Caribbean Cruising Course 2004

In the Winter of 2004, four Boston Sailing Center cruising course students joined Head Sailing Instructor David Carlson to set sail for the Spanish Virgin Islands -- read below for his account of their adventure!

Last winter's Caribbean Cruising Course began in the U.S. Virgin Islands, at Frenchtown marina on the beautiful island of St. Thomas. Our trip was partially planned back at the riverboat in Boston. At lunch one day I happened upon an article in Smithsonian magazine on the Spanish Virgin Islands. Always one to take the road less traveled, I set about trying to find some information about the area; I found that because of the prevailing wind rarely do locals and people who chartersail there. That sounded like the perfect place to start our adventure.

Our first stop on the tour was the Island of Culebra. Culebra (pronounced Koo-LAY-braa) is about 17 nautical miles west of St. Thomas and about 15 Nautical miles east of Puerto Rico. The island is about 7 miles long and 3 miles wide, and you could circumnavigate the island in one long day sail. It was owned by the Spanish until about 1898, and is now under protection of the U.S. Until 1975 the U.S. used Culebra as a bombing range and amphibious landing area. There are still some relics of this time, such as the rusting tanks on Flamingo Beach, but you actually see few indications of this -- it is absolutely beautiful. Although the temperature in the day hangs around 80-90 degrees, it drops to a cool 75 to 80 in the evening. With the wind prevailing out of the East to North East most people who charter or live on St. Thomas prefer not to make the so called “long beat” back. I talked to people who have lived on the island for a decade and not made the trip. This is really a fun 5-hour sail back with a forty-foot boat. That said, it was fine with us as it leaves Culebra a virtually uninhabited paradise!

We landed in Ensenada Honda, the main port of call for Culebra. There are about 10 free moorings available here and plenty of space and water to anchor. The town of Dewey is a good hang out with two small provisioning stores. If you stop at the town dock, walk up one block and take a right, the grocery store is a couple of buildings down on your right. Maria will be glad to help you. Brushing up on your Spanish is a good idea as people only speak a smattering of English. The good old American dollar speaks volumes though, so no worries. You will have to stop in at customs, which is merely a formality as these islands are in U.S. waters. Be sure to stop at the “Dingy dock.” You can’t miss it. You literally tie your dingy up next to your table, sit down and order drinks. The food is good and reasonably priced, and the frozen margaritas are particularly thirst quenching.

Three small islands surround Culebra. Culebrita, Spanish for “little snake”, is a wildife reserve on the North east side of the island. We hiked all over it with no signs of snakes, just small lizards, hermit crabs and many different types of birds; an ornithologist’s dream. Although the small, unmarked channel surrounded by reefs makes it difficult to enter Culebrita, 6 or 7 free moorings sit and wait for your arrival. We drew 8.5 feet and with water depths up to 11 had about 2 to 3 feet to spare. This was a great overnight anchorage as we were protected by land and reef on three sides and it had very little swell compared to other places in the leewards. After an hour the only other boat in the anchorage sailed away and we were left in almost completely isolated and still waters. The only other inhabitants were some small endangered leatherback sea turtles coming by to check us out. Don’t believe the rabbit and the hare story, these things can move! Besides the incredible white sand beach, there were two other spots that left us stunned. First, the Jacuzzis: a quick ten-minute walk along the beach brings you to three large pools fed by the incoming surf. As you sit protected sipping on your choice of beverage, small colorful fish provide entertainment as they swim around your legs. Second, there is an easy 45minute hike up to the lighthouse, which was built by the Spanish in 1882. It was then devastated by hurricanes and neglect, and is now a historical monument. The 360 degree view from the lighthouse is so spectacular, that it was tough to sail away from this incredible spot.

The Island of Luis Pena` lies South West of the big island. It is another isolated island with only 3 or 4 moorings. The reefs that surround this island offer some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. You will need a wildlife guide as there are too many species to identify. It is illegal to anchor and fish here in order promote reef growth and maintain a healthy ecosystem. The fish feed on the bacteria that feed on the reef, and fishing restrictions help support the balance of these relationships.

Many of the other islands that I have visited over the years have been over fished, leading to the collapse of their reefs. The rest of Luis Pena is a lush forest, inhabited only by goats. As we sailed away from the island we prepared a line and tackle and after enough distance from the reef we caught a small delicious tuna.

When our time was up, we had to sail back to St. Thomas. The last leg of this outstanding vacation was a fun up-wind sail with seas from 5 to 10 feet, and warm 15 to 20k winds. Not a bad way to finish up our trip. I can’t wait to go in 2005. Margaritas anyone?