 |
| 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
More Pictures:
 |
El Yunque
Rainforest
Puerto, Rico |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
El Yunque
Rainforest
Puerto, Rico |
 |
Old City
Puerto Rico |
 |
| Richard and Tony |
 |
| Richard |
 |
| Tara |
 |
| Culibra |
 |
| San Juan |
 |
The Baths
BVI's |
 |
| Swimming off of San Juan |
 |
The Baths
BVI's |
Charleston is an opportunity for us to have
some family time with Jason, Amy, Ben, and Liam. Ben has already spent two nights on board and
hopes to spend more time. Kay is getting
to be Nana Kay and we are all enjoying the warmth of the sun as we endure the
latest heat wave. Each day, for the past week, has posted
temps over 100. It is making it
difficult to work outside on Atalanta but makes beach time that much
better. Unfortunately, while in Charleston,
9 innocent people were murdered at a prayer meeting in their local church. This event has brought great sadness to this
community. Charleston is a beautiful
community that unfortunately has racism in its DNA. Without radical reflection issues of racism
will be a value that permeates this community.
On the surface, Charleston appears so civilized and sophisticated. Just below the surface, life is less
tranquil. It is time for change. At the very least, the Confederate Flag does
not need to fly over the capitol building. 
After nearly two years at sea, we will enter US waters next week.
We continue our journey with Argosea, Tony and Anne’s 47-foot Moody from
England. Being in the Bahamas for the
past three weeks has been a treat. It is
one of the most remote places we have traveled.
Grocery stores, chandleries, and repair services are few and far
between. If you have a mechanical issue
on board, your choices are to fix it yourself, hope a fellow yachtsman can
help, or do a work around until you get to place where services are
available. Although Atalanta behaved well for an extended period, she is now demanding some attention! The good news is, there are
hundreds and hundreds of remote cays with sandy beaches just waiting to be your
private place. The water is the clearest
and cleanest anywhere we have been and the fish are abundant. We have been swimming with rays spanning four
feet across not to mention nurse sharks 3-5 feet in length. The snorkeling over coral is spectacular in
the Bahamas as well. We will miss it as
we cross the Gulf Stream and enter the darker, colder waters off the east coast.
