PONCE CITY, PUERTO RICO, 28 FEBUARY 2018

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Not all our time is spent drinking beer and working on Sisu whilst being here in Ponce, we had a day of culture to raise our level of conversation topic from just being about boats! Ponce is very pretty, the most outstanding building being the Antique Firehouse, built in 1883 for a one day pavilion for the Agricultural Exposition Fair. A year later and it became the headquarters of the Worthy Municipal Firefighters, with its red and black horizontal stripes painted onto the big wooden building, the fire station, now a museum, wonderfully dominates the area it sits in, backing onto the pale creamy white Cathedral, one dramatically contrasting with the other. Inside is an original fire engine, just a joy to see and as with all the museums we visited that day, entry was free!

A lot of buildings were constructed around 1911, a great period for decorative architecture, the Museo de la Historia de Ponce is situated in a mansion house built during that year, typically neoclassical with beautiful stained glass windows, how on earth these survived through Hurricane Maria is incredible.

Another townhouse we could see inside was Casa Wiechers Villaronga. This constitutes the finest example of neo classic architecture in Ponce. Designed by its owner Architect Alredo Wiechers. It was lived in until 1985 and remained unchanged till the owners moved out! The ceilings in each room are pressed tin and prettily painted. The chandeliers in each room were huge with highly decorated glass lamps. The shower stall was ahead of its time and would have been very expensive, incredible to think it was still working in 1985!

The Ponce Museum of Art is based in an impressive building called the Parthenon of the Americas since 1965. The building is a surprise as you turn the corner. In fact the whole day was one of surprises around every corner! Again free to enter, we met the local artist in residence and wandered through the cool airy rooms taking in the variety of art styles. In the courtyard was a large Ylang Ylang tree with incredibly scented leafy tendrils and yellow five pointed star shaped flowers. The flowers of this tree were used by Coco Chanel for her No 5 perfume, the smell throughout the garden was heady and intense. The tree is very hardy, and he gave us some seeds for us to plant in our garden, I’m no green fingered gardener, but will give them my best shot!

As we walked around the small city, local Policia perched on Segways, whizzed by us on the pavements, smiling and giving us a wave, these guys looked like they really enjoyed their job and method of transport!

There is so much to see here and we did a reasonable job in the day we had, the mixture of styles from the neo classic, sleek lines of Art Deco, Greek columns, to the modern spider like structure in the middle of a park, the city is a treasure to walk around. We’re leaving Puerto Rico in the next day or so, we hadn’t planned to visit this island at all, but we’re so glad we did, Puerto Rico is a joy and raising itself from the destruction of Hurricane Maria, if you ever get the chance take the time to come here and welcome the embrace of people here and absorb the vibrancy, music, food and culture, it’s one of our favourite places we’ve been to!

Now it’s time once again to get on the snorkel and fins, scrub Sisu’s hull and feel the butterflies in my tum always present before we set sail!

 

PONCE, PUERTO RICO, FEBRUARY 2018

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After a straightforward motor of 27 nautical miles along the Southern coast we reached Ponce bay. As we gently motored into the bay, hurricane damage was apparent, dismasted and holed yachts swung dejectedly on moorings inside the bay. Along the boardwalk at the entrance to the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club the little kiosks had suffered minor damage, some of the boardwalk was missing, but music, laughter and smell of food proved once again these Puerto Ricans aren’t going to be laid low, they’re the most social and sociable people we’ve come across!

Two other boats were anchored in the mouth of the bay, as we motored past one, Lady Rebel, we were advised by the couple, Ken and Jen that the holding was good and they would come over and see us later. It’s a small world in cruising and later when they called round, it turned out they knew friends of ours, Alex and Carla off Ari B! Friendships form fast when sailing, we’re seagoing gypsies, boat names are remembered, and where last seen, updates swapped, who needs Facebook?!

