Culebra - Part 2

Pictures:
1. A view of Culebra from the abandoned lighthouse at the top of Isla Culebrita.
2. The Island Bear in a deserted cove off Isla Culebrita.
3. Holiday Season - Island style.

When we took our sailing classes in San Diego, one of the other students was Brad. He noted what he thought was a mistake in one of our earlier posts when I referred to sailing on a Broad Run. To clarify – that is when the boat is running directly downwind with a Broad at the Helm…this is one of the more exciting points of sail!
He also sent us some additional questions that bear answering:

1. Have you been sailing continuously or are you motoring about as well? We have mostly had fairly light winds or winds in the wrong direction for sailing long distances. We have probably sailed no more than half the distance and motored the rest. We have had a few days where the winds were too “exciting” for us to either motor or sail!

2. Do you feel safe leaving the ship to go ashore or to go off snorkeling? For snorkeling, we are usually in sight of the boat and leave it open and unlocked. In the BVI, crime is almost non-existent so we never locked the boat. In the USVI and the Spanish Virgins, we locked the boat up whenever we left it. The “locks” are really the kind to just make it a little inconvenient for the crooks rather than to act as a true security measure. The Pirates of the Caribbean all carry bolt cutters so we're not too sure what we're protecting against....

3. What sort of speeds can you reach when your "in the groove"? We have reached speeds of almost 7 knots sailing (Anegada Passage on a Beam Reach). When motoring, we usually hit around 5 knots or so. Most of the light wind sailing sees speeds around 3-4 knots.

4. Can you trust the boats knotmeter or are you relying on the GPS data? For speeds, we rely on the GPS. The boat’s knotmeter has been beat up and always reads about half the true speed. It’s only accurate when we’re stopped. Speaking of GPS – this is not a truly necessary nav aid out here. Except for Anegada, you can see your destination before you leave and the charts are very accurate. I occasionally use the GPS to find buoys or other specific locations, but mostly it’s just to keep track of time and distance traveled.

5. Have you sailed “Wing on Wing?” We have done this a few times (in spite of Dale’s cautions!). Mostly we do it in light winds and we always use a preventer! For the non-sailers – Wing on Wing is a downwind sailing technique to expose as much sail as possible to the wind. The danger is that the mainsail can accidentally jibe (or come whipping across the deck). To prevent that, you use a line to hold the mainsail’s boom in its proper position. It does require that you really pay attention to the wind direction!

December 2nd – We have given up sleeping in. The sun comes up and Jim is up banging around and there is just no place to hide. We tend to set sail (or motor) each morning before 9am. Today was one of our favorite days. We motored into a tiny, reef enclosed cove with spectacular coral diving. In addition to some new varieties of fish, I came across a timid Moray Eel. We just looked at each other for awhile. Then we made yet another attempt to see the north side of the Island but the swells remained too daunting. So we turned back to another “un-named cove” and found even better diving. Here we came across two lobsters! You have to dive down about 12-18 feet and look into the rock holes to find them. We also saw a huge puffer fish – about two feet long. There are also these funny trumpeter fish that apparently can change their color to match their surroundings. They try to mimic the color and can be green, red, brown, yellow and even blue!
We have noted that it is colder here in Puerto Rico. The water is almost too cold for Lara and she had to use a blanket last night. We have also noticed that the men here tend to wear “hackey sack” type swim suits (or nothing at all – which is a popular second choice). With a few memorable, and notable, exceptions Jim continues to wear his normal swim trunks with the scuba booties!