We left last night just as the sun was setting. As we wound our way out to open water we were pleased that we still had a bit of light to enable us to miss a few fishing floats just outside the harbour. We still did not get the weather totally right. A few boats had left the night before and I thought they were making a mistake because the northeast swells had not had time to settle down. Well a day later we were making the same mistake. Bruce’s book had said to check the swell direction with the tour boat operators before leaving and we hadn’t. Overall it wasn’t a bad night but the winds were a little stronger than forecast so we didn’t make great speed toward our destination. In fact many times we were only making 3 ½ knots. The wind, waves, tide and current were all against us. We had used up the last of Rick’s gingerale as mix for drinks while in Luperon and it wasn’t available in any of the stores there. Thinking that we were going to be motoring in dead calm we didn’t think it would be necessary. Wrong. Poor Rick was hanging over the side most of the night. At Rio San Juan we finally anchored for the afternoon. While on deck anchoring, both Bob and Rick found flying fish on the deck. A little indication that the seas were less than calm.
The thing I really dislike about overnight passages is that it is easy to lose track of dates. We left last night at sundown (May 1). The elusive calm was still no where to be found. Although slow, the passage was very comfortable. Rick had put a Transderm Scop patch behind his ear so even he thought it was a comfortable passage. We finally got into proper watches, which also meant we didn’t really see each other the whole trip. When one was at the helm the other was sleeping. In the past we had tried three hours on and off and we were unable to do it. This time we tried two hour watches and it worked. It wouldn’t work for weeks on end but for one or two nights underway it was fine.
We decided to bypass Escondido because the winds were going to shift to northeast. If we were to get caught in Escondido with northerly winds we wouldn’t be able to get out and it would likely be an uncomfortable anchorage. That meant we were on our way to Samana, which is the one place we didn’t want to stop. There are horror stories both in the guidebooks and that we have heard from other cruisers about Samana. Many have had their outboard motors and dinghies stolen. Others had had difficulties with the officials who seem to be a little corrupt.
I was on watch at sunrise when we had a couple of dolphins swimming along
side our boat for quite a distance. This is supposed to be a good omen.
We needed that because we were going to be very late in rounding a couple of
capes. Cabo Cabron and Cabo Samana are supposed to be rounded by 9am
before the trade winds pick up and make it very difficult. We didn’t make
it until almost noon but we were very lucky. The winds were very late in
picking up this day and by noon they were still only about 15 knots. As we
rounded the Cape Samana and turned into the bay we were travelling at 7 to 8
knots with just a reefed main and the engine at 2000 RPMs. This was the
first time we have had the winds behind us in months. It was a wonderful
feeling for about 10 miles.
We had more flying fish on deck, to bad they’re not good eating. We arrived in Samana and had set the anchor less than a half an hour when the officials came by. There were 3 of them in a large dinghy. They asked where we had come from and we told them Luperon. They then said that we would have to check in and pay charges. I told them no, that the officials in Luperon had assured us that we would not have to pay if we stopped at Samana. The one man who spoke English said that there were different rules here in Samana and that we would have to pay for the Navy. Sure enough one of the men had a navy uniform on. I told them that I would like them to check first with our friends on Sirena and that Marta would explain to them what we had been told.
I quickly called Sirena and told them that they were on their way. It wasn’t long and Sirena called back. They had tried to get her to give them the exit papers that she had received from Luperon. She refused and told them that they could take the information and if we decided to stay another day she would come in and give them the papers and they must give her new exit papers at no charge. They agreed. I asked Marta about the Navy charges and they hadn’t even attempted that with them. Fluency in Spanish makes a big difference especially when Marta is doing the talking. The officials returned to our boat and came aboard. Everyone was very friendly this time with no mention of any charges. They took down the information and asked for nothing. We assured them that if we decided to stay we would come in and see them with Sirena.
We picked up a weather forecast indicating the winds would pick up to 20 knots from the northeast so it looked like we would be here at least a couple of days. We went to bed a little after seven with everything on board well locked and secured.
