Jan 25–31 Spanish Virgin Islands & Puerto Rico Water Island was fun, but we really had to be on the move again. We had provisioned in St Thomas and the ice box was filled to the top with block ice, fresh meat and other perishable food. That was almost a guarantee that we would catch fish. First Jim caught a Cero Mackerel. We managed to squeeze the baggie of fillets between the ice. Then as we got close to our anchorage and the water started to get shallow we had another strike - a black fin tuna. Pull in the lines, we can't possibly fit more than that in the ice box or deal with any more fresh meat! As we came into the anchorage at Puerto Selenis Del Sur on Vieques, Linda was praying there would be another boat we could share our tuna with. Not only was there another boat, but it was someone we knew - Dodd and Rebecca on Vesper Light. We had sailed with Dodd from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico in 2009. He was part of the "South Bound Group". We had a wonderful evening on Vesper Light. We brought tuna and potatoes, they provide salad and dessert. Rebecca, I don't think we will ever forget the homemade brownies topped with strawberries and whipped cream.
Another stop along the south coast of Vieques was Puerto Mosquito, also called Bio Bay. The very long, narrow and shallow entrance to the bay causes a lot of phosphorescent dinoflagellates to accumulate there. At night any disturbance in the water causes them to light up. You can jump into the water and all the water around you glows. If you move your arms or legs slowly in the water, you can see the individual dinoflagellates light up like little tiny dots of light all over you. We looked like the blue glittery damsel fish we see on the reefs. Just after dark, the tourists came in kayaks or on a big pontoon to see the luminescence. We were glad we could take it all in right from Opus. Afterwards we found out Bio Bay was off limits to any motorized craft, so if we go again we'll have to join the tourist in the kayaks.
We called Dodd and Rebecca on the VHF radio from Puerto Mosquito only to find another familiar voice. Jim & Marlene from Blue Heaven, another boat from the old "South Bound Group" were only one bay away and heading back to Palmas Del Mar Marina in Puerto Rico, so that became our next stop. We were expecting to anchor at Palmas Del Mar, but when we came around the break water we discovered the entire anchorage had been filled with concrete docks from the marina. Ooops, change of plans. We stayed at the marina for a few days, rented a car and did all our shopping and Puerto Rico sight seeing as well as visiting with Jim & Marlene. In one day with a car we hit Wal-Mart, West Marine, Pep Boys, Office Max, a grocery store, El Yunque National Rain Forest, had Puerto Rican food for lunch and had Mexican food for dinner. We had to spend the next day and a half stowing away all our purchases and relaxing. Jennifer and Linda checked out the marina pool that looked out over the ocean. After 4 meals of tuna, it was quite a treat to be invited to Blue Heaven for dinner and a movie.
We ended the month of January at Puerto Patillas, a quiet anchorage on the south coast of Puerto Rico. Now it's time to focus on school work and moving west.
Jan 13–24 US Virgin Islands We finally made the break from the BVI's and moved on to St Johns in the US VI's. We picked up a mooring ball in Little Lameshur Bay. The snorkeling was suppose to be good - it was so so. I guess we were spoiled after the Indians. The beach was crowded during the day, but we had the whole anchorage to ourselves at night. The stars were spectacular away from all the ambient light of civilization.
Jennifer was anxious to get to Honey Moon Beach on Water Island just south of St Thomas. She thought several boat kids would be there. She was right, 4 girls (one 13, one 14 and two 15). Of course there were some boys and even more kids on the weekends. We had a good routine there: school in the morning and kids to the beach in the afternoon. Jim made shopping trips to St Thomas by dinghy. Linda had a good place to swim and hike on shore after school. Jim played horse shoes with the local guys and he was pretty good. Monday was movie night on the beach where they tie up a huge sheet between 2 palm trees and project a DVD on it. Drinks and popcorn were available at the snack bar. There was good free internet, so we got caught up on phone calls and emails. OK, so we didn't get the website quite up-to-date, but we made some progress on that. Anyway, it was a good stop and we probably stayed longer than we should have.
Jan 1–12 British Virgin Islands Bitter End Yacht Club: We anchored in front of the Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda for almost a week. The winds were strong and gusty (Christmas Winds), so it was a good time to stay put. BEYC struck us as a Disney resort with the focus on water sports. It was a huge complex with their own stores and restaurants and activities going on all day long. There were several beaches, a pool, snorkeling and diving trips, fishing trips, and sunset sails. They also had over a hundred small boats that they rented out by the hour - kayaks, wind surfers, Hobie cats, Lasers and small day sailers. It was quite a show watching all the vacationers take to the water in the gusty winds. Someone was always capsizing. Being so close to the resort, people would often sail or paddle right past Opus. There were a lot of near misses, but only one direct hit. The little sailboat bounced off us and then got their rigging stuck on our bowsprit. No damage to Opus, just a little damage to the pride of the guy who ran into us.
Besides all the water sports, they had hiking trails, movies, happy hours and music. Linda and Jennifer hiked most days. Jim's favorite activity was visiting with people while sipping $2.50 Pain Killers (a good rum drink)during happy hour. The best Pain Killers were at Saba Rock, a resort on a tiny island right next to the BEYC. One night we ran into Betsy, a friend from North Carolina, at Saba Rock. It really is a small world.
Anegada: A new stop for us this time was Anegada. It's very different from the rest of the BVI's. Instead of mountains, it's a flat island with limestone beaches and crystal clear water. We played on a beach and went snorkeling. One of the big draws for charter boaters is the abundance of big lobsters. Everyone was raving about the lobster dinners they got there. At $50 per person for a lobster dinner we passed and opted just to remember the terrific lobster dinners we ate on Opus back in Grenada and Carriacou for $10-20 total.
The Baths: We knew our friends Val, Ron and Olivia on Exodo were heading for the BVI's after New Years. On a lark we called them on the radio one morning and as luck would have it, they were just sailing into Virgin Gorda after their first over night sail. We joined them in Spanish Town and spent a day at the Baths with them. The girls had a ball climbing between the huge boulders. It was a very good day followed by a good meal on Exodo.
Leverick Bay: We'd been here before, but it's always worth a stop. It's a very cruiser friendly place with a laundry, pool, showers, small grocery, Pusser's Rum store, dive shop and of course a bar. This time we took in the Micheal Bean show, a Pirate Happy Arrrgh. He had a conch blowing contest as part of the show. Linda's pretty good with a conch horn, so she entered. The competition was stiff. She tied with another woman for the longest blow at 39 counts. It made a better show to have a tie breaker, so Michael ordered 2 shots of rum and the gals had to chug the rum and blow again. They tied again! Linda had a steadier tone, so she won, got a free CD, was "knighted" Queen Conch, and had to do a victory dance back to the table. That was almost more than she could handle. Next time Linda will stay in her seat and buy a CD! Five year old Olivia entered too. She was in a class of her own and a real real crowd pleaser. She was awarded a CD just for blowing the conch. And she can make a good sound even if she needs some help holding the heavy shell.
Norman Island: Before leaving the BVI's we needed to make one more stop at Norman Island. We snorkeled at The Indians - crystal clear water, coral and fish. It was a good stop. The anchorage at The Bight is always full of charter boaters. We've learned to just stay on Opus, watch the sunset and watch the show as all the charter boater go to shore to eat and drink.