Sailing into the Spanish Virgins

We left the south coast of Puerto Rico in the early morning of Monday (3 am to exact). We attempted to make Vieques but were fighting wind, sea and current. By the way the sailing directions for the Spanish Virgins clearly note this, suggesting an alternative route. We broke off to the north sailing along the east coast of Puerto Rico, the wind veered to the south east and we laid a course for Culebra, tacking a couple of times to make it but enjoying a long 6 hour sail in great conditions. We anchored on the north coast of Cano Luis Pena, a nature reserve for turtles, and just as we set the anchor a rather large turtle (Hawksbill we think) came to take a look. Culebra and its surrounding islands are very pretty.

So our pounding to windward is done, yes we do have make a few more miles east, but that is all within the Virgin Islands which provide tacking angles and nice lees to use. I can say that it is a big relief to not have to repeat the route along the DR and PR coasts. We really enjoyed Puerto Rico and is a great cruising area itself. Until the last leg, leaving between 3-4 am did work on the PR coast as the nocturnal wind made things much calmer for easting. The last leg I think ultimately is too close to the eastern end of the island so the seas and winds are not dampened as much.

With respect to the Virgins I have high expectations for the Spanish, am intrigued by the British, and think unlikely for the U.S.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com