Log #43L Vieques, Spanish Virgin Islands
Dewey, Culebra, April 30, 2001
 

Log #43L Vieques, Spanish Virgin Islands
Now that we knew where we would leave Veleda when we went back to Canada we could spend a few days just cruising the area, and so on March 15 at 1000 we set off for Vieques (pronounced vee-ay-kays) 18 miles east from Roosevelt Roads. En route I caught a small (16 inch) barracuda which I released, then a few minutes later a lovely 29 inch Cero. The interesting thing about it was that something had attacked it while I was hauling it in, as there was a 3 inch bleeding slash down its left side. As we were only a few miles from Vieques, we waited to clean it until we secured to a free buoy on the southwest point of the island. Many bays and inlets around the Spanish Virgin Islands have free mooring buoys that boats can secure to for anywhere from a few hours lunch and swim stop, to several months; as I have seen boats unattended for prolonged periods of time. This buoy (18 00.97N, 065 34.63W) off Punta Arenas provided a quiet lunch stop off the tree fringed sandy beach (see picture  below), allowing us to enjoy sashimi and put the rest of the fish away for two more delicious meals.
 

After lunch we motored and motorsailed another 8 miles along the south coast to anchor off the wide sandy beach of Ensenada, Sun Bay (18 05.64N, 065 27.72W) just west of the pleasant laid back town of Esperanza. There are only two towns on the island, Esperanza and, on the north central coast, Isabel Segunda. The island is about 21 miles long and 3½ wide, with a population of about 10,000.. Judy and I took a Publico (small minivan bus) for $2.00 each up to Isabel Segunda where we visited the Museum Fort Count Mirasol. Built in 1845, it served as a fort for the local militia, and as a jail for fugitive and rebellious slaves from the sugar plantations and separatists struggling for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain. It is a well restored fort with informative displays and artifacts going back to the Arawak (Taino) pre-Columbian era, and following developments through various European struggles, control by the Spanish in Puerto Rico, up to the sugar based economy fo the late 1800's that collapsed in the 1920's, and a moving video of the developments, dislocations, the good times and bad times of navy occupation on the island in the 1940's.

The eastern and western thirds of the island were extensively used by the US Navy as a bombing range from 1941 until 2003. There is still a fair amount of animosity towards the USN, in part from the hundreds of sharecroppers who were evicted from their homes, with anywhere from one to ten days notice, when the navy took over from the large sugar plantations which had sold out to them; and currently from many locals who want those former bombing ranges made safe and restored to the people. The last lines of a pamphlet from the museum on the history of Vieques sums up the local attitude:

"The struggle of fishermen and the entire community against the abusive presence of the US Navy, manifest the collective spirit of resistance in defense of human rights and justice that has characterized our people during these past five centuries."

The navy property is still out of bounds, especially since David Sanes, a civilian employee, was killed by unexploded ordnance in 1999. This incident galvinized the locals and many other Puerto Ricans to organize 14 civil disobedience camps in the bombing zone. A year later 250 people were arrested in these camps, and later another 1500 arrested in other civil disobedience actions aimed at forcing the Navy to close the bombing ranges. Most of the bays and anchorages on the eastern and western ends of the islands still have "No Landing, Danger - Unexploded Ordnance" signs lining the sandy shores.

Esperanza is a pleasant town with several good casual restaurants, kayak and surfboard rentals, dive shops, good publico service, and a small museum. Ensenada Sun Bay is a glorious sandy bay and public beach at least a mile long, sprinkled with palm trees, picnic shelters, water sports rentals and food kiosks (see attached picture). There are free mooring buoys off the town, but we preferred to anchor in the more isolated wide bay.


We were looking forward to seeing Puerto Mosquito, famous for its bioluminescence, two bays along the coast. We were informed by one lady at the tourist bureau that motorized vessels were not allowed into the bay, and a similar report was made in a recent SSCA article. At Esperanza we enquired about a sea kayaking tour to the bay, times (meet at 1800), procedures (go by SUV with plastic kayaks on a trailer to the shores of Puerto Mosquito, and launch to paddle through the bioluminescence) and costs ($60.00 per person). However when we asked if we could take a dinghy with its outboard engine, the girl thought it would be OK as there are many motorized fishing boats always in the cove, and she knew of no prohibitions. OK; so off we went to pick up a mooring buoy just outside Puerto Mosquito. We took Wave Dancer into the bay late afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the area. There were several fishing boats at anchor and a couple of other dinghies exploring the mangrove fringed cove.

Well after dark, we dinghied back into the middle of the bay and shut the motor off to just quietly drift on top of the placid undulating ebony black universe. Every ripple made by the dinghy or disturbance by fish below the surface resulted in trails of luminescent comets, like the sparkling wand of Tinkerbelle waving across the ink black depths. Sparkling ripples would emanate out from the sides of the dinghy with each shift of our weight. When I swept the paddle through the water, a knife edge of silver was created, slicing through the anthracite surface. Even fish below the surface were limned with translucent sheens as they wafted through the water around Wave Dancer. Donning masks and snorkels, we plunged into this starry abyss to glory in the phosphorescence created with each sweep of our arms, thrust of our legs, and even the bubbles from our snorkels. Twisting and turning somersaults in the water, we felt like children waving sparklers as our bodies cavorted through this "milky way" created by our movements. Upon getting out back into the dinghy, our bodies were dappled with silver droplets. Draining our masks and snorkels overboard created outward spiraling rings. Again, like children we enjoyed watching drips flash into the water, emanating diamond circles on the quiet black surface. As we motored back out to Veleda, the wash of the propellor produced a slurry of golden mist as it propelled us back home. Such experiences are the highs of the cruising life!

More about Vieques in my next log.



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