Cruising With High States: Nov.2007, PUERTO RICO

Having to wait in Mayaguez for customs we went for a walk and look what Rand found...Good eye Randy. We went into a deli for a break and they checked the weight of the ring. 1 oz 14kt.gold!!

This is what we had to climb over to get onto the customs dock...No ladder, just another challenge.....Amazing!!!

Customs was quick and straight forward.
By 1000 hours we were on our way to Bouqueron

Bouqueron was a great anchorage. Even with the Bay being very wide we found the only swells were caused by power boats. For anchoring we had a good muddy holding. Bouqueron is a touristy weekend resort town. We really enjoyed “Galloways” as we could touch base with family and friends via the internet. The local hotel restaurant served turkey for the American Thanks Giving. Unfortunately it was a little disappointing. They served very little dressing and no cranberry sauce. I guess we are spoiled at home. The company of Kathy, Kerry, Wendy, Jim, Pat, Carol and Lou made it all worth while.

Sunday, Nov. 25th
We’ve had two really great days traveling the country-side with Kathy and Kerry in a car rental. The first day we had decided to shop and of coarse did not realize it was “Black Friday”, the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. And oh my gosh it was busy!!! Puerto Rico is full of large shopping malls and big box stores. The first mall we went to took us at least 20 minutes to find a parking space. Inside the mall one could hardly move. Even on our busiest days at home there would never be as many shoppers. It was incredible. We did manage to get ourselves lost on our way back home as night fall caught up

with us and we had missed a turn. We were all getting so tired we got giddy and had to laugh at ourselves.
On our second day of travel the priority was to find marine stores. First we went to the pretty seaside town of La Parguera (par-Gair-ah), where we did in fact find a marine store. Then we went to Ponce (pon-say) where we had no luck at all. What marine stores we found were closed. We did however find a big box store called Santiago’s Cash and Carry. We found a great buy on prawns and spoiled ourselves by purchasing two packages.

Mon/Tues, Nov 26th and 27th.

We spent two days cleaning the boat inside and out. Rand cleaned the waterline and down as far as his long handled brush would scrub. I cleaned inside.

We had a nice surprise during our Monday afternoon break when Sean skyped us. We unfortunately had to cut the call short . We had to get back to the boat as we were having company for a 4pm. “Happy Hour”. Taima (Yvon and Carmelle), Bellagio (Kathy and Kerry), and Phoenix III (Guilles) . They all arrived bearing h’ordeurves, so we had a huge feast which of coarse included the prawns.

Wed. Nov.28th

We had “Happy Hour” aboard Bellagio with Merengue and Indigo to review our next stops. Lou on Indigo has traveled these waters for years and had lots of tips for us.

Thurs. Nov. 29th.

0800hours and we’re pulling up anchor. We were amazed at all the growth after being here only one week. It took thirty minutes to pull up the anchor in order to clean the chain. Dolphins led us out of the bay which is a sign of good luck.

By 1040hrs. we had the anchor down in Cabo Rojo. N17degrees 56.633” W067degrees 11.918” in 8.6 feet of water. Dolphins played off our stern and put on a great show. We also had two tuna or tarpon off the stern for a long time. Of coarse we haven’t bought a new fishing rod yet. In fact the

tarpon’s edibility is poor. We have read there is no other game fish in the world as challenging once hooked as a tarpon.(bonefish).

This anchorage is a bit rolly but really worth the stay because of the beautiful beach and the hike to the lighthouse was awesome. We picked up Kathy and Kerry and met Jim and Wendy on shore. We had a wonderful afternoon ending with a great swim.

Fri.Nov.30th

0700hrs anchor up and we’re heading for Gilligan’s Island. (Merengue are going to La Parguera for a few days and will catch up at a later date.) The winds have picked up, however, we still need to motor sail.

Gilligan's Island

By 01200hrs. we are anchored off Gilligan’s Island in 8.8ft. of water 17degrees 56.909”,
66degress 52.231”. After a bit of lunch we went over and picked up Kathy and Kerry to take them to Gilligan’s. What a beautiful spot. The water is absolutely gorgeous. As we got closer and closer to shore we couldn’t help but hum the theme song from the Gilligan’s series.

The island’s name changed in the early 70’s from Cayo Aurora to Gilligan’s Island when the locals started holding pig roasts on shore and they felt the island was like the one used in the series, so

decided to change the name. We swam for at least one and a half hours in the small estuary surrounded by mangroves. I constantly tried to take a good picture of a large pelican which became a joke. Every time I got out of the water to get the camera the bird would fly away. Staying in the water, camera in hand I would sit patiently awaiting his return. When we all decided he wasn’t coming back, back to shore I would go, put the camera away and sure enough he’d come swooping down. After about six times of repeatedly going in and out of the water, us all laughing, I still had no picture and finally gave up.

