Carlos Rosario beach, Culebra and a tiny circumnavigation!

On Sunday we moved ORION one bay up to yet another beach in Culebra named Carlos Rosario beach. Carlos Rosario is surrounded by a big reef that can actually be reached from shore! We had the pleasure of doing this about 10 years ago whilst vacationing in Culebra with our kids Jessica, Julia, and Michael. So now Rick and I are back here on our own sailboat! We took one of the mooring balls provided by the DRNA and jumped right into the turquoise water thereafter. It was an amazing feeling...there were hundreds of fishes right there with us. It was like being in a 3D movie all of a sudden...and we were part of it! The water was so clear that we could see silhouettes of fishes dancing way in the distance...the reef was right next to us and we snorkeled almost the whole length of it. Ten years ago this reef was a lot different...there used to be magnificent elk horn corals, stag horn corals and many other species of coral...but now they are all gone! A phenomen called coral bleaching took place here some years ago and almost wiped out the corals...left are whitish structures that bare little semblence to the abundance of coral life that used to live here.

day use only mooring ball

Still...there is life everywhere in this underwater world...the brain corals are on the come back, there are quite a few sea mushrooms and sponges, which I have not seen on the other reefs, and there are hundreds of sea fern swaying rhythmically with the underwater current. The abundance of fishes mentioned earlier is also a sign that the reef is becoming healthy again...there are schools of blue tang and sergeant majors, yellow tail snappers, blue chromis, and even parrot fish! We saw big blooming anemones and a huge trumpet fish also. The reef will survive and rebuild itself...it will take many years, but time is of minimal importance to the reef. In the meantime it is good to know that the area is a protected one where no fishing is allowed and even the mooring balls there are for day use only, giving the sea life a chance to be mostly undisturbed in its efforts to regain its original strength. Well done DRNA...we salute you for nature preservation at its best!

At this point I also thank my wonderful captain and husband for educating our whole family on everything to do with the sea...he studied marine biology in his early years and knows the names and characteristics of almost any creature down below the surface of the water! Our children and I owe him a lot of gratitude for patiently teaching us and never getting tired of answering our repeated questions without fail...as a reward we love the sea as much as he does :)

Father and sons

Of course Rick and his two brothers developed a love for the water and the sea from their father (Harvey), who has been boating all his life and at the young age of 93 still goes out fishing with one of his sons whenever he can!Way to go Dad! We love you!

Luis Pena island Culebra

Okay...zooming back to Culebra...since the mooring balls at Carlos Rosario are for daytime use only we waved good bye to find another anchorage for the night. Whilst passing Luis Pena island to our left my captain exclaimed "we just did our first circumnavigation"...and chuckling he explained that we had actually circumnavigated Luis Pena island :)

So there you have it...we did it...our first mini circumnavigation on ORION :)

We ended up mooring at Melones beach, the place where we had started our journey the previous Sunday...exactly seven days ago! There were no other boats there, so our much needed solitude is continuing at a wonderful pace :)

Another beautiful sunset rounded up the day perfectly!

Tamarindo Grande beach, Culebra

Tamarindo,Grande beach, Culebra

This morning we moved ORION to yet another wonderful beach here in Culebra...Tamarindo Grande beach is the next one up from Tamarindo beach where we stayed last. It is unbelievable how each of the beaches here are unique...there is none like the other...some have white sand, some have black sand, some have pepples, and some have a mixture of all three! Tamarindo Grande is even more remote than Tamarindo...whereas Tamarindo beach enjoyed a steady flow of beach-goers and kayakers throughout the day into the evening, there are no people here at Tamarindo Grande beach in the evening at all...and during the day there were only a few sun bathers and snorkelers to be seen. No vans or busses have access to this beach, so the people coming here come by foot...usually they walk over from Flamenco Beach, which is one of the most stunning white sand beaches in the world (!). The beauty of Culebra lies in the fact that mostly everything here is still undisturbed nature...the beaches are not commercialized apart from a few cars or mini vans taking people out and bringing them back and a kayak tour company arranging kayak tours...all in all Culebra is almost an "insider job". We like it like that and hope that it will stay like that for many years to come!

