Our sail from Palmas del Mar to Vieques was a motor sail all the way. Not only were the seas ROUGH, but the winds were up and DEAD ON OUR NOSE! We were getting nowhere fast. Our first planned stop was Puerto Real; however, we thought it looked awfully rough so we ducked into Ensenada Sun Bay. We anchored and after a nap decided the anchorage was not only rolly, but the surge was hitting us from multiple angles. We were miserable and so decided to up anchor and move to the far end of the island, to Ensenada Honda (not Ensenada Honda in Culebra--these are two different places).
Up until May 1, 2003, three-quarters of the island of Vieques was used by the U.S. Navy for bombing practice, war games and the dumping of old munitions. That portion of the island is now open to cruisers
as long as you don't go beyond the high tide mark. There still are many
areas where cruisers are advised not to anchor due to the possibility of
unexploded ordinance on the bottom. Nothing like setting your anchor on a little TNT. We were careful to follow our cruising guides and had no trouble.
What we found was a nice VERY large and VERY remote anchorage, no other boats...ZERO. We were once again all alone. The first night it felt a little odd being that alone in the world, but by the second day we were crazy enjoying the solitude. Turn up the Bose and dance naked! We had no plans to go to shore so we spent our days swimming around the boat and, yes, relaxing.
Having spent two months in Puerto Rico, on June 5, it was time to say goodbye and head to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What we found was a nice VERY large and VERY remote anchorage, no other boats...ZERO. We were once again all alone. The first night it felt a little odd being that alone in the world, but by the second day we were crazy enjoying the solitude. Turn up the Bose and dance naked! We had no plans to go to shore so we spent our days swimming around the boat and, yes, relaxing.
Having spent two months in Puerto Rico, on June 5, it was time to say goodbye and head to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Are you guys using ActiveCaptain.com, the Interactive Cruise Guide? You're about to move into areas where cruising guides are sparse. Get an account, it gives you local info from other cruisers.
ReplyDeleteActiveCaptain shows several anchorages you could have considered. I was stationed there in 1966 in the Marine Corps; looking at the Satellite photos the airfield is still there. We used to walk from the airfield to what we called Barracuda Cove and did snorkeling with beautiful beaches.
We did BLT's (Batallion Landing Teams) on the south side of Viegues; don't remember any unexplosive ordnance near the airfield .
Al Mays