December 12 Subject: Log 12/12/99 Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 14:57:13 -0800 From: We left Palmas Del Rey a little after first light due to a squall passing through the marina. Actually I was glad to leave there. The cost to stay in the marina was about the same as home but the amenities were lacking. The water finally came on before night fall but all of the shower heads were missing in the mens room. I was determined to have a real shower so this was the first time for me to do anything inside of a ladies room! Actually, the showers were significantly better than any mens showers I have seen. Maybe I'll make a practice of using the ladies room showers. Our passage to Culebra, another Spanish Virgin Island, saw a few squalls and winds to about 25kts. Mostly though it was a benign passage of about 15 miles. We were planning to stop at a small island close to Culebra to do a little snorkeling before lunch. The winds were from the wrong direction which made the anchorage untenable. We chose to continue on. We anchored in the harbor to Dewey, the main town. We were close to some coral reefs so we did get to do some snorkeling before lunch after all. After our swim we went ashore. Faith did some shopping for Christmas presents for the kids. We actually landed our dinghy at Mamacita's dock so we didn't need to walk far for lunch. Culebra seemed like a nice island. After January, I really want to try to set our agenda on a day by day basis so we can spend a few days in a place that looks neat.....we'll see! After lunch we left for Dakity Harbor, a quiet anchorage on the Southeast corner of Culebra. We were planning to meet another boat we met a few weeks earlier. They were coming from Viequez. They actually followed us into the harbor and anchored close by. We got together for a few snacks, drinks and some friendly conversation. They have been sailing since June from San Francisco. They are friends that just had the opportunity to dropout for a year or so and took it. They are in their mid thirties and are sailing on a 42' Swan. Saturday morning we again left our anchorage after the morning squalls had passed by. We had a nice motor sail, sails up!, to St. Thomas. It is now Monday morning. We are still anchored at St. Thomas close to Sassey Too. They will be picking up friends here tomorrow and we will leave for Tortola. The town here is scheduled around the many cruise ships that stop here on a weekly basis. The passengers have a day on St. Thomas and the shopkeepers see how much money they can entice from them. It is a real cruise ship economy. The harbor is clean and the weather is perfect.