INSIDE THE REEF AND ON THE BANK

1030 hours, April 21st, 2015, Blue Haven Resort, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos: Jackie and I headed off to explore by dinghy. 

Inside the reef on the ocean side we first went south west and saw from the water many of the resorts we had seen earlier from the land.  Going north east from the inlet we saw beautiful beach after beach with no one on them. Jackie and I stopped to go ashore on one gorgeous beach not far from where the A was anchored just outside the reef. The power white sand which turned pink at the water line like the sand on Barbuda, the turquoise water and the weathered rock behind the beach, were all magnificent. Jackie, as she always does when she has her own beach, ran in circles in and out of the water. 

We next went to the Bank and followed another dinghy to a grounded shipwreck a little over a mile offshore. Others had climbed aboard and were exploring. We decided to leave this adventure to our next trip to the Turks and Caicos. 

                                           Our Beach

                                           Jackie's Beach

                                           Weathered Rock

                                           View Of The A

                                           Pink Sand

                                          A Grounded Wreck

                                                  A Grounded Wreck

PROVIDENCIALES

0930 hours April 19th, 2015, Blue Haven Resort, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos: We picked up a car the Marina Office had arranged for us to explore the Island. 

We had herd that Providenciales, Provo as most refer to it, is Americanized. In comparison to the other islands we have visited this is an understatement. Provo is an American colony. The people, the architecture, the restaurants, the shops, are all American. Grace Bay is lined with over a dozen large Resorts, all with the exception of Club Med, look as though they have been recently built. The shops and restaurants in down town area of Grace Bay are those you would find in an upscaled American resort community. Almost all the shops and restaurants In Grace Bay were new looking. The roads and sidewalks, yes sidewalks, in the Grace Bay Area were all also relatively new, and clean. The only reminder that this beach paradise was not truly an American colony, was the fact that you drive on the left. 

The economy in Provo was the most vibrant of the islands we had visited with the possible exception of St. Barth. With the huge number of service jobs created by the Resorts, islanders as far away as Jamaica had been attracted. Although the working class housing on the Island was generally older and in poor condition we saw new working class housing. A sight we had not seen on any of the other islands. 

Even though the roads were well paved in the Grace Bay Area, there were several high end waterfront residential communities were the roads were not paved. Looking past the coral and rock roads there were a large number of very nice American looking high end single family homes. A number of these homes were spectacular. 

Having the car for the night, it was a 24 hour rental, we called several restaurants in Grace Bay before we found one that was not full. We finally found an opening at the Parallel at the Regent Palms. We arrived early to give us time to tour the property. On the beach we discovered the Plunge where we could get the same food while watching the sunset from the beach with live music playing just beyond the deck area. We witnessed a great sunset, and enjoyed a fantastic meal in this perfect setting. 

                                          Upscaled Homes

                                           Upscaled Homes

                                           Upscaled Homes

                                           Upscaled Homes

                                            Grace Bay Resort

                                           Regent Palms                      

                                           Dinner At Poolside

                                                   View From Our Table

BLUE HAVEN MARINA AND RESORT

1600 hours, April 17th, 2015, Blue Haven Resort, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos: As the tide was low, the Marina sent out a pilot boat to guide us through the reef. Even though the channel is well marked, there are obstacles within the channel that are a concern for a 5 ft. draft boat like ours at low tide. Notwithstanding that this is a relatively shallow channel this is a super yacht marina and several were docked as we arrived.  One approached 200 ft, about half the length of the A which we had just passed anchored on a narrow shelf outside the reef, about a mile north of the reef entrance to the Marina. The colored lights on a number of the boats at night were amazing. 

Blue Haven is an excellent IGY full service marina. And, like we had found at their Simpson Bay Marina on St. Martin, the Blue Haven personnel were very customer orientated. Although Customs and Immigration come to the Marina it was late in the day by the time we were full secured at dock, Marina personnel advised us that we were free to visit either of their two on site restaurants,  and we could check in the next day. We had dinner in their Fire and Ice Restaurant in bottom of their condominium tower next to the Resort's pool and beach. Their second less formal restaurant, the Salt, is next to the Marina office. Also on site is a market and a deli, which serves a buffet breakfast and makes sandwiches and salads during the day. 

The Marina and Resort are located at the north end of the highly developed Providenciales Island with mostly undeveloped Islands in the Caicos Island group to the north and east. The Marina sits in a channel which runs between the Caicos Bank to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. This channel provided access to the Bank by dinghy and access to both Providenciales and the other Islands to the north east, in side the Reef on the Atlantic side. 

                                           Main Building And Beach At Resort

                                           Beach At Resort

                                           Salt Bar And Grill

                                          Market At Resort

                                           Boat Lights At Night

                                           Boat Lights At Night

                                                   Catalina Sunshine In Blue

A MORE COMFORTABLE PASSAGE

0600 hours April 16th, 2015, Puerto Real, Puerto Rico: We maneuvered through the tight entry to Puerto Real. The entry buoys into the bay are unlighted and very small. I would have liked to have left earlier but was afraid to do so until we could see the entrance buoys which marked three turns in the narrow channel, even though I had the electronic "bread crumbs" from our path in. Fortunately we had about 3 more hours of daylight than we had on our December trip south, to offset our late start. 

