"Two nights and one day after leaving the French West Indies, we arrived at the small island of Culebra. The formalities had been done without a hitch. We moored at the entrance to the bay, next to the coral reef, which you can actually walk on. The diving is wonderful. Our next stop was Vieques, which we found to be much more authentic. The beaches are deserted and we have the beauty of the sea's vastness all to ourselves. Benoit "Crusoe" refuses to get out of the water, firing at everything that moves! Especially the invasive Red Lionfish and the delicious rock lobsters. A huge barracuda decided to set up home beneath our boat, but we decided not to fish for him, as the predatory fish at this latitude are affected by a dangerous disease: ciguatera. They carry a toxin which they have picked up from the reef fish that they have eaten. Thankfully, the rock lobsters are not affected. We rented a car to take a trip around the island, and were lucky not to get run over by a pair of out of control horses which were running all over the road, kicking out and biting. There is however one thing which is slightly off-putting: despite the coconut palm-lined beaches, there are signs everywhere recommending that one should exercise caution: the reason being that the Americans used to use Puerto Rico as their playground, sorry, military training area. The locals put a stop to it in 1975, and many areas were de-mined. However, there are still many forbidden zones, some of which have been dressed up as natural reserves. There obviously won't be any court case if an unfortunate animal steps on a mine..."
Caroline and Benoit on board the Vaga
www.lesgrandesvagances.com