This harbour is one of the most spectacular we have visited so far. The
town stretches up the mountainside and is surrounded by forests of palm trees.
I haven’t been in town yet but Rick and Marta say it is lovely. They went
in to visit the commandant who did not impress them as a nice person. It’s
too bad because the whole of Dominican Republic is known for the friendliness of
the people except this place. Bob and I stayed with the boats today
because the winds are very strong. Earlier a call went out on the VHF that
the boat beside us was dragging and no one was aboard. Immediately three
dinghies raced over to save it. The rescuers did not have an easy task.
Obviously because of the problems here there was no key left in the ignition and
everything was locked up tight. They found a second anchor in the anchor
locker but it was a fortress and in storage bag which took a little time to
extract and assemble. The boat was dragging very quickly towards shore.
Meanwhile as we were watching everyone scramble, we looked behind us and Sirena
was almost on the shore. Bob and Marta had moved the boat to be closer to
us and within no time found their boat dragging very quickly towards shore.
Our dinghy was still in the davits and we were in the process of dropping it as
fast as possible when one of the dinghies helping save the first boat noticed
Sirena. He raced over to help them but they seemed to be under control by
the time he arrived.
Later in the evening we went for sundowners on Sirena. The Sundowners went on long after sun down so by the time we returned to Wind-Borne we decided to skip dinner and went straight to bed.
The winds were again very strong. We had planned to have lunch in town but postponed until dinner when the winds subsided a bit. Rick went into shore to pick up some diesel but he goofed and arrived at siesta time. When he went back in later he couldn’t get fuel again, this time because the power was out. We picked up Bob and Marta about 5pm they are leaving their dinghy deflated until Puerto Rico. There were a few young boat boys waiting at the dock when we arrived. Marta spoke to them and hired one to watch our dinghy. We walked up and down a few streets while Marta and Rick pointed out different things they found the day before. Marta was chuckling when she showed us the place where a toothless women gave her a worthless map. There are a lot of scooters that have a type of carriage attached behind the scooter with room for four people. These are taxis but they remind me more of the horse driven carriages that you find in tourist areas. One stopped to see if we wanted a ride, which we didn’t but Marta hired him to pick us up and take us to the market tomorrow morning. We passed the man from the fuel dock and Rick told him he would stop by tomorrow. The man reminded Rick that tomorrow was Sunday and he would be at church. The pumps would open again on Monday. We had a nice dinner and then walked to an ice cream store for desert. When we returned to the dinghy we found the boat boy had sat there from 5pm to 8pm and maneuvered the line of the dinghy so that it never hit the dock or rubbed up against the stone wall. This was pretty good service, we had just wanted to ensure the dinghy was still there when we returned.
Rick delivered Marta and me to shore and returned to the boat to do a few
chores. Our driver was waiting for us in fact he was on the dock to help
us out of the dinghy. It is a fixed dock with no ladder. At low tide
standing on the tubes of the dinghy we can barely reach our arms up to the dock
let alone climb up. Needless to say climbing onto the dock is not one of
our most graceful moments.
We decided to hire the driver for the whole morning after he and Marta agreed upon a price. He took us to the market, which had some of the best fruit and vegetables we’ve seen in a while. The market itself was very interesting. Some of the venders had a table inside a building, others had a table out by the road and then there were those that didn’t have a table at all so they piled the fruit and vegetables up on the side of the road. I had them cut me off a huge bunch of yellow bananas that we will have to eat quickly as well as another bunch of green bananas for later. The driver carried our bags for us all through the market. We bought a lot of fruit and some vegetables.
Next he took us to a butcher whose shop or booth had to be no more than 6 by
8 feet. He has been a butcher for 35 years. He has one small cooler
but he was prepared to give us pork or beef and almost any cut we requested.
We ended up with some beef fillets which he cut up for us while we watched.
We went from there to the supermarket for some bread, milk, eggs and cheese. Again our driver took the baskets and put everything on the counter for us, helped to bag everything and carried it out for us. I kind of wished the guys had been with us to take notes.