The first 8 hours, as Chris Parker had predicted, were relatively flat as the swell was from the east and we were in the lee of Puerto Rico. Reversing our trip south, once we passed the small Island Lsla Desechero we set a course just missing the southern edge of the Silver and Mouchoir Banks. As the day went into evening the seas increased to 5 ft. and moved from east to north east. About midnight they begin subsiding and by daybreak they were in the 3 ft. range. The west bound passage was clearly more comfortable than the east bound passage had been. 

We had made our passage at 10 nmph and by the time we had turned north at the western edge of the Mouchoir Bank and crossed the Bank at the southern end of Great Sand Cay it was just after noon. We ventured over to the anchorage on the west side of the Cay with the idea of stopping for a while to explore, and see the Iguanas and curly-tailed lizards that reportedly roam the Cay. By this time the swell had moved north. Although only 3 ft, it rolled in the anchorage and broke on the beach, which would have made landing challenging. Without enough time to make it across Caicos Bank before dark we headed to Cockburn Harbour, where we had good protection from the north swell, for a calm night. 

The next morning we headed around the north side of Caicos to Blue Haven Marina and Resort where we planed to spend a few days. It took us most of the day to make it around the north side. As we neared the entrance in the reef to Blue Haven we saw the A anchored in the very narrow area between the edge of the bank, which dropped off several thousand feet, and the reef just inside the edge. The A is 390 ft. and owner by Russian Andrey Melnichenko. Although the A has the same fortress stern as Steve Job's boat Venus and Leslie Wexner's boat, Limitless, the rest of its unique look follows function. The reverse wave piercing bow incorporates the latest thinking in fast and comfortable passage making and the smaller topsides reflect that this huge boat is designed to accommodate only a few people. The anchors set aft of the bow, reduces weight in the bow minimizing pitching. The stacked garages toward the stern on the port and starboard sides house A's several dinghies which we saw coming in and out of the Marina while we were their. The A is better architecture in my book, than either Venus or Limitless. 

                                            Sunrise After A Long Night

                                       

                                           390 Ft. A

                                           390 Ft. A

BOQUERON

1630 hours, April 14th, 2015, Bahia de Boqueron, Puerto Rico: We entered the hugh Bay through a marked entrance in reef which extends across the mouth of the Bay. Boqueron is on the west side of Puerto Rico just north of the south west corner of the Island, Cabo Rojo. We had a day to kill. Chris Parker had advised us that the best day to start our 325 nm passage to Cockburn a Harbour on Caicos Island in the Turks and Caicos, was the April 16th, just in front of a north swell moving south. We had decided to spend it in Boqueron if we didn't need it on our passage from the Virgin Islands. 

A large public beach occupies most of the east end of the Bay. To the north of the beach is the town of Boqueron. There is a marina but no fuel. We had dinner at Icos Remos at the end if the dinghy dock in town. They had just what we had been looking for, Mexican type food, which we had not been able to find in the Caribbean. The food was tasty and the sunset spectacular. The no-see-ums were driving us nuts until a young lady at another table, seeing us try to fend them off, offered us some spray. We also had a stray cat, who would not take no for an answer, join us. 

The next day we moved a few miles north on the west side of the Island to the cove Puerto Real and it's Marina Pesquera. Here we filled our fuel tanks for $2.83 a gallon!  We had not seen fuel below $4.66 since we had last visited Marina Pesquera in December on our trip east. We anchored in the Bay and prepared for an early start the next morning on our long passage, while we watched another magnificent sunset. 

                                          Dinner Resturant

                                             Uninvited Guest

                                          Dinner View At Sunset

                                           Marina Pesquera

                                                   Sunset At Puerto Real

CULEBRA AND SALINAS

1550 hours, April 13th, 2015, Ensenada Honda, Culebra, SVI: We entered the natural harbor of Ensenada Honda. This is a large very well protected natural harbor and a great place to stop for a calm nights rest. It's part of the Spanish Virgin Islands, which are under the control of Puerto Rico. There is no marina and the only fuel is only accessible by dinghy. Although there are a few restaurants, we made a quick tour by dinghy and decided eat aboard.  We did talk with a couple on a sailboat in the anchorage near us from Houston who had been in the Caribbean for 13 years. The first few years they summered in Trinidad then found an insurance policy with a company in Antigua, that allowed them to winter anywhere they wanted as long as they took reasonable precautions. During the last couple of years they tied off to the mangroves in Bahia de Jobos, on the south side of Puerto Rico, during hurricanes. 

The next morning we headed to Punta Salinas about one third of the distance going west on the south side of Puerto Rico. Salinas is another natural harbor with great protection, and an excellent overnight stop. Salinas has marinas, moorings and fuel. We anchored, and like we had the night before we toured the harbor. After the tour we decided to have dinner in the second floor restaurant at Marina de Salinas. From the Restaurant we could see the harbor through its round windows. Food was ok. 