We needed a SIM card so we could use wifi on board, as our outboard engine was for the time being defunct till we obtained parts, Ken and Jen kindly took me ashore in their Rib. I was on a mission, I had to go by taxi to the Plaza de Caribe and find a Claro store and get a SIM card. The young guy at the security gates phoned me a taxi and I paid a quick visit to the other world of shops and retail therapy. I resisted the pull of the shops, for the time being, and got out of the taxi at the security gate. The shift had changed on the gate, I was refused entry! To be fair, he was doing his job, we hadn’t checked into the Marina, our priority was to get parts ordered for the outboard. If we couldn’t get them here or delivered here, then we would pull up anchor and go to Martinique on the next weather window. So why check in? I pleaded my case, nope, no entry. I called Terry up on my hand held radio and let him know I couldn’t get in. Terry was going to row ashore and get me. I didn’t want him to do that, the brisk winds could blow him out to sea, and if he made it to the dockside, we wouldn’t be able to row back. It was ironic that Ken and Jen were in the Marina and could give me a lift back, but I wasn’t even allowed to go and let them know I was outside! A couple of local fishermen took interest in what was going on, no problem! I was taken in hand and offered a lift by Tony, one of the fishermen. We climbed into his shallow open little fishing boat, he told me that the other day they had rescued three kayakers who had been swept out, the seas this year have been so strong, it was catching people out. Oh great….. He told me that boats had been swept up into piles of wreckage during the hurricane, he had been very scared when the hurricane had wreaking it’s fury on Ponce. We find it incredible that life is almost back to normal after such destruction, he took the damage and lack of electricity in his stride. As we neared Sisu I could see the Rib was gone! We turned towards the dock, and there was our Rib, all we had to do now was find Terry! I saw him through the lines of sleek white motor boats tied up on the pontoons, walking towards the security gate. I shouted to him as Tony and I sped past. He lets me out for a while and I end up on another guy’s boat! Tony pulled up alongside one of the pontoons and Terry climbed on board, we motored back to our Rib and once again, I enjoyed a pleasant trip whilst Terry was in the cheap seats being towed behind me and a Puerto Rican!! He took us out to Sisu, we offered to cover his fuel, he wouldn’t hear of it, we shook hands and thanked him. Once again we were looked after by these generous people. Now we had wifi! We were able to order parts and get them delivered to Terry’s son, Tim in Manchester, who would then post them onwards to us, the timescale was a few days. Perfect timing as the Trades were settling down in the forthcoming week. Ken and Jen were leaving in a couples of days so we made the most of our time together, enjoying sundowners and eating out at one of boardwalk Kiosks.

We had no choice but to stay at yet another Marina, as we couldn’t get ashore without our Rib. It would only be for a week, the rates were very reasonable and included use of the Club’s outdoor palm fringed swimming pool, yippee!!! We love swimming in the sea but when in a Marina, that’s not always an option so this was a real bonus! Throughout these Islands we regularly see snowy white Egrets, elegant in flight, but when on land they remind me of the rubber fake chickens you can buy in joke shops! There is a small island in the middle of the Marina and a huge flock of Egrets nest there, within the spindly branches of the small trees Egrets balance, jostling and calling to each other, it’s quite a sight!

Whilst here we met an American family, Steve and Johanna, their three young girls, and their dog Bella. They are on a six year round the world trip in their catamaran, Changing Waterfalls. Nearby we also met Sally and Nick in their ferro cement boat, “Maid of Crete”, which takes the prize as the best name ever for a boat! Sally is a Nurse from Clacton and Nick a Breton, they sail with their dog, a huge and gentle copper coloured English Mastiff, named Tank. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here with such excellent company, from helping each other out with pooling knowledge, hands on help or lending tools, to exploring the boardwalk bars, including a great night in our cockpit with the six of us, swapping stories as we passed around bottles of beer, rum and whisky, sharing boat problems and how to fix them!

18 – 19 FEBRUARY 2018. LA PAGUERA, PUERTO RICO. GOING LOCO IN PUERTO RICO CONTINUES…..

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The winds had already begun to pick up at 8.30am as we dropped the Rib and began to row in. I can row, but I don’t know what the hell a Ferryman’s Row is. Terry assumed I did. If our row to shore had been a team building exercise it was an epic fail. Now I know what a Ferryman’s Row is, it means rowing so as to use the wind to your advantage by rowing across it and not against it in order to cover ground, my version of the Ferryman’s Row involved a lot of swearing! With miss-timed paddle strokes, I was paddling too deep, too shallow, my arms weren’t right, I was on the wrong side, etc etc, of course we got shouty with each other, looking back it was ridiculous but at the time..….. !

