Flamenco Beach and Passage to Vieques

Flamenco Beach and Passage to Vieques

Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February 2025

On Friday morning, we decided to walk to Flamenco Beach, on the north shore of Culebra.  We had heard from a local that this beach is considered one of the top ten beaches in the world. We repeated the long, down wind dinghy ride to town and set off walking.  Part way up the intervening hill a car stopped and asked if we wanted a ride.  We hopped in and met two women (Catherine and Cathy) who said they had done the walk many times themselves and took pity on us.  In the usual way they quizzed us about where we called home.  When Mike said we live west of Boston, they exclaimed “that’s our area”.  It turned out that they are from Maynard—the town just north of Sudbury.  It sounds like they have been coming to Culebra for a number of years, in the past camping on the beach.  As we approached the entrance to the campground/beach, they dropped us, explaining that they were on their way to visit their friend Sonya before trekking onto the beach.

We paid our entrance fee and walked out onto the beach.  The beach faces north and the swell was rolling in vigorously.  The double red flags and the large waves told us all we needed to know about the swimming.  The gorgeous sand stretched in a long gentle curve around the bay.  We decided to walk toward the east, enjoying the beautiful water, waves and wind.  After a bit we bumped into Catherine and Cathy again, who advised us against swimming as there is a strong current in the bay.  Mike took a few photos and spotted a woman sitting on the beach with a small dog.  He went over to stroke the dog and got chatting to the woman.  She told us a bit about the island and her family lands.  Mike asked to take her picture with the dog.  In trying to work out how to get a copy of the photo to her, she mentioned that her name was Sonya.  Sure enough, she was friends with Catherine and Cathy.  How strange was all that? 

We walked to the west end of the beach to look at a couple of tanks.  One was on a hill behind the beach and one was in shallow water.  My impression would be that the sea water is not doing good things for that tank.  I also noted that about a quarter of the people on the beach seem compelled to come and take some “selfies” posed in front of the tank.  After a little sustenance, we walked the one mile path over a hill to a second beach on the west side of the island, where there were no people at all!  Then we began the long walk back toward town.  Once again, some lovely people stopped and gave us a lift.  This was very welcome as the afternoon was quite hot, especially walking along the tarmac.  We hopped into the dinghy and “enjoyed” a bumpy, wet trip back to Cotinga. Dinner of fish tacos rounded out a lovely day.

Saturday morning arrived and we started preparations for the passage to Vieques.  The waves were predicted to be just over six feet.  The wind was forecast to be dropping into the high teens to low twenties.  The route would be essentially due south so we were expecting some rolling.  We delayed our departure to get the latest update from Chris Parker (our weather guy). His assessment was that conditions would be “inclement”.  Holy cow, when Chris Parker says “inclement” the best idea would be to stay securely anchored! To leave Ensenada Honda you must follow a well marked channel to the east (lots of shallows around).  Strong winds directly on the nose made even this portion seem like a bad idea.  When we finally could turned south, I started to wonder whether a double reefed main was still too much sail.  Shortly thereafter, I started to feel somewhat unwell.  With nine miles to go before a change of direction, I did my best to watch the horizon.  Unfortunately, all too often a large wave obscured the horizon altogether.  Eventually we reached the eastern point of Vieques where we would turn more westward.  I thought the change of motion might be too much for me, but conditions seemed to get better.  A further six miles and we were entering the outer bay which we needed to traverse to get to the anchorage.  There were a lot of shallows, requiring good concentration.  The inner bay was deeper and we selected an anchor spot between the two large boats.  We were both delighted to have arrived and find such a calm anchorage after a pretty challenging passage.

18 07.067 N, 65 20.767 W

Gloria

p.s. I would rate this as one of the two roughest passages we have ever made. It was short but the winds were consistently between 22 and 26 knots and the waves were on average approaching 7 feet. Every so often you would get a whopper! I don’t know if it’s because the water is relatively shallow around here, but these didn’t feel like the long rolling seas of open ocean. You really had to hang on! After turning west we did a lot of surfing down waves and at one point our speed over ground was 11.4 knots! We both got pretty wet during the passage

Mike

Flamenco Beach seems deserving of it's top 10 in the world status - absolutely stunning. In taking photos I tried to concentrate more on the people.

Flamenco beach - no people!

My favorite model!

