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DECEMBER 2012 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 38
Letter of
the Month
Dear Compass,
At the end of October my husband, Jim, and I set sail from St. Thomas to the
Spanish Virgin Islands on our yacht and home, the Beneteau 423 Jamann. We
wanted to have some new adventures prior to beginning our second busy season of
term charters starting in November.
We had visited Culebra previously with charter guests and were looking forward to
returning on our own. And of course this must be our first stop into the Spanish
Virgin Islands to clear through Customs. After a great sail in beautiful weather from
St. Thomas we spent two nights in Ensenada Honda, meeting new cruisers at the
Dinghy Dock and catching up with another couple we had met in St. Thomas during
Carnival. Another day we did a dive off Tamarindo Point and visited many turtles at
the wildlife refuge of Cayo Luis Peña.
We then set sail for Vieques and new adventures. Our sail from Culebra was interesting
as we sailed between multiple sets of rain clouds: outer bands of Tropical
Storm Sandy 600 miles to the west. Our first two nights were spent in the harbor off
Isabel Segunda with a day spent in this city visiting the highlights: El Faro Punta
Mulas, the town square and bust of Simon Bolivar, the fort/museum el Fuerte Conde
de Mirasol, Black Beard’s dive shop, and a stroll through the town admiring architecture
and churches. The visit was completed with a stop for happy hour refreshments
at Al’s Azul Bar, and then obtaining take-home dinner of excellent local cuisine
from El Yate restaurant. We felt safe and welcome at each stop along our way.
In fact the museum was not open to the public but the manager, Roberto Siegal,
welcomed us in to join a group of school students. It was a wonderful day.
We continued sailing on to the east end of Vieques to spend a night in Bahia
de Icacos. We were the only vessel there to enjoy the beautiful beach, the sound
of the surf on the shallow reef and the mostly clear night sky complete with
multiple meteors.
Our next stop — the small town of Esperanza on the southwest side of Vieques.
As we sailed along the south coast we got a preview of several bays that we were
interested in visiting later in the week: Ensenada Honda, Puerto Mosquito and
Puerto Ferro.
Upon arriving in Puerto Real outside the town of Esperanza we were immediately
greeted by a local cruiser, Glen, who in his dinghy led us to the perfect anchoring
spot. Shortly after, another local, Chase, passed by in his dinghy, waving greetings.
After cleaning up the deck and taking a break, Jim and I decided to head in to
shore to check out the main street of shops and restaurants and find a happy hour
spot. At 5:30PM we were in the dinghy, also known as “the station wagon”, heading
for the dinghy dock where we tied up and locked our dinghy using a steel cable and
lock. A quick stroll down the main street and we saw that the locals seemed to be at
Lazy Jacks. We joined them for a short happy hour and headed back to the dinghy
dock by 7:00PM. “Oh, no — our dinghy is gone! What do we do now? How will we get
home to Jamann?”
We headed back to the main street and were almost immediately passed by two
police cruisers, which we quickly stopped to report our dilemma. The police said they
had already received a call about a dinghy being stolen and they were here to look
for it. Must be our dinghy!
The officers were quick in taking our report and anxious to continue looking for
our dinghy. But we were now stuck in town with no way to get home. The officers
suggested we stop by restaurants, looking for a local to assist us as they headed out
to continue searching. There was no one at Banana’s to help us but we were directed
to talk to a local out on the street. Jorge couldn’t help us right then as he had a
tour to lead, but said if we were still there in 90 minutes he could lend us a kayak
to use. We were grateful. We returned to Lazy Jacks looking for help. We told the
manager about our stolen dinghy and asked for assistance in finding someone to
take us out to our boat. He was quick to get on the phone and find us transportation
— to be supplied by our neighbor in the harbor, Chase.
We waited less than ten minutes for Chase to arrive and take us home. Chase informed
us that there had been another dinghy theft in the past two weeks and he was being
proactive by using three locks on his dinghy. He also offered to go out with his spotlight
and check several hot spots where the dinghy could have been taken. The cruising community
had come to our rescue. As he dropped us off at Jamann we got his cell phone
number to contact him if we needed any help or transportation the next day.
We had a long and sleepless night of mixed emotions — anger, frustration, worry
and being just plain upset. But first thing in the morning we were contacted via cell
phone by the local police crime investigation unit. Officer Ramos was calling us to
get more detailed info. He would like us to come ashore, but we had no means of
immediate transportation so all info was communicated via the phone. He assured
us that they were still actively searching for the dinghy.
While waiting for more info, our neighbor Glen came to visit in his dinghy. Chase
had informed him and other local cruisers of our situation and they were all willing
to help us. They were also all taking more precautions with their own dinghies.
Within two hours we received another call, saying that our dinghy had been found,
but the motor was gone. (Our dinghy motor was a 9.8 Tohatsu. We can only guess
that it is the motors the thieves want, as our ten-foot AB dinghy was valued at more
than the motor.) This time we had to come ashore to meet Officer Ramos. We contacted
Glen for a ride to shore. On shore we were met by neighbors Chase and
Sebastian who, unbeknownst to us, had also been out searching for our dinghy.
We were met by Officer Ramos, several other officers and a pickup truck containing
our sad-looking dinghy. The dinghy had been sunk with multiple long slashes on
both sides. The officers had to use the pickup truck to pull the sunken dinghy, filled
with sand and seaweed, out of the water.
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