Culebrita 4-18

Having done all there is to do here at Esperanza, we head out in the morning to start making some progress back east towards the BVI. The wind dropped a bit overnight,and swung a little south of east but there are still large swells running from the east. We plan to get out and see how rough it is, then decide if we’ll just go to the east end of Vieques or keep going up to either Culebra or Culebrita and shave off more miles. We motor into the wind, doing 4-5 knots along the south shore of Vieques. The waves are big, but spaced enough that the ride is not bad. No big slams or nose dives into the next wave. There are fish pots everywhere, but we seem to be on a good line, and are passing between the 2 long strings. The harbor at the east end, Ensenada Honda, doesn’t look like much and the conditions are ok, so we press on. We have been trolling with Billy the bait (our only remaining lure) but no luck yet.

Once clear of the tip of Vieques, we turn north-east and can roll out the head sail. Now we are zipping along at between 7-8 knots. We back off the engines, and still maintain 7 knots through the waves. We have a good angle to make it up to the reef that runs outside of Culebra, and then slip behind it to go to the west side of Culebrita. We stayed in the northern bay on Culebrita before, but saw mooring balls on this side of the island when we hiked down rat trail. Just as are about to enter the narrow channel behind the reef, we catch another fish. Tracy brings it in – another spanish mackerel. We debate whether to just let it go or clean it, but ultimately decide to keep it. Tracy navigates the reef, while I fillet. I’m done just as we reach the anchorage. There are about 5 boats here, one French catamaran that looks to be spending the night, but the others all look like they are just here for the day.

We grab a ball away from the other boats. Its starting to cloud up, again, but the water still looks inviting. We decide to grab the snorkel gear and check it out. Good decision. The reef is right off the back of the boat, and its amazing. Some of the best coral we have found, and lots of fish. Tracy and kids spot a big Southern Sting Ray gliding along.  There are a lot of fish types that we haven’t seen before, including a squirrel fish with big red buggy eyes. As we go back to the boat, over the deeper water Tracy spots a huge Goliath Grouper. We all paddle around a little more, hoping to see it, but no luck. I’ve said this before, but this has been our best snorkel site yet.

For dinner, I use the rest of the leftover Kingfish to make some fish tacos. Amazing!! even Delaina likes them. (no not Noah, he doesn’t eat anything good)