Relaxing on loungers

Pristine nature ... with excellent cell service

Good waves ... and apparently a big rip current

Sonya and Peanut

Braving the waves

I love the color of the bathing suit against the turquoise of the water

Walking the beach

Something a little more energetic

Hamming it up for the camera

Selfies abound

Madison and Aidan - just married last weekend! (candid shot)

Madison and Aidan - (posed shot)

The wall of Moncho's restaurant in Culebra town - I love murals!

Isla Culebrita

Isla Culebrita

Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13th February 2025

Well, we are certainly having an adventure! We are effectively pinned down by the high winds and seas, but what a great place to be stuck in!

In our previous blog post Gloria described the anchorage in Bahia de Almodovar - beautiful, isolated and fully exposed to the wind, but protected from the ocean swells by the surrounding reefs. It’s a fabulous anchorage. With our Navionics charts we are able to drill down and read comments and reviews written by other boaters on the “Active Captain” open-platform. A couple of people had commented about taking their dinghies over to the island of Culebrita to the northeast, a short 1 mile trip. We thought about doing just that, but the conditions seemed much too fierce to make that a safe proposition, so we pulled up the anchor and took Cotinga over for the day.

Isla Culebrita is now part of a larger marine park, but appears to have previously been a gunnery target. There are lots of warnings about unexploded ordnance.  We were able to find a sandy spot off the beach in about 18 feet of water and I snorkeled over the anchor and chain to check they were secure and not wrapped around any rocks. (18 18.788 N, 65 13.885 W - charts list this as a day-anchorage only - no overnight). It was pretty rolly, so as soon as we were organized we took the dinghy to shore. Initially, we landed at an old dock, but soon found there were no paths out from there, so we headed along the shore and hauled the ‘Dainty dog’ up onto ‘Snorkelers beach’. A series of foot paths took us up to an old dilapidated lighthouse and then over to ‘Treasure beach’ and finally ‘Tobago Beach. This island, and in particular the beaches, are some of the most beautiful places that we have visited on this trip. After our walk we contemplated snorkeling off the beach, but by the time we got back on board Cotinga it was so rolly that we decided to have a quick lunch and head back to the exact same spot in our previous anchorage. 

This morning we moved location again, but only a couple of miles around the coast to another sheltered bay - Ensenada Honda. It was another short and bumpy ride, but the channel in through the reefs was well marked and we were able to anchor in a small cove (Ensenada Dakota) off the main bay. Once again, it’s wide open to the wind with a view out over the ocean to the east, but with reefs blocking the swell. There are more boats here, perhaps because of the easy access to the main town at the head of the Bay. We took the dinghy in, about a 1.5 mile ride, which we found easy downwind, but very salty coming back. Gloria had to sit on the floor of the dinghy to avoid the spray. However, it was fun to walk around town and we had an outstanding lunch - Mofongo with shrimp for me, and chicken pasta for Gloria. Mofongo is a classic Puerto Rican and Dominican dish made from green plantains and minced pork crackling - it was really excellent. The pasta dish sounded ordinary, but was anything but - it tasted fabulous.

Is it better to spend more time visiting one area more closely or use the time to explore more areas? There’s no right answer to this question, but at least for the next couple of days, we have no choice but to enjoy our current location. Who wants to go sailing in short period 7-9 foot wind driven waves overlaying a longer swell of similar proportions? (data from our marine weather forecast). Not us! Things are supposed to settle down after the weekend and we may be able to do a short hop down to Vieques on Saturday. 

One last note - as many of you know, I broke the oven on our stove shortly after setting out in 2023. Whilst we were in Soper’s Hole Marina we finally learned how to make Ciabatta bread on the stove top. It was great!

18 17.517 N, 65 16.852 W

Mike

Full moon over the Bahia de Almodovar anchorage

Our first landing spot on Isla Culebrita - but nowhere to go from here - the main island of Culebra in the background

The Snorkelers Beach landing on Isla Culebrita gave access to footpaths across the island

The wrecked lighthouse at the top of the island

The masonry on the lighthouse was crumbling and colorful 

Views south from the lighthouse. The Bahia de Almodovar anchorage is visible in the indentation on teh main island top right. The snorkeling off the reef seen here is supposed to be excellent but it was too exposed and rough to contemplate on this day

Gloria literally standing on the path to 'Treasure Beach' It was actually easy going, underneath the sea grapes

'Treasure Beach'

The waves rolling in from the east were impressive - this bay is not good anchorage !