We entered town and sought out somewhere with wifi. Puerto Rico is still recovering from the September hurricanes, there is a university research building perched on top of a hill at the entrance to La Paguera. The university registered gusts of 205mph during one of the September hurricanes, we couldn’t even begin to think of what it must have felt like. Yet, the town has recovered well and services are up and running including wifi. We found a hotel and asked if we could use their wifi as we had a boat in the bay and a problem with our outboard. No problem. The people here are so kind. Terry did some research and ordered some parts which could be delivered to Ponce Marina further up the coast. Now we just had to get back to the boat…… We began to paddle, going absolutely nowhere…… the wind was having a laugh, holding us in the same place despite our vastly improved best efforts and we weren’t even out of the sheltered bay! I suggested we shout to one of the several motor boats going out to the mangrove islands for the day. We attracted the attention of a passing boat who threw us a line and Terry hung on to the tow rope as we once again replayed being on a Banana boat, only this time the bot in front was going much faster than Kelly the previous day. We were swinging from side to side of the stern of the boat in front, much to the amusement of the folks in front! We were getting soaked with spray and choppy waves coming over the bows, I didn’t care, we were getting back to Sisu and quickly!

We showered and in the early evening cracked open a beer, ok, two, before making tea. We were reading in the cockpit when a friendly voice shouted “Hola!” It was Kelly and his wife Marina in their boat! They pulled up alongside and we welcomed them aboard. We were glad to see them, Kelly had a t shirt he wanted to give to Terry, a thought which had occurred to Terry during the day too! They swapped biking t shirts, Terry gave a t shirt “Live life to the Max” TT t shirt, as Kelly had said he was an adrenalin junkie and Kelly passed to Terry a Daytona Speedweek Biketoberfest 2009 t shirt! They had come down from their farm in the hills about 8 miles away and asked if we fancied going ashore, he wanted us to see the town in the evening. We never pass up an opportunity to explore and do something different, tea can wait! We quickly gathered some bits together and climbed into their boat. Kelly knows these waters from childhood, we smoothly motored our way down the mangrove islands, the night sky full of stars was immense, the still waters peace disturbed only by our wake and the occasional fish popping to the surface. It was beautiful and very special. As we rounded a mangrove outcrop we could see the town we’d been in that day now twinkling with lights, the sounds of salsa, laughter and great cooking smells floated towards us. Kelly pulled up into an area between some mangrove trees and we four clambered out and took in the bright lights of town. They took us up onto a balcony above the people in the square, we watched the salsa dancers, we’re definitely going to learn some steps when we go home so we can salsa next season! In the corner of the balcony was a tall white pole with white plastic discs. We were told this was the Tsunami warning alarm. You are never far from the reality of the extreme forces of nature here. Marina said she is going to be prepared early this year in case of another hurricane. After September’s hurricanes they had no power for three months, typical right across Puerto Rico. Fortunately they have a generator so could run this for power, however it uses a lot of fuel, which costs. It’s fascinating and moving to hear real life stories of how it is to live in the knowledge your home or at worst your life could be ripped away by a hurricane. Kelly told us how the hurricane began at 2am, building and building, shrieking and howling, it was just awful, he saw one of their trees overhanging their truck bending as the hurricane began to gain power. He rushed out to move his truck, Marina shouted at him not to go outside, he ran out, moved the truck and as he sprinted back into the house in a matter of seconds the enormous tree fell crashing to the very ground where his truck had been parked. He was lucky, we’d have left it to the mercy of the hurricane! They escaped unscathed, their four dogs were all safe. The people on this Island enjoy themselves, grateful for surviving another hurricane, they rebuild and prepare once more each year. We admire them, from our time here we’ve seen it’s an Island of helping each other, and anyone who needs help, we could learn a lot from these people. After a big pizza we motored back out into the quiet dark bay, motoring past other wooden holiday cabins, some adorned with fairy lights. Kelly and Marina opened their cabin, pulling out chairs for us to sit on. We chatted and shared our stories on the verandah of their unique place of peace in the mangroves. We felt very honoured to be asked to share their time, and we have made a couple of lovely friends here, I hope our paths cross again, we exchanged contact information and they would be made very welcome in our cottage, we’d love to show them our Island and the TT or Classic TT, we could then give them some memories they’d never forget too! Meeting new people, days going right, days going wrong, blissfully easy passages, horribly rough passages are all part of the adventure we’re on, and some days provide more experiences than others, Puerto Rico is turning out to be certainly the most memorable so far this season!