When we finished the shopping I called Rick on the radio and he charged over in the dinghy to pick up the groceries. Marta and I continued on with our driver. He took us for a tour of the peninsula. The scenery was spectacular. We stopped at a little gift shop. While we looked around the owner served us some rum while his wife prepared an espresso for us.
When we eventually returned to the dinghy dock the driver told us that his sister was the cook in a restaurant across the street. It was 2pm so we call the guys to see if they had eaten, which they hadn’t so off we all went to the restaurant. It was one of the best meals we have had since Provo.
Today was finally the day to refuel. Bob decided they would only do one run of the jerry cans but we wanted to top right up. I’m glad we did because on the way here we were running the RPM’s higher than normal and barely making headway so we figured we had burned more fuel than normal. We sure had, we added 35 gallons to our 45-gallon tank which had been topped up in Luperon.
Remember the day after we arrived here, Marta and Rick went into town to give our exit papers to the Commandant. That was also the day that Rick had first spoken to the man who runs the fuel pumps. Rick and Bob got their fuel and paid the man separately. We found out later that Rick paid $1.50 per gallon and Bob paid $2.00 per gallon. We went to the restaurant again for dinner (Mata Rosada), and while there the fuel man came in to say hello. Marta questioned him about the price of diesel and he explained that he thought that Rick was her husband (the husband of the Spanish speaking lady), that’s why he charged him less. Poor Bob was mistakenly with the English speaking lady therefore fair game for any price. Marta gave him a good talking to about corruption and boaters avoiding this town in comparison to Luperon where the whole economy is booming as a result of the boating community.
It is very obvious here that if you are fluent in Spanish the people will do just about anything for you but without the language you are fair game for anything.
Today started out as every other day however before lunch Sirena called to say that most of the boats had decided to leave today. They were all following one of the trawlers (Dorcas Hardy), who were being routed by Herb. We hadn’t really noticed a great window but Herb has a lot more experience than us.
Everyone went into town to get their dispatcho (exit) papers and pick up any required provisions.
We baked a fresh loaf of bread and made some banana bread to eat underway.
Most of the boats left at 5pm, we and Sirena agreed to leave at 6pm so that the winds would have diminished a bit and yet we would still have reasonably good light to make it out past some islands.
We had only gone about 5 miles when Dorcas Hardy called from up ahead. They were getting beat up pretty bad and had decided to turn around. During the conversation we learned that Herb had told them he didn’t see a window at this time but they had chosen to go anyway. Great, here we are following other boats just like Bruce warned us not to. We had to make a very quick decision. The sun was starting to set and if we were going to turn around we had better do it quickly before we lost all light. We called Sirena and told them we were turning back. Sirena chose to continue on. They had to get to Puerto Rico within the week so they could fly home for a wedding. It was very sad, we were going our separate ways without even having a chance to say goodbye. The seas were not dangerous they were just uncomfortable and would become more so through the Mona Passage.
We made it back into the harbour and set the anchor in total darkness. I was feeling pretty wimpy when I realized that we were the only sailboat that had turned around, the other two boats that came in with us were trawlers.
Last night I re-read the section in Bruce’s book on crossing the Mona and I eventually fell asleep believing we had made the right decision although I have no idea when we’re going to be able to get out of here. I was making toast for breakfast about 8am when we heard Dorcas Hardy on the radio welcoming Wind-Shadow back and asking about their return. Evidently Wind-Shadow (a West Sail 32) continued on last night until 11 pm. They gave up and turned back after their solar panel broke loose due to waves and the autohelm broke down. They arrived back just after daylight but before the winds picked up again.
In the afternoon Dick and Mary of Dorcas Hardy invited us over to compare weather programs. We arrived at their boat about 3pm talked about weather and everything else under the sun and didn’t leave until after 7:30 pm. Dick spoke with Herb before we left and there is definitely no weather window in sight before the weekend.
Dick from Dorcus Hardy spoke with one of the boats in Puerto Rico. They all arrived safely in Boqueron early this morning. They said it had been a tough trip if we hadn’t liked the first part of the trip we certainly wouldn’t have liked the second part.