'Tobago Beach' - as seen from the lighthouse. One of the most beautiful anchorages I have ever seen (but it looked a little rolly when viewed close up)

'The Baths' at the end of 'Tobago Beach, where a break in the rocks allows waves to flood through to create gorgeous pools

A lady photographs 'the baths'

A wave crashes through the breach

One outstanding ciabatta! (baked in our one-pan-for-all)

Mofongo with shrimp

Moving On

Moving On

Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th February, 2025

On Monday morning, we settled up our bill with the marina, purchased some ice and got rid of some trash. Then we had to face the “undocking”.  Naturally, there was a boat tied up at the “courtesy dock” opposite our slip!  Finally, after some prodding, that boat departed and we made our way out of the slip with some help from Tracy (s/v Magic Pelagic) and a chap two boats along.  It all went smoothly.  After pulling in all the fenders and lines, we unfurled the genoa.  Our direction was nearly dead down wind.  This combined with the swell from the aft quarter meant that we had some difficulty keeping the sail filled.  The weather was a bit squally, resulting in the donning and doffing of the foul weather gear.

We were on our way to Magens Bay on the north coast of St. Thomas. The seas were especially rough while rounding the eastern point of the bay. Once inside the bay, it almost seemed like a different day!  We found the anchorage to be quite deep until very close to the beach and we  failed twice to get a good anchor set.  Our reason for going into Magens Bay was two-fold.  We thought that if we checked in via the CBP Roam app at St. Thomas, we wouldn’t need to check in at Culebra (Spanish Virgin Islands) or indeed at Puerto Rico.  The second part of the plan was to overnight in this gorgeous bay and break the 30 mile journey to Culebra.  The poor holding convinced us that staying overnight was not an option!  Meanwhile, Mike confirmed with Customs and Border Protection that one check-in would do for all these US Islands.  While his application was being processed, we had a quick lunch.  Then it was time to set off again.  The second part of the journey seemed to go just a bit better, even though the seas were probably bigger.  The wind had strengthened somewhat and the genoa was flying pretty well.  Conditions were quite rolling with a fairly large swell.

Entering between some outer islands, we needed our wits about us as we approached Culebra.  We passed Culebrita (lovely sandy beach and light house) and then, to get to our anchorage, we entered a bay and turned into a narrow and shallow channel to an area enclosed by reefs and low mangrove islands.  Thankfully, we got a solid anchor set on the first try.  What a stunning spot this is.  Toward the east, you see lots of breaking water and a few mangrove islands.  In the distance is St. Thomas (about 15 nM away).  It feels a bit little like you are in the middle of the ocean.  Of course, to the west there is the island of Culebra.  We were very tired after our day of sailing and opted for an early dinner and an early night.  

Tuesday has been the lazy day of all time.  We started the morning with a little panic about my thumb.  The digit has seemed swollen and painful. I have been thinking that I got a splinter (or something) in it and it’s infected.  Overnight it was throbbing and waking me up.  At 4:30 am, I decided to get up and ice it. The noise I was making woke Mike up! (not popular).  Both of us finally fell back to sleep.  However, we had a trawl through our medical supplies.  I’m now taking some cephalexin—we’ll see if that can bring down the redness, swelling and heat!  I think I’ve been feeling sorry for myself with the duff thumb.  Mike has been doing some photography but I’ve just been reading and napping.  It’s now late afternoon and we’ve had our swim and shower.

More strong winds and big swells are forecast so we expect to be on Culebra for a few days then off to Vieques (about 10 miles).  The passage to Puerto Rico will have to wait for better conditions—hopefully early next week. 

18 17.885 N, 65 15.239 W

p.s If you cut and paste the coordinates into Google maps, you should be able to see where we are. Alternatively, you can look on our Predict Wind tracking page, which shows our position and our route.

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Cotinga/

Gloria

Looking back to Soper's hole as one of several squalls approaches from the east (this is not a B&W image - even though there is very little color)

 A fast ferry - (maybe from Puerto Rico?) - heading east on the north coast of St Thomas 

Squalls cover the British Virgin Islands and moved over us, bringing rain and some extra wind (up to 22 knots)

The amazing anchorage in Bahia de Almodovar (las Pelas) - looking west

The amazing anchorage in Bahia de Almodovar (las Pelas) - looking east

Ditto

Shell (obviously!)