19 February 2018

We decided not to go ashore by Rib again. The forecast showed the high winds to continue for another day at least. We couldn’t keep relying on the good nature of the locals to tow us back to our boat when we went ashore. The winds were due to drop in a day or so, we would leave for Ponce about 20 miles up the coast and get parts to fix the engine, it’s no big deal. Today was a good day to finish scrubbing Sisu’s hull whilst the sea was calm first thing in the morning, write up blogs, do jobs and read. We have another little visitor to our boat. Each morning since we’ve been here, we hear a bird chirping very lustily and close by, it’s obviously landing somewhere on our boat. As we were sat in the cockpit after hull scrubbing we saw a Housemartin swoop and call around our boat. She came in on another swoop and landed chirruping loudly as she settled herself on the boom’s blue stackpack. She appears to be going inside stackpack cover, into the folds of the main sail! She’s quite bold and it’s not uncommon for birds to make nests in the cosy folds of a main sail. We’ve had a look inside the sail folds and can’t see anything, so perhaps she’s just sussing out a nesting place for use in the future. We joked that that she’s the same Housemartin we helped last season and recognising the boat, come back to see us! She’s a very pretty and joyful guest, but will have to find a new nesting place as we’re moving on, with lizards hitching a ride when we left Curacoa in November, crabs and spiders in Port Real, and our friendly Housemartin, we feel a little like an Ark!

16 – 17 FEBRUARY 2018. PORT REAL TO LA PAGUERA, 24 NAUTICAL MILES. AND THE DAY STARTED OUT SO WELL……..

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AND THE DAY STARTED SO WELL………

 

16 February 2018 After an excellent dinner the night before with Eric and Jen of freshly caught Mahi Mahi, Terry and I shut our eyes, and what seemed like a split second later, opened them and set off at 0430hrs, Eric had got up early too and loosened our bow line and waved us away into the dark and flat calm waters of the bay, it’s 10 foot depth was now less of a worry having been cleared of sunken boats. We left at this time to take advantage of the almost complete drop in speed in the Trade winds caused by the katabatic effect of the cold air from the mountains forcing the trade winds away from the island overnight. By mid morning the winds would have geared up several notches and we didn’t want another hobby horse motor into the winds. This trip was an easy motor up the coast as we watched the sun rise and a new day begin. At La Paguera we carefully followed our course on the chart plotter, the waters behind the long coral reef was very shallow in places, we kept a close watch at the colour of the sea, coral reefs growing just under the surface were indicated by light brown areas in comparison to the pale blue water of the sandy or sea grass covered areas. Charts are often many years old, as surveys are expensive to carry out. Subsequently any area with coral is down to visual navigation.  We picked up a mooring buoy and tucked ourselves behind a couple of small mangrove islands, which would give shelter from the breaking swell of the long and treacherous coral reef beyond. These two islands are very popular at weekends, today we had the space to ourselves. A short distance away (or so we thought at the time), was the small town of La Paguera, the following day we would drop the Rib and explore, today we snorkelled around the mangrove islands and enjoyed being able to swim again, it’s been a long time!

