Current Location:  Culebra Harbor Anchorage, Culebra, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  3
Weather:  
Highlights: We've had a very quiet, laid-back couple of days since our last update.  We stayed another day at the Culebrita anchorage, then moved around the point to Almodovar Bay on Culebra, and stayed there a few days.  Wind has been blowing hard all week (15-20 knots), and waves have been 5-6 outside, but we've enjoyed very calm seas at the anchorages.  Days have been filled with snorkeling, looking for lobster (no luck), reading, and relaxing, with delicious meals, good conversations, and competitive (and so far not bloody) games of dominoes and cards.  We had both anchorages pretty much to ourselves, so we've very much enjoyed the peace and quiet.  Finally decided to re-join civilization yesterday morning, and motored into Culebra harbor.  Amy, Steve, and Karen hiked (and thumbed) over to Flamenco Beach to see the "third best beach in the world" (according to TripAdvisor), while Terry stayed on board and caught up on some engine maintenance.  Went to dinner at the Dinghy Dock, then walked over to the local store for some ice cream before returning to the boat for a couple games of cards.  This is our last night in the Spanish Virgin Islands - winds and waves are settling down tomorrow, so we'll head over to St. Johns for the rest of Karen and Steve's vacation.

​Current Location:  North Culebrita Bay Anchorage, Culebrita Island, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  
Highlights: Were treated to an early morning shower and a full double rainbow this morning - vivid colors that you don't often see away from the ocean.  Ate breakfast while watching turtles swim around the boat, then decided to hike up to the lighthouse up on the hill overlooking our anchorage.  Trail was easy to follow, and we had goats, geckos, and hermit crabs to keep us company.  The lighthouse is pretty much in ruins, and the stairs leading to the top of the tower were all rusted away, but the walls to the many rooms (at least 12) were still standing, and it must have been a pretty impressive structure in its heyday.  Got back to the boat around noon for lunch, R&R, and swimming.  Got the SUPs out, but it was pretty rough, and nobody was very successful in staying dry for very long.  Grilled a pork tenderloin for dinner tonight, served with veggies and couscous, with coconut bars for dessert.  Played a couple of games of 3-13 and watched the fish under the boat before turning in for the night.

​Current Location:  North Culebrita Bay Anchorage, Culebrita Island, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  14
Weather:  Mostly sunny, windy (15-20 knots), high-70s
Highlights: Started our day with a leisurely breakfast, then raised anchor around 10 and sailed about 14 miles over to the north bay anchorage on Culebrita.  Trip started slow, with fitful winds and calm seas, but after we cleared the west end of St. Thomas, both wind and waves picked up, and by the time we got to the bay, waves were in the 4-5 foot range, and our guests were getting a little green.  We happily dropped anchor in the calm bay shortly after noon, fixed some lunch, then relaxed and napped for awhile.  Had about 15 boats in the bay when we dropped anchor, but they all left before 5, and we had the bay to ourselves after that.  Hiked down the beach to the "Jacuzzi", but the waves were crashing pretty hard against the rocks, so we didn't venture into the baths.  Sat up on the rocks and enjoyed a drink before coming back to the boat.  Steve had caught a nice Spanish Mackerel on our way over from St. Thomas, so we filleted, grilled, and served it up for dinner with pasta and cole slaw.  Brownies and the last of the ice cream for dessert, then watched the stars come out before turning in early after a long, but fun-filled day.

​Current Location:  Brewer's Bay Anchorage, St. Thomas, USVI
Miles Traveled:  4
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Woke up this morning to a boat covered in soot and ash - not happy!  Apparently, there's a massive pile of hurricane debris about 2 blocks to the east (windward) of the marina, and they're loading it onto barges to ship off shore.  Stirring it up creates dust that's blown into the marina.  Terry was able to wash most of it off while Amy did a couple loads of laundry, but we were tracking it around the boat most of the day.  Went to the grocery store for a final provisioning run, then Karen and Steve arrived about 4:30, ending a long trip that started in Orlando at 2 AM.  We had orginally planned to spend a 2nd night at the marina, but didn't want to wake up to another messy boat, so we left the marina at 5:30 and motored back to Brewer's Bay.  Dinner of sausage and peppers with pasta, then brownies with ice cream for dessert.  Turned on the UW lights and had a school of tarpon for our evening entertainment before turning in early - long day for everyone, especially our guests!