the mooring ball attached to ORION

A lot of the beaches around Culebra are nature preserves, so no hunting, fishing, camping, BBQing, or similar activities are allowed...there are plenty mooring balls to hook up to...we found most of them in good shape...the mooring balls are free and hooking up to them saves throwing an anchor, which in turn saves the beautiful coral reefs that are almost everywhere here! What's not to like? We are getting quite good at catching the mooring ball painters and pulling the line through the loop and attach it to ORION's cleats...my captain does the driving next to it and I do the rest...works like a charm now :) We did have some initial...ahem..."misunderstandings", but they got sorted out quickly once the captain realized that the co-captain almost walked off the job...so the solution was an easy one: the sweetie that tackles the mooring ball painter will do it her/his way and the sweetie that drives ORION will approach the mooring ball accordingly...works like a charm every time now...both sweeties are happy...thank God for small blessings :)

lunch on ORION

We had a yummy light lunch and then went snorkeling! We swam with trumpet fish, sergeant majors, blue chromis, yellow fin snappers, a biggish barracuda, and a sting ray...there were lots of different coral formations and sea ferns...white sandy bottoms...blue crystal clear water...heaven again!

We went for a walk on the beach and later took the dinghy over, parked it and walked a small path across to yet another beach called Carlos Rosario beach...there is a beautiful reef on Carlos Rosario, so we will take ORION there in a day or two!

 

This morning we saw the DRNA boat taking soundings everywhere...quite fascinating to watch them go back and forth for hours at a time...what a great job to have for someone who loves the ocean! It is a pleasure to see all the work that has been going on around here in order to save the reefs...a period of naturally occurring but inexplicable bleaching which turned them white killing the corals was aggressively treated with "planting" of new coral cultures...with great success! Over the years the corals have taken on and the reefs look healthy which is proven by the abundance of fish everywhere...almost a small miracle! A reason to celebrate for all :)

delicious BBQ dinner made by my captain

We just finished a delicious dinner prepared by my captain, aka the BBQ chef :)

Just in time to watch the sun set over Luis Pena...

 

 

 

another beautiful sunset

 

Peace and Tranquility at Last :)

our playground at Tamarindo

On Monday we moved ORION from Melones beach to Tamarindo beach in Culebra. Yes...we are enjoying a little solitude right now...tucked in nicely on a mooring ball we are on our own for the first time in a long time! We walked into town and back again yesterday just to buy fresh vegetables...a good exercise, because of the hilly terrain...we have everything else on board, so there is no need to leave here for a while...just pure enjoyment and relaxation away from everybody. It is so nice here that we even took "rainchecks" on some social activities we have been invited to! Luckily our friends do understand...they all have been at this point at some stage in their own cruising lives :) For my sweetie and I it is pure heaven right now and we will rejoin the social world when we are ready...so thank you to all our friends out there...we love you for respecting our new found freedom!

Tamarindo Beach, Culebra

After we returned from our veggie shopping trip...a successful one I may add with fresh yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkin bought at Milka's, a small but well stocked grocery store in town where the aforementioned veggies are bagged nicely and kept refrigerated...we plonked the stuff in the boat, changed into our swim suits and immediately jumped into the water...oh what a great feeling after a long walk :) Last night was a rainy and stormy night...heavy squalls passed through the anchorage...our mooring is holding well and ORION was dancing around it. This morning the storm has disappeared and the sun came up in all its glory over the mountain...I was lucky to capture the moment to share with you all :) God bless!

Melones Beach, Culebra...and a new portable freezer (!)

We are secured to a mooring ball...

Hurray hurray...we pulled the anchor today, left Dewey harbor and sailed to Melones Beach. Melones Beach is located on the west coast of Culebra in a little bay just past the main ferry dock...the next bay up is Tamarindo. Melones Is known for great snorkeling...it belongs to protected waters, no fishing is allowed! There are a few mooring balls in the pristine turquoise waters...we took one and had no problem securing it to ORION...practice makes perfect and we are having a lot of practice these days :) There was only one other boat moored next to us, a catamaran, making this a nice private little bay...just what the doctor ordered, hahaha.

