Monkeyshines and Davy

We raised our genny then our mainsail. The wind was only about 8 knots, but picked up to 15 or so later. We were sailing! We switched off both engines and flew up the coast of PR, making as much as 6.5 to 7 knots in some of the gusts. It was no time before we spotted Cayo Santiago.

Cayo Santiago is a pretty little island lying a mile off the eastern coast of PR. At first sight, there’s nothing to distinguish it from the hundreds of other pretty little islands. However, back in 1938, the Smithsonian and Columbia University turned it into a top-notch research laboratory. Aside from a few buildings, the principal new introduction to the island was 500 Rhesus monkeys. They have been living free on the island’s 39 acres ever since and now number some 1,200 monkeys.

We sailed as close as we could and ogled at monkeys through binoculars. There is an anchorage, but we wanted to be on our way. Had we stopped and dropped Boffo, we might have got much closer. The island is closed to the public as the monkeys can be quite aggressive. I have a photo of a brown dot on a beach, and of a brown dot walking along the beach. So, ultimately, not a particularly noteworthy experience, but one still worth having. Especially given the lovely sail that took us there.

Here be monkeys.

After we’d ogled for a bit, we set course for Vieques, about 18 miles away. Vieques and Culebra are the Spanish Virgin Islands, the next step on our explorations. Our readings told us they had attracted a lot of ex-pat Americans of the most laid-back variety. Don’t be in a rush for anything. It sounded delightful.

We had to motor part of the way across, but angled ourselves so we got a nice sail into Esperanza, the settlement on the south side of Vieques. It consists of a row of shops and stalls along the waterfront—The Strip—and some homes and the odd shop on the few streets inland. The main town of Vieques is Isabella Segunda, on the north shore. One woman we spoke to called going there, “going to town”, so Esperanza is considered a suburb, I suppose.

Vieques hit the news big time back in 1999. The residents had been trying for years to get the U.S. Navy to stop using the east end of the island, part of Camp Garcia, for target practice. Then, in 1999, a viequense civilian guard, David Sanes Rodriguez, was killed when two big bombs went astray. Locals say the fellow in charge of the test had left the room for a smoke. The outrage was nothing to what had gone before and a huge media campaign drew international attention. In 2003, the U.S. Navy withdrew from Vieques. Now the only personnel are those working to remove all the “unexploded ordnance”. The job is expected to be finished in 2013.

We arrived in the Puerto Real bay off Esperanza at about 2 p.m. We were delighted to see moorings. We picked up one across the bay from The Strip, near a tiny island. We had a post-crossing swim, where WW introduced me to my first barracuda (I kept the hand with the bracelet behind my back). Later, when we were mucking about onboard, we heard the sound of a small outboard…a dinghy was approaching. The skinny, long-haired, blond, 50-something guy driving introduced himself as Davy. It was a mooring he had put in. He wanted $20 for two nights. He was also willing to schlep water to us in 6.5 (US)-gallon jugs. And he undertook to take our propane tank and get it filled. All for a sum, of course, but we were pleased to be getting any water or propane at all.