After having spent a full month sailing the Virgin
Islands, we ventured westward into lesser known territory:
the Spanish Virgin Islands. Composed of Culebra, Vieques, and the
Cordillera, these islands are part of Puerto Rico and administered
by the United States. Being much less developped from a touristic
standpoint, they differ greatly from the US and British islands.
One striking difference is that everything is in Spanish, to the point
that some people don't even speak a word of English. Furthermore,
fishing in the Spanish Virgin Islands is unreal, as its waters have
been mostly left untouched by commercial activities. Finally, apart
from the weekend crowd, sailors get to enjoy the various anchorages
pretty much to themselves.
March 5th, 2001
Zipolite left the western tip of St.Thomas early in the
morning.
On this crossing, we encountered whales for the first
time, and seeing them jump out of the water was a sight
I wish I could have captured on camera. Unfortunately,
the animals were half a mile away so it was impossible.
As we set anchor in Culebrita, Drew and Valent immediately
went hunting, and it did not take long before they came
back with an incredible 9 pound lobster! Nobody could
believe their eyes. The sucker was almost twice the size
of those big boys we caught in Barbuda
back in December...
Culebrita is an uninhabited island about two miles northeast
of its big sister Culebra.
It is surrounded by beautiful white sand beaches, and
the anchorage is situated in a secluded bay next to some
rocky pools known as "the jacuzzis". The bay is practically
deserted, except on weekends when Puerto Ricans come "en
masse" with their large Hatteras boats, and anchor one
aside another. Luckily, the noisy crowd quickly dissipates
on Sunday afternoon, and life aboard Zipolite settles
back to normal... ...Until it is time to move on again
of course!
The shores of Puerto Rico [Rich Port] were reached
on March 7th, after a dissapointing stop at the reefs
of the Cordillera, as the large northwesterly swell stopped
us from anchoring. We stationed the sailboat in the Caribbean's
largest marina: Puerto Del Rey [Port of the King].
From there, we rented a car and went to visit the Capital
San Juan. To the contrary of what we expected, the city
was clean and safe, especially old San Juan, surrounded
by the walls of its fort.
There, narrow streets were bordered by beautifully coloured
colonial houses, and this display gave the city its whole
charm. It is no wonder that so many cruise ships make
a stop in San Juan, before proceeding to some other exotic
location. At night, the town is just as busstling, as
people get dressed and go to some fancy restaurant, pub,
or cafe. All this history and nightlife definetely makes
San Juan a worthwile visit if you happen to pass nearby.
You will certainly not be dissapointed.
On the day Drew and Valent were scheduled to fly back
to North America,
we drove up to the mountain of El Yunque in the Caribbean
National Forest. This is the only tropical rainforest
on US soil, and the Americans made sure its beauty would
be preserved for generations to come. A narrow curvy road
leads up to many scenic stops beneath the shaddow of 3000+
foot high summits, all surrounded by lush tropical vegetation
and waterfalls. Unfortunately we did not have as much
time as we wished to spend there, nevertheless we enjoyed
what we managed to see.
As myslef
and Jérôme were on our own again, we left
Puerto Del Rey southwards to Palmas Del Mar [Palms
of the Sea]. Palmas is a resort for the wealthy, where
residents drive around in golf carts. The Marina was in
a man made cove behind a seawall, and there was just enough
space to anchor a few boats. From the cove, we were at
walking distance from a beach and a small shopping centre.
Unlike what a brochure was advertising, the water was
anything but clear, and the sand was brownish. All in
all, we were not very impressed by the whole building
project, and only used the place as a base camp from where
we toured the island. We rented a car again, and drove
to Ponce on the south side of the island, and then back
to San Juan to take a few more pictures of the city.
In San Juan, we returned to the San Felipe Del Morro fortress,
a decent sized structure compared to the minute fortifications
we have seen so far. Then, we headed back to Palmas Del
Mar as we were preparing to leave for Vieques and its
bioluminescent [phosphorescent] bays... We could
not wait!
March 18th
Here we are, at Green Beach on the west end of Vieques,
a large part of which is a US Navy bombing range. It seems
the latter are about to retire from this area however,
because the new government of Puerto Rico wants no military
presence whatsoever after recent fatal accidents.
As such, we pretty much were the only sailboat in a 20
mile radius, the place almost deserted. The phosphorecent
bay was surrounded by mangroves and accessed through a
narrow pass from the sea. We waited with anticipation
for the sun to set and see the action start. 7:00PM the
sky was dark, and so was the water. We figured the bioluminescence
might start later, so we waited until ten o'clock. When
time came, we went on the deck and the only light we saw
was the flash of an antenna on a nearby hill. In the water,
nothing, not even one little spec of light! What on earth
was our guide talking about with suck embelishment?
We wanted to burn the book after such a slap in the face...
We left the place early the following morning, and headed
to Culebrita. Near the lagoon, two dolphins swam with
our sailboat for about 5 minutes, which was a joy. We
then walked back to the Jacuzzis to take some pictures.
The waves crashing on the rock cliffs spilled into the
quiet pools and created whitewater that was just like
in a hot tub.
Back to the US Virgin Islands:
On March 28th, we arrived to Christiansted, St.Croix,
after a stopover in Magens Bay of St.Thomas. This little
town of roughly 30,000 people has a long history.
Originally occupied by the fierce Carib indians, Christopher
Colombus baptised it, and later the French took hold of
it. Denmark bought the island in 1733 to grow sugar cane,
and the island flourished until the 19th Century when
the sugar cane commerce dwindled and slavery was abolished.
The United States purchased the strategic Danish West
Indies during the First World War fearing German advancements.
Today, the Danish architecture is still predominant in
the central part of the town. The bright yellow buildings
with their arcaded sidewalks create a beautiful contrast
with ocean that goes anywhere from blue to turquoise.
We then sailed to Buck Island,
part of the Virgin Islands National Park and surrounded
by beautiful coral reefs. The main reason we came here
was kitesurfing. The winds were a steady 12-15 knots,
which was perfect for Jérôme's Wind Tools
Kite. I pulled my camera out, and took some shots of the
action. Part of it in the water, part of it on the beach,
where we were having fun when the winds died down a little.
We sailed for three days straight, until Jérôme's
kite line snapped, while my Naish got punctured and slowly
deflated. This was a hard hit, as my windsurfing gear
was already out of order...
We left St.Croix on April 2nd, as Christina was flying
in to St.Thomas the following day. As we were getting
ready, a brush fire erupted close to Christiansted, probably
a little too close... Later in St.Thomas, we saw another
impressive display; a Millionnaire's yacht carrying numerous
dinghies, speedboats, a helicopter, and even a sailboat
[larger than Zipolite]!!!
After picking up my cousin, we headed eastward toward
our favourite location in the VI.
You guessed it, Bitter End! We arrived there a
week later, after stopping by Foxy's, attending the Full
Moon Party at BoMba ShaCks, and finally visiting the wreck
of the Rhone off Salt Island.
The huge steamer sank with over 200 people on board in
1867 during a fierce hurricane. It is probably the most
popular dive site in the BVI. Later in Bitter End, we
got the chance to windsurf some more, and made a bondfire
and barbeque on Eustasia Island one evening. This was
going to be our last stop before heading to:
After having spent a full month sailing the 
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