fast speed passenger ferry Fajardo-Culebra

Tracking back a little bit I am happy to report that we took the ferry again and picked up our new 33 quart freezer, a Dometic CF35, at West Marine in Fajardo last Thursday...we want to thank the staff there, especially Estella, one of the managers, who accommodated our request to exchange the previously ordered CF25 for the CF35...all went well and we returned on the fast speed passenger ferry to Culebra and ORION. The new CF35 Dometic works great :) We are running it as a freezer, and we already enjoy home made ice cubes in our drinks! The meat is frozen solid, the unit turns on and off and maintains a temperature of 13 degrees Fahrenheit (we set it to that temperature)...best of all...all this under wind and solar power only! We are ecstatic about it :)

Okay...now that we no longer have refrigeration issues we are able to really get going...we stocked up on some fresh supplies of meat and veggies and even went to have a hair cut at the local Barber! As already reported above we are now moored at Melones Beach...went snorkeling this afternoon and are still pinching ourselves about the wow factor of this stunningly beautiful little beach area...there is a coral reef right by the beach...we swam with a turtle, a sting ray, and lots and lots of blue tang, saw hundreds of small colorful fishes and a reef full of healthy corals and sea fans swaying in the underwater current! God's creations at their best! Oh and all of this in crystal clear water with white sand on the bottom! This is what it's all about...this is what we enjoy the most...and we are so thankful to be able to live our dream in all its glory! Next step is to get the underwater camera out, so we can share the glory with all of you :) God bless!

 

Water...water...everywhere is water :)

Culebra

Water is a necessity whether you live on land or sea...drinking water is usually easy to get by when living on land and most people don't really think about it much when they open their faucets. Drinking water on a boat is an entirely different story, because what comes out of the tap will eventually cease to exist! Now what? Well...on the one hand many boats have water makers, which are desalination units that convert salt water to drinking water...they require either the boat's engine or a generator to power them. There are on the other hand many boats that do not have a water maker...which requires the boat's crew to go and fetch potable water from an off boat source to fill the water tanks. Marinas usually sell water, so the easiest way to fill the water tanks is to park at their fuel dock, put the hose in the tank and fill it up...just like fuel water is measured by a meter and you pay by the gallon.

Of course sometimes there are no marinas around, so the water needs to be brought to the boat...this is usually done by filling 5 gallon water containers and schlepp them back to the boat via the dinghy...a little bit time consuming, but good for building muscles and that complete feeling of accomplishment when the job is done :) I speak from experience, because we topped up our water tanks today via the "schlepp method" and we are now sitting in our cockpit with smirky smiles of accomplishment on our faces...really and truly! My captain did most of the hard work...filling the portable tanks, dinghying back and forth many times and lifting the tanks in and out of the dinghy! My job was to receive the portable tanks and transfer the water into ORION's tanks. We hauled 50 gallons today and now have full tanks again on ORION...approx. 140 gallons of water...and in addition we filled our three portable 5 gallon tanks and stored them on deck! That's plenty water for our next adventures of sailing to some of the nice beaches surrounding Culebra...woohoo :) We are just waiting for our new portable freezer and as soon as we have it onboard we'll take off...as usual...stay tuned!

Life is good!

Our rain catcher system in action

We are still at Dakiti, Culebra anchorage and are enjoying the snorkeling, the scenery, and life in general! The weather has been great with sunny skies...only yesterday did we get a nasty storm with heavy winds and rain that lasted all night...today the sky is clear again, but the wind hasn't let down much. Everything has its good points though...the rain brought much needed water and we were able to check out our rain catcher system in action...it worked flawlessly, so we now know for sure we can catch water to top up the water tanks without having to be at a marina. (We usually put the hose from the rain catcher straight into our water tank, but decided to use a gallon jug this time to see how much water we can collect during heavy rain.) This will be especially handy when we are anchored off that lonely beautiful beach "out there", of which there are many :) Of course we filter and chlorinate our water! Yes...we could try and use our water maker, but that is just another piece of equipment that needs to be replaced in the long run...the water maker on ORION is quite old and quite frankly we have no desire to look into it right now. Luckily water is available almost everywhere throughout the Caribbean islands, so we will be able to fill our tanks (we have three, total volume of approx. 140 gallons) when we need to...so why fret over the water maker?...another piece of equipment that needs to be tended to on a daily basis and requires to run a generator, both of which we can live without...that's why :)

The fresh winds of around 25 to 30 knots with occasional higher gusts also are beneficial to us...this morning we shut off our wind generator, because our batteries are uberfull...the fridge is still nice and cold and will kick on once in a while...the solar panel is enough right now to keep the batteries topped up...ahhhh...it's a good thing to be able to sit back and relax when part of the equipment is shut off...and to still have enough energy to run everything :) Life is good!

