The Mona Passage
12 May 2013 | Between DR and PR
Holly
On the cruise across the Mona we heard a mayday call on the VHF - scary!! We've never heard one of those before. The coast guard eventually determined it was a hoax but in the meantime we tried to contact the vessel and then gave our position to the coast guard (they were trying to triangulate the vessel's position). Two other boats were joining in the conversation - it was all very exciting for the kids. That was the only event of the day, and we cruised into Boqueron (on West coast) for a quick overnight anchorage.
We left early the next day for Ponce & how bizarre is Puerto Rico? We heard another distress call, this time from the coast guard for nearby vessels to keep their eyes open for a person floating by a buoy in the middle of the ocean. Whoa.
In Ponce we cleared customs (barely....apparently there are stickers we needed and didn't have) and promptly had our generator fixed by the very-skilled diesel mechanic there. A trip to Walmart, West Marine and the Customs&Immigration Office rounded out the next day.