The past few days have been spectacular! Kim and I have been having such a blast. It could be tough to fit in all the details of activities so I will do my best and may write up this entry in phases.

On the bummer side, the guys from S/V Ultima Noche spent a couple of days in San Juan staying at Kim's house. Well they left all their crap in backpacks in the car, the soft top of Kim's car was knifed and about four thousand dollars worth of laptops, camera gear and iPods were stolen. A blow indeed to ships morale. Also Kim lost about three hundred dollars worth of stuff and the chore of trying to do the insurance claim and fix. The kid will try and assist in this project. Also while we are in negative town, I filled the hard disk of my Mac iBook up to capacity and now the machine won't boot up. I will likely drop it off at the Mac shop in San Juan. Could be a blow to the wallet. But I need it badly. This is also one of the reason's I have been behind in blog entries and responding to email. It is what it is.

So after Dan and Derek were done in San Juan they drove Kim's car the hour and a half to the south shore to Salinas where we all are anchored. I then in turn drove myself back up to San Juan to help celebrate Kim's birthday.

I am really impressed with Puerto Rico and even the big city of San Juan. Kim lives about a block from the beach which reminds me somewhat of Waikiki but with much less tourists and mostly local folks. The neighborhood is kind of a trendy hip place. Cool cafe's and surf shops with a flip flop atmosphere. I haven't spent a whole lot of time exploring but surely plan on it. More on that later.

A significant event took place. We went to the National Guard Base and I turned in my active duty ID for my retired ID. So now it really does seem to me I am in a retired status. We went to an Army Base that has a huge PX and Commissary. I proudly flashed my new ID. No one believes that I am retired. "Your to young to be retired" they say. No way Jose! That evening off we roared to a great dinner and stroll through Old San Juan. Very cool, but I only had a small glimpse of Old San Juan and Columbus's Fort.

The next day we headed for the north and west coast of the island. Totally different flavor. We stayed and Kim's friends house, Kelly and Bill in Bouriquen. Very cool people, indeed all I did was meet cool people. Bill is the Coast Guard Dentist and runs the medical clinics for the Coast Guard Airstation and Sector San Juan. They live in what only could be considered a rad pad. Of course it sits right near the edge of the ocean, they have instruments everywhere, an open air atmosphere and what I call a watchtower in the backyard. Many of the pictures I've posted in Google Photo's were taken along the watch tower. One thing surprising for me and pleasantly so was hanging out with Coast Guard people. A host of people over the weekend came and went from Bill and Kelly's. Some H-65 pilots who fly out of the Borinquen Airsta and some other Coasties. Another cast memeber was John, a surfer dude from California and a total dude who happens to be an ER Doctor. He works maybe four or five days a month and then travels the rest of the time chasing surf, rafting or snowboarding.

So the evening we arrived Bill loaded up the surf mobile with the boards and off to "surfers" surf break we went. West coast of PR is famous for it's good surf under winter conditions. The the vibe is a total surfers community which of course reminds me of my four years in Hawaii in the early 90's. So with great anticipation I paddled out into the surf for the first time since 1996. The waves were small and my board was big. Beautiful. The first wave starts to jack up and I paddle as hard as I can. Bang! The board starts to surf and I pop up on the wave and cut right. Judas Priest I was back in the saddle. Just like riding bike. It is such a rush to surf. Although I would like to stress the waves were small. Baby steps. Next time I'll take it up a notch.

That evening we had a party to celebrate Kim's 34th. A great time was had by all. We broke out the guitars and played some tunes. I have to say the harmonizing was much better with this bunch than with the Draggin Anchors from the DR. On Saturday morning after having coffee in the watchtower which watches over the vast blue Caribbean Sea, we lite out for "survivors" beach to engage in some rock climbing. This was a first for me. I did three separate climbs, two successful and one I just could not get up and over an obstacle. A truly cool experience. I had suspected that I may have some monkey in me and I think I do. It kind of came naturally to me. No fear. It was grueling at times. I had to use every ounce of strength to cling to the rock face. Strategy is clearly involved and you must be thinking several steps ahead. But if you dither to long in one stop your expending much need energy and you have none left for the upper portion. I was able to finish what I thought to be a difficult climb. By the time I reached the top my arms were spent. I had to pinch with my fingers the last 6 inches. Very satisfying to repel down afterward though!

I'm tired of writing now so I'll sign off.

Capt Chris