Hey there, Misty Blue Crew,
We were happy to land for a moment in Culebra, an absolutely cool little hangout of an island as part of Puerto Rico. It was never our intention to stay there for more than a couple of days but finding parts of it absolutely relaxing and even isolated, we decided to lay anchor and enjoy the gentle breezes. We stayed for almost a month!
My daughter just completed her move from Hawaii to Washington State and had a window of time.. so we arranged for her to fly thru San Juan - taking a Cape Air (7 seater) plane into Culebra. She LOVED it. Though I would have preferred her to join us in Turks and Caicos, we could not make that happen this year.
Finley is set up with an international health certificate and completed his clear in to USVI, Sint Maarten, PR and our upcoming passage to the Bahamas...but there are a couple of countries where the feedback on the pet check in process is just downright scary. BVIs, Antigua and Turks and Caicos are two that required a rabies titer.. opting to chance it could result in your pet being confiscated, rejected and even euthanized!
BVIs offered to waive the test for $150 fee. Odd? Maybe .. but I also think they could see from Finley's history that he is at the vet every 6 months... not an animal that will be bringing disease onto the island.
So having all of this information in play, we decided to remain in Culebra and Madison visited us there.
I really wanted Madison to experience some fun of the sailing so had plans to sail over to Vieques which is island opposite Culebra. I was sorry we did so... I appreciate the PR culture but the noise was insane. The island music turned into a hip hop scene which resulted in our boat literally rocking all night.
Next day, we left- skipping the things we wanted to see (bioluminescent bay, wild horses and the national park). We headed back to the serenity of Culebra. The swells were high and we were against the wind but made the sail in several hours.
The remainder of the time was spent hanging out on the boat, chatting and reconnecting, watching the stars, snorkeling and basically just chilling A highlight moment was Zacos Tacos - man, this will go on my "gotta stop in to Culebra just for the tacos". (and the watermelon margaritas, oh and the Tres Leches,,,and and and, you get the picture)
Culebra - you will be a waypoint on our next passage back into the eastern Caribbean. Skipping San Juan for your hospitality, fuel prices, provisioning (on a small level but we did not need much) and of course TACOS..makes that an easy decision
Fair Winds,