Vieques

We almost by-passed this Island as we were all feeling a need for culture and human contact…that is the beauty of the Spanish Virgin Islands.  But on second thought we decided to come because we would probably never be this way again.  Although we weren’t in very deep water Jonathon decided to put out a fishing line and he caught a Barracuda…released it of course.  The seas and wind were coming from the South making the usual anchorages untenable.  We headed to the North side of the Island which was a bombing practice site for the USA from the 1940’s until 1998 when it was reported they dropped over 23,000 bombs which caused the locals out in their small fishing boats to protest.  The US Navy finally pulled out in 2003 but are still cleaning up the site.  There are many warning signs lining the beaches forbidding even stepping on the beach let alone going inland.  Still, we hopped in our dinghy and did the tour near shore.  I found it to be conch shell and star fish heaven reminding me of the Bahamas.  We found a small Island nearby with no signs so we dared to explore.  We are here all alone except for a few truck loads of men dressed in bio-hazmat suits on the beach staring us down (just kidding about the hazmat suits).  We came in dodging many reefs, some as deep as 40 feet but we could view the rocks and coral at the bottom…just amazing.