Puerto Rico lies a bit over 1000 miles from Miami and is the smallest and most easterly island of the Greater Antilles. The generally accepted classification of the Caribbean Islands is that they are divided into the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The term Antilles comes from Antilia, a mythical island that Old World Europeans believed existed in the mid-Atlantic. The Greater Antilles consist of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico (including the Spanish Virgins). The Lesser Antilles consist of the smaller islands from the Virgin Islands in the north and following the chain of islands of the eastern Caribbean (The Leewards and The Windwards) as they arc southward to Trinidad and Tobago.
The island is approximately 13 percent occupied by the US Military while 33 percent of the population reside in San Juan. The island is ringed by a flat coastal plain with a mountainous interior. There are two primary mountain chains: the Cordillera Central and the Luquillo. A smaller chain, the Sierra de Cayey is in the southernmost part of the island. The highest peak is over 4,400 ft and the higher mountains are near the southern and eastern coasts. The northern coast is green and lush due to the higher rainfall, while the southern coast tends to be more arid. The island is surrounded by an irregular shallow shelf, 7 miles wide at the widest point. However, 2 miles north of Puerto Rico, the sea floor drops to over 1000 fathoms. Some 45 miles north of Puerto Rico the ocean floor plunges to a depth of 28,000 ft. (Information from S. Pavlidis A Cruising Guide to Puerto Rico.)

After a leisurely start to the day, we decided to explore another nearby island, as the wind had picked up. We worked our way in through a narrow channel and selected a buoy in 6 metres off Cayo Lobos, a privately owned island. There was better protection in this spot and we donned our snorkelling gear before the wind increased. A young guy on a jet ski was having endless fun riding the breaking waves over the nearby reef. The sun was shining which made the swim more pleasurable among the coral and fish. Once ashore, we were greeted by large signs stating Private, Do Not Enter and Guard Dog, with a graphic of a German Shepherd! We stayed well below the high watermark and walked as far as we could on this tiny beautiful island with swaying palm trees and only one low level building. No dogs encountered, thank goodness!
Back on board it was time for a late lunch and a siesta for the girls while the boys worked on generator maintenance, due to a large amount of weed blocking the inlet pipe. There is always something requiring attention! The sky had turned quite cloudy, with two fronts coming our way from opposite directions! The one from the sea produced a water spout for our entertainment and the other from the land got increasingly threatening. Somehow Trilogy was sitting sweet between these two systems and we only gathered a few drops of rain on the deck. When the day trippers departed the moorings, we were left to enjoy the dramatic sky and beauty of the many islands that surrounded us. At dusk, the island lit up with a single row of lights running beyond the building and up-lighting the palm tress. The mainland was also lit up, with glittering lights all along the coastal fringe.