Sailing the Caribbees

April 7, 2014

San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Bahamas

We had a fun couple of days in San Juan and spent all of our leisure time exploring Old San Juan and parts of the fort. The fortress along the ocean coast of old San Juan is enormous stretching for over a mile along the coast with two main fortifications and a huge wall connecting both with an ancient ghetto squeezed along the ocean shore at the base of the wall between the forts. The fort to the east, Castillo San Cristobal began construction in the early 16th century, shortly after Columbus’ first visit in 1492 and the El Morro on the point was started shortly after. Both were under construction for the next 250 years! I was told the ghetto started forming in the 1600s as more people came to find work in the city but had no place to live inside the city walls. The encampment grew to the limits of what the coastline would allow in the shadow of the imposing walls and still stands today in much the same state. This is no gentrified ocean front property. It remains a ghetto and was evident from the sea as we sailed by, noted by the ragged and decaying buildings and squalid looking dwellings. We were warned not to venture there. The kids could have been happy with a full day exploring the fort but unfortunately our time was short. The experience was a bit different from our other experiences with forts throughout the Caribbean in that, being back in US territory, there were guard rails in places, places off limits and rules in general, whereas the rest of the Caribbean forts were just fully open with no limits. On the flip side, we did have the help of an excellent park worker who led us to all the most interesting bits including some deep narrow tunnels that were pitch black except for the light from the iphone.

We spent most of our two days in San Juan getting ready for our passage to the Bahamas, doing boat chores and school work, but we spent our two evenings roaming around old San Juan’s cobblestone streets, architecture, shops and restaurants. The volume of restaurants in old town is amazing! Our first night we strolled around and window shopped at dozens of restaurants before the kids started melting and we went back to one Mege had her eye on. Despite the name, The Parrot Club (which on first impression brought to mind overly sweet tropical drinks and maybe a cheeseburger in paradise image) had a great atmosphere, very good traditional Puerto Rican food with a modern twist and a great trio of musicians who set up during our dinner and with electric bass, keyboards, and hand percussion, served us up a taste of Puerto Rican sounds along with some Cuba a la some Buena Vista Social Club standards. Rumors of the sweet sounds to be found in old San Juan were well founded! The combination of delicious food, an attentive, professional and very personable waiter, and the fantastic music made for an incredibly enjoyable evening. The mofongo, empanadillas, ceviche, and churros… yumm! The next night we dined outside along an alley at a Tapas restaurant. The food was fantastic and the prices were not too bad. We could have been happy spending much more time here.

Unfortunately, the wind and weather were calling us to take advantage of their offerings and make tracks west. So we left mid morning on the 3rd and set out on a beam reach to a waypoint off the south of the Caicos bank. We had a fast first day, covering about 190 miles in 24 hours. Other than a moderate north swell mixing with the ENE wind generated swell creating a bit of a lumpy ride, the conditions were pretty good. After passing west of the Caicos bank on Saturday morning, the conditions served up were the kind that can make you forget all about any hardships of the past. The seas became a regular easy following sea gently nudging us ever forward with the wind perfectly on the starboard quarter, strong and steady around 20 knots, we ghosted along at 8 knots effortlessly. That lasted into the night until the wind came further ESE and we had to wing and wing it with the genoa poled out. Oh yes! Almost forgot to mention the tuna we hooked somewhere off the coast of the DR (Dominican Republic). We fished only during the day, and this one happened to bite in the late afternoon in time for dinner. We managed three meals out of it starting with some raw sushi! I tried to incorporate a little science lesson with the gutting of the fish but tuna tends to bleed excessively and with the rolling downwind at 8 knots, the kids weren’t too interested (Asa was curious but Orly less so). We made landfall late Sunday afternoon in Clarence Town Long Island in the southern Bahamas and anchored in clear water over sand in about 9 feet of water. Still plenty of light for a little snorkeling before dinner and finally a full nights sleep!

Update on the Bahamas to come soon.


Much love to all!
Jeff, Mege, Orly and Asa