17 February 2018. They say “life happens when you’re making plans”. Damn right! The day began with us losing the kill cord to the outboard motor. We spent a good hour both cursing and saying “Well, didn’t you see it and put it where it belongs?” and “Well, what the bloody hell did you do with it?” and searching cubby holes and shorts pockets. We gave up, it may have been dropped out of the Rib when we hoisted it onto the deck when leaving Port Real. Living with each other on Sisu 24/7 for months and pretty much the same at home is teaching us that falling out with each other and shouting only results in upset and the object that is lost or broken still being lost or broken. This adult attitude works, mostly…… Hold that thought. Ok, not a problem, Terry hot wired the outboard, it fired up and we did a quick recce of the other mooring buoys around the two islands to see if any others provided a better holding and more shelter. The engine sputtered and stopped. Great. Terry couldn’t get it to restart. Ok, not a problem, it was still too early for the Trade winds to begin to really blow all afternoon. We got out the oars and paddled back to the boat, where Terry took the outboard engine apart. No luck, he couldn’t find out what the problem was, there was no spark whatsoever. We carry spare spark plugs and Terry’s brilliant at fixing whatever breaks down, it helps if we have the required parts of course, we can’t carry every spare part and the jinx of today continued, we didn’t have a spare ignition system! We figured there had to be a chandler of some sort as the town sported so many motor boats of all sizes and states and all sizes of outboard motors. The daily winds were beginning to pick up as Terry decided to row ashore and find the chandlery. We never go anywhere in the Rib without the oars, in case of emergency, however, we had removed the seat from the Rib as we never used it, but to help Terry row better we thought we’d put the Rib seat back in. We knew where that was, we only had to empty the heads locker filled with hosepipes, buckets, watering can for the shower, cuddly toy etc. Next we needed the two aluminium brackets to hold the seat in place. They were somewhere within the Sisu…….. Not under the quarter berth where we thought. Bugger. More time spent looking for seat brackets, our sense of humour was being sorely tested as the cabin filled up with ropes, wood, tools, everything but the brackets. We gave up looking, if we delayed any longer the winds would make it impossible for Terry to row back and actually, it was probably healthier for our relationship if one of us jumped ship, so much for being grown ups!! He set off, ploughing the oars into the by now, choppy waves. Terry had taken a hand held radio so we could keep in touch. I switched the main radio on and watched him struggle against the waves, it was going to be tougher coming back. He didn’t seem to be getting any nearer the town, in fact he was being driven towards another nearby mangrove island. A couple of motor boats went past him, then a little boat motored up to him and in the distance I could see, with relief, that they were towing him into the safety of the dockside. There was nothing more I could do, so gathering my mask and snorkel I decided to scrub Sisu’s hull, the water of the previous Marina was a breeding ground for barnacles, weed and crap. It’s a job I enjoy being both physical and rewarding. Boats, jetskis, water skiers and windsurfers swept past me as they went to the islands for the day. The motor boats were very courteous upon seeing me in the water alongside our boat, and slowed down, giving me a wave as they passed by. The daily high winds made the sea swell choppy too risky to snorkel deep under Sisu’s stern area to clean her propeller, I didn’t want to resurface to find I was meeting her stern as she came down in a swell and I was coming up! I had a quick cockpit shower and looked out towards the town, I could see the same little boat heading our way. As the boat drew closer I could see that along with two figures was a tan and white terrier in a life jacket, and another salty sea dog,Terry! They tied up and came on board. It was only 11.30 and turning out to be a day you almost couldn’t make up if it weren’t true! Kelly, the owner of the boat and Harley his terrier, together with their friend Riggy had rescued Terry and offered to help us in any way they could. Kelly owned a holiday cabin built into the mangroves and our Rib was safely tied up alongside his little dock. Kelly had taken Terry into town so he was able to buy a new kill cord and some bits and pieces for the outboard. We were so grateful, they offered to take Terry and I back to their cabin to collect the Rib. We handed out cold beers and found out they were mad keen motorbike fans, they couldn’t believe it that we lived a mile from the TT Races! We had a couple of TT baseball caps and gave them to Kelly and Riggy as a thank you. They were chuffed to bits, we offered them a room if they ever wished to come and see the Races. We were so grateful for their time and help, it was the least we could do.

Kelly told us that it would be better to anchor inside the bay, near his cabin, it made sense, if we had to row, we could do so easily in the calm waters in the bay. We quickly packed away the sun shades, let loose the buoy, and followed him in his boat through the deeper channel in the bay. We kept an eye on the depth sounder. The depth dropped and dropped as we slowly motored into the little bay lined with similar holiday cabins. Without noticing for a moment, we realised we had gently stopped moving forwards. We’d grounded. Very carefully, Terry put her into reverse gear, slowly moving the power up a fraction. Mud swept out from under the stern, thrown up by the prop. Luckily, we’d been so gentle that she was able to ease herself off the mud, plan A wasn’t going to work. Plan B, we anchor just outside the bay but still much closer than we were originally. Keeping an eye on the depth again, I motored to where we planned to anchor, Terry was ready to drop the anchor. Holding her steady, I shouted the depth to Terry, “1.9 metres”, “that’ll do” he replied.  I heard the anchor motor start and anchor chain release, then a spurt of profanities from the bow. The anchor chain had locked. Coming back down the deck, Terry quickly went to the fore cabin to open the anchor locker and loosen the chain. The anchor locker door is at the foot of our bed. So…. he had to pull our bedding up! It was one of those days, now the whole boat interior was in disarray! He came back up to the bow and I turned her into position again. Double Damnation! The chain locked up once more. We learn by our mistakes. We ought to have checked the anchor chain. We know that the chain can settle into itself when knocked about, and it certainly took a bashing when crossing the Mona Passage and the links had settled into each other so deeply that it took two bouts of rattling to loosen it up. We succeeded on the second attempt. Once secure, we piled back into Kelly’s little motor boat, Harley the dog at the bow and zipped back to his cabin. It was a perfect little getaway, built on planks of wood cut into the mangroves. After collecting our Rib I travelled in Kelly’s motor boat and we bombed back, towing Terry in the Rib, like one of the tourist Banana boats and we headed back to the boat. It was a hoot! We were so grateful to them. In those winds there was no way we’d have made it back ourselves. They left us with big laughs and much waving to try and fix the outboard, they had partying to do over on the Islands!

