Finally got to Anegada

It’s been a pretty good week because we got to check a couple of things off our bucket list.  We made it over to the BVI’s on Friday and we anchored in Trellis Bay on Tortola Sunday and Monday night.  We planned it so we could finally get to the Full Moon Party on Monday night.  We have been to the BVI’s numerous times but we never made it to the Full Moon Party before.  It was a lot of fun with lot’s of food and music.  Then around eight they start lighting several of these metal balls on fire. 
The other thing that we we wanted to do is get to Anegada.  We always talked about doing it on the bareboats that we rented but there was always someone that got a little sea sick so we were never able to get there.  It’s about 15 miles north of Virgin Gorda and all open ocean so it can get a little rough.  We had really good wind on Monday and sailed (without engines) all the way over.  It was awesome.  We rented a motorbike and explored the island (all 11 miles)  It’s a very flat island with a salt pond in the middle where there are pink flamingos.  We couldn’t get close enough too them to take pictures though.  It’s a nice island and I’m glad we finally made it.

The steel drum band at the full moon party

The fireballs at the full moon party

Enjoying the USVI-Puerto Rico

I know we haven’t blogged in a while and sorry about that.  We have been sailing around a bit not just hibernating on the boat on some exotic island.   At the end of January we headed over to Puerto Rico by way of Culebra.  We stayed a couple of nights at some very nice anchorages on Culebra, which is well known for all of it’s awesome snorkeling and nice beaches.  Once you get out of the main bay, which is Encinada Honda there really aren’t many boats around.  We totally skipped Encinada Honda this time and went around to the northwest side of the island and stayed a couple of nights in some nice bays.  Then headed over to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I actually flew out of San Juan to San Francisco on the 27th to surprise Amanda for her birthday.  She planned a birthday trip to San Francisco with some friends and family to celebrate her golden birthday (she turned 29 on the 29th).  It was great because she didn’t have any idea I was coming and was totally surprised.  We had four really fun days of running all over the city, going to Alcatraz, fisherman’s wharf, China Town, Little Italy and the super cross races in Oakland.  Then we all flew back to Loveland and I stayed there for 3 more days. 
Wes stayed on the boat with the dog’s but his sister flew out from Rochester to keep him company.  They rented a car and ran all over Puerto Rico.  Wes finally got back to the Bacardi factory to buy his 15 year old bottle of rum that he had been wanting since the first time we went there-haven’t cracked it open yet though. 
So now we are back in St. Thomas and we have been going around the island from Charlotte Amalie to Red Hook.  Getting a lot of things done on the boat and running into some friends.  Hopefully we will be heading over to the BVI’s in a couple of days because we still want to get to Anegada, which is the furthest north of all of the islands and the only island in the BVI’s that we haven’t been to. 

A tiny island we stopped at so Wes could walk the dogs on our way to Culebra

A lighthouse on Puerto Rico

The fort coming into San Juan harbor

The brightly painted buildings by old San Juan