125: DON'T MISS this ISLAND on the South Coast of PUERTO RICO!

The councils are on the move. That's what I do. I do say it. I don't say it. Beautiful rainbow this morning after some really nasty squalls. Look at that and now we have a double rainbow. We've just picked up off the mooring ball. We're headed out of Great Lampshire. This has been an amazing bay to be in for a couple of days. We're buddy boating with our friends right there on Lady K. Oh yeah, what a treat. The councils are on the move. Yes we are. We are going to Francis Bay which is about a two hour sail. We spent two nights in Great Lampshire and it was awesome. It was beautiful. It was fairly calm. We had some squalls and some big wind gusts but we were pretty protected in that bay. Our friends Linda and Paul arrived which was so fun. To be able to actually buddy boat with them now is just such a gift. Yesterday we took a walk. There's a road and also trails off the road from Little Lampshire Bay. We're going to buy an old rum factory. That is a coral reef rum factory I believe. Which is just an old historic relic. It's been closed since I think 1917. We saw hermit crabs. We saw deer. We saw spiders. Great hike. What were those bees called? We saw beautiful flowers and agave. It was just a beautiful hike. We're just out really enjoying sailing with friends. No beach honey. No we are on the famous Maho. Famous Maho. Only this place is popular. There are tons of people here. Did some good snorkeling? Yes. Saw a lot of stuff. I know. Pretty day. Good times. It's just one of many many places that you can go with your boat and enjoy. Yeah. It's our last day here. I know. Heading to St. Thomas tomorrow. I know. Going to pay our morning ball fee at the morning pay station. Cute little floating dock here. Goodbye St. Johns and Maho Bay. Today we are headed to St. Thomas. Our final two days in the USVI. It's a beautiful beautiful day. We've got the current with us today which is awesome. Captain Brown's at the helm. We've got the jib up. And we are moving at 7.4 knots. There's Cokie Point and the aquarium. So many great memories here. This is where I first learned to scuba dive with my friend Scott Tilton. This is Megan's Bay. We're excited to anchor here. It's been a long time since I've been here. Like 15 years. Bye guys. Love you guys. See you again soon we hope. So we have said goodbye to the US Virgin Islands. We are on our way out of Megan's Bay. Say goodbye to our friends Paul and Linda. We're going to miss having buddy boat. And we are sailing off to the west today. It is a long journey back to America and we have got to get going. So today we hit the Spanish Virgin Islands and we are hoping then to get to Puerto Rico in the next few days as well. We're excited to continue our journey and get closer to the US. And we're going to hug the coast of St. Thomas and see if we can get our jib up and do a little sailing. And we are headed to the Spanish Virgin Islands, Calabria. Which I think six months ago we never even knew existed. Did you know we existed? No. I didn't. I'd heard about them and there's these exotic places that very few people ever went. And now we're on our way and I've heard really good things about them. Beautiful, unspoiled, not touristy. Yeah. So that will be about a four, four and a half hour sail. We're just sailing to the jib at the moment. It's getting us dead west which is where we need to be. We need to get to North Carolina, Cape Hatteras by June the 1st. So we really have to get a move on. Yeah, that's a lot of miles. So as long as we're heading west, that's good. Captain Brown doing a great job. That's what I do. We are arriving in the town of Dewey in the Spanish Virgin Islands. So that's the bridge that they built. They opened it once, they couldn't shut it. And then the engineers figured out a way to shut it and they've shut it permanently. So now it just stays closed. There's your history lesson. So we are on U.S. soil and headed to just walk around town a little bit. Hola. Look at the colors. Wow. I love that. Ah, look honey. We left Calabria this morning at 6.30 thinking we'd have an easy 4 hour sail to Vieques. So we got started out and we double reefed the main so we could be extra conservative. And we pulled jib out. We were making about 4 knots. Not even, 3 knots. We're at a beam reach and we're thinking, what's going on here? And then the wind started picking up and we're thinking squall. Our first squall. So we started heading downwind which reduces pressure on the sails. We got up to 9 knots but we're going in the wrong direction. We're going in the wrong direction. So it started getting really crazy and we couldn't correct. So we brought down the jib and we brought down the main. And that's where we are right now. We are motoring. Yeah and it's still about 28 knots apparent wind. And that was not what was predicted. But we got practice. We didn't break anything. We didn't hurt ourselves. Just motor up to around the point of Vieques which is right over there. And once we get around the corner then we will hopefully be able to throw up the jib and sail down along the south side of the island. This is Vieques which is the Puerto Rican island. Part of the Spanish Virgin Islands that is closer to Puerto Rico than Culebra. We are headed into the town of Esperanza. Wow. Beautiful. We are in Puerto Patillas. It is a spectacular day here. Blue skies. Absolutely gorgeous. A fairly quiet anchorage. Peaceful. No noise. Wow it is a beautiful day. We are trying to troubleshoot an issue with our engine. We have some oil in the engine bay. So it's a beautiful day out here but you know where I'd rather be sweetie? I'd rather be right down in there in that spacious engine compartment that's nice and clean. So what we're going to do is we've got an industrial cleaner. We also have some diapers. This is a diaper that you use to soak up oil. We spent about two hours last night talking to people on the leopard group. They were just amazing. Everyone was so helpful. Some wonderful man called Paul from the UK actually called us and did a video chat. I attempted to drop the oil out of the engine. That's the problem. He was amazing. Today our friend Nico has walked through some things with us. Our friend Yuka and Francesco. They also have tried to help us. Okay little baby I'm sorry I've got to borrow your diaper to clean the engine bay. Bet you thought that was a real baby. Well maybe I'm the real baby when it comes to getting down there. But you know you're out in the middle of nowhere you got to do it yourself. Oh where'd he go? Here I am. It may be clean. So what we think we have is a piece of corrosion up underneath the oil pan. It's a beautiful morning here in Patias. And today we're hopefully going to take off. Goodbye Puerto Patias. We are off. Today we are going seven hours towards Ponce. And as you can see the sea is like a lake. It is flat. There's very little wind. Only about five knots apparent. And so we're probably going to have to motor the whole time. We are on our way to Ponce or Ponce. I don't know how you say it. Ponce. And yesterday. I do say it. Ponce. Well we're thankful to be underway. We did not think after yesterday that we would be moving today. We thought we might have to haul out. Feeling sorry for ourselves. Just off of one engine we're going. Yeah. 5.7 so we've got some current going with us. It is so peaceful. We have finally been able to turn the engines off. And we can see our destination in sight. It is that island there. That is where we're going to anchor overnight. We are on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. Check the anchor. Make sure it's dug in. Man that water is clean. We are on the island. On a boardwalk we're not supposed to be using because it was damaged in the hurricane. But oh well. We are I think going to head for the lighthouse. And explore the island. Oh looks like Century Hill all over again. What do you think sweetie? We're loving it. It's a beautiful paradise. Everything here has thorns. Cactus garden is what we're calling this. It's wall to wall cactus. Cacti. That's a cacti-lanch. Right there. Cacti-lanch. Like an avalanche but with cacti. Now we've got the cactus hurdles. She's very curious. Adventure of a lifetime. Ha ha. There it is. I don't think it's working anymore do you? Wow. That is beautiful. What did you think of the hike? Loved it. Beautiful. This was our first island. Far off, desolate island. But eventually. It's just the two of us. Yes it is. This is why you own a boat. For sure. How did you like it? I loved it. Beautiful views. Nice clean pathways. Beautiful water. Can't wait for our swim. Very, very beautiful. Incredible. These are hard. I'm going to go find a piece of seaweed.