The four remaining boats here decided to go out for dinner and celebrate for our friends in Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile during the day Rick and I visited Dorcus Hardy again to discuss weather again.
The winds were very strong today we know because our anchor dragged a bit. The good thing was that it happened in the early afternoon not at 2am and we were on board so it was no big deal. We were going to go to the dock that is a stones throw away to give each other a hair cut today but we decided we would rather do it on a less windy day.
It was nice to learn that I’m not the only one getting cabin fever here.
Mary on Dorcas Hardy is antsy to leave here as well. It’s a magnificent
bay with beautiful mountains but it’s just not the nicest place to be stuck.
No one feels really safe in leaving the boats to spend a day in town or to take
a day trip out of town. We take short visits to town but that’s it.
Today Rick and I decided to cut each other’s hair again. We went over to a dock that is on an island where we’re anchored. In 25-knot winds we didn’t do too badly. Rick is really starting to put a little style into the cut now.
We were invited to the Dorcas Hardy for dinner. Mary served lasagna, which we haven’t had in months and it was excellent. We had a very enjoyable evening and returned to our boat after dark.
Rick made a really nice bacon and egg Mothers Day breakfast for me. Joe from Evelyn’s Beach (one of the four boats waiting for weather) invited us for Mother’s Day dinner aboard their boat. Dorcas Hardy and Wind-Borne were both invited. It was a nice day except for the fact I couldn’t retrieve my email. I could see that there were three messages and I was hoping they were from Kelly, Karyn and Darrin. I tried all day to retrieve them and finally had to leave the boat and go Evelyn’s Beach for dinner. Joe and Evelyn were great hosts and Sally the dog provided wonderful entertainment. When I returned to our boat I was finally able to get my messages but could not send any. Rick had been doing a little reprogramming of the Ham email frequencies yesterday, not that I think he had anything to do with the problems but I threatened to run the batteries down to zilch trying to send my email if it wasn’t fixed soon.
I spent all morning running down batteries. I still haven’t been able to send email. Rick reloaded the whole program but it hasn’t helped. We may have a weather window beginning tomorrow night so I really wanted to send a few notes before we left. The winds were still very strong but Rick decided to dive in and clean the bottom of the hull and prop before we headed out again. I think he just doesn’t want to be outdone by a woman. Mary cleaned the bottom of Dorcas Hardy a couple of days ago. We went to town after siesta time and picked up a few provisions. We’re getting weather faxes and Navtex; Dick is talking to Herb and listening to David. Mike on Wind Shadow found an Internet café where he’s checking weather as well as listening to some guy named George. I’m not sure what Joe is checking but lately our days really are consumed with weather. I finally got a couple of emails out so although there were a couple of program problems I think that the propagation was the main culprit.
This was the day we were to leave. Ha Ha. We all went to a Chinese Restaurant way up on a hill over looking the harbour for lunch. Everyone brought their weather info and I even took our Passages South book to discuss Bruce’s view on crossing the Mona. Just before lunch Mike from Wind Shadow stopped and checked weather at an Internet café and things didn’t look as rosy as the previous forecasts. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch but decided not to raise anchor until after Dick spoke with Herb which was usually around 6:45PM. Herb suggested we sit tight and wait. The window was less than 24 hours, which was not enough to make it across the Mona Passage.
Dick and Joe called us first thing in the morning to discuss taking a trip deeper into the Samana Bay to a national park and then doing short little hops towards the Mona. We declined for the time being since we have no idea how long we’re going to have to wait for the next weather window to actually cross the Mona. Once we leave here, the fuel we have is what will have to take us all the way to Puerto Rico. Our concern is that if we have to run the engine to boost batteries as well as hop around to different anchorage’s we could run a little tight on fuel with no where to get more while enroute. We agreed to meet Evelyn’s Beach and Dorcas Hardy somewhere once we have a better idea of our departure date.