Cockpit speaker ... I took this and the shell photos primarily to provide templates from which I might try and generate some collage pictures in the future)

Soper’s Hole, Tortola

Soper’s Hole, Tortola

Friday 7th - Sunday 9th February 2025

I first visited Soper’s Hole / Frenchman’s Cay on 26th November 2017. The area was completely devastated by Hurricane Irma and there was speculation that tornados in the eye-wall of the hurricane generated winds in excess of 200 mph. (If you want to see some photos from that time then take a look at our blog posting from that date.) Almost 8 years later and there really is no remaining evidence of the damage. I recognize individual buildings that have now been repaired, and the small breakfast cafe that had re-opened on our last visit in 2017 is still running and looks great. We will have to check it out! The whole area is is bright, colorful and charming.

We arrived at Soper’s Hole Marina early on Friday afternoon, and following a final lunch with Louise and Hugh, we said our goodbyes. They will spend a few days at a hotel on Tortola before flying back. We will miss them. We have spent the weekend working on a list of boat projects and planning the next stage of our journey - west to Culebra and Vieques (Spanish Virgin Islands), then along the south coast of Puerto Rico and across the Mona Passage to the Dominican Republic.

Highlights (!) of the boat work include dismantling and rebuilding the toilet in the forward bathroom, replacing a broken hose connector and various gaskets / washers, all in an attempt to solve the small, but persistent leak we have been enduring for the past few weeks. We also set out to figure out why our boat-instruments (wind, depth, speed etc) kept losing their data, although the instruments remained on. This is a recent problem and we finally tracked it down to a loose connection in the “Simnet” data cables … or at least we hope this is the cause and that it’s now fixed. We also did some laundry by hand and filled up our water tanks. We plan to top up diesel and check oil levels in the engine before we depart. 

The most exciting moments were undoubtedly moving Cotinga from one dock to another. When we arrived there had been a mix up on planning and the slip the marina wanted us in was not yet vacant - so they put us in the adjacent bay where a double slip was open. However, the arrival of a catamaran on Saturday morning meant they needed that double space and wanted us to move along to the now vacant space. It was an extremely tight maneuver, requiring us to move forward ~ 100 feet, then back around a catamaran on a short dock opposite and then reverse into the new slip, adjacent to a monohull that was already parked there. This ‘dogleg’ course brought us very close to the catamaran and then required numerous forward / reverse thrusts to pivot us and allow us to back into the slip. This was the most challenging docking exercise we have undertaken. Thankfully, the dock master was there to offer advice and catch our lines. Reactions from observers was mixed: Gloria was literally audibly gasping, possibly at the point of hyper-ventilating; the dock master and two other sailors who witnessed this ‘thriller’ congratulated us on an excellent maneuver. However, Gloria also overheard one couple from the restaurant saying that they saw a sailboat came out of a slip and crash into the catamaran. (Absolutely not true - I hasten to add !) Needless to say, we were very relieved to be tied up safely.

I do want to mention that just before going to bed last night, our marine weather provider (Chris Parker) reached out with an email warning of an earthquake near the Cayman Islands and a possible Tsunami. Thankfully, whatever tsunami developed was very small and we felt nothing.

Tonight is the Super Bowl - and Pussers Restaurant, a 30 second walk from our dock, should be showing it. Whether we can manage to stay up until the end is a different question.

Mike

I'm a sucker for abstract pillars ... but purple pillars ... how cool is that! This is the entry to the supermarket at the end of our dock!

I don't take many people pictures, but as I was setting up for the 'pillars' photo (above) this young man came out of the alleyway and naturally posed for a picture

On a roll with people pictures, I took this shot of a lovely guy hanging out in the coffee shop.

I stopped to photograph the flowers but ended up shooting the bees

On the dock at Soper's hole Marina

Ditto

Looking across from our dock to the catamarans opposite. (FYI it's $27,000 a week to rent a 52 foot catamaran (no crew) from here. Gloria and I could have one each!)

Abstract dinghy action in the marina

The waterfront with Pussers bar and restaurant all lit up

Pussers bar and restaurant