This morning my captain went fishing for the first time in a long time...he didn't catch anything, but that is not important...important is that he went fishing!...I know he will catch us a fish sooner rather than later and his happiness is priceless :)...

Since I am not into going fishing I made us a hearty breakfast with fresh diced sweet potatoes, roast beef hash (canned), onions, garlic, spices and embedded a "nest of three eggs" in it...we had a feast when he returned...too bad I forgot to take a picture (!)...next time for sure :). We try to eat healthy on ORION...actually we made it our lifestyle to eat healthy...that way it becomes natural and requires no extra effort! So far it's working and my sweetie is even getting used to home made hummus, apple slices and such for him "foreign" food items...well, I guess there is no way to run away from it on ORION, hahahaha ;) We will be off to explore some of those lonely and beautiful beaches I spoke of earlier as soon as we have picked up the new freezer...hopefully by the end of the week :) Stay tuned please...

 

A new horizon at Dakiti, Culebra

Today we moved ORION to a new anchorage...Dakiti, Culebra...we are now in crystal clear water with a front yard of pure ocean and a back yard of beautiful island :) We had a little bit of a scare this morning, because the engine did not want to start (!)...my captain tried all kinds of magical tricks to no avail...so after a while I suggested to try and turn the motor by hand just a little bit, knowing that I had to do this to my VW Beetle once in a while when it would not want to start and hoping that maybe...maybe it would work. To both our complete astonishment...IT WORKED (!)...Please don't ask why, we have no idea...we are just thankful that we got that good old Diesel going...and everything seems to be okay with it again :)

Bob and Judy, SV Adastra at Zaco's Tacos

We will most probably stay at Dakiti anchorage until we are ready to move on...in between we'll motor to the DRNA dock to get water should our water tanks get low. It feels like heaven here compared to our previous anchorage where it was nice but not THAT nice! We miss our friends Bob and Judy who will be leaving Culebra on Adastra tomorrow and wish them Happy Sailing and thank them for their fare well drink aboard Adastra yesterday afternoon :)

the mooring ball, the black line is our dock line

Here at Dakiti anchorage they have mooring balls for anchoring...something we have not done too often. We are used to setting our anchor...mooring balls were just not very common where we used to sail...but it is never too late to learn new tricks and practice makes perfect anyways, so now is as good a time as ever to start :) The mooring balls have a "painter" attached to it. A painter is a short line to attach something to...for example a dinghy has a painter to attach it to the boat. The painter on the mooring ball has a small loop on the end and you feed your dock line through the loop and then attach it to the cleat on the boat. Sounds simple and it pretty much is, but it is a little nerve wrecking when you are doing it for the first time or the second time as in our case. We only used a mooring ball once before at Coffin Island! I am happy to report that my captain and I performed "the operation" flawlessly and within minutes of anchoring you could hear us laughing and frolicking in the crystal clear water with our snorkel gear attached to our faces and feet...mission accomplished...time to play again :)

our front yard at Dakiti, Culebra

 

Tales from the Cold...

Good morning from the ferry from Culebra to Fajardo

We are still on cloud seven with the new Dometic CF50 portable refrigerator, which we purchased from West Marine in Fajardo. It is over a week ago that we plugged in the new unit...the fridge is cold, our batteries are full, and we have not had to run the engine or the generator at all! We are truly self sufficient now electricity-wise...wow! Our 210 W solar panel and our KISS wind generator produce more than enough energy to load the battery bank and run our equipment...sometimes they even go into diversion load, which happens when the batteries are so full that the excess energy has to be diverted...a pretty nice thing to happen :)

We changed our mind about using the Dometic CF25 as a designated freezer...the unit only runs of 12 V and is smaller than we had expected. With the kind cooperation of West Marine in Fajardo we are now getting the next bigger size, a Dometic CF35 which runs with either 12 V or 110 V just like the CF50 we already bought and use as a designated fridge on ORION. The CF35 will be our designated freezer on ORION. We are looking forward to this new unit...as soon as we have it running we will be free to take off and explore different anchorages around Culebra :)

We are using the fridge and freezer space from the retired cold plate system for storage of our canned goods now...it freed up an enormous space...but since we have an enormous amount of canned goods the space is appreciated and already filled to the brim, hahahaha...it's a good thing!

