In September 2013 we stepped aboard Picaroon in Salinas bay in Puerto Rico and decided that she was the vessel that would carry us away on our long planned adventure. We had spent over five years dreaming and scheming to get to that momentous day when we could sail off into the sunset and leave the troubles of the world behind us. The troubles of the world faded, but the vagaries of boat ownership were lurking, waiting in the wings to take the edge off living the dream.

Almost three years later, and with mixed emotions, we boarded our new found cruising friends, Hank and Susys, dingy at 5.30am in that selfsame Salinas bay and looked back, as Picaroon shrank into the distance, her reflection mirrored in the calm of the dawn. On the one hand we were looking forward to some landlubber time ashore with the prospect of flushing toilets, electricity at the flick of a switch and an endless supply of water coming out of the taps. On the other hand we were sad that we may have come to the end of our adventures aboard Picaroon, that is, if she finds buyer whilst we're in the DR.

The last couple of months, anchored here in Salinas bay, have stretched our resolve to breaking point with the catastrophic costs and upheaval of having to remove the engine and have it lying in bits all around the decks as well as having the guts of it gracing the salon floor for a few weeks. Our home had been defiled, our bank balances plunged seriously into the red and our deadline for meeting Jackies' daughter and grandson, in the Dominican Republic, getting too close for comfort.

The day before our departure we set a second anchor, which was a bit of a fiasco, as the weight of the chain I was paying out from the dingy played havoc with my ability to steer in the direction I wanted to go. After wrestling with the tiller for ten minutes I managed to get to the planned drop zone and heaved 45lbs of CQR anchor out of the dingy and into the glutinous mud as some added insurance against Picaroon dragging. From June to October is the hurricane season in the Caribbean and Salinas bay is not the safest place to be should a hurricane blow that way. Our two anchors should hold in a storm but should a big blow threaten to come ashore on the South coast of Puerto Rico Picaroon would be very vulnerable.

There's a hurricane hole about five miles away where all the locals head for when a named storm approaches, and according to our friend Steve who's keeping an eye on Picaroon whilst we're gone it can get pretty chaotic as people race to get to a safe haven, tied up to the mangroves near Jobos. We'll have to keep an eye on the weather whilst we're here in the DR because if there's a threat of a hurricane hitting Puerto Rico we'll have to get a wiggle on and fly back to shift Picaroon as Steves' got other boats to take care of and won't be able to move ours. At best we'll get about four days warning which is going to make for a very tight deadline to run Picaroon to safety, so of course we're just hoping that Puerto Rico, and Picaroon, will dodge anything horrible.

So the adventures of Picaroon seem to hang in the balance, awaiting a buyer, but it has to be said these salts are reluctant sellers.
We've spent a long time sitting at anchor over the last eight months, In Puerto Rico, St Thomas and the BVI waiting for that illusive buyer to turn up but being on anchor for any length of time means the constant drudgery of provisioning the boat.
For instance:
Fresh water has to be hauled aboard in heavy five gallon jerry cans from some source ashore and as we only have three jerry cans aboard this can mean up to four trips to get 60 gallons. We use about 10 gallons a day even though we're very frugal with showers and washing up but it's a chore that is heavy work and becomes tedious. If we had our time over again we would have definitely invested in a water maker.

Keeping enough power in the batteries to run the lights, fridge, computers, pumps, vacuum cleaner etc. means having to run the engine every day which eats diesel and also has to be shipped by dingy to Picaroon. Not as often as water but sometimes, as it's not always available at the dingy dock, we may have to go searching for a nearby garage which means finding a friendly face with some transport to fill our three containers which are also a weight and have to be shipped back to the boat in the dingy. If we had our time over again we would have invested in 1000w or more of solar panels which lots of cruisers have. They hardly ever run their engines as the sun shines every day and is free.

A large freezer would be next on our list so we could stock up on fresh food that could last us a month or more instead of having to shop maybe two or three times a week often at stores that are often a long way from where we're anchored. Another reason for having those large solar panels, as freezers eat a lot of power. All of these things and more we now know would go a long way to making life as live aboard sailors much less of a hassle.

So now we're landlubbers, for a while at least, back in our apartment in Cabarete in the Dominican Republic where we'll stay at least until September. If Picaroon hasn't been sold we will have to return to renew her cruising permit for being in US waters and probably sail her back to the US Virgin islands and hope to find a buyer when the season kicks off in November.

Between now and then we're going to luxuriate in the conveniences of life ashore and enjoy our beautiful gardens, the swimming pool and our Robinson Crusoe beach.

I painted our beach on this piece of driftwood