​Current Location:  Crown Bay Marina, St. Thomas, USVI
Miles Traveled:  4
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Raised anchor around 9 this morning after calling the marina to see if they would allow early checkin for us (no problem).  Motored around, docked and secured by 10:30, and Sanchez (tech guy for the generator) arrived shortly after.  Shortly after digging in and testing the system, he proclaimed that the "back end" of the generator was only producing power from one (of two) legs, and needed to be replaced.  Looks like it will be a very expensive and time-consuming process, since they need to order a new "back end".  Fortunately, system is still under warranty, so should be covered by Northern Lights.  Took a nap after he left, then we walked down to the grocery store (Pueblo's) to pick up a few things before dinner.  Pulled pork barbeque with fixings for dinner tonight, then watched the last episodes of GoT before turning in.  Big day tomorrow - Karen and Steve arrive!

Current Location:  Brewer's Bay Anchorage, St. Thomas, USVI
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Partly cloudy, showers, calm, mid-80s
Highlights: Slept in this morning, then Terry fixed the broken hatch on one of the front storage compartments (hydraulic lid brace had come loose), with some help from Amy.  The generator is still acting up (stalls out whenever any load is applied to it), so we arranged to have a technician come out to the boat tomorrow.  Also made reservations at Crown Bay Marina for next 2 nights - will be easier for the tech guy to meet us there, and also an easy taxi ride from the airport for Karen and Steve.  Steaks on the grill tonight for dinner, plus a couple more episodes of season 7 of GoT before bedtime tonight.

​Current Location:  Brewer's Bay Anchorage, St. Thomas, USVI
Miles Traveled:  14
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Raised anchor around 11am and motored due east to Brewer's Bay - yeah, we have officially arrived in the US Virgin Islands!  Brewer's Bay is a very calm and protected body of water, with a nice beach and tall hills overlooking the bay, and except for the noise from the nearby airport, is a very nice anchorage.  We settled in around 1PM, grabbed some lunch and R&R, then worked on a bit of cleaning and organization before dinner.  Started watching season 7 of GoT during dinner, then turned on the blue lights and watched a school of tarpon play under the boat before finally turning in for the night.

​Current Location:  North Culebrita Bay Anchorage, Culebrita Island, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  7
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Lifted anchor around 10AM and headed over to Culebrita Island to check out a couple of anchorages.  Tried to anchor on the west shore, but couldn't find a decent patch of sand, and no mooring balls were available, so we headed up around the point to the bay on the north end.  Turned out to be a great choice - bay and beaches are really pretty, and we saw a few turtles and an eagle ray around the boat.  There's a lighthouse that you can hike up to, and baths are a short walk up the shore from the beach (we'll do these later with Karen and Steve).  We did go snorkelling - water is clear, but not many fish, and coral is all almost totally dead.  Light dinner tonight of encheladas and salad, and finished season 6 of GoT.

​Current Location:  Culebra Harbor Anchorage, Culebra, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy, high-70s
Highlights: Took the dinghy out to find a D's Garden (local produce market), where we picked up a mess of fresh veggies and fruits.  Back to the boat around noon, then read and relaxed until late afternoon.  Decided to scout out a couple of anchorages on the west side of the island, so took the dinghy through the small canal that bisects the town, then over to Cayo de Luis Pena. Lots of nice looking beaches and snorkelling spots - we'll explore more next week with Karen and Steve on board.  Back on the boat, turned on the GenSet to charge up the batteries, and still not running very smoothly - stalls whenever any load is put on the system.  Will need to work on it tomorrow - might be either a fuel blockage, dirty air filter, or maybe an air bubble in the gas lines.  Watched a couple more episodes of GoT before bed - almost done with Season 6.

