03/27/2006, Boqueron, Puerto Rico
After the delays and hassle of checking into Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, the anchorage in Boqueron in the south west part of Puerto Rico was a welcome change. The anchorage is directly off a nice beach and also close to the town dinghy dock. This is one of my favorite anchoring situations because it has the best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned -- small enough to be relaxing, but large enough to have shops and friendly bars along with small grocery stores and access to taxis and rental cars.
I really needed a haircut and got a great one here from a woman who cuts everyone's hair in town according to the bartender I asked. I have had surprising good luck getting decent haircuts by just taking what comes along. As you may have noticed from the pictures, Paul has solved the haircut problem by growing a ponytail.
| H. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands |
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03/25/2006, Mona Passage (on the way to Puerto Rico)
After conquering the falls in the DR (maybe surviving is a better word, see previous entry), we were ready for our most ambitious sea journey to date, a 48 hour crossing from Luperon to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Leaving Luperon about 11:00 am in the company of our friends, Val and Menno on Eira and Janet and Duncan on Consort, we were hopeful that our selection of a promising weather window was a good one. Overall, it was rougher than we expected for the first few hours, and we and Eira decided to pull into a bay and anchor for a few hours while the swell calmed down. It turned out to be a good decision because Consort reported on the radio that they were finding 8-10 foot seas. When we followed a few hours later, the swell was down to 2-3 feet. The picture is of Eira, our traveling companion.
The two days went surprisingly quickly, and I don't remember being bored. We took turns on watch, and when not on duty, we would read or rest. Getting enough sleep was a problem for both of us. Although we were up half the night, our bodies did always cooperate by sleeping during the day. On the second day, our tiredness finally took over and sleep came easier. The galley was a huge mess when we got in because I wasn't taking the trouble to clean up while the boat was rocking so much.
Arriving in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico on a Sunday, we were pleased to find a very helpful guard who loaned Paul his cell phone to check in with Customs and Immigration. Despite his efforts and several phone calls, all had to be repeated when the office opened Monday morning because the office staff couldn't find any records about the phone transaction.
| H. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands |
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03/16/2006, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands
Because of the ever present coral heads and reefs, we arrived in the morning and anchored very near some great snorkeling sites. It is so much fun to be able to snorkel just a short dinghy ride from the boat. The water here is so warm that I didn't even need my wet suit. One shorkeling site is called "The Aquarium" and it is simply fantastic.
Although the guide book indicated there are some restaurants and small hotels on South Caicos, we only found one restaurant open and no hotels or B&B's operating. Kurt and Jane were still visiting and they had planned to spend their last night in a hotel on South Caicos. However, they had to go back to Providenciales a day early (20 minute flight on Sky King Airlines).
In addition to the fantastic shorkeling, we discovered that South Caicos has a Conch Factory that sends literally tons of conch and lobster to Miami. The picture is just one of many loads of lobster we saw delivered along with dozens of conch loads (800 lbs each without the shells). We had to stand outside the work area because they are very careful about sanitation. The workers were wearing hairnets and rubber aprons and cleaned the loading area thoroughly after each delivery. Inside, where the conch is processed, is also a clean area and we could only look through the door. I can only imagine what the workers thought about a group of Americans going bananas while they simply did their jobs. They seemed to enjoy getting their pictures taken, and I hope it all made them feel appreciated. They weren't allowed to sell the conch to the public, so they simply gave us some. Also, they slipped John, the Baars 7 year old, some lobster. Delicious!!
| H. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands |
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03/15/2006, Middleton Cay, Turks and Caicos
A couple of days before arriving here in Middleton Cay, we went back to Sapodilla Bay to pick up company. My brother and sister in law, Kurt and Jane Strasser, joined us for several days. I was truly glad to see them! They were truly glad to be in the T&C instead of Hartford in March! Kurt said he had dressed in layers and was taking off a sweater, etc every hour or two during the flight. They were not even bothered (or very surprised for that matter) when they had to take off their shoes and socks to wade to the dinghy so we could drive them to the boat.
Middleton Cay is one of the few places in the T&C without beautiful beaches. We anchored here overnight on our way to South Caicos because we needed to enter South Caicos early in the morning in good light. The most remarkable thing was the really huge piles of conch shells piled just about everywhere along the shore.
| H. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands |
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