Right now my sweetie and I couldn't be happier about our change of power management...it is not cheap but it is not outrageously expensive either (less than 2K) and considering the savings in fuel and equipment (as we don't have to run the engine or the generator twice a day) it is so worth it! We also could close the thru hull from the retired system...it is no longer needed! The old cold plate system was using sea water pumped through a thru hull which basically is a hole in the hull of the boat (for our non-boating friends). We eventually will remove the cold plate system along with the compressor...this will free up even more space in the old fridge and freezer unit as well as in the engine room where the compressor is housed!

So happy :)

The biggest benefit to us is our peace of mind...honestly and truly...no money in the world can pay for that feeling of true independence...of not having to worry constantly about this very important piece of equipment on our boat :) The future is here...these compressor driven portable units with digital display are revolutionizing the RV and boating world...they are designed to work with solar and wind energy...they use very little amps...renewable energy at its best! In a way it is a good thing that our old cold plate system started to fail when it did...it gave us the opportunity to look into alternative methods of handling the refrigeration on ORION...and it happened whilst we were still on home turf so to say where things are available or can be ordered and shipped within a reasonable time for a reasonable price. So all is well :)

Will post again on the issue when we have the CF35 running...Happy Sailing in the meantime! And yes...will post pictures next time also :)

 

Time to play :)

The Two Sweeties in Culebra :)

We are still in beautiful Culebra and will most probably stay here until the beginning of the new year...it's time to play now...we are awaiting a few of our cruiser friends returning from trips abroad and have been busy filling our social calendar over the past week...just kidding...we have no social calendar and are able to fit in fun dates as they occur :) After the wonderful Thanksgiving aboard Adastra we have dinghied into Dewey a few times to explore the town...things have not changed too much since we were here last almost 10 years ago (!)...Dewey and its people are still wonderfully laid-back, but the scenery is a little different now. Lots of small restaurants have opened, some closed, and others are being refurbished...the ferry dock is under ongoing improvement. I will post pictures as soon as I have transferred them from my camera. There are two laundry mats, so washing clothes is not a problem :) We ran into Joe on SV Cemi, whom we know from Salinas...Joe and his wife now live in Culebra again...it's a small world. We are also pleased with the two colmados (grocery stores) in town...they carry our favorite 7grain bread and fresh vegetables and meat :)

Bob, Judy, Rick, and Don (standing)

We've been roaming around with our friends Bob and Judy of SV Adastra a little bit...they introduced us to "Zaco's Tacos" where we all had a wonderful time yesterday together with another cruiser friend Don of SV Rover. We loved the place with its nice ambiance and delicious food. Rick and I had just returned from a ferry trip to Fajardo to pick up our new portable freezer, did not want to dinghy back to ORION and then back into town...so we all met at Zaco's around 17:00 (5 p.m.). That's why there is a box in back of Rick on the photo...no, it's not in Zaco's usual decor :). Zaco's has some neat decorations...tropical bird plant holders created from old tires for example...and I absolutely loved Frida Kahlo, the 20th Century Mexican painter, identifying the "Ladies Room"!

bird plant holder made of tires

Frida Kahlo :)

ribs :)

steak :)

tacos :)

the bar at Zaco's

the back porch at Zaco's

 

Keeping our food cold and our minds sane!

The Two Sweeties on a quest

This is it! We have had enough, enough, enough of problems with our built in cold plate refrigeration system on ORION. It was slowly driving us insane...when connected to shore power at the marina the units worked just fine, but ever since moving off the dock we have had intermittent problems trying to keep temperatures in the lower levels! Having had to run the Diesel engine sometimes for as much as a few hours in order to keep things cold because the wind and solar could not keep up with the power drainage...we finally decided that..yes...enough is enough! We (again) researched boat refrigeration on the net for alternative solutions and decided on a portable compressor driven unit that would work both with a 12 V system and a 110 V system. West Marine in Fajardo looked promising for the purchase of such a unit.

