The Best Kept Secret

Hey family & friends! Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by ‘Off the Beaton Path’ and check in on us. We arrived safely to Puerto Rico around 4:30 PM

on Saturday, February 19th to one of the Spanish Virgin Islands named Culebra. Here’s a recap of our sail from the BVIs:

We lifted anchor in Wickam’s Cay at first light, around 6:00 AM. We didn’t want to depart in the dark, as there are a lot of fishing / diving buoys scattered randomly throughout the waters of the BVIs and [as detailed in our previous post] we wanted to stay far away from those bad boys. A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we left Road Town Harbour, Tortola.

Our first part of the sail took us straight south through BVI waters along the west coast of Norman Island. Once having cleared past the United States Virgin Islands, we changed course directly to the west and sailed the leeward coast along St.

Thomas and St. John. Forecasted winds were 18 knots gusting 22 knots, which would still be considered light for our downwind point of sail. We’re not sure where those winds were though, because even with our full headsail being pushed out by our spinnaker pole (making a flat ‘wall’ of sail) we weren’t cruising along very speedily. We would sometimes bob around 3.5 knots, but our speed gauge usually sat between 4.0 and 4.8 knots. There was one squall that pushed us for several minutes up to 5.2 – 5.3 knots, but we had a pretty slow, leisurely sail overall. The waves were on our stern, creating a surfing effect that helped propel us. Just over halfway to our destination (total

distance of 43 nautical miles), we were forced to turn on engines as our speed was dropping down to 2.2/2.3 knots – a crawl! By that point, autopilot starts freaking out and losing steerage as there simply isn’t enough speed. Between then and arriving to the channel markers at Culebra, we had to periodically turn the engine off and on as the winds would sometimes pick up, and at other times completely die.

We arrived at the first channel marker (marking the entrance to the main anchorage, Ensenada Honda) with plenty of time before sunset. Instead of going way up into the central anchorage towards the town named Dewey, we decided to pick up a free mooring ball in Ensenada Dakity, a wonderfully protected anchorage located behind a very shallow reef.

Checking in to Puerto Rico was an interesting process. Technically, Puerto Rico is part of the United States; so, customs and border portal is all US mandated. For cruisers arriving on personal pleasure craft, there is an app which must be used for check in called ‘CBP ROAM’. It’s actually incredibly easy, and involves uploading information such as passports, boat details, and registration papers. Once you have data or WiFi, you submit an arrival request which is then immediately processed online by a CBP officer. Within minutes, confirmation is given and clearance approved to enter the US – no need to visit anyone in person or submit any gruelling paperwork. Great, right?! Well… the data roaming package we had purchased in the BVIs, guaranteed to work in Puerto Rico, didn’t! So, in search for WiFi, we hopped in the dinghy around 5:20PM and sped away towards Dewey.

Once we found a dinghy dock, we consulted the locals and walked a short distance to the airport. Unfortunately, we arrived just after 6:00PM and the airport was closed (it’s a small island!) With my service still not kicking in, we borrowed a phone from a nice lady who owned an ice cream truck and called the 1-877 number for Customs and Border Patrol. They were very understanding, kind, and helpful, and let us know they’d be on standby for our CBP ROAM submission until midnight. With a vanilla/chocolate swirl soft serve in tow, we walked back towards Dewey central in search of WiFi. Our quest ended at a local bar and restaurant called Mamacita’s, where, while seated at the bar, we connected to WiFi. We then proceeded to submit our arrival request through the app, waited 3-4 minutes, had a cruising license approved, waiting another 3-4 minutes, and then had a verification video chat with a CBP officer. It was 100% clear we were in a bar (neon “Mamacita’s” sign right behind us) and the officer jokingly told us to take it easy on the rum punch and margaritas! We then received a notification that our clearance into the United States was complete. We were absolutely dumbfounded – never in the past has our check-in process to a new country been so easy, and for this to have happened in the US?! We couldn’t believe it. We had been so nervous, since usually the States seems to be a nightmare to clear customs with… and our officer was an absolute peach. Relieved and delighted, we enjoyed some coconut shrimp and then dinghied back to the boat. A 12-hr sleep was in order after a full day.

Now we are cruising the Spanish Virgin Islands before visiting mainland Puerto Rico, where we’ll station ourselves in San Juan. We plan on spending about two weeks in Culebra and Vieques, and already can’t believe what we have been discovering. To quickly summarize:

1. Protected, flat anchorages with stunning scenic views of surrounding rainforest, cliffs, and mangroves. Gorgeous!

2. FREE MOORINGS. Yes, after all the complaining and whingeing we did about the $30/night moorings in the BVIs, there are plentiful free moorings all around Culebra and Vieques. The waters surrounding Culebra are one of the oldest established protected zones – since 1909 – so moorings have been installed as a helpful alternative to anchoring. Did I mention these are FREE??

3. It’s quiet here. Like really, really quiet. No noisy anchorages, no crowded beaches. It’s like Puerto Rico is the best kept secret from the Caribbean cruising community.

… and we’re just getting started! We can’t wait to explore all the different nooks and crannies we can find in the Spanish VIs. Y tambien, es una opportunidad por practicamos hablar en español!

Hasta luego,

El Beatons

Marine Traffic: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:233142/mmsi:244620720/imo:0/vessel:PANTA_RHEI_III

*Link always works to show our most recently acquired satellite position.