Tag: Vieques

Ensenada Honda

bearcruzer

May 13 -15

We traveled another few miles east and made our way into a favorite anchorage of Michaels cruising friends, George and Paula Capra.   They loved Ensenada Honda and so we felt we needed see for ourselves what all the toodoo was about.   It has been a wonderful anchorage.   We spent many hours snorkeling & hunting the reefs and enjoyed a great meal of fresh Rock Hind on our first evening  there.  Our friends on S/V Persephone along with their guest, Mike caught up with us there when they heard we had also seen lobster.   The first evening together we enjoyed painkillers aboard S/V Persephone,  those of you who attended our wedding will remember our favorite rum drink.   We all went out together the next day and between the Michael and the David, the Orkin Man….we caught 5 bugs!  A wonderful  5 star dinner was enjoyed by both crews aboard DD.   Again great recommendation by George and Paula…….Thanks you two!  Got any more favorites we should see?

Ferro Bay

bearcruzer

May 12, 2010

We travelled 4 miles east to Ferro Bay,  one of the 2 phosphorescent bays here on Vieques.  Our timing was much better to experience the beauty of this bay as we are only one day off of the new moon and the nights are very dark and the light pollution from the homes on the island is minimal.  We had the place to ourselves.   There were 3 other boats anchored back in the mangrove bay that looked to have been there for some time and were stripped for hurricane season.      We spent the day snorkeling the reef at the entrance to the bay and found them to be plentiful with corals and fish.   We even found a number of Hogfish which Mike says are great eating.    They were a bit on the small side so we left them to grow up.   After nightfall we took Mighty Mouse out for a sparkling cruise around the bay.    We played in the phosphorescence by placing our hands in the water as we motored around the bay.  It gave the appearance of greenish/yellow fireworks shooting from our fingertips across our hands and snaking up around our arms.   Matrix stuff and really cool.   We have also been able to see the Southern Cross from this latitude so we have enjoyed amazing light displays from above and below.   Wow!

Sorry No Pics…..you’ll have to use your imagination.

Bicycling on Vieques

bearcruzer

May 11, 2010

Michael and I rode our bicycles to the Northern coast of Vieques  and to the town of Isabel ll.   The  Island is beautiful and we took a loop route that would take us through the verdant hills of the island and by a farmers market that we read about.  We got a good workout on the 4 mile ride across the island.   We arrived at the farmers market which consisted of two venders, a produce vender and someone selling baked goods.  The produce was exceptional and we commented so.   The young couple that was running it, said they had seen that no one was providing decent produce on the Island and so they purchased a refrigerated truck and bring it from PR on the ferry.  We loaded my bike basket and rode on to Isabel ll.   We rode to the tourism office to clarify whether or not boats were allowed in the phosphorescent bays before we visit them tomorrow.   We had heard both yes and no when asking in Esperanza.   People were correct on both counts as there are 2 bays one that allows boats with gas powered engines and one that doesn’t.    We rode down to the bay where the ferry departs from and up the hill to the lighthouse.   On our way back we stopped at the gallery of a local artist Siddhia Hutchinson.   Her gallery, with an open air apartment and a studio above, looked out over the bay and her paintings were a variety of landscapes and flora and fauna of the area.   We got to talking with her about real estate in both PR and on Vieques as she and her husband have property in both places and we always like to stop and peruse the local listings in the windows of the Real Estate brokers offices.    We both like Vieques.   We rode back across the island and saw quite a few of the local paso fino ponies loose along the roadsides.   We stopped at the park next to Sun Bay where a number of them were happily keeping the grass trimmed.   They would let us come up to them but would only tolerate being petted or scratched for a few moments before intimidating us by laying their ears back and turning their hind quarters toward us.     We rode back into Esperanza and enjoyed an early dinner.   The bikes have proven themselves a great way to experience more of the local flavor of the islands.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Esperanza – Vieques