We’re down to 3 sailboats in the harbour here and only 2 of us are waiting to go south. It would seem that everyone has gone on ahead but listening to the David Jones in the morning there are now about 30 boats waiting in Luperon to get to Samana. So I prefer to think of us being just ahead of the crowd. Rick and Mike from Wind Shadow went to town in the morning. Mike knew the location of 2 hardware stores and Rick needed a new paint scraper. He dropped his last one in the water while cleaning the hull the other day. The bad news was that most of the stores and restaurants were closed. The good news is its Election Day. Since we arrived in the D.R. both in Luperon and Samana, pickup trucks with huge stereo speakers and election signs were driving up and down the streets with music blaring all day long. This has now ended. Rick and Mike returned to the boat (without paint scraper), with news that they saw Jack Nicholson in a Moto Concho (the scooter with the carriage) stopped at Mata Rosada’s Restaurant, which was closed.
Mike came over for cocktails in the afternoon and we discussed our route to Puerto Rico again. The longer we wait the more planning we put into this crossing.
This was the best laundry day yet. I washed the bed linen, hung it on the lifelines and it was dry in less than an hour. The winds were funneling down the bay at about 25 knots. We relaxed and read most of the day but went into town with Mike to have pizza for dinner. We had wanted to have pizza when the gang was here but the pizza place can only make 2 pizzas at a time and they take a long time to make. We were back to the boat in time to listen to Herb. He mentioned we might have a window early next week.
Mike came over for coffee in the morning. We would have let him have Darline’s cup but Rick drank it this morning so we made a fresh pot. The guys topped up the diesel just in case we have an opportunity to leave Monday. The pumps are closed on Sundays. The winds today were stronger than yesterday in fact there were white caps in the harbour. We tried to go to Mata Rosada’s for dinner at 5pm but the restaurant was closed. We checked again at 5:30 and 6:00pm but the padlock was still on the door so we went to another restaurant. Our Moto Concho guy came and found us sometime after 6:30 to let us know the restaurant was open. Too late. We had a really good meal at half the price. Every vehicle for miles around is driving back and forth on the main street honking and cheering for the election results that have not been tabulated yet.
You would only see something like this in Toronto if the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.
We did our normal weather check; listened to David, downloaded the weather faxes, and received the Navtex. We forecast nothing but strong winds and big seas however David says we have a window. We’ll double check what Herb says before leaving but Rick and Mike charged into town and got new dispatcho’s. Dorcas Hardy called us on the SSB and we agreed to leave at 4am Monday morning and meet in a place called Miches. After all this excitement it was about 10:30 am so Mike joined us for coffee again. This time I had baked a lemon poppy seed loaf which is not an easy feat when the temperature is 85 to 90 degrees at 9 am in the morning. The whole loaf was devoured.
We rested most of the day only because there really isn’t enough room for us both to pace back and forth waiting to leave.
We didn’t leave at 4am as planned because for the first time in more than a week we didn’t have a night lee. The winds didn’t drop below 15 knots all night long. The reason we had planned to leave so early in the morning was to take advantage of some of the night time calm and then arrive in daylight on the lee side of the Samana Bay. That was plan A. Plan B was to plow into the winds and waves a little earlier than we should and make an early arrival about 6am in Punta Macao (pronounced Ma-cow).
We lifted anchor at 4pm with great difficulty. We had 200 feet of rode out and it was almost there to stay. We headed out of the bay into strong winds but the waves didn’t really hit us until a little later. We were literally motor-sailing into walls of water. We weren’t pounding badly but the odd wave dropped us down almost in the same manner as an airplane falls in an air pocket. It only took a couple of hours of this and my stomach wasn’t feeling well. Rick had a patch on but because I have never gotten sea sick before I didn’t use anything.
We had a call from Dorcas Hardy who was tucked in with Evelyn’s Beach in a little bay half way between Samana and Punta Macao. They had just spoken with Herb and he was now advising that we wait another day. They suggested we anchor with them and continue tomorrow night. By the time we turned to anchor with them the night lees had started to set in and we only had another 30 miles to go. If my stomach had been feeling better we would have continued on to Macao but an anchorage sounded too good.