We got the boat straight and rounded off a bizarre kind of day with more beer, reeling a little at the turn of events, tomorrow was a fresh start…………

MARINA PESCEDARIA, PORT REAL, PUERTO RICO 7 – 15 FEBRUARY 2018

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Port Real used to supply 75% of the fish and lobster for Puerto Rico. The Marina is situated on the old fishery and has been in the family of Jose Mendez, the present owner since the 1960’s. In 2011 Jose created Marina Pescaderia, his wife, an architect designed the Marina buildings. They comprise Jose’s office, three little shops, a bar area, and shower block. The buildings are crisply white and she has zoned each facility of the Marina so they work well together and look good. As Ocean Cruising Club members, we also get a discount off our marina fees, brilliant! Fish are still being landed here, Jose has kept the fish landing area together with a small working fish market, caught fish are weighed here, deals done, and within hours delivered to restaurants around Puerto Rico, San Juan in particular and to locals restaurants in the town. Each morning we see crates of big, purple lobsters being landed and fish of a range of varieties, some we recognise, like the deliciously meaty blunt headed Mahi Mahi, though I’ve never seen them so big as landed here! The Marina bar also has a great little restaurant and down the road is another excellent fish restaurant. One evening seated on the covered veranda our new friend Jen and I had generous sized rolls of Mahi Mahi stuffed with equally generous lumps of lobster in a delicious fish stock. Terry had Mafongo, fried and mashed plantain with chunks of lobster, gorgeous! All for a good price overlooking the bay watching a burnt orange sun slip behind the mangroves.

Our new friends Eric and Jennifer Magnusson, a Canadian couple who own a beautiful boat, “Safe Haven” a Tartan 47 deck saloon. It’s always fun seeing round other people’s boats, we shared beers and stories on each other’s boats. Sisu and Safe Haven are quite different to each other and that’s the fun, swapping ideas and noting clever use of space or design that can be incorporated on each other’s boats. We had a great time with Jen and Eric exploring the local restaurants, from Pizza Parlours to family packed buzzing restaurants over many beers and bottles of red! We hope our paths will cross again, we look forward to clinking beers together in the future!

We also met up with Bob, whom we first met in Boca Chica, who owns a very smart aluminium boat. Bob has been a fount of all local knowledge both here and in Dom Rep. His wit and quiet way has also made him a good friend to us. His advice has been invaluable, whether it’s been the best places to stop or go and see. He kindly lent us his car so we drive to Mayaguez further down the coast to clear immigration and customs with very helpful & friendly officials.

We don’t often stop in marinas, when we do we get to know one or two folk also cruising around the Caribbean. Marina Pescaderia is a friendly place and we got to know several sailing folk. The bar area is well situated in front of the pontoons, the staff are friendly and it’s a natural meeting place. From the very first evening we were welcomed by a group of sailing folk who’d been there for a while and invited join them. We, plus Eric and Jen pulled up our chairs and straight away, ordered our Puert Rican  Medalla beers and slotted into the 5 o’clock club! These were sailors, couples and solo sailors from America mostly, all around our age, each evening they would gather a couple of tables and share beers, stories, advice, weather information and laughter for a couple of hours. They were curious to know where we’d come from and what we’d done. People either know of the Isle of Man from the world famous TT Races, or have no idea where in the world our Island is, it makes for lively conversation when we tell them about the TT, customs and our heritage. We learn so much too, I think I can recognise now where in America people come from when they speak, their mannerisms, what brought people to this type of life and their backgrounds, it’s an ever changing melting pot of world life, one thing that is common is the desire to be happy and to help each other, also that boats are generally money pits!

Jose Mendez, the owner has been incredibly helpful, a real people person, genuinely interested in the cruisers who are on his pontoons. Any work that needs doing, he’s straight on to the phone contacting someone who can do a job. He doesn’t just take your money and leave you to it. On the night before we left, he came down to our boat and spent nearly an hour showing us on our chart plotter where the best places where to moor up, what the other Marinas were like, any areas we should take care, where the coral reefs extend to, places that he and his family go to for a weekend. That evening at the 5 O’clock club Jose stopped by for a quick beer, he ordered another round for everyone, only to be chastised by Big Mike from Texas with the words “who the hell do you think you are buying the beer, anybody would think you owned the frigging place.  We’ve never been treated so well, always a smile and time for a question. We have no hesitation in recommending this Marina if you sail this way. It was also quiet, such a relief from the ear blasting of the previous 6 weeks.

