Page 78 - Cityview_Jan_Feb_2014

(Far Left) My son Ethan lends a hand at managing

the boat. (Left) Brilliantly colored cachti are one
of many types of lora to be found in the Spanish
Virgins. (Below) Troupe and I take the dinghy to

shore for one of our expeditions.

beach through a grassy area covered Spanish Fort turned museum, the old
with hundreds of cacti of different va- city hall, and the tomb of Le guillou,

rieties and thousands of hermit crabs. the island’s first governor, are also fun
The sound of the ocean, the beauty
to explore. We had a full day here on

of the surroundings, and the perfect the north side of the island and spent
weather made this day one I will never the night moored in a bay surrounded

forgot. Sea turtles are also common by beautiful mangrove groves.
here, with the main beach being called

Playa Tortuga, or Turtle Beach. This Esperanza
coral island also features tidal pools on Esperanza is the second town on

the east side where you can relax when Vieques, located on the south side of
not swimming or snorkeling in the the island.

clear waters that surround the cay.
Rounding Vieques, we encountered
the first bad weather of our trip, but ev-

Vieques
eryone remained calm and we made it
The next day, we circled back around to port in Esperanza with no problems.

to Vieques, the largest of the Spanish The heavier water made it a little dif-
Virgins and also a part of the Com- ficult to moor, but once we were settled

Culebrita
monwealth of Puerto Rico. until 2003, and waited for the storm to pass, we
The island of Culebrita, or little Cul- the united States Navy had been using had no further problems. During lunch,

ebra, is also part of the Puerto Rico Ar- Vieques as a bombing range. This
we made reservations for an evening
chipelago. The lighthouse on the island has left the western end of the island trip to one of Vieques’s most notable

is one of the oldest in the Caribbean completely untouched by development. attractions— Bioluminescent Bay. The
and is well worth a visit. Ethan and I The white sands and extremely blue bioluminescence is caused by a micro-

wanted to try our hand at fishing with waters that surround Vieques make organism called Pyrodinium bahamese,
a net here, and though we did not catch this 52 square-mile island the ideal which glows whenever the water is

our dinner, we did fish up some amaz- place to snorkel and explore the water. disturbed by a hand or paddle.
ing conch shells. This was my favorite The island has more than 40 beaches, After a short briefing and a ride on

island of the trip once we reached the with the best known being Blue Beach. a single-track dirt road through the
shore. We hiked up the cliffs by the
For the historically minded, an old
unsettled parts of the island, we arrived

at a non-descript launch site. Each boat
was issued a small light, which was

attached to the stern, and off we went.
Shortly after dark, the show began.

Each paddle stroke was bathed in
luminescence under the water. Troupe

loved scooping up handfuls of water
and watching his arms glow as the

water ran from his hands. My favorite
was seeing the fish when you floated

over—they would startle and leave a
phosphorescent trial underwater. It

was a magical end to one of the best
vacations of my life.

If you’re interested in a sailing
adventure that’s away from the masses

of credit card sailors but easy to access,
the Spanish Virgins is definitely the

ticket. Contact Jim at SailCaribe.com
or drop us a note. We are thinking of a

flotilla for next summer’s adventure to
the islands.

76 cityviewmag.com january february 2014