                                              Culebra At Sunset

                                                    Dinner View Salinas

PIZZA IN THE COVE

1730 hours, April 12th, 2015, Christmas Cove, Great St. James Island, VSVI: We picked up a fresh, custom made pizza from the "Pizza Kitchen Boat" in the Cove,  we had ordered 20 minutes earlier. And, it was great!  

We had watched tenders come from outside the Cove all afternoon to a boat with flags on it at the other end of the cove. We finally rode our dinghy over to see what was going on and found the Pizza Kitchen Boat. They were taking orders by VHF radio from boats as far away as St. John Island. Each order was custom made with your choice of toppings. The operators were an entrepreneurial young couple who had converted their sail boat into a floating pizza kitchen, with a dinghy drive up Lane and pickup window on the stern. 

Earlier in the day we had taken the dinghy and explored Little St. James Island, just south of Great St. James. This is a private island owned by Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein is a financial advisor to billionaires like Leslie Wexner owner of Limitless, who I have discussed in earlier blogs. In addition to being one of Mr Epstein's several homes including the largest town house in Manhattan, this 70 acre Island is often used for conferences on cutting edge scientific and medical research. Mr Epstein, a bachelor, recently finished serving a jail sentence for soliciting prostitution. 

                                           Pizza Kitchen

                                          Drive Up Window

                                           Great Pizza

                                                   Epstein's Island

CHRISTMAS COVE

1430 hours, April 11th, 2015, Christmas Cove, Great St. James Island, USVI: We dropped anchor. When we first saw Christmas Cove on our honeymoon in 1972, and every time we have passed it since we wanted to anchor here. It's a beautiful cove providing protection from the prevailing NE through SE winds, with a rock outcropping in the center called Fish Cay. Great St. James Island is separated from St. Thomas by Current Cut. As ferries use Current Cut to go between Charlotte Amalie and St. John Island there is some ferry wake, the only down side to the anchorage. With our rocker stopper gear this impact was minimized. 

One of our reasons for stopping here was to provision at the grocery store in Red Hook we had used twice before. Red Hook, which is open to prevailing conditions, is not a good anchorage. We had also had several packages sent to Sapphire Beach Marina which we had stayed at twice earlier in this trip. From Christmas Cove we could also pick up these packages.  

Directly across from Christmas Cove is Cowpet Bay with the St Thomas Yacht Club and the Wyndham Elysian Beach Resort with its two beach front restaurants. We decided to try one of the two for dinner. We came ashore with our dinghy and suspended it about 20 ft, of the beach with our bungee cord anchor line. We had a great dinner at the more formal of their two restaurants overlooking the beach. 

                                           Christmas Cove

                                           Our Dinner View

                                           Artful Presentation

                                                  St. Thomas At Sunset

A SWIM AT HAPPY HOUR

1800 hours, April 6th, 2015, North Sound, Virgin Gorda, BVI: We arrived at the dinghy dock at Leverick  Bay Marina. The entire sand area at the end of the dinghy dock was filled mostly with cruising sailors sitting drinking at picnic tables with a guy on a stage at the end of the beach dressed like a pirate with a guitar, singing about having fallen overboard, drunk at night, on the way to Anegada (the next island to the north). The dinghy dock was also full. We had not been aware of the live entertainment at Happy Hour when we made reservations at the second floor Pusser's Terrace Restaurant. After moving dinghies aside we were able to get one corner of our dinghy to one corner of the floating dock. 

With the dinghy and the dock both rocking Beth tried to step from our dinghy to the dock, lost her balance and fell between the dock and two dinghies next to us. Fortunately she didn't hit anything except the relatively soft inflatable boats. As several on the beach had seen what had happened we had immediate help lifting Beth out. 

We had a towel on board which Beth dried off with. She put on her sweater and we went to dinner overlooking the end of Happy Hour. 

We had relative mild following seas on our passage from Anguilla to North Sound earlier in the day. We had now left the Leeward Islands and were back safely in the Virgin Islands. 

                                           Dinghy Dock

                                          Happy Hour Underway

                                                   The Wet Look For Dinner

ANGUILLIAN RACING

0930 hours, April 5th, 2015, Road Bay, Anguilla: We headed north east  by dingy to a great snorkeling spot we had seen exploring the day before. Little Bay, the snorkeling spot we stopped at within Crocus Bay, had day moorings to tie your dingy while you snorkeled, which we used.  Little Bay was surrounded by high rock Cliff formations which had been carved by wind and sea over the centuries. Below the water the fish and coral were equally fascinating. 

On our way back we went out to Sandy Island, a small sand island about a mile north west of Road Bay. Sand Island had a beach bar and grill and ran a taxi service to Road Bay to bring patrons back and forth. There is a tricky reef surrounding the Island with only one way in and out on the west side of the Island. It took us a while to find it. 

The local Anguillian sailboat racing season started the Monday after Easter which was a holiday on the Island. Unfortunately we were leaving early that morning, but fortunately they were practicing coming in and out of Road Bay that afternoon. As the pictures show, everyone looked like they were having fun. 

                                          Jackie Helping

                                           Snorkling With Turtles
                               

           

                                          Under The Water

                                          Downwind Racing

                                          Downwind Racing

                                           Racing To Weather

                                                   Racing To Weather