The anchorage was very rolly. The rolling caused a bit of water to touch the sensors on the bilge alarm. The strainer for the automatic bilge pump was clogged because when we filled the fuel tanks the other day we overfilled and a bit of diesel got into the bilge. So with the strainer clogged with diesel, the water would splash maybe once an hour and set off our alarm that wakes the dead. In addition to this the diesel smell in the bilge caused the solenoid alarms for the propane to go off and those we could not reset until the problem was resolved. We had to reset the anchor alarm because it was going off about every half-hour due to the swinging of the boat caused by the swell. Add to this mess of alarms the fact that we set the bread maker before going to bed so of course we (I) heard the beeps and kneading associated with fresh baked bread. Rick took his hearing aid out and heard nothing. The first question he asks in the morning….”Did you sleep well dear?”. My reply “ #%$&$#%&”.
It is a beautiful bay with miles of sandy beach and palm trees. The land rises up into layers of tall lush mountains behind the beach. A site you would not expect to see in tourist areas were the cows strolling along the waters-edge on the beach.
Rick cleaned the bilge and we both rested and read most of the day. The anchor was up and we were on our way to Punta Macao by10: 30 PM
Now is when I become confused as to what day it is. When we travel at night and sleep in the day it causes me to have cruisehiemers. The passage to Punta Macao was again not as calm as it was supposed to be. We had things a little easier than the trawlers who left Playa de La Cana much later than we did but there were a lot of 8 foot waves bouncing around out there. I think it’s time to give Rick a new patch. He spent the last few hours of the trip hanging over the side of the boat.
We arrived and anchored behind a small jut of land that provided protection from the wind and waves but still allowed the swell to sneak in. There is again a great long beach with many beautiful palm trees and it appeared as though it was only used by a few fishermen. We saw a single horseback rider early in the morning but then it was deserted. The navy came to visit and check our dispatcho in the early afternoon. We had been expecting them. Between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico there is a major problem with smuggling of drugs and people. Puerto Rico is a gateway into the U.S.
All of a sudden, mobs of tourists arrived on the beach. They were on a safari offered by a nearby resort. They all arrived in jeeps and brought small surf boards to ride the waves. Soon after they arrived another gang of tourists arrived on about 25 4-wheel dirt bikes. So much for our deserted beach.
Joe and Evelyn from Evelyn’s beach splashed their dinghy and transported Dorcas Hardy and us to shore. We had a nice swim, snorkel and walk on the beach, which we have not been able to do since Sapodilla Bay in the Turks and Caicos.
Happy hour was aboard Dorcus Hardy. We all waited for Dick to talk to Herb and find out whether or not we were to leave. Herb suggested we wait one more day for better seas. Here we sit again
DEPARTURE DAY We waited long enough, both Dave and Herb said that tonight was the time to go. Three of the boats that left Luperon a couple of days ago arrived and anchored in the bay with us. Everyone rested and prepared for the big trip. We headed out at 6 pm with Dorcas Hardy and Evelyn’s Beach. It didn’t take very long to determine this was not going to be a nice passage.
WE SURVIVED THE MONA PASSAGE. I will accept all emails of congratulations. I would have preferred to say that we conquered the Mona Passage but we didn’t. It was a rough ride. We had originally planned to go to Isla Mona, which was only about 60 miles. But we couldn’t make any headway in that direction so changed our plans and took a northward tack to go up and around what’s called the hour glass shoals. We figured by the time we got further north, the night calms would set in and a southeast return tack in the lee of Puerto Rico would be easier. This was a mistake. The route we originally started out on was 60 miles and one normally leaves in the evening for an early morning arrival. To take the route we switched to, we should have departed early morning, sailed during the day and arrived in the lee of Puerto Rico during the nighttime calm. So what happened is that we arrived about 25 miles off of Puerto Rico when the trade winds started to pick up. We again tried to head southeast and no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t make any headway. By this time Rick was very tired, he had been at the helm for about 13 hours. I was very sick and had been actually hanging over the side on this trip so I had taken the helm only for a couple of hours while he grabbed a few ZZZ’s. The boat has never taken a pounding (with us), like the pounding she took on this passage. We had a few waves come right over the bow and dodger into the cockpit soaking everyone and everything. Finally as we were becoming really fatigued Rick took any eastward heading he could manage and I looked for somewhere to anchor so we could rest and move on when the winds calmed. That’s how we ended up in Punto Higuero.
