Mother Nature has finally given us a weather window and we are once again on our way east. Last we wrote we had hurricane Kate building up on top of us. She was at that time just a trough of low pressure but she had some big winds (gusts of 50+), waves of 9 feet and lots of torrential downpours of rain. Great for rain collecting but not great for us to travel in.
With time to kill and running out of things to do our friend Les offered to drive us over to Zoni beach. This was a beach that we had not yet had a chance to explore on Culebra. We all hopped into his jeep and took the bumpy ride over the mountains to get there. It was beautiful! We had sailed by this beach before but it is not a calm enough place to anchor so getting there by land was our only chance to see it.
Hand painted sign at Zoni Beach explaining the turtle hatching process and how humans can affect turtles. I though it was cool.
Zoni Beach, Culebra Island, Puerto Rico.
We spent hours walking the beach, climbing over giant boulders and swimming in the crystal blue waters. After we had our fill of Zoni beach we went to town, packed one more friend, Dave in the jeep and we all headed over to famous Flamenco beach for some lunch and more swimming. What a great day! Thank you Les!
Watching the weather online we could see that our chance to leave Culebra was near. So we waited and the sun finally came out, the birds were singing and the wind and waves subsided. Culebra has really grown on us and if we had the chance we would buy property here. We like it that much! It is somewhat secluded but still in touch with the world. The locals here are wonderful and the island has so much exploring to offer. But it is time for us to move on and time for us to leave our beloved Culebra….we’re really gonna miss this island!
This photo was taken on the streets of Culebra, Puerto Rico. Not sure why the chicken was in a cage or why it had a carpet under it. Usually they run around free in the streets. Brian said that it might be a prized fighting cock. I thought it was a strange sight.
With the weather finally in our favor we planned on leaving at 8 AM the next morning. We were so excited that Brian and I were awake at 6 and we decided since we were up to set sail early. I brewed coffee and we were underway by 6:30. The wind and waves were still against us but only at around 10 to 15knts and about 2 to 4 foot seas. We motored-sailed and made it to Brewers Bay, St. Thomas in 4 ½ hours.
Moon in Brewers Bay.
Brewers is a beautiful bay, and now one of our favorites! It looks like it is a popular spot for locals too and not so much of a tourist destination. It’s has a nice sandy beach and a shallow anchorage. It is located on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands and nicely taken care of. Snorkeling from the beach is easy. Not much to see other than sand, sea-grass, conchs and oh yea…sea turtles!
This boat was anchored in Brewer’s Bay, St. Thomas, VI. There were lots of pelicans in the bay and they seemed to like to hang out on the boats. They left lots of pelican poo all over the boats too!
It has to be one of the calmest bays that we have anchored in at St. Thomas. It’s right next to the airport landing strip and some guide books had said that it was loud here but after being in Culebra and right under the air strip there we found that Brewers is not that noisy at all. I bet when it’s season here though and when there are more planes flying in and out that it would make a big difference. For now we love this bay.
Rachel especially likes Brewers Bay because she finally got to swim with sea turtles. She was so excited! She’s been dreaming of swimming with sea turtles since her last visit with us and her wish finally came true. They are lots of sea turtles here in Brewers Bay and she even had four turtles swimming around her at one point. Too cool!
We explored a near by beach and were also able to find lots of sea-glass. This is one of my favorite things to do…I love to scour the beach for treasures and sea-glass is one of my favorite treasures to find! This anchoring spot had something for all of us to enjoy!
Brian and Rachel rowing to shore to explore the caves. Can you see the rocks near the top of the mountain? That is where they are hiking to.
So, here I am sitting on the boat catching you all up on what we have been up to and Brian and Rachel are hiking up some large, exposed rocks on the mountainside near the university above Brewers Bay. From the ground it looks like caves set into the mountains. I’d imagine that if I were a pirate in the days before that this would be a good place to hide my treasures. Who knows what they will find when they reach the top? Maybe they will come back with some doubloons or jeweled encrusted necklaces…
I’ll close for now with dreams of pirates and treasures roaming in my head.
Take care all we’ll be posting again soon…and remembering to take lots of pictures to share with you!
Nice family photo at a house that our friend Les took us to on the way to Zoni beach. Awesome view!
Always,
Jennifer, Brian and Crew Rachel