May 9-15, 2011... Solitude

If you want to slow your life down, come to Ensenada Honda, Vieques. There are absolutely NO man-made distractions. We spent 6 nights here and on only 3 nights was there another boat. There is nothing ashore - no roads to anywhere. What are here are thick healthy mangroves, mysterious creeks, clean water, elusive night herons, brown spotted eagle rays, large palometas living under the boat, pelicans and frigates swooping in, cooing doves by the thousands and royal terns screeching as they fish.

In our kayak explorations we also saw the baby barracudas patrolling their piece of mangrove thicket, orange-red starfish everywhere, and the shallowest of coral shoals which along with the mangroves sap the strength of the ocean making this one of the calmest anchorages we've ever been in. John took full advantage of this flat water and installed our new LED navigation lights on the bow. He is now ready to star as a circus contortionist after curling up in the anchor locker to work on the wiring. What a guy!

Our last day here we had a pleasant surprise. Gem, with MV and Shane aboard, arrived in the anchorage. We hadn't seen them since November in Bequia and as always its great catching up with cruising friends.

Today we left this little paradise for Salinas, PR and civilization. The passage was half good, half blechh! In the afternoon we had rain and squalls that went on and on and on. We decided to anchor in the mangroves of Bahia de Jobos and not go directly to Salinas because we needed to decompress from the trip. Here we are, enjoying the sunset.

Cayo de Puerca, Bahia de Jobos: 17d55.918'N 66d14.356