A little information about the Mona Passage: The water that the shoals in the Mona Passage are trying to contain comes from the Equatorial Current spilling into the Puerto Rican Trench, the second deepest hole in the world. That means a lot of water and a lot of energy for the shoals to dissipate. The waves actually have so much force they feel like they are punching you when they hit.
After a shower, a rest, and having had a nice bowl of soup (sounds weird in 90 degree temperatures but it’s comfort food), we decided to leave for Boqueron 35 miles away. It was about 7 pm and the winds were down but we found that the heading required to go around the shoals to Boqueron was still not going to be comfortable. We quickly changed our route and headed for Mayaguez.
Mayaguez and this area on the west coast of Puerto Rico at night looks like a fantasy picture of mountains with sparkling lights strung everywhere. Between the islands of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico there are so many similarities, the language, geography and location and yet such great differences. One is so poor and the other is a mini USA.
Our trip to Mayaguez was quite pleasant. We were the only sailboat at anchor in the bay that night.
We set the alarm clock for 4:30 am so that we could be underway by 5:30 but changed our mind when the alarm went off. We awoke again at 7am having had a really good night sleep. After speaking with Dorcas Hardy on the SSB at 7:30am we decided to still move on to Boqueron today and join them and Evelyn’s Beach.
Mayaquez is a check-in port for non-U.S. citizens so we checked in with
Customs and Immigration before leaving at 10:30am. Since we were now
travelling to Boqueron in daylight I planned a route to travel inside the reef
rather than outside hoping the seas would be a little calmer inside. In
30-knot winds no seas are calm. It took us 5 hours to get there because of
course, the wind was on our nose again so we had to continually tack but we
arrived in time for cocktails on Dorcas Hardy. Evelyn’s Beach chauffeured
us so we didn’t have to splash our dinghy and later we all went to shore for
dinner.
All of the locals spend their weekends in Boqueron so it was very lively with multitudes of people, bands playing on the street and venders everywhere.
We put the dinghy in the water and made a couple of trips to the fuel dock
and topped up with fuel. When we finished with that and few other chores
we went ashore for the afternoon. Boqueron appears to be a very old town
and this weekend was wall to wall people. Little stands with fresh clams
seem to be very popular with the locals. They eat them raw with a little
lime. We met Dorcas Hardy and joined them for pizza. Everyone
returned to their boats and rested for a night passage.
We left Boqueron at midnight and sailed to Ensenada. Ensenada is a
hurricane hole that’s very
picturesque. The entrance into the bay is through very high cliffs and
once in the bay you look down a valley of overlapping mountains. We
arrived about 6am anchored and then spent the day resting and waiting for night
so that we could head out again. We’ve learned to travel at night on the
south coast unless we want to do the “Puerto Rican Two Step”, one step forward
and two steps back in the extremely strong trade winds which die down near shore
at night.
We arrived at the Ponce (pronounced PONE-say), Yacht Club at 5:30am, looked around and found Sirena. We quietly pulled into an empty slip right next to them (with help from Evelyn and Joe), but Marta heard the engine and she bounced outside in her PJ’s to welcome us. It feels so good to be back together again but they are exhausted from their trip back to the States and we’re tired from our passage here. Even so we all jumped in the van (loaned to Sirena by the cousins), and went to Burger King for breakfast and to catch up on happenings. We all had little projects to work on during the day but in the evening we finally got to meet the cousins. It was a nice evening but we hadn’t slept all last night or even napped during the day so we were tired and called it a day.