bearcruzer

May 10, 2010

We made our way to the small town of Esperanza near Sun Bay on the southern side of Vieques.   We picked up a mooring in about 5 feet of water near the town pier.    We took mighty mouse over to the town and walked the main road next to the bay.  It is a quaint place with lots of small colorful  restaurants with names like Belly Buttons, Bananas, Joost, and Lazy Jacks.   There are also a number of tour companies offering scooter, & kayak rentals as we are close to the phosphorescent bays on this side of the island.  We walked through the small museum at the historical society featuring pictures of the early history of Vieques and a sampling of Taino Pottery and stone and shell tools.   After a brief rainstorm we were relaxing on the boat this afternoon and had a great photo op come our way.   Three young Paso Fino Ponies were loose and running and play fighting , running rearing up and nipping at each other on the beach right next to DD.  A rust and white pinto along with a smoky dun and an almost white dun.    They were joined by a small brown local dog who touched noses with them and then danced around them and they all played chase for about 5 minutes.   Mike grabbed his camara and began shooting and then switched to his telephoto lens to get a few close ups.  Why might you ask am I describing this scene for you in such detail when from where we stood it looked like we would have some great shots to share with you all!   Well, just as the Ponies and dog ran off into the trees, I remembered that Mike had called me from working on the blog where moments before he had handed me the card from his Camera to input his sunrise shots into the computer and in our delight and excitement of the moment we forgot to put it back in the camara.    Lesson Learned, transfer and then back into the camara immediately!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Playa Punta Arenas – Vieques

bearcruzer

May 7-9

We left Salinas the Friday afternoon after picking up our still non-functional spare alternator.   We anchored out at the mouth of the reef in front of Bahia de Jobos about 5 miles south of Salinas with the plan to leave in the early morning for Vieques.    The easterly tradwinds have been reliably on our nose since we rounded Cabo Rojo on the southwestern corner of Puerto Rico and they  have continued the length of the Southern coast of PR and as we now motor our way  from the southeastern tip of PR bound for Vieques.   The wind and waves were not bad at 9 – 16 kts with swells of 1-3ft as we motored to Playa Punta Arenas also known as Green Beach on the North East corner of Vieques.    We left our anchorage in PR at 4:30am and made good time, arriving at Green Beach just before noon.      There are 3 mooring balls in the anchorage and we were able to pick one up thus alleviating the need to drop or haul our anchor with our unreliable windlass.    The water is clean and clear and we were able to run our water maker to supplement our fresh water during our passage from PR to Vieques.    Green beach is surrounded by numerous shallow reefs close to the beach and large beds of sea grass, perfect conch habitat.   We jumped into the water with our masks and snorkel gear and within minutes had found 3 large Conch.  I have been Jonesin for Conch since we left the Bahamas.   We are out of Goat Peppers for the conch salad so fritters for dinner it is!   During the day we shared the anchorage with, what we have dubbed, the PR Navy.   The many small power boats that come from PR to enjoy the beach for the day by tying their boats stern to the beach and lounge around in the water picnicking.   But by Saturday evening we were again alone in this exquisite corner of the Island.    The quiet beauty of the anchorage at sunrise, prompted Michael to row Mighty Mouse out for some great shots of DD in the glassy water.   We spent Saturday and Sunday swimming the reefs which we found to have a wonderful variety of different types of living coral including an intimate experience with Stinging Coral.  OUCH!  We were on the lookout for a lobster to invite to dinner, but unfortunately did not find any here. We were on the lookout for a lobster to invite to dinner, but unfortunately did not find any here. We were on the lookout for a lobster to invite to dinner, but unfortunately did not find any here.   We did enjoy the company of many colorful reef fish including my Mom’s personal favorite Sergeant Majors and my favorite Yellowtail Damselfish.    We also hiked along the dirt road that paralleled the beach.   I got to see an Antillean Crested Hummingbird, a new species for me.   We made our way around the point where we could see Culebra in the distance and further on the faint outline of St. Thomas in the USVI.   Travel now is primarily line of sight which adds a new dimension of anticipation to the journey.    It is exciting to look out and see a shape in the distance knowing we will be visiting soon experiencing new adventures and creating new memories to share with each other and our family and friends.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.