Ferry ride from Culebra to Fajardo

So this morning...the morning of my birthday...my sweetie and I took the ferry from Culebra to Fajardo...and so our quest began. There are several portable compressor driven refrigeration/freezer units for RVs and boats on the market. Our two finalists were ENGEL and DOMETIC...both extremely reliable companies with reliable products! We ended up going with DOMETIC, because that's what West Marine had available to take home with us...and we wanted it NOW...we NEEDED IT NOW...our sanity was at stake!

Our new refrigerator...on top are water jugs...

Here is the unit we bought...a 52 quart Dometic compressor driven refrigerator/freezer, which works either with 12 V battery power or 110 V power. The unit can be used either as a freezer or as a fridge...we will use it as a designated fridge. We ordered a 24 quart unit also, which we will run as a designated freezer. These units are compressor driven just like a normal fridge, but they make hardly any noise and use hardly any power. They are not cheap, but they are the solution to our problems :) And they are excellent for combining with solar and wind energy!

We took the unit home with us, which is an entirely different story by itself...suffice it to say that we made it back onto the ferry, and with the kind help of a local publico (public transportation car) driver to our dinghy, and with determination back onto ORION :)

The new fridge is already running like a charm! We plugged it in, adjusted the settings, filled it with the food stuff from the now demoted cold plate system and within one hour it had reached the set temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit, using only 7 Amps! Best of all...it is so quiet that we had to check and re-assure ourselves several times that the unit was in fact running...WOW! We are very happy so far...will give it a few days to find out how things will progress...don't want to jinx it, but hope that this will be it my friends...

For now we got our sanity back...I am happy and so is my sweetie :) Living on a boat has its challenges...we hope that the refrigeration challenge will no longer be a challenge...as usual please stay tuned as we adjust to being on the sea full time. We are in beautiful Culebra still and will start sailing to nearby little islands soon...we love to explore and we love to share it with you through this blog...God bless!

happy

happy

 

From Vieques to Culebra

This morning we watched a beautiful sunrise over Vieques...there was no wind at all and we debated whether to wait for some or to go ahead and motor to Culebra. In the end we decided to motor, knowing that we could always raise the sails should the wind come up.

Well it is a good thing that we decided to get on the way under motor, because the wind did not come up at all...nada, zero, zilch wind!

We arrived in Culebra around mid day, having motored all the way from Vieques...the sea was like glass most of the time...kind of unusual, but we are not complaining, because it made for an easy relaxing ride...much better than having to fight our way against the wind :)

We have been to Culebra many times with our kids when we still had a power boat...and we always enjoyed our stays there...Culebra is a very special place to us...there are no big shops, no fast food chains...just pure and simple living on an island...heaven!

Over the years Rick and I always dreamed of one day going to Culebra on our own sailboat (!)...so now our dream has come true and we are extremely happy and grateful.

Our first anchorage in Culebra is by the DRNA dock, because our friends Bob and Judy (and their little dog Leo) on SV Adastra are anchored there, and they have invited us for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow afternoon...woohoo :)

This is SV Adastra, which is also a Morgan 41 but a Classic (ours is an Out Island)...we met Bob and Judy (and their little dog Leo) in Salinas a few weeks ago and became good friends...so here we are meeting again :)

The cruiser life is full of such pleasant surprises...it's a community out there and,we are all part of a big family...happy, I may add :)

wind generator and solar panel on ORION

By the way...our KISS wind generator and the solar panel are doing their jobs nicely...producing juice to run our fridge/freezer...so far we have not had to run the generator to top off the batteries (!)...wind and sun energy at its best and we have not even had much wind lately!

This is it for today! I am trying to update our blog more frequently during our new life as full time cruisers. We shall see how it goes once we are out of US waters, but wifi is available throughout the islands we have been told, so I will post updates whenever possible :)

Special greetings to Rick's Dad Harvey Klumb, who at 93 years young loves to follow our adventures through this blog...We love to have you onboard Dad :)

Greetings also to all our family and friends...you know who you are :) We are blessed to have you!

Wishing everybody a wonderful Thanksgiving...until soon again...