We made one stop at the beautiful island of Vieques. Vieques is known for its stunning beaches however there was a south easterly swell that made these beaches uncomfortable for Aura. Ondine Blue appeared on the horizon and it wasn’t long before the super sleek 52’Balance catamaran passed us. We decided to anchor in the well protected bay of Ensenada Honda. It is surrounded by reef and precise navigation is required to enter the bay. Ondine Blue kindly entered first and called any depths less than 3 meters.

The bay is surrounded by mangroves with clear water. The sun was shining so I decided that I needed some li-lo time. Simon always the accommodating husband, happily supplied me with margaritas while I blissfully floated behind Aura. It wasn’t long until Ian and Ann popped over for a few early sundowners, along with Balbina, David and the faithful hound, Lola.

As we had just completed a night passage, it wasn’t long before I could no longer keep my eyes open and called it an early night. The next day was just as lovely so Si and I got the paddle boards out and went exploring. We did come across a sail boat that had been damaged during the hurricane and consequently abandoned. We then piled into Hatch (Tourterelles’ dingy) and went to a small island close to our anchorage to enjoy the water.

After spending the last six months with Ian and Ann on Tourterelle, we were finally going our separate ways. Ian and Ann had to meet their daughter in St Thomas while we were heading to Culebra to meet up with Monique, Ainsley and Eamon from Florida. For our last night together, we had a curry night. Ian excelled himself with making a curry that required 100 cloves of garlic. As always it was fantastic. Ann and I spent much of the night with our feet in the water playing with the phosphorescence. It was magical as it is one of the very few bays that there is no residual light from the land. It was completely dark.

After farewelling Tourterelle (we would see then again in a few weeks) we made our way north to Culebra. We anchored just off the town and went ashore for a reci (aka recognisance) to explore the village. Our outboard was misbehaving again and it took several attempts of stopping and starting before we made it to the town dock to off load our rubbish. Unfortunately we managed to stop right in front of a police boat with about six officers. After being highly embarrassed we managed to finally make it to the dock without further incident (Si drained the carburettor).

The following day, Mon and the kids joined us on Aura. Not only is Mon our only reoccurring visitor but this is her third stint with us (MonAura v3). We were both excited as it has been a nearly 12 months since we have had visitors. By the time the ferry arrived and we had them on-board, it was close to 5pm. This did not stop the kids from going for a swim…jelly fish and all.

The following morning we decided to leave early and head over to the small island of Culabreta. We wanted our guests to wake up to a pristine beach and clear water with no jelly fish. We picked the hook up at about 6.30am for the hour motor around the corner. Unfortunately the dark clouds that were heading our way did not provide the non-eventful trip we planned. Before long the wind picked up to 30 knots and the seas big enough to make it interesting. Somehow the kids managed to stay in bed though I did put the lee cloth up for Ainsley who was sleeping on the top bunk. Apart from Eamon slipping down the stairs half asleep, we did make it to our island paradise and were not disappointed. The island is truly special with turtles galore swimming around the boat. We went to shore and walked the white beaches. We hiked to the abandoned lighthouse to enjoy some amazing views and to download email :-)

During their time on Aura we did visit a few of the different anchorages…the kids are water babies so are happy to spend all their time swimming and see who can knock the other off the paddle board or li-lo. Mon and I ensured we got some li-lo time until one of the li-lo’s final sprang a leak…not that this stopped us as Mon persisted with the deflated li-lo until there was literally no air left. As all good things come to an end as the five days flew by. We had a lovely early lunch ashore before Mon and the kids caught the ferry back to the PR mainland while we headed across to Christmas Cove (US Virgin Islands) while the winds were light.

Li-Low Time with the Turtle's

Kids @ Play

Jump !

Lighthouse Walk

Monique - boardroom teleconference

Photos from the baths

And a few more photos