CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored east of Cayo Mata near the villages of Playa Salinas and Playita, Puerto Rico

17 57.274' N, 066 17.474' W

While I spent time on the internet in the park yesterday, Sheryl left her mark on another boat. Magic now has a turk's head knot marking top dead center on their steering wheel.



That evening, Donna & Dave joined us aboard Prudence for dinner, and we had such a lovely time that we joined them and the crew of s/v Someday Came for breakfast this morning at the Cruiser's Galley. Mona runs the Cruiser's Galley, which is a haven for people in the harbor. Her place is just a short walk from the marina and has a big screen TV, internet access, and a very reasonably priced breakfast.

The rest of the day saw a couple of other boat chores crossed off our list. Sheryl went up the mast to check the rigging and re-wrap one of the spreader boots. I tackled the not-so-pleasant chore of replacing the flapper valve, joker valve, and a few seals on the pump for the head. Sheryl also did some laundry and picked up a load of water for the boat. All-in-all, it was a very productive day.

In the early morning hours, s/v Veleda IV had picked up their anchor and departed the harbor. At dusk, s/v Magic and s/v Someday Came followed suit. With lots of empty water around us, we feel (for the first time in a while now) that we are, once again, 'on our own.'

It is an interesting life we lead, where the social dynamics of close friends and neighbors are constantly in a state of flux. Donna & Dave, aboard Magic, are a prime example. Their time in Luperon overlapped ours by about a week; however, we never did meet. While in Samana, we spoke by radio but still did not meet. In Boqueron, we finally met in person, but really did not have a chance to get to know them at all. They dinghied by while we were in Ponce, but it wasn't until Coffin Island that we finally got to know this lovely couple. And now, only a few days later, they are off. It is hard to say whether we will meet up with them again. We certainly hope so.

As has been true with many of our new friends of late, we seem to gravitate quickly towards people with whom we 'click.' Time spent together is intense by most social standards. (How often do you invite people you just met over to your home for dinner?) Those rapidly-formed close friendships are then challenged by equally rapid separation. We can only hope that the miracle of the internet will allow us to maintain those bonds of friendship between the fleeting times we actually get to be neighbors. That is another reason, dear Reader, that this blog is so important to us. We hope that our other cruising friends are checking to see where we are and what we are up to (at least checking the CURRENT LOCATION at the top of the most recent post). We are certainly checking the blogs of all our friends whenever we are in port.