costly as we realised when entering the Dominican Republic, but that is for another time.

Now that we were legal, we were stuck at the airport. Like always in life, there are those that are helpful and those that couldn’t really be bothered. Anyway, luckily, there was one person at the airport who helped us to find a taxi back to Esperanza. As we were waiting for our taxi to arrive, a group of about 6 ladies (mums and their daughters) arrived from mainland U.S.A. One of the ladies owned a house on Vieques and was visiting her home for the first time since the hurricanes in September 2017. They were keen to find a taxi to take them home so when our taxi arrived to collect us, we were quick to point out that we had called the taxi, but they were more than welcome to share the taxi ride. This was do-able as the taxi was a HUGE American type mini van and could easily have fitted another 6 people.

The lady who had a house on the island suggested that we go to a restaurant in Esperanza for lunch which we did. As we were leaving we noticed that they had all arrived for lunch as well. We had approximately a 3km walk back to the dinghy along Sun Bay beach and when we got to about half way, who was lounging on the beach but the same group of ladies. We said to them, ‘One would think we were stalking them’.

Entrance to Puerto Ferros.

One of the main attractions on Vieques is Puerto Mosquito Bioluminescent Bay. We were keen to see this amazing magical yet fragile ecosystem. However, like most things, it costs and to visit Mosquito Bay would have blown the monthly budget sky high, plus it would have been logistically quite a challenge for us to be at the meeting place by 7.30pm. Remember we have to dinghy to the beach, drag the dinghy up onto the beach somewhere we can secure her, then walk the 2 – 3kms, in the dark to the meeting place. We would then have to repeat the whole operation in the opposite order to get back ‘home’. We read on one of the many cruising guides we had downloaded, that the bay – Puerto Ferros, which is just east of Puerto Mosquito, is also bioluminescent. Puerto Ferros is used as a hurricane hole and the tricky part is the entrance which goes down to just under 1 metre! 

There was another yacht anchored close to us in Sun Bay – Christina. We happened to stop and chat to them as we were heading back to the boat and they mentioned that they had spent a night at Puerto Ferros and found it to be enjoyable. Theirs was the only boat in the bay, except for a few boats that had been damaged beyond repair when Hurricane Ima and Maria paid the area a visit. 

Puerto Ferros - abandon yachts.

So, on Tuesday morning we lifted the anchor and motor sailed the 6 nmiles to Puerto Ferros. As we always do when approaching an entrance, particularly one that is tricky, we drove in very slowly. The depths were shallow, but we had been in shallower waters in the Bahamas. We just hoped that seeing the bioluminescent was worth the effort. While we were having our dinner, we saw a lone dolphin swimming about in the bay. It came quite close to our boat and was  still swimming around the bay the following morning. We patiently waited for the magic to start happening AND it didn’t disappoint us!

As it became darker and darker, so the water started lighting up with silver sparkles. It was as if someone was switching individual fairy lights on and off. We got our dinghy paddles and ran them through the water. It was magical! It was as if the dinghy paddles were a fairy’s wand, with fairy dust trailing after it. The little girl came out in me! I spent about an hour playing around.

Here is some information from the pamphlet we obtained in Esperanza when we were inquiring about the Bioluminescent Bay/Puerto Mosquito: the Pyrodinium bahamense is responsible for the bioluminescence – this a one celled plankton measuring approximately 1/500^th of an inch. It is a dinoflagellate, having only two tails or flagella to assist its movement. Their bodies contain chlorophyll, producing food by photosynthesis. These tiny organisms create light when they are mechanically stimulated or touched. Each individual glows for 1/10 of a second and is believed to be a defence mechanism against predators.

FYI – there is also a Bioluminescent Bay near Fajardo where we were sailing to the following morning.
Wednesday morning, we upped anchor and headed towards main land Puerto Rico to Sun Bay Marina, Fajardo. The sail was enjoyable, and we arrived at the marina just after 4.00pm.

Puerto Ferros.

 We don’t like going into marinas unless we must. This is often for security reasons or if we need to do some work on the boat. We had ordered several items for the boat, like a boom preventer, a new cockpit light and some more globes for the boat. On our previous visit to Fajardo, we stayed at Sun Bay Marina as we get reduced rates since we are members of the Seven Seas Cruising Association (www.ssca.org). It is also easier to have items sent to the marina as Olga, the owner, is always extremely helpful in keeping the items for you until your arrival at the marina. Mel was also keen to buy a new anchor – one that he has always wanted. The new style of anchor has a greater holding capacity and sets within a short distance, as the tip is weighted.