We were up early and Juanita Tours (AKA Marta), offered to take us to Old San
Juan for lunch. We drove across the island and
through the mountains which offered some of the most spectacular scenery
we’ve seen so far on the trip. It was about an hour and a half drive from
Ponce to San Juan. The size of San Juan really surprised me, it is a major
city. Old San Juan is beautiful. The cobblestone streets are
extremely narrow and most of the masonry buildings have large balconies with
many tropical plants and ivy’s that overhang the street. We had lunch in
the Hotel El Convento, which is a very historic convent that has been preserved
by the city and converted into a hotel. After lunch we just roamed some of
the streets. We didn’t go in the fort but we did go to the square where
you feed the pigeons.
It was almost dark by the time we got back to Ponce after stopping at Marine
stores and Home Depot. Bob, who had been working all day on boat projects,
was waiting to go for dinner in the Yacht Club dinning room but there were power
problems so the dining room was closed. He instead drove us to an
Argentinean Restaurant for dinner. It was an excellent choice.
We were all totally exhausted when we returned to the boat and called it a day.
I was going to spend the morning doing 7 loads of laundry at the Laundromat but when we arrived there we found there was a lady who would wash and fold for $1 extra per load. No one had to twist my arm, I’m really getting to like these wash and fold ladies. I left my laundry with her at 9:30am and she told me it would be ready by 1pm, which it was. This left me free to run around from store to store with Marta and Rick. We had to go to two automotive stores to get enough oil for a couple of oil changes on the two boats. We dropped a few things off at the boats and then Marta dropped Rick and I off at the mall. I had a hair cut in JC Pennys, bought some new Teva sandals to replace the ones that I have been wearing non-stop. We even bought a few videos at Blockbuster. We haven’t seen stores like this since Florida and I doubt we will see many more once we leave here.
In the evening, Marta went to a private wine tasting which Bob was supposed to attend as well but a propane technician showed up to convert their CNG stove. He was so ecstatic that there was no way he would leave until the conversion was finished.
Rick and I went to the Yacht Club Restaurante El Comodoro for a nice quiet dinner but there were too many parties happening for it to be quiet. We met John and Barbara Moore from Monet who had just bought their boat in the Caribbean and they are taking it home to Nova Scotia.
Marta was up and on the road bright and early. She drove to San Juan again this time to pick up some girl friends from the airport and tour old San Juan with them. She stayed overnight at a cousins home. Back at the boat Bob had a list of “to do” items and we had much the same. Rick equalized the batteries, did a plumbing redesign on the overboard pump system for the head which was a little damaged after some of the recent pounding. I defrosted the fridge in preparation for a major provisioning.
We stopped for lunch and went up to the club house snack bar. Yesterday afternoon they were setting up hundreds of chairs and tables for a senior’s day that the Yacht Club sponsors each year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a senior’s day like this in Toronto. The majority of the people were well into their 70’s and 80’s and you should have seen them dancing. It was almost all Latin dancing so there was no little shuffle going on. Bob watched one man make his way to the dance floor using his walker and once he got there the walker was pushed to the side and he was swinging. The temperature here was around 100 degrees and the clubhouse is not enclosed so there is no air conditioning. There was an ambulance standing by but I don’t think it was needed.
Marta stayed overnight in San Juan so Bob, Rick and I went to the Argentinean Restaurant again.
When we returned to the boat we had company waiting for us. I named him Ralph and he’s a huge roach. I have been so careful about washing everything before I bring it aboard but it never even dawned on me that when at dock they can just stroll on board any time they wish. I even commented on how nice it was to be on the dock with the Restaurant El Comodoro on the same dock almost directly in front of us. The dock level of the restaurant is being renovated for a new bar which probably stirs up and displaces a few Ralphs.
Well I decided to be brave and not book into a hotel room yet. We made some cookies (Boric Acid, Flour, Sugar and Milk and set a buffet out to welcome him. I brought some roach traps with us all the way from Toronto for just this type of situation but the problem is that Ralph would use the Canadian roach traps as footstools. We need to get some Caribbean sized traps.
