April 24th – May 8th, 2024

Our stop at Nanny Cay Tortola was really quick. We had some follow up work to be done on the new helm enclosure and added a component to our power system so the generator can charge the batteries faster and more efficiently. Remarkably, all the work was done on time and within a couple of days were were good to go! Billy and I headed out of for the quick (less than 10 mile) trip to St. John USVI to celebrate his 67th birthday. We love St. John, the beautiful bays surrounding the island which is predominantly a national park, and lots of available moorings which cost only $12.50 a night using Billy’s senior discount! We spent Billy’s bday night at Caneel Bay (Bruin’s were on so he was very happy!) and then headed to Maho Bay as a northerly swell was coming in and we wanted a more comfortable spot. We made a quick visit to Maho beach scene where we came across our friends Dawn & Stephen from Pilar. Always fun to cross paths with our Salty Dawg friends. Then as we returned to our mooring and who was tied up next to us but Richard Spenceley on Lady Ginger. We had a great time catching up with him and his friends from St Thomas. Sorry to miss Elaine who was back home in Marblehead. We sat out a rain storm comfortably inside their awesome salon and before they headed back to St. Thomas.

The next day it was time for us to head to St Thomas to meet up with our friends the Buckleys. It was fun to return to the spot where we had first taken possession of Carried Away just over a year ago. Also nice to be back in very familiar waters, where we know where to go and what to do. We set the anchor in Charlotte Amalie harbor and went to gather Cathy & Joe from Yacht Haven Grand. We got them settled, had a quick supper ashore and got ready to head west for Puerto Rico.

Our first stop was Culebra – a small island about 20 miles west of St Thomas and just east of Puerto Rico. The weather called for brisk winds from the Northeast so we expected a quick run, but what we didn’t anticipate were the waves. There must have been an opposing current as the sea built to pretty big swells (10+ feet) and made for quite a wild ride, but Cathy and Joe hung in there and we made it to the harbor entrance after about 4 long hours. Once inside of Culebra’s main harbor which is very protected, we settled in for a nice calm evening on board.

Culebra is a small island with a population of just 1200 people. It’s very hilly and which makes it difficult to explore on foot. We had heard about a local car rental place and figured it was a great way to see the island. Within a short walk from the dingy dock and after a quick phone call we had ourselves a Bronco for the day. We headed first up to Playa Flamenco which is one of the most popular beaches on the north side of the island. The winds were blowing hard and the waves were so strong the beach was actually “red flagged” and closed for swimming, but we had a blast walking the long beautiful beach and seeing the old rusty navy tanks which are remnants of a time when the US Navy had control of the island and used it for training and target practice. Sadly there are still parts of the island off limits due to unexploded ordinance. The story of the islanders standing up to the navy and taking their island back is awesome. We then drove to each corner of the island – walking the beaches and taking a quick dip here and there. We had a blast driving up and down the crazy steep hills, the barely wide enough streets and seeing the various neighborhoods.

Thunderstorms and high winds had socked in, so we decided just to stay put as our anchor spot was nice and calm. We spent a lot of time exploring the little downtown. We also were able to find a good snorkel spot in a protected cove where we saw various coral and tons of fish. Plus! Joe found a $20 US bill about 20 ft down on the ocean floor which paid for our Pain Killers at the harbor side Dingy Dock restaurant. Since Cathy & Joe were due to fly home from San Juan Saturday and the weather forecast for sailing was poor on Friday, they decided to fly from Culebra to San Juan – and lo and behold there was a flight with Cape Air which originated on Cape Cod where Cathy and I grew up. While it was sad to see them go, it was really fun to watch them take off right over us – they landed just 25 minutes later!

We finally got a break in the weather window on Saturday to head to San Juan where we met Billy’s sister Pam (our crew for the San Juan to Bahamas passage) on the dock at San Juan Bay Marina. Scott V came in the next day and with our full crew aboard, we just had to wait for the right weather window for our 3 day passage up to Great Inagua. With tons of rain (which the islands really need) we were on hold for a couple of days, but of course we had some fun, walking through old San Juan and enjoying the local fare. While our weather router Chris Parker said Thursday would be best departure date, we were anxious to go and decided to head out on Wednesday – it was on the early side, but it worked out great.

After fueling up at a local marina (which took a couple of hours!) and being waved off by the friendly customs officer we had met the day before as we cleared out – we departed from San Juan Bay. More on the passage to and our time in Bahamas in the next edition!