May 9, 2022
We hurried on to Almodovar, our next anchorage on Culebra. This turned out to be a quiet little anchorage with a mooring ball to secure Slow Dancer for the night. We had a quiet and calm night. Bright and early the next morning, Friday, May 6, we dropped our lines on the mooring ball…..well, we untangled and then dropped the lines! We made the short passage, about seven miles, to Culebrita without any difficulties. This island is part of the National Park Service with lots to see and do.
It was a shallow entrance with big seas, but we made it into the bay. What a beautiful beach! There were only 3 other boats anchored, so plenty of room. OK, here comes another and they anchored very close. No worries, we will be fine.
We went to the beach and pulled Tiny up onto the sand. Our goal was the lighthouse up on the top of the hill. It would be a hike, but we were up to it. Hmmm….as we hiked, we saw another boat coming in. I guess there is room for six. We hiked to the old lighthouse. This beautiful structure was built in 1886 and constructed using stones hauled by hand and eventually by donkey up the steep hillside.
As we hiked, we saw some kind of animal “scat”. Hmmmm….rabbit, deer? As we were leaving the lighthouse, we saw them…..goats!
As we came back down the hill, the anchorage came into sight. Oh my goodness! Many more boats have joined us! We thought that this place was a nature lovers island only. Apparently we were wrong, it has a beautiful beach, so draws lots and lots of party goers. Lots of boats and loud music!
One more place to visit for this day. Only another “short” hour hike. The “Baths” are a natural pool created from the sea water cascading over the rocks and into a deep pool. The water is warmed by the sun, thus creating a kind of hot tub effect.
As we returned over the rocks to our dinghy anchored 60 minutes away, we caught our first glimpse of the anchorage. What would have normally been a bit tight for 8 boats, now had over 30! Most were “go fast” power boats from the main island of Puerto Rico. And they were still coming! Guess we had discovered their party cove for the weekend. By evening, there were close to 40 boats in the bay. Many had rafted together to become “party barges”. We were bounced up and down by their jet skis and dinghies as well as the additional boats coming in to anchor. Speaking of anchor…..we had one somewhere, hopefully it would not be caught up in one of theirs and dislodged, leaving us crashing toward the bunch of them. We watched until dark. Only a few had left. Guess they were there for the weekend. We were hoping for one more day to “enjoy”??