Spanish Virgin Islands

After spending some time in Charlotte Amalie, we motored west to Culebra which along with the island of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Mona make up the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  Culebra is one of the must stop islands in the Caribbean.  Motivator has now made three stops in Culebra always anchoring in Ensenada Honda (see archived posting, Culebra, dated April 20, 2013).

In the Virgin Passage we met a couple of cruise ships headed for Charlotte Amalie.  Our AIS was indicating that the first one was turning which was not apparent visually.  A call to the ship verified that both would be turning and that if we held our course and speed we would be clear.

Both passed with plenty of water to spare.

After a couple of peaceful days in Culebra, it was time to move on to Puerto Rico and Puerto del Rey Marina near Fajardo.  Puerto del Rey is one of the largest marinas we have visited.  They offer 24 hour golf cart service to and from your boat, but we prefer to get a little exercise and have been using our bicycles.

Strongarm Electric Winch

As you might have notice in one of the previous photos we were towing our dinghy rather than lifting it to its cradle on the sundeck.  That is because the electric winch in the lifting crane gave up lifting our dinghy (now called El Gordito), but more on that in a subsequent posting.

Old San Juan

Due to a shipping snafu, the new electric winch is coming by slow boat from Nebraska.  So we will do some sightseeing and other boat projects while we wait.

Plugging Leaks & Catching Fish

A fellow boater once told me, “all boats are sinking; it’s just a matter of time.”  But, this article is not about water leaks.  Someone with firsthand experience can write that article. 

This article is about electrical leaks.  When a boat is “leaking” electricity it has to go somewhere.  Usually it is into the water through underwater metal components such as the propeller shaft and propeller.  Besides destroying metal components and eating up zincs, a leaking boat can repel fish.  If you are not catching fish, it may because your boat is leaking electricity, but more on that later. 

Upon arrival at Marina Bas-du-Fort, on the south end of the French island of Guadeloupe in the West Indies, we plugged in to a 220 volt, 50 amp outlet and promptly blew the circuit breaker on the power pole.  French islands use European standards which include very sensitive Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt (GFCI) circuit breakers.

An electrician had me turn all the boat’s breakers off, reset the GFCI breaker at the power pole, and then he watched as I individually turned the equipment back on.  It turned out that we had two offenders, the inverter/charger and the oven.  The First Mate’s solution for the oven was that we could eat out. 

 Pollie’s Valentine Gift

(she was so happy)

The inverter/charger was replaced, and that cured the problem.  The breaker at the pole quit having a hissy fit when we plugged in.  But, that got me thinking; does Motivator have other electrical leaks?

Without the advantage of a finicky French marina, checking for alternating current (AC) leaks can be done with a clamp-on amp meter clamped around your shore power cord.  The current flow is really in two directions, it is alternating.  It must cancel itself out, or be a sum zero situation.  So if your boat is not leaking the amp meter should read close to zero.  One amp is way too much and could fry a nearby swimmer.

A check should also be made for Direct Current (DC) leaks and stray current in general to ensure your boat is not driving fish away and eating zincs.  This is best performed away from the dock so that you are not reading your neighbors leakage.  A silver chloride electrode available from BoatZincs.com (no affiliation with Motivator) that plugs into your multimeter for ease of taking readings is just the ticket.  Again, do as the electrician in Guadeloupe taught me, turn off all components and then turn them on one at a time to find the culprit.

Small but tasty tuna

Success!  Once the electrical leaks were plugged, our previously dismal fishing performance ended and we started catching fish.  The first was this Black Fin Tuna caught leaving Guadeloupe.

Barracuda caught and released off Culebra

I know what you are thinking - coincidence.  Scientific research has proven that fish are both attracted and/or repelled by electricity.  Commercial fishermen have effectively used electricity to help herd menhaden and shrimp into purse seines.  There are even electric lures available see: www.magnabait.net (not a recommendation, merely an example). 

This 4’ 4” Bull Maui Maui was caught in the Anegada Passage.  Coincidence?  Motivator had suffered a long drought, but now her freezer is full of fish.

This guy had to be filleted on deck then released because it was too big for my cooler and cleaning table.

Special Note:  The First Mate managed to gaff this 25 to 30 pound angry Maui Maui and fling it into the cockpit in one fluid motion.  Then she held it down and applied “fish killer” (cheap Vodka) to its gills.  The whole time she was apologizing to the fish.  Very impressive!

Culebra

Flamenco Beach

Situated east of Puerto Rico, Culebra and the surrounding small islands encompass over 7,000 acres.   From 1936 to 1975 the U.S. Navy used about 2000 acres for bombing practice.  Culebra was lucky unlike its sister island Vieques where the bombing continued until 2003.   Culebra has had time to develop some character.

Ensenada Honda

The 2,000 permanent residents of Culebra are regularly visited by vacationing Puerto Ricans from the main island.  

Consequently, Culebra has some really good eateries that are reasonably priced.  Heather’s has great New York style pizza, while Zoco’s Tacos has interesting Mexican style food.

Most of the cruisers initially head for the Dinghy Dock Restaurant for obvious reasons.  The Dinghy Dock is under new management and recently underwent an upgrade.

Mamacita’s is another option, and is accessible via bicycle, golf cart, or…

…by water off the canal.

Mamacita’s has probably banned us.

Because Pollie could not follow the rules.

For light provisioning, Culebra has two stores.

For some reason, of the two, this store seemed more popular.  It must be the ambiance. 

At first glance, Culebra appears to be the island that zoning and code enforcement forgot.

Even the U.S. Post Office seemed rampant with code violations.

The Culebra Library is an example of form following function.  The breezeway between the two single-wides was well used.

The local gas station was another case where form follows function.   On a small island, one must be able to service both vehicles and dinghies.

But, on closer examination, Culebra exudes a certain charm.

Architectural details are everywhere; one must just look past many of the less fortunate structures.

For some reason, Pollie was enamored by this “urban” home across the street from the ferry dock.

The Hotel Kokomo is a couple of doors down from the Pollie’s find.

On the back side of the “Pollie’s house” elaborate stairs have been constructed making one wonder if the owner had planned some commercial use for the structure.  Again, zoning does not seem to be an issue.

Culebra Eco School

Some of the newer public works on the island were very interesting.  This school with hurricane construction utilized the trade winds for cooling and a large solar array for energy.

While other locales have “the bridge to nowhere,” Culebra boasts the lift bridge that does not lift.  When constructed, at what had to be considerable cost, the bridge was to service two fishing boats.  The boats have left Culebra and now large water service pipes span the opening making the bridge unusable. 

We have visited Culebra twice.  Once on our own and then we took our friends Chris and Michele over when they visited us in Puerto Rico. 

 Culebra Museum, closed on Wednesday

After two visits, Pollie stated that Culebra is a 3 to 4 day island.  After 3 to 4 days you probably have done all there is to do.  

Lively Barracuda with Large Teeth

But, getting to these small islands is half the fun.  Above Chris and I are removing a lure from a barracuda before releasing.