​Current Location:  Culebra Harbor Anchorage, Culebra, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  24
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy (12-16 knots), high-70s
Highlights: Raised anchor around 10:30, motor-sailed east along the coast of Viequez, then had a lovely 2-hour sail north to Culebra.  Dropped anchor in the main harbor around 3PM, then relaxed and napped before heading over to the Dinghy Dock restaurant to watch the Super Bowl over burgers and beers.  Don (our neighbor from Palmas del Mar) and his family already had a table at the crowded pub, so we squeezed in with them to avoid the long waiting line.  Not a great view of the single TV, but enjoyed the company and conversation.  Back to the boat around 9 to watch the 2nd half, and also watched the tarpon play in the blue lights under the boat.

​Current Location:  Mosquito (Bio) Bay Anchorage, Viequez, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  9
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy, high-70s
Highlights: Went snorkelling after breakfast this morning - not a lot of coral or fish to see, but Terry caught one lobster that we cooked up for lunch (lobster salad sandwiches).  Was very tasty.  Lifted anchor after lunch and motored around the point and down the coast about 8 miles to Mosquito Bay, which is also known as Bio Bay, due to the intense bioluminescence present in the water.  Conditions were perfect for viewing (calm with no moon), so we took the dinghy into the bay just after sunset.  No motors allowed in the bay, so we rowed out to the middle, and as the light disappeared and the stars came out, we started seeing all kinds of glowing in the water every time our oars touched, and we were also seeing dozens of fish trails as all kinds of fish swam around the boat.  We had a couple of groups of kayaks out in the bay sharing the experience with us.  Back to the boat around 10, then watched a couple more episodes of GoT before turning in.

​Current Location:  Green Beach Anchorage, Viequez, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  13
Weather:  Partly cloudy, occasional showers, breezy, high-70s
Highlights: Filled the water tanks and finished stowing everything away this morning with a planned departure of around 11am.  Terry also pumped up the SUPs, we moved the mounts over to the port side of the boat, and secured the SUPs.  Said our goodbyes to Max and Giullia, plus the marina staff, and had started untying dock lines when the port engine died.  Wouldn't restart, but sounded like an air bubble had found it's way into the gas line, especially since Terry had changed out the fuel filters after we arrived at the marina.  One of the marina staff helped us bleed the line, then she started right up - problem solved!  Finally cleared the marina around noon, and motor-sailed into 15-20 knot head winds over to Green Beach anchorage on Viequez.  Caught a small barracuda on the way, and Terry cleaned it after we arrived at the anchorage.  Had it for dinner with rice and green beans - just as good 2nd time around!  Back to no internet, so started watching GoT again (Season 6).

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Partly cloudy, occasional showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Rene and his nephew were here at 9 to finish the wax job, and left around 1PM - boat looks as good a new!  Reading and naps were in store for the afternoon, then Max and Giullia picked us up at 7 to head over to La Pescaderia.  Max and Terry had the lobster pasta, served in a bread bowl, Amy had the mahi-mahi, and Giullia ordered the yellow-tail.  Good choices all around, and we enjoyed getting to know them better.  They will be sailing the Virgin Islands until late February, so we will try to connect with them at a couple of anchorages in the near future.  Back to the boat around 9, watched a couple of episodes of Schitt's Creek, then off to bed.  Tomorrow is departure day - finally getting back out on the high seas!

Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Rene and his nephew arrived this morning to begin waxing the boat.  They're going to do full topside, plus both outside hulls, for $600, which we thought was a pretty good deal, considering the effort involved, plus we don't have a buffer/polisher.  They worked pretty solidly until around 3PM to finish topside, and will be back tomorrow to do the hulls.  Amy and I worked on polishing the stainless steel, cleaning cushions and screens, and getting the boat in good shape before guests start arriving.  Met another couple in the marina today (Max and Giullia), who are from Milan, Italy, and spending some time on their 1984 sloop Lyla, which is a beautiful 72' with teak decks and lots of fabulous polished wood trim.  We'll learn more about them tomorrow - we've agreed to have dinner with them at the marina restaurant  (La Pescaderia) tomorrow.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy, high-80s
Highlights: Finished washing down the boat today, and also did some cleaning and indoor chores.  Also got the propane tank topped off, so we should be good for a couple of months now.  Walked over to the plaza for an ATM withdrawal, and also the requisite ice cream treat.  Started working on taxes for 2018 - we won't itemize this year, and don't have to worry about state returns, since we are officially Florida residents, so should be pretty simple this year. Finished last episode of Designated Survivor last night, so started watching Schitt's Creek tonight for a change of pace.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Started washing down the boat (topside) today.  We've decided to hire a local to put a coat of wax on the boat (both outside hulls and topside), and to save both time and money, we'll do a wash-down first.  Also been polishing up the stainless steel over the past several days, a little at a time.  It's amazing how much is spread out over the boat, with lots of nooks and crannies to deal with.  Gives us a chance to inspect fittings and fasteners as we polish, so not a bad thing for us to do every couple of months.  Picked up Chinese take-out for dinner - almost as good as what we experience in the states.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Partly cloudy, breezy, showers, high-70s
Highlights: We've been sheltered here in the Palmas Del Mar marina for almost 2 weeks now, with plans to stay through at least this Wednesday.  While our family and friends in the north are seeing cold fronts and strong winds, the southern end of each system brings us strong winds and big waves that we would prefer not to deal with out at anchor.  We've taken the opportunity to get to know the island of Puerto Rico, seeing some of the sights, meeting people, and visiting shops and restaurants.  We turned in the rental car earlier this week, but visited Old San Juan, El Yunque Rain Forest, and Fajardo.  We also checked out the Puerto Del Mar marina facilities for off-season storage, and were very impressed with what we saw.  If we can get insurance coverage, we'll probably make arrangements to have the boat hauled out here for the hurricane season, rather than taking the boat all the way back to Florida.  Overall, we've enjoyed our stay so far, and appreciated the friendly people and wonderful hospitality the island has to offer, but it's getting time to move on soon.  We're keeping an eye on the weather, and will probably head out to the Spanish Virgin Islands before the end of this week.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, early morning showers, breezy, high-70s
Highlights: Celebrated the full moon/eclipse today by going to dinner at La Pescaderia (restaurant across from the marina).  Our outdoor table had a great view of the rising moon over the marina, food was good, and was fun watching the excitement build and cameras in full use.  We were back to the boat around 10, watched some NetFlix, then laid out on the trampoline at midnight to watch the moon disappear.  Saw about 3/4 of the earth's shadow cover the moon, then unfortunately, clouds moved in and prematurely finished the job, so we went to bed a bit disappointed that we didn't get the full show.  Oh well, maybe we'll catch the next one in about 10 years.

Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, early morning showers, breezy, high-70s
Highlights: Drove up to visit Old San Juan yesterday afternoon.  We expected to park and walk around some of the historic streets before finding a good restaurant, but unexpectedly found ourselves right in the middle of the San Sebastian festival, which is a massive 4-day celebration that is basically a huge open-air party.  The festival includes big crowds, closed streets, limited parking, hundreds of police, street vendors, music, open bars, and parades.  We finally found parking, jumped into the flow, checked out some of the historic sights, and ate dinner at the Hecho en Casa restaurant (mahi-mahi for both of us).  Was fun people watching and listening to the music, but we escaped before nightfall in order to avoid the craziness that was sure to arrive, and also to make sure we had a safe drive back to the boat.

Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Sunny with a couple of showers, breezy (8-12 knots), low-80s
Highlights: Picked up the rental car this morning, then fulfilled every sailor's dream with a trip to WalMart.  Spent the afternoon wandering the aisles, then on the return trip, ran into a closed highway exit, so we spent an hour driving the back streets of Puerto Rico trying to find our way back to the boat.  We're finding Puerto Rico an interesting mix of gated golf resort communities, bustling small towns, and lots of rural farmland and hills.  Not seeing a lot of widespread damage remaining from the hurricanes, but we do see many individual houses and buildings that are boarded up and abandoned - not sure if these are from the hurricane, or if this has been the norm for many years.  Highways are in very good condition, but back streets have many potholes and broken pavement in places.  Drivers mostly drive the speed limit (or slower), but occasional speeders, few cops on the roads, and nobody uses blinkers or moves out of the left lane.  Tomorrow we'll drive up to Old San Juan and do some sight seeing - I'll try to behave myself and not drive like I'm on the DC Beltway!

