Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be: I have no plan and I’m sticking to it.

We sail through the night – actually it is mostly motoring again. Nonetheless, it is pleasant. We pass the bright lights of Ponce and pass the ominous Isla Caja de Muertos. Just past this I see a strange sight – large white lights. Such things I would usually associate with land, but I am sure that there is no land where these lights are located (and if there were I would be in some big trouble). They also seem to be moving. Dad comes up to relieve me of my shift and enlightens me – shrimping boats. They use bright white lights to attract the shrimp. Mystery solved.

We arrive midmorning to Vieques the next day. Vieques is one of two islands, the other is Culebra, that make up the Spanish Virgin Islands which are owned by Puerto Rico. The next set of islands are the U.S. Virgin Islands which are also an American territory and then from there is the British Virgin Islands – you guessed it – owned by the British. Vieques and Culebra were both used as bombing test sites by the American government who pulled their testing facilities out of Culebra in 1996 and out of Vieques only a few years ago. Thus the waters around Vieques are labeled on the charts as restricted areas or undetonated bomb site or no anchoring, unexplored ordinance. We pull into Esperanza on the south shore which is the city nearest to where Costello has his guest house. We pull in to find horrid holding, but the nearby Sun Bay is rife with petty theft and Isabel Segunda is far away from Costello and has a lot of ferry traffic (but next time that would be the anchorage I would pick). Once we are finally anchored we bring the dinghy to the westernmost of the two dinghy docks. Unfortunately we encounter a crazy man here, so on second thought we pick the eastern dinghy dock – with less crazies. Finally, we make our way up the beach and meet up with Costello. We have supper at Duffy’s – seared tuna salad and, get this, Abita beers! This makes Duffy’s my favorite bar in Esperanza, but we are not in Boquerón anymore. You can see that Vieques is an ex-pat hangout (as it is expensive and fru-fru) while Boquerón is a sailor and local hangout (because it is cheap and down to earth). The anchorage is very rolly so I spend the early evening people watching at Bananas. Day two at Vieques is a tour in Costello’s jeep., including a stop at the lighthouse in Isabel Segunda. I have a thing for lighthouses.

From there we spend the afternoon lounging on Sun Bay beach with champagne and Gasolinas. Due to the fact that the majority of the island (this is true for both Culebra and Vieques) is now a nature reserve (everything that used to be military zones were turned directly into nature reserves) this means there is a vast amount of undisturbed beauty. The beaches are pristine and the nature is abundant – including semi-wild horses.

Mom and I organize a bioluminescent bay tour of Mosquito Bay for that night. The bioluminescent bay in Vieques is supposedly the best in the world. Puerto Rico has three bioluminescent bays – La Parguera, Fajardo, and here. The bays are home to little dynoflagellates which flash green as a defense mechanism. Only take boats with electric motors or kayaks as these are delicate creatures, in fact most of the bay in La Parguera has been destroyed due to motorized boats. For only $30 (via Fun Brothers Adventures – the best tour agency to go with to do this bio bay) each they give us two hours in a kayak on an empty bay where you can jump in and watch the world glow around you. When you raise your arms out of the water they sparkle as if you are covered in stars. It is the most mesmerizing experience I have ever enjoyed – the best bio bay in the world is really the best. You repeat, repeat, repeat, catching stars on your arms and watching them fade away or wildly kicking your legs to watch the world under you glow or twirling in circles. If nothing else this is the reason to go to Vieques (also, this is something that will probably be gone by the time I have kids, so guys – go – do it now – the world won’t wait for you).

After the perfect day, we come back to the perfect mess. We have a quick, lovely supper at Bili, but on arrival to the dinghy we see that someone has stolen our dinghy gas tank. Really. Petty theft makes me so angry. Fine take the gas, I can get more gas, but the tank! Really? You don’t need that and where the heck am I supposed to get a new one of those. Jerks, yes, but we had read there was petty theft here and we didn’t prepare for it so it is just as much our fault as theirs. After a breakfast at Belly Buttons, a very cute breakfast joint, and after Costello and Dad attempt to find a gas tank we realize that we just need to cut our losses and head for Fajardo (not to mention we are so over this darn surge-y anchorage). The ride over is quite easy and we are soon searching for slip 1061 in Puerto del Rey Marina – the largest in the Caribbean. I had previously emailed with interest in a haul out with their H Crain and a place to leave the boat for 5 or 6 months, but received no response. We pass the break water but go down the wrong line of slips so turn around (if you ask me our boat turns on a dime). We move to the correct side of dock number 10 (the side that has the odd numbers) and spot the dock boys. As Dad starts to make the approach turn the boat starts to not listen. Soon we have lost all control – no shifting and no acceleration. The dock boys are yelling orders, but unfortunately the only thing controlling this boat now is our hands and the dock lines. The dock boys wail on the lines and we push off of the pilings and somehow smoothly glide into the slip. The dock boys think they just witnessed the worst docking ever, but really what they witnessed was the best docking ever. We decide to indulge in this luxury life tonight – showers, electricity, fresh water, and a meal out – at La Banda Waterfront Restaurant. We have a huge pasta supper, calamari appetizer, and three milks dessert and return to a secure boat that is surge free. Luxury.

Unfortunately luxury gets a bit boring. Even though the restaurant is great - the marina is empty and removed from town. We are currently waiting to find out if and when we can get hauled out as the boatyard organizer has been out for the past few days. So we spend the day oiling all of the wood in the boat – that is A LOT of teak. We also repair out broken steering column which involves putting a lost screw back into the plate that held the steering cables. Puerto del Rey Marina is basically our last hope for a haul out as we had tried the rest of the marinas in Puerto Rico and they are all full. Another downside at Puerto del Rey is that the internet doesn’t really work, so the next day we are really itching to get out of here. Unlike Dominican Republic there is very limited public transportation here, so we got a ride from a canvas maker who drops us off at West Marine and Wal-Mart just to the west of Fajardo. There doesn’t seem to be much to Fajardo and we head back to the marina knowing that the next morning we will find out if we can get the boat hauled out. What we will do if we can’t – who knows? We will have to continue on and find a new haul out facility farther down islands, but where – and when? These are important questions as the pressure of a possible flood and my friends coming into San Juan, Puerto Rico in a few days is really mounting.