04/17/2006, Palmas del Mar
We made such good time from Ponce that we decided to push on to Palmas del Mar on the Eastern coast of Puerto Rico instead of stopping in Salinas. This harbor is well protected by a breakwater built for the upscale community on shore. Although I didn't observe it myself, the guide book refers to gated communities inside other gated communities! The picture shows the view from our boat. Like most of the houses and other buildings in Puerto Rico, these were painted bright and sunny colors. I'm not sure it shows up very well in the picture, but one of the houses was painted a most obxnious loud pinkish color that clashed with all the other houses. I wondered if the upscale owners realized their community color scheme clashed when viewed from the water. Maybe the watchdogs for this kind of thing are color blind.
We had a peaceful evening at anchor in the harbor and left early the next morning for the island of Culebra, our last stop in Puerto Rico.
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04/10/2006, El Yunque, Puerto Rico
Paul and I moved the boat to a slip at the Ponce Yacht Club for safe keeping and rented a car to drive from Ponce to Fajardo for a visit to El Yunque, the only rain forest in the United States. I was there for a brief visit about 25 years ago and had wanted to return ever since. There is a new Visitor's Center that is truly spectacular, beginning even before you enter the building. From the parking lot you walk along a long bridge that takes you through the forest canopy about 100 feet off the ground. There are interpretative signs along the bridge and I found it fascinating. The Visitor Center building itself is really several buildings joined by covered walkways and has exhibits as well as a small cafe and large gift shop. The whole complex is very attractive and blends into the forest.
Since it was the week before Easter, everything was rather crowded because most schools were closed. We took a short hike down to Mina falls only to find about 100 people already splashing and swimming in the pool below the falls. The terrain reminds me of the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee, except the plants are different and the water is MUCH warmer, making playing in the river and pool more inviting. In fact, several people hiked in their bathing suits, including some college coeds that Paul noticed (what a surprise!). The path goes up and down through thick forest, and there are cute little pavilions every so often. These pavilions usually had one or two picnic tables and a grill. Many were made of stone, and I took several pictures.
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04/07/2006, Ponce, Puerto Rico
After a couple of weeks of secluded, peaceful anchorages and small, lazy towns, we were looking forward to Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico. Here we would encounter civilization and be able to replinish our supplies in regular stores. There is even a mall. The only drawback to the Ponce anchorage is its location beside a public beach and park area which has numerous food vendors and bars which play LOUD music at night. We learned that the weekend is the wrong time to expect a peaceful anchorage because the music is louder and later on weekends. Saturday night the nearby yacht club had a private party that lasted until after midnight. During the day the area is very pleasant as is the adjacent yacht club.
We took a taxi downtown one day and enjoyed the quaint downtown area, including the visitor's center located in a restored fire station. The city is very proud of it's history as you can see from the picture of the large sign on the main square. Believe it or not, there was an even larger version of this sign on the highway into the city. We enjoyed the free bus tour provided by the city, and it was very easy to get maps and other information.
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04/04/2006, Cayos de Cana Gorda
This picture is the beginning of a kayak route we followed through the mangroves to a secluded lagoon. I really enjoyed the trip because everything was so remote and quiet. This group of mangrove islands is a delightful anchorage with beaches, kayaking, and snorkeling. One of the islands is called Gilligan's Island because some people thought it looked like the island in the TV show. Now a national park, it is a great place to swim and snorkel. Snorkeling near the mangrove trees is very interesting because of the way the roots form a sort of ball under the water. As you can imagine, mangrove islands are a great place for small fish to hang out.
We found a beach nearby where the channel around and between the mangrove islands met the ocean. There was a reef out in the water which funneled all sorts of stuff up on the beach. Paul still has his collector/saver tendencies and got Daniel and John to help him retreive some burried fish nets and other treasures. As far as I know he has yet to actually do anything with these treasures. However, Daisy, their dog, especially enjoyed running on this very long beach.
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04/01/2006, La Parguera, Puerto Rico
This picture shows some of the colorful buildings that border the mangrove islands in La Parguera, an example of how charming place this is. There are dozens of mangrove islands of all sizes with channels perfect for dighy rides. Ashore is a charming, delightful town making this another of those perfect anchorages that are big enough to be interesting and small enough to be relaxing.
A bioluminescent bay is in the area. The water glows after dark where fish are swimming or you move your hand in the water. It was truly spectacular.
Completing an almost perfect setting are some good snorkeling reefs close by. This inviting area is heavily used by small boats on the weekends with a lot of traffic through the anchorage and impromptu gatherings on many of the islands where people enjoyed swimming and picnicing by the water.
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03/31/2006, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Cabo Rojo is a short hop from Boqueron, and we came here to get ready for an early morning start to La Parguera, our next stop. Although we had very nice weather all the time in Puerto Rico, the southern coast has a reputation for being difficult with strong winds and large ocean swells. The shore weather effects are stronger near a large island like Puerto Rico. Because the land cools off more quickly than the ocean, the wind usually is much calmer at night and during the early morning. For that reason we frequently moved to an anchorage where we could easily leave at daylight, or even before, to take advantage of the calm conditions. We spent a pleasant night at Cabo Rojo on the southeast corner of Puerto Rico before starting out at dawn. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the famous lighthouse on this point.
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