There was evidence of hurricane damage here. Jose told us that he had just got the Marina up and running when it was struck by the 2014 hurricane. He recovered from that and then got hit again by the 2017 hurricanes, which caused 16 of the 20 boats anchored in the bay to sink. He is covered by insurance, and it has taken till now to receive the insurance monies, but he carries on regardless, always cheerful and busily organising a Regatta for the following weekend, it was a pity to miss this event, it sounded tremendous, races, social get togethers, free beer sponsored by Medalla, music and food. But we have to move on and work our way East.

We took our Rib and pootled around the mangroves over a couple of calm mornings, Manatees live here and we hoped to see one of these shy creatures. We didn’t see any around the mangroves, but we saw several badly damaged yachts and power boats amongst the trees. Terry did catch sight of a Manatee just outside our pontoon, or at least the grey back of one as it quickly surfaced and dived below again!

In the last couple of days a huge flat barge and crane arrived, nudged into the bay by a squat little tug boat. It was here to haul out the sunken boats. Over the next two days, Coastguards, workmen and divers motored out to the barge, working their way around the bay, finding the boats and hauling them up onto the barge, where they would then be transferred to another boat and taken away. We watched wrecked, weed covered boats rise up out of the muddy waters, some in one piece, including a catamaran, others in bits. The barge then began to drag yachts tangled up in the mangroves, some had gaping holes in the sides of their hulls, head sails shredded and caught up in the trees. These were pulled out, too damaged to be repaired, junk now. But life goes on, boats can be replaced and it’s a way of life here.

Work is ongoing around the town, roofs with temporary blue tarpaulins are being replaced, fallen trees cut up and neatly piled up are ready to be taken away. Houses which were badly hit have furniture stacked up in gardens, again ready to be replaced. Yet everyone is cheerful and so friendly, always a smile and a wave, always ready for a good time, could we be so cheerful in the knowledge that each year our homes could be damaged or lost? We really love what we have seen so far in Puerto Rico, it’s going to be one of those memorable Islands!

 

 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO MARINA PESCEDARIA, PORT REAL, PUERTO RICO 5 – 6 FEBRUARY 2018

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO MARINA PESCEDARIA, PORT REAL, PUERTO RICO

5 – 6 FEBRUARY 2018  147.4 NAUTICAL MILES

 

Along the beach front, the same 6 “tunes” blasted out from several cars and their loudspeaker music systems, our kettle rattled on the hob, shaken by the bass of each irritating “song”. I think it’s fair to say we were heartily sick of hearing the locals choice of “music”. They are lovely and friendly folk, it’s their Island, they are very social and love getting together, we get that, but we do not get why they would choose to listen to the same damn noise! After 6 weeks, it’s been the same music, don’t they get sick of hearing the same stuff? We have! It’s a downside to being here, the Marina is fine, Rigo the Dock Master is superb, a fluent English speaker and possibly a handful of other languages I’m sure. He’s been invaluable in helping with paperwork and anything we asked of him. And so funny, a real sharp wit yet deeply thoughtful too. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed his company, he and the receptionist Yolande, also fluent in English, nothing has been too much trouble for her. They are two of the Marina’s best assets.  The security at the Marina has been excellent, patrolling the marina every night so we can sleep secure. Frank Virgintino’s free cruising guide to Dominican Republic did warn us of the noise and the jetskis, we hadn’t anticipated just how much the damn noise would wear us down. I think you’ve got the idea how stir crazy we were going…… It was late afternoon, and groups of families and friends were setting up for an evening get together. We shouted to each other in our cockpit over the all too familiar 6 “songs” from the pimped up loud speakers. “THERE’S A WEATHER WINDOW” shouted Terry. “WHAT?” I said, cupping my ear and leaning towards him. Terry shouted again over the din. “I SAID, THERE’S A WEATHER WINDOW IN A COUPLE OF DAYS, WE CAN LEAVE”. “HOO BLOODY RAY!” I shouted back. From the forecasts we received daily, the weather window which had opened for us to go East was slender, it was clear we had to go for it or lose the chance for yet another week. It would be bumpy, we didn’t care. I may throw up as much as the last time we crossed the Mona Passage, I didn’t care….. We would be motoring into 10 to 20 knots of wind with the chance of occasional squalls. That’ll do just fine.

