On Monday night and Tuesday during the day (August 30 & 31), Hurricane Earl passed about 100 miles to the north of Vieques.  While it was blowing about 135 miles per hour in its center, it brought only tropical storm force winds ( about 40-50 mph) and some rain to Vieques.  Not much damage was done, although a few trees and lots of branches came down.  One problem was the loss of water and electricity for a while.  One sailboat (“Asante” – about 45 feet long) was pushed up on the shore of the beach in Esperanza.  It took the rescue company two days to get it out because it was sitting in less than 3 feet of water.  I went beach combing today on Sun Bay and saw lots of shells,  sea sponges and sea fans, a crab,  a baby conch (which I through back in the water),  and the normal trash that gets brought in with a storm.  Tonight Tropical Storm Fiona will pass us by far to the north and we are hoping for sunnier days this labor day weekend.