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly cloudy, occasional showers, calm, high-70s
Highlights: Weather has been spotty last 2 days, so we've spent time catching up on some boat maintenance projects.  Terry worked on the engines and the genset (changing oil and filters, swapping out impellers, and other maintenance items), while Amy defrosted the freezer, inventoried the ship stores, and also got some baking and laundry done.  We had 3 months worth of mail forwarded to us from our mail handing service (SBI), so that's required some attention as well.  Still time in the afternoon/evening for R&R, and we've just started Season 4 of GoT.  Tomorrow, we've got a rental car reserved for the week, so we'll take some time to travel around the island, and also get some shopping completed.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Sunny with a couple of showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Took care of paperwork and finances this morning, then walked around the marina and over to the adjoining boatyard to check out possibilities for off-season storage.  Not impressed with the facilities - need to keep looking, I guess.  Swung by the mini-mart to pick up some fixings for dinner, then back to the boat.  While fishing/trolling over the past few months, we've caught several barracuda, which we always throw back (especially the bigger ones).  Yesterday, on our way over from Viequez, we caught one that was about 30 inches long, and decided that since it wasn't too big (mercury poisoning issues), maybe we would fry it up and see how it turned out.  Terry prepared the fillets, Amy fried it up in oils and spices, and served it up with fried plaintains, rice, and green beans.  It was surprisingly delicious - meat was very flaky, not strong at all, and the meal was fabulous.  Watched the last 2 episodes of Season 3 GoT, then a little bit of NetFlix before turning in for the night.

​Current Location:  Palmas Del Mar Yacht Club, Humacao, PR
Miles Traveled:  12
Weather:  Sunny with a couple of showers, breezy (8-12 knots), low-80s
Highlights: First thing this morning, called Puerto Del Ray (largest marina in the Carribean, 1000+ slips), and asked for a slip for about a week, and they said they would call us back.  3 hours later, hadn't heard from them, so we called them, and they said they were still looking for a slip.  We called Palmas Del Mar, and they said "sure, come on over, we have plenty", so we raised anchor just past noon and had a nice sail in 10-15 knots off our beam to the marina, arriving about 3PM.  Checked in, got settled, then walked over to the nearby plaza (10-minute walk) and found a good Mexican restaurant that also had the NFC football game on.  Back to the boat after the Saints win for a well-deserved good night's sleep.  BTW - Palmas Del Mar called around 4PM to let us know they had finally found a slip for us . . . 

​Current Location:  Green Beach Anchorage, Viequez, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Sunny with a couple of showers, breezy, low-80s
Highlights: Had a late breakfast, then went snorkelling and beach combing for a couple of hours.  Saw lots of fish, and also a couple of sand rays, but only a few sections of decent coral.  Beach was good for shells, but we didn't spend a lot of time out of the water.  Late lunch of lobster salad sandwiches, then we dug out the polish and started working on putting a shine back to the stainless steel.  Read and napped before dinner, then had chicken and shrimp fajitas for dinner.  Generator has been acting up lately (might have a piece of the impeller broken off), so we just read and then turned in early to save the battery power.  Will probably head over to the marina tomorrow (Puerto Del Rey) to hook into shore power, check out the generator, and explore some of Puerto Rico over the next few days.

​Current Location:  Green Beach Anchorage, Viequez, Puerto Rico
Miles Traveled:  44
Weather:  Sunny, calm, low-80s
Highlights: Originally planned to sleep in and spend another day exploring Salinas, but seas were flat and the winds had died down to nothing, so we grabbed the opportunity to travel the last long leg of our journey east.  Raised anchor at 7:30 and motored about 42 miles due east to Viequez, dropping anchor around 3:30 at Green Beach on the northwest end of the island.  Had grilled chicken and veggies for dinner tonight while watching 2 more episodes of GoT.  Turned on the underwater lights afterwards and watched a school of 3-4' tarpon swim around under the boat in the crystal clear water.  Looking forward to some good snorkelling over the next few days!