Here in Dom Rep, you can’t just clear out and go. You need to give notice a day in advance, we spoke to Rigo, the Dockmaster and he put the wheels in motion for us.

5^th February 2018 The morning of our departure. We got our passports stamped as leaving Dominican Republic, we then sat on Sisu to await the attendance of the Armada and Drugs Inspector. An hour later than agreed, the official posse turned up. We welcomed them aboard, they have the power to be awkward and we don’t want any more time lost. It is imperative we get going soon, first thing each morning the sea and wind is calm, by the afternoon, the winds pick up and the seas build, we’ve timed our journey up the coast and across the channel to work with the elements, if the officials take umbrage at anything we do or say, they will check our boat even slower, giving arise to the potential of losing our slim weather window. We smile and shake their hands, to be fair they are pleasant and courteous, but then they hold all the Aces, it’s a game and both sides know the rules and we all wear our Poker faces, keep it all neutral! The Drugs Inspector took over half an hour. He peered and poked into every cupboard and floorboard. Even our big bean bag seat didn’t escape. He wanted Terry to slice open the bag so he could check it didn’t contain any illegal substances. It’s filled with tiny, polystyrene beads…. These beads attach themselves to you, and they go everywhere, we would be chasing the damn things round the boat for ever. It would be hilarious though to watch the Inspectors face as the bag exploded over him. Fortunately Terry reassured the Inspector that we weren’t hiding a stash inside the bean bag. Eventually, a good hour and a half later than we’d planned to leave, we were cleared to go. We hugged Rigo and wished him and his family well. We’ll really miss his excellent company and humour.

We cast off in light winds, it would take all day to go up the coast close to shore using the wind shadow of the mountains because the winds were coming from the North East. We didn’t strike any big winds till we reached Isla Saiona that night. It was certainly bumpy but nothing like our last attempt and I didn’t reacquaint myself with breakfast which was a relief to both of us and the dodgers which took a thrashing last time. We entered the full effect of the winds down the Mona Channel along with the turbulent seas off the Dominican Republic where the sea is shallow, from 2000 feet to 70 feet over the space of three nautical miles. We stayed in deeper water as the effects of the waves from the Mona Passage coming round the corner of the Dominican Republic created large confused seas. We then headed out towards Mona Isle where we hoped the predicted wind shadow from the mountains in Puerto Rico would start to take effect and calm the seas. In fact we didn’t see the effect of the calmer seas until we were about 20 miles past Mona Isle. Overnight it was too rough to sleep downstairs and with the engine running constantly the heat in the cabin was not fun. We changed from shorts into our trousers and got out our heavy wet weather jackets. We took turns in dozing in the cockpit as Sisu hobby horsed towards Puerto Rico. Neptune seeing our little boat gamely ploughing through the channel waved his arm from below us, casting splashes and the occasional wave over Sisu and ourselves. Nothing major though, perhaps he had a little respect for these mad sailors who in fact were crossing this notorious sea channel for the third time! It was a long, wet, sleepless and uncomfortable night, but nowhere near as bad as before. The effect of the wind shadow was quite dramatic and by the time the sun rose after 5am, the seas were almost flat and the day promised to be a beautiful one. We motored in on flat seas to where the depth shallowed from 2,000 feet again to 40 feet in the space of half a mile! There must be one helluva cliff under us!! As we crossed this boundary, the sea was so clear we could see the rocks and sand on the sea bed, which is a bit unnerving. Mona’s Isle is a protected turtle hatching Island, though we didn’t see any turtles, there was plenty of evidence of sea grass floating past us, turtle food!

Marina Pescaderia has a shallow but easy entrance, red and green buoys mark the channel indicating slightly deeper water. The bottom is mud, apart from the wrecks of boats sunk by hurricanes, reassuringly, these are marked! The depth in the wide bay is only 6 and 10 foot deep and surrounded by dense mangrove, it’s deep enough for us, as we looked around we could see evidence around the sides of the bay, wrecked boats, which even though they were roped into sheltered pockets of mangroves were ripped out of their natural shelter and torn apart like they were made of balsa. In the calm water, we moored up easily alongside a narrow pontoon. Jose Mendez, the owner took our ropes and greeted us with a big smile. Now we feel we’re moving on, hurrah!