Atalanta: St. Martin to Puerto Ri

Passing whales on the way to the BVI's....WOW!

Since leaving St. Barth’s we visited St. Martin and spent two weeks visiting friends, restocking the boat and taking care of a few minor boat maintenance matters. From St. Martin, we sailed a short distance to Anguilla. This beautiful island is home to one of the best restaurants in the Caribbean, the Barrel Stay. We enjoyed our time at Sandy Ground before heading to the British Virgin Islands. The BVI’s have a very high concentration of charter boats -- yachts that are rented for a week or two. Charter boaters are less interested in interacting with other cruisers (like us) and they seem focused on partying as much as possible. Nevertheless, we found beautiful places to snorkel, hike and spend time with our good friend Conrad who spent two weeks with us.

Conrad

Next we visited the Spanish Virgin Islands which rank high among our most favorite places. Culebra, an island off the east coast of Puerto Rico, is a little piece of paradise. Absent from these islands are traffic, high-rise condos, fast-food restaurants, and malls. While anchored in Dewey, the islands’ only town, we rented a golf cart to tour the island with Tony and Anne. At 7 miles long by 4 miles wide it doesn’t take long to see the sights. Playa Flamenco is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and we thought Zoni beach was even better. We had drinks at the Dinghy Dock while watching 3-foot tarpons swimming tableside, lunch at Zacos Tacos where we guarded our food from taco stealing chickens, and dinner at Mamacitas where they suggest you take a cellphone picture of the menu on a chalkboard and then place your order.

The lighthouse on Culebrita

We moved from Dewey to Culebrita and anchored in one of the most lovely spots we have ever been. Tourtuga Bay was our access to this spectacular and uninhabited island. Vieques was the next stop where we spent the night anchored in a bioluminescent bay. Then it was on to Puerto Rico where we tied up at the 1000-slip Puerto Del Ray Marina in Fajardo. For the next 8 days, we explored the island in our rental a car and visited with old friends who have made Puerto Rico their home. We drove through the lush tropical mountains over snaking and sometimes bumpy roads on an overnight journey to Ponce. Ponce, founded in 1692, is home to some of the island’s most interesting architecture and a fabulous art museum, the Museo de Art. Near our boutique hotel, Hotel Belgica, was the Plaza las Delicias with trees, benches, and the famous lion fountain. Murray enjoyed a leisurely morning stroll and evening walk here. In the morning we proceeded north in search of the Observatoria de Arecibo. Hidden among pine-tree covered hills, it is the world’s largest radio telescope. Remember the movie Contact?

Arecebo Radio Telescope

Tara, Kay’s daughter, was our constant companion in Puerto Rico and we were so sad to say goodbye as she returned to reality. We are also departing Puerto Rico and will make the 400-mile sail to the Bahamas. We hope the passage takes no more than three days of nonstop sailing and are looking forward to exploring both the Exuma and Abaco Islands.

Thanks for following.

Richard and Kay

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