We’ve been in Salinas, P.R. for the past week. We made the passage from Boqueron overnight in one leg. Our friends, Laddie and D.J. were here for the past 4 days and we toured the island in their rented car. We’ll leave here for Culebra in the next day or two, then it’s a short hop to St. Thomas and the USVI.
More later,
David and Claudia
5/5/99 0450 AST

It’s now later and here’s more:
We waited in Salinas for a warranty replacement part for the fridge to get shipped in. It arrived Thursday afternoon so we finished getting the boat ready for departure and upped anchor at 6:30 pm for an overnight motor-sail the 69.1 miles to Culebra. An uneventful (the best kind) passage in the forecasted light ESE winds found us near Isla de Culebra about 7:30 am. In typical Ma’alahian fashion, we discussed the fact that St. Thomas was a mere 20+ miles further east and, heck, a beautiful anchorage at St. John was only about 10 miles beyond that and, hey, it’s only 7:30 in the morning, we can be there by 2 or 3 this afternoon!

So, greetings from Francis Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands!
On our two previous trips to St. John, we’ve camped at Cinnamon Bay in the national park. We now have a view of that beautiful beach from the other side. Tomorrow, we’ll probably move around Mary’s Point to Leinster Bay and snorkel around Waterlemon Cay before moving to the SE side of the island in Coral Bay where we’ll hang around for several days doing some much needed boat maintenance.

We plan to stay in this area at least through June, cruising the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, revisiting favorite spots and discovering some new ones. With our arrival here, we’ve now logged over 2500 miles under our keel and with an average speed of under 6 knots we’re ready to sit still (sorta) for awhile. The sun set an hour ago, so it’s time for bed.

Later,

David and Claudia