We are getting really to leave the Spanish Virgin Islands and head over to the US Virgin Islands. I really don't know what the difference is. We left Fajerdo on Wednesday, the 14th around 1:00 and motored about five miles to Isle Palamino and picked up a mooring. We could have waited another day but we're getting eager to get out of the marina. It is too easy to get used to the comfort of a marina, it was time to move. We had stayed more days then we had planned but it took longer to get everything ready then we had thought. The repair shop that was working on the generator was having problems. Honda does not make a marine version of their generator and corrosion is evidently a problem. It took them a day to just get the screws to release so they could disassemble it. Several times when I talked to them they were thinking they were not going to get it disassembled. They promised it on Monday but when I called them they said it was apart and they had the parts but it would take longer. On Tuesday morning our new friend Cato gave me a ride in and they promised it by late afternoon. In the afternoon we made another trip in and they had it running and powering a fan to test it. They had it running for three hours without a problem. Evidently the problem was that some of the wiring got corroded and lost it's ground and thought it was low on oil. They gave me the invoice and I ended up paying them a whopping $76.10. I didn't have any change so I got away with only paying them $76.00. I had expected it to cost me a lot more. We brought it back to the boat and continued to get ready to go. The winds were supposed to moderate a little on Thursday but we left early and staged at a near by island to make the run to Culebra. We spent the evening relaxing in the cockpit watching the full moon rise over the island.
Thursday morning we dropped the mooring and motored against the wind. The winds had dropped a little and was only blowing in the 15-20 knot range. It had been blowing in the 20's all week. We worked our way around the island and pulled into the harbor and dropped anchor. We launched the dinghy, it had been riding on the bow since we left NC and mounted the 3.3 outboard and went exploring. We tied up on the dinghy dock and walked into town. We must have looked lost and a lady stopped to enquire if we were looking for anything in particular. It turned out she was from Steamboat Springs Colorado and theyspend their winters in Culebra. She pointed out several places to check out and told us of a school musical performance that evening. After dinner on the boat we made our way to the school for the concert. They were also selling deserts. The students had a project where they studied a different country and reported on a desert specific to that country. They, with their parents, made deserts and were selling them before and after the performance. We expected to not be able to understand the songs since we do not know Spanish but it turned out they performed in several languages dependent on where the song was from. They did a real good version of Silent Night in three languages. This was our introduction to Culebra.
On Friday we swapped out the 3.3 outboard for the 15 horse and went exploring. We had been told that the snorkeling near Tamarindo Beach was supposed to be good and we headed over there. We tied the dinghy to a mooring and I dropped into the water to swim over to the reef. I turned around for some reason and returned to the dinghy and Cori told me that the workers on the beach said we needed to leave. We are not sure why but we moved further up the shore and dropped the anchor and I went snorkeling again while Cori swam to shore to look for shells and glass. I had my new underwater camera but when I switched it to the underwater setting it gave a message I couldn't understand so I left it on the boat and continued. The reef was great with a large variety of fish and coral. At one time I had a ray swim under me and I followed it around for a while. I wish I had the camera. Finally we called it quits and headed back to the boat. Instead of stopping at the boat we continued on and took a tour of the harbor.
On Saturday we were making a run into town when we stopped at a boat with a home port of St. Paul MN. It turned out they were from Minnetonka and Maple Grove, true Minnesotans. It rained off and on all day but we headed back to the west side of the island and I snorkels on the reef while Cori walked the beach looking for more shells and glass. This time I brought the camera and shot over two hundred pictures and videos. I will get them sorted and uploaded when I have good wifi signal. When the camera battery died we made our way back to the boat. We also did a good deed when we went by a group of kayakers and towed the last kayak to shore. They were tired and one of them was not feeling well due to the motion of the ocean.
Sunday we woke up hearing some disturbance outside. We looked out to see one of our neighbors had dragged down on another boat and they were trying to get their anchors untangled. Once they were free the boat went to anther part of the harbor to reanchor. The winds were blowing over 20 knots again so we spent the day on board until evening when we thought the winds had died a little and we made a run into town. We were planning to move on Monday and needed to get rid of our garbage. We dropped it off at the collection bins at the dinghy dock and then when to a nearby restaurant for dinner. When we were through we found that my wallet had been left on the boat. By now the wind had picked up again and by the time I made the run to the boat, back to the restaurant and back to the boat we were wet from the splashing waves. The very thing we wanted to avoid by staying on the boat all day.
Monday we left the harbor to check out one of the small islands nearby. We motored out into 20+ knot winds and worked our way to Isla Cullebrita. There is a very pretty harbor on the northwest side of the island but to get there we had to go around and out into the big seas. The waves were running about six foot when we went around the island and worked our way into the anchorage. We picked up a mooring and went to shore. On shore we met another cruiser who pointed out the different things to find on the island The first thing we wanted to see was the area called the "jacuzzi". It is an opening in the rocks that let the waves come in and flood a shallow area. This day the sea was running too high and the water flooding in was a bit too violent. We opted to just take pictures and head back to the boat. There was a swell from the waves working it's way into the harbor and was causing a lot of uncomfortable rolling. We decided to leave. While getting back into the dinghy after pushing off from shore the lanyard on Cori's inflatable life jacket caught and all of a sudden her jacket inflated. A big surprise and it didn't help getting into the dinghy any easier. At least we know it works but now we need to get another re-arm kit for it. We had more waves breaking and splashing into the cockpit until we got around the island and then moved to a protected anchorage for the night. it was interesting to feel the wind blowing 20 knots and watch the waves break on the reef but we were sitting in perfectly calm water. Once again we had rain showers overnight to wash the salt off the boat.
Tuesday morning we went back to the island, this time staying on the calm side and went ashore. There is an old lighthouse on the top of the hill and we wanted to check it out. There are trails leading to other beaches and up to the lighthouse. We climbed up the hill checking out the plant life, lots of flowering plants, the little and not so little lizards that hurried out of our way, the hermit crabs slowly climbing along and finally got to see some of the goats that live on the island. They are shy of people so we only got momentary sightings as we climbed. We heard them in the brush more then saw them. Once to the top of the hill we were not disappointed in the lighthouse. We shot a lot of pictures and will post them in our album when we get a better connection. Once to the lighthouse we found the rest of the goat herd. I walked around a corner and came face to face with two goats. I am not sure who was more surprised. As we checked out the facility we saw the rest of the herd hanging out at the old helicopter pad. More then a dozen were there and they were not to happy to see us. As long as we kept our distance they put up with us and then decided to leave. As we were looking out at the surrounding area we could see small groups of goats on the hillsides. On our way back down we came across several more with their young. They would stare at us for a bit then decide to make a run for it into the brush. Once back to the boat we headed back to the harbor at Culebra for the night and to get ready to make the jump to St. John. We are going to bypass St. Thomas for now and will visit there when we need supplies. The winds are supposed to moderate a bit and since it is an upwind motor trip we will try to take advantage of it.
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