CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored off Puerto Patillas, Puerto Rico

17 58.524' N, 065 59.617' W

It is an interesting sensation when you sit back at the end of a long day and realize that nobody in the world knows where you are (save, of course, for my lovely wife). How did we get to this solitary anchorage, where nary another boat has floated by, much less anchored with us? Well...

The alarm went off at 5AM, and we were underway by 6AM. We motored across smooth water in the pre-dawn light as we approached Boca de Infierno. This cut through some barrier islands off of Bahia de Jobos looked relatively straightforward on the chart; however, we were warned by our guidebook to approach this departure at first light (a rare suggestion from Mr. Van Sant, the king of the night lee). It was a good thing, because other than the bearings on land, the only visual of the very shallow reefs one must pass through when transiting this cut are the waves crashing on said reefs.

Once we cleared Boca de Infierno, we looked back and began to think about what 'boca de infierno' means. Later, our Spanish-English dictionary related that we had just passed through the 'mouth of hell.' I, for one, am glad we didn't look these words up beforehand.

Out on the open Caribbean Sea, the winds and waves built quickly, and our speed over the water dropped dramatically. It is amazing how we have grown accustomed to such high winds. With gusts up to 30 and 25 knots sustained, when it did drop down to 20 knots it seemed like a gentle breeze. From nearly 5 knots motoring across the calmer waters in the early morning our average hourly velocity dropped to about 3 knots. The waves ranged from large to confused, making it necessary for us to hand steer the entire way. Fortunately, we had planned a short trip, and (tacking included) we covered a distance of 22 nautical miles by noon.

With the anchor set, we spent some time researching the next phase of the trip. With new waypoints entered into the GPS, we had the remainder of the afternoon to read and relax. Dinner was served early in anticipation of an early night to bed (which for us means sleepy-time shortly after sunset). Tomorrow is bound to be another busy day.