Jan. 15th : Cap Cana to Boqueron to Salinas, P.R.
Finally it is looking like there will start being some moderation in the weather! Tomorrow is the best day to cross the Mona according to Chris Parker and the Passage weather site with calm winds and 2 to 4 foot seas…However the NOAA has a small craft advisory with higher seas and winds. No squalls and a full moon is also on the plus side, so we decide to go tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 16th.
The following is the report by Chris:
**E-bound MonaPsg: decent 1-day opportunity Thu16, with E-SE@10-14, 2-4'
wind-chop and insignificant swells...but Thu16 night & Fri17 rebuild
to E-ESE@13-15g20 in MonaPsg (milder close to PR).
Longer-duration and possibly-milder window Sat18-Mon20, with much of
that interval 10k-or-less, 2'.
If you really only need the Catabatic winds tonight and the mild
daylight day Thu16, and can arrive PR around-or-just-after-Sunset
Thu16, then departing tonight works...OTHERWISE...I'd focus on
Sat18-Mon20 timeframe.

The marina staff is at the boat promptly at 6:30 soon followed by the parade of officials and security to get us cleared out again. We give them all a cheery “Buenos Diaz” and are quickly, by DR standards, cleared out for just a minimal charge and a nice $5 tip to each official from Stew. By 8 am we are heading out the pass into the Mona.
(We have taken a different attitude than many about the “tips” after living here for 8 months. Most of these guys make 2 to $300/month and the food prices here are comparable to the states. Most live on root vegetables, mangoes and bananas, avocadoes, and a lot of spam-type meat)

Ok, it seems to be much rougher and windier out here than predicted. What are these huge swells from the NE? Why are the seas so confused and at least 5 feet? Should we go back? Stew says we are on the edge of the Hourglass Shoals and it should settle down soon so we continue on. Whoa! That was a 40 degree roll and we are hitting 30 to 35 consistently in very confused seas. ( For you landlubbers that is hold on to something and just sit tight as shit goes flying!) Turn back? We know we can fly back as we are going against both the seas and the waves, which is why they are supposed to be really light to make this trip.
Finally after about an hour and a half into it started to calm down and the sun came back out ( oh yea the dark clouds had immediately triggered my anxiety and down went a Xanax); so of course this is the perfect time for the engine to quit. Yes, our crap in the fuel tank that won’t fit through the line to get filtered must have gotten stirred up again. Stew gets going with the emergency tank, bleeds the lines (this isn’t an easy chore crawling in the engine and manually adjusting the fuel injector lines while bouncing around) and within 30 minutes or so we are running. Go back? Well now it is looking nice and he will only have to add fuel to the extra tank once on the way so let go.
About a half hour later it is picking up again, really picking up. Wind, 8 foot swells from the NE and 4 to 6 foot chop from the east. It is not as confused and the swells although some are huge are like 14 seconds apart so you just rise up and down gradually. We settle into it, but are really pissed. I know things change constantly, but we trusted Chris Parker for this one important crossing and he was stupid far off and here we are again getting our asses kicked!
The really great thing that goes along with this is that the higher the seas, the slower you go so you can enjoy the torture even longer. We finally hit the lee of PR about 12 miles out and the seas are much calmer. I go down and heat up some leftovers and love on poor little Patch cat.
I have to say, all the distress seems to dissipate quickly as we head into Boqueron Bay under a full moon with water like glass at about 1 am
We slowly enter and drop the hook out from the last boat, not many here. I pour me a glass of wine and make Stew a rum drink and we sit in the cockpit spellbound for a while before heading down for some sleep with the cool mountain breeze coming in the boat.

The next morning we move the boat up closer to the beach as the wind is howling and it will be a long wet dinghy ride otherwise. We then get the dinghy down off the front of the boat, call the taxi guy and head in to shore. Of course all the old dilapidated docks look terrible and the one we thought we were to use has been barreled and roped off as hazardous, but a nice couple on another dock tell us that everyone just uses it anyway.
. We make a quick trip to Mayaguez to pay for our sticker at Customs, a stop for some really expensive groceries (but they had stuff we hadn’t seen in a while), and enjoy a look at the local places and people.
I guess I would have to say my first impression was that it was still colorful and quaint like the DR but with some of the perks of America.
At least the dogs are fat here! I have to say that so far the people in the Dominican Republic have been the happiest, warmest people I have ever met. Puerto Ricans take a little more time to warm up to you, but it is great to hear English spoken everywhere.


Sat. Jan. 17th.
We head out at dawn for Gilligan’s Island. We have a relatively easy 6 hour motor but are quite disappointed at the anchorage. It is just a scrubby island with no palm trees and the water is murky. Don’t get all the fuss. Still a nice afternoon and we decide to just head out in the morning to Caja de Muertos which is another island off the coast from Ponce.
It is an easy 4 hour motor, but we guess as our fuel was getting lower it was easier to suck up that crap again. Ugggg! Stew had a harder time bleeding it and I hate having to run the starter so hard as you try to start it over and over, also draining the batteries. Ok so we will now just use the aux, tank until we can get somewhere to get the tank cleaned.
Muertos is beautiful! Big green hill with a working lighthouse on top and crystal clear water. We get the ladder on and go for a swim and enjoy the day. It gets rolly overnight with the swell so we are ready to head out at first light for a quick 3 hour trip on to Salinas.

Salinas Bay is really nice and a very safe harbor with a very comfortable marina. We are drained financially so the plan is to anchor out here for a month or so and then to continue on to the Spanish Virgins, continuing to just anchor out for several months to get our kitty back up.
We joined the Marina de Salinas club for $125/month which includes getting our mail, pool, garbage, water, showers, and laundry. We really enjoy the casual outdoor bar to hang out and use the internet. They have a great Friday night BBQ too.( Unfortunately we can’t get the internet on the boat even with the booster.)
We rented a car from Sidney, the local car rental guy, and drove over to Ponce to hit up Walmart and the mall. Later we drove up a small mountain road. What a view and the rainforest vegetation is amazing.
The next day we drove to the east coast to look at Palmas Del Mar Marina and Del Rey Marina. Palmas is a condo resort area and the boats were really rocking with the swell.
Del Rey was a surprise as it is advertised as being so large we expected it to be expensive and impersonal. It was the opposite! Everyone we met was very friendly and they are willing to work back and forth between keeping the boat on the hard and in a slip. Their year contract for our boat, all inclusive (even with electric!!), was $508/month! We are not ready to do a contract like that now, but may haul the boat and leave it there later for $450/month while we are in New Zealand. We can then do the bottom painting when we get back and be back in the water. We will see.
We have lots more to see and do here. It is a beautiful place with all the American perks that we had started to miss like mail hahaha
We might stay on the boat here in PR through the summer and then leave it on the hard come late October when they will have room for us.
We are planning a quick trip back to Florida to see our friends Alan and Carla, and hopefully get Patch cat settled in with them for a while. Then up to Charleston, SC to start our MACing ( taking the Military Air Lift Command flights) to New Zealand.
We hope to spend Nov through January in New Zealand with Mark and Sarah. We will have to see how the MAC trip to Christchurch goes and what expenses we incur with lodging etc., along with affording to keep the boat.
We may end up selling the boat in St Thomas next year and giving someone a real deal on a cruiser ready boat in the right place to cruise!
Yes, we are confused too and all plans are written in jello.
Until then, lots of exploring to do and sundowners to drink