We hired a car for most of the time we were in the marina as we knew we would also have to stock the boat in preparation for the next 2 months when we would be spending time in Cuba. We had been told that it is difficult to get most food items in Cuba, as many items are government controlled (for example: eggs, onions and potatoes). Olga lent us her Costco card, so after finding our way to West Marine (chandlery) in San Juan, which was quite an experience in the pouring rain, we spent the next three hours going up and down the isles at Costco. Our fridge, freezer and grocery cupboards are all full, so I don’t think we will be starving over the next few months.

While in the marina, we washed, scrubbed and polished most of the boat. Mel did the odd never-ending maintenance while I made the courtesy flags for Jamaica, Cuba and Guatemala, did some baking and cooking in preparation and caught up with some correspondence as the Wi-Fi was ok, especially in McDonalds.

The sad aspect about Puerto Rico is the slow progress that is being made in its recovery from Hurricane Maria.  Many homes are still without electricity – 7 months after the Hurricane. When we arrived, there was no electricity, so we battled to make radio contact with the marina. Thank goodness another marina heard us calling Sun Bay and phoned Olga, subsequently our messages were relayed backwards and forwards to each other. The roads were not in a great condition when we were last in Puerto Rico, 4 years ago. Now they are even worse. Traffic lights are not working, main power poles are still down so traffic intersections require you to be extra vigilant. The laundry was not working at the marina – Olga has tried to get someone to fix it, but the parts are not readily available nor, are the tradesmen. While we were in West Marine, there was a power failure. The shop assistants looked so fed up and unmotivated. It was quite sad and frustrating to see.

We stayed in Sun Bay marina for 10 days. We left Fajardo on Saturday 29 April 2018 for Boca Chica, in the Dominican Republic. We sailed over night along the Puerto Rican south coast until Boquerón where we decided to spend Sunday night. As we entered the bay, two dolphins came along beside us and once we were anchored, we saw them swimming around the anchorage. We left Boquerón early Monday morning, arriving in the DR, Tuesday afternoon. While in Boca Chica, we will be staying in a marina called Marina Zar Par. This is solely for security reasons and it’s a lot easier for immigrations and customs. Boca Chica is approximately 40 kms east of the capital Santo Domingo which we are looking forward to exploring.
Until next time when I write all about our sail to the D.R. and our stay in Boca Chica - Keep well and safe.

Bye for now.

Mel and Caryn
sv Passages

If you want to see where we are – go to: www.marinetraffic.com

top right corner – search for Passages with the Australian flag – that’s us!

Sun Bay, Vieques - along the beach we found some beach art.

No. 10 The U.S Virgin Islands – St Croix and St Thomas.

We arrived in Christiansted, St Croix on Monday morning 9 April 2018. We dropped anchor a few times as we were not happy with our location and the way we were swinging towards another boat close by.
According to the sailing website, we could ‘check in’ at the Customs and Border Protection Dock 

Government House, Christiansted

which was at the marina, about 1km from where we had anchored. Easy!!! Well we hadn’t considered the effects of Hurricane Irma and Maria. We took the dinghy down and motored to the marina, however Customs and Border Protection were no longer there, since the hurricanes had destroyed their buildings. As a result, we now had to go to the airport which happened to be on the other side of the island.  We knew (from a past bad experience) we had to phone the Customs and Border Protection immediately on arrival, to inform them that we had arrived, but we don’t have connected mobile phones other than Skype and we require Wi- Fi for that. We had the numbers to

Fort Christianvaern

phone them…… but ……We asked at one of the

waterfront restaurants if we could use a phone which they kindly did, however we could not get through and we later found out these numbers had all changed since the hurricanes (even though the numbers were still posted at the marina). We thought the only thing to do was to go to the airport, but you would think finding a taxi would be easy. Nothing ever is! A cruise ship was in town, so the taxi rank which is usual full, was empty as they were all at the cruise ship dock. 

A very long story cut short….. we eventually managed to contact a Customs and Border Protection official at the airport, who said we were to come to the airport and that they would be expecting us but not during their lunch hour. 

Downtown Christiansted, St Croix.

