We awoke to sunshine and Take5 still alongside. The boys washed down the decks while the girls cleaned below in readiness for another week of cruising. Come midday we cast off the lines and bid farewell to some of the Take5 crew.
We motor sailed for 30 minutes to reach Isla de Palominos, a popular family destination for Puerto Ricans. We picked up a mooring in 15-20 knots of easterly wind, as close into the shoreline as we could. After lunch we swam about 150 metres to the sandy beach, where the party was happening. Motor cruisers lined one section of the beach, each blaring out their music, trying to drown out the neighbours....it was deafening. We noticed that two boats had barbecues sizzling on the stern, something we have only previously noted happened in Australian waters.
Palomino Island is a 100 acre privately leased island of the El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. As the hotel does not have a beach, the guests can access free day passes to this tropical oasis with palm trees, white sandy beaches and azure blue water. Activities on the island include walking, windsurfing, horseback riding, snorkelling, jet skis and scuba diving. There were hundreds of blue deck chairs lining the beach areas, a large cafe called Iguanas and plenty of piña colada bars to quench the thirst. There were lots of families present which makes us think that it is school holidays with Easter coming at the end of the week. Once we'd done a lap of the complex, we escaped to our own private mobile resort! We settled in for a quiet afternoon and evening, as the weather had closed in and was threatening rain...and rain it did through the night!

Next morning the sky was still overcast, but through the day the skies started to clear. The wind was from the SW but then swung to the SE but the swell continued from the north, weather not as predicted, at all! We decided to leave our bumpy anchorage in search of a quieter spot but after nearly 2 hours of motoring to various bays along the north of Puerto Rico and finding difficulties with them all, the wind abated and we anchored off d , part of the Cordillera, a small chain of rocks, reefs, and small islands. It is a 40 foot high island, covered with scrubby growth and is the second largest island in the chain. We anchored and swam ashore when the skipper had noted before he set off that Trilogy had swung on the anchor and was only just clearing a mound on the sea bottom. Before we had a chance to explore ashore, we all swam back to Trilogy and managed to find a 6 metre hole to anchor in nearby.

There was a line of buoys about 100 metres astern which allowed boats good access to a fringing reef. A catamaran and a string of tenders with tourist snorkellers arrived, which provided good entertainment while we ate lunch. By the time lunch was over, all these people had left and Sue, Peter and Garth all snorkelled to the reef to check it out. I decided to cook the evening meal of curried sausages a bit early, so that we could all relax and enjoy the sunset, which was really quite beautiful and dramatic.