We found our way to the airport, seeing a bit of the island we hadn’t anticipated seeing – about 3 hours later we were back in Christiansted, enjoying a drink having been through all the red tape of being a foreign registered vessel entering U.S territory.

St Croix, like St Thomas is mainly geared for cruise ship goers. Lots of jewellery and clothing shops, all high-end names. We enjoyed walking around the town, admiring the old buildings with many still flying the Danish flag along with the US flag. As you looked around you could see how the hurricanes had affected the island, which was a recurring scenario as we travelled through to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, but I will write more another time. Many buildings on St Croix and St Thomas, still had the recognisable blue construction awnings over a large section of the structure.

A hen with her chicks wandering the streets

in Christiansted, St Croix.

One fascinating aspect of St Croix was the number of cockerels and hens with their chicks roaming the streets. It was as if they had ‘free range’ of the streets. When asked if they belong to anyone, the answer was ‘No! They belong to everyone’.
Part of the large anchorage on the western side of Protestant Cay, where we had anchored, was designated as the landing and take-off area for sea planes that fly between a few of the islands in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It was fascinating to watch the whole procedure.

The sea plane, Christiansted, St Croix..

We also saw quite a few turtles while we were anchored behind Protestant Cay, which is always lovely to see and hear.
We stayed in St Croix until Thursday 12 April 2018 (Happy 21^st wedding Anniversary to us) when we decided to sail to Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas which was approximately 35 nmiles north. This was an enjoyable sail – but once again, we only saw two yachts in the 6 hours we were sailing, something quite rare for us since we had been sailing up the East Caribbean island chain.

The bay in Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas was huge, and we were spoilt for choice. Anchoring was easy and uneventful. We enjoyed three days in Charlotte Amelie, visiting a few of the many old sites of the town as we had done in St Croix. One can go on a self-guided walk, using a map showing a few of the historical buildings. 
St Thomas was once home to many famous pirates like Bluebeard and Blackbeard. (Edward Teach).

Fort Christian

We saw Fort Christian which was built in 1672 by the first Danish settlers who used it as the first government house, church and community centre. At one time, it was also used as a jail and functioned as the first governor’s mansion. It is the oldest standing structure in the whole of the Virgin Islands.

Mel outside the synagogue.

We walked to the synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in continuous use anywhere in the United States or its external territories. It is called  Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim (Wikipedia link)

On the Saturday morning, we walked to Frenchtown for breakfast. As you enter the area, there is a small replica of the Eiffel Tower. Many of the people who live in Frenchtown are descended from French labours, originally who left Normandy and Brittany for St Barts in the 1600/1700’s and then emigrated to St Thomas in the 1800’s. The people in Frenchtown speak their own dialect, which is a mixture of Norman French, Creole and English. Bastille Day is celebrated in Frenchtown.

Downtown Charlotte Amalie.

Later in the afternoon, we went across to one of the main cruise ship areas – just to have a look. St Thomas’s population can double on days when cruise ships come to stay. Some people, as we saw while walking around, will just walk off the cruise ship to the main shopping centre at the terminal and that is where they will stay for the rest of their time in St Thomas. Each to their own I suppose.

Anyway, we were keen to get going as the glints of all the shops don’t appeal to Mel and me, so on Sunday 15 April 2018, we lifted our anchor and headed for Vieques which is sometimes referred to as the Spanish Virgin Islands and is part of Puerto Rico. We chose Vieques this time round, as in 2014 we sailed and spent some time in Culebra and Culebrita.  We were tempted to sail to Culebra as we enjoyed the island so much, but we are trying hard not to visit the same places as in 2014, all the time. For those that have been following us from the start, Culebra was where we had a very unwelcomed visitor on our dinghy, who tried to get on our boat as well. The picture is to remind you of the ‘character’. Culebra also has one of the best beaches in the world – Flamingo Bay.

So, until next time I write about our sail and time in Vieques and Fajarda, Puerto Rico - Keep well and safe.

Bye for now.

Mel and Caryn

sv Passages

If you want to see where we are – go to:

www.marinetraffic.com

top right corner – search for Passages with the Australian flag – that’s us!

Downtown Christiansted ,St Croix

and the affects of the Hurricanes

Downtown Christiansted, St Croix.

Downtown Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas.

The park around Fort Christianvern, St Croix

with Protestant Cay in the background.

Downtown Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.