Needing to take advantage of our weather window we unfortunately could only stay the one night. It definitely is on our return list.

Rand on look out for Coffin Island

Sat. Dec. 1st

0700hrs. Our GPS is no good. It actually showed us anchored on land last night. I have started to figure out our LAT & LONG’S for Rand to enter into the GPS and of coarse have them all on our charts. Kathy also helped immensely by giving us some waypoints off her chart plotter after she saw our charts and all the work I had to do. I must say however, it has been a very worthwhile good experience getting all the practice of plotting our coarse without electronic help.

Today we’ve gotten a bit more wind which has helped our SOG.

We’re heading for Caja de Muertos (Coffin Island); which is off Ponce. Caja de Muertos is a state park and at sundown is said to look like a corpse; toes up, crossed arms at the chest and backward lain head.

By 01140hrs. we’ve got the anchor down and we’re in 10.5 feet of water and we’re 550 feet off our planned LAT & LONG. N17degrees 53.381” W066degrees 31.763”.
There is a large dock to our port side and a boat load of students has just been dropped off. YIKES!!!! We think we will wait awhile before we head to shore.

Picking up Kathy and Kerry, we hiked up to the lighthouse where we watched Phoenix III and Taima arrive at the anchorage. There were hordes of mosquitoes which cut our hike short. The pathway was lined on each side by beautiful cactus 20-30 feet high.

Deciding to go back to the shore we beach combed and found beautiful smooth green rocks; then it was time to have a swim before heading back to the boats.

Finally the winds are calm enough for us to barbeque for the first time in probably six months.

Sunday, Dec.2nd.

0700hrs. The anchor is up and we’re on our way to Salinas. We actually managed to keep the jib up, slow down the motor and do six knots. Not for long though…Just not enough wind. By 01030hrs we’re anchored in Salinas in 6.2ft of water. The harbor is quite full. We’re at 17degrees 57.289” 66degrees 17.503”

Tues. Dec. 4th.

We have been trying to rent a car for two days

now and it sounds like there’s no guarantee we’ll get one before Friday. We are enjoying the town of Salinas however, it looks like a good weather window is now only until Friday evening if we want to get to Culebra before the Christmas Winds kick in (which has been strongly recommended); so the decision has been made that we’ll leave tomorrow at day break. Bellagio and Taima , plus Enee Marie will leave with us.

Wed. Dec. 5th.

0550hrs.. We’re up and coffee is on….
0630 Anchor is up and main is up. Our regular routine and we’re heading out of the anchorage.
0710hrs. We have decided to change coarse and go in between Cayos De Ratones and Arricife Media Luna (this probably shaved off 5 nm)We have 87nm to get to Culebra. Our plan today is to head towards Punta Tuna. At this point we will decide if we’ll head NE to Palmas del Mar or East to Vieques.

01300hrs. We have just gone through a large rainstorm. We no longer can see Taima or Bellagio. Enee Marie is off in the distance. The weather is definitely deteriorating so we have decided to head for Vieques. Our radar shows the rain is 6 miles deep. We tried to go around, but got caught on the edge.

01400hrs. We figure we still have two more hours of travel. We don’t see any rain in front of us right now. The jib has been in and out as the wind constantly changes. The swells are 3-5 feet from the East. What we have to constantly watch for are fish traps and we regularly call one another when we see them. Enee Marie unfortunately did get caught in a trap.

01500hrs. We’ve both managed short rests.

01600hrs. We’ve arrived at Vieques and what a great surprise. There are mooring balls. We are in 12.5 feet of water at 18 degrees 06.738” and 65 degrees 34.661”. What a fabulous “must come back to” spot. We’re all having quiet nights on our own boats. Probably all too tired and we know we need to get up at 0500hrs again tomorrow. All we can hear is a sweet serenade from crickets and frogs. We have read that from Vieques Sound until the end of the Virgins we will always see the next island. How can we not be excited.

Rand having a salt water bath.

Thurs. Dec. 6th.

0630hrs. We’re on our way. We got up a 0500hrs but waited for day break. Enee Marie left around 0400. As we were leaving Taima called and said they found dirt in a filter so they’d be awhile. Rand said if they can’t fix, call and we’ll come back and get them. If the weather wasn’t turning for the worse Isle de Vieques would be a lovely place to stay for a few days.

0730hrs Got my first burn this morning. Pouring coffee into Rand’s mug in the dark—not too smart.

0830hrs. We’re in Sonda de Vieques. We are traveling through depths from 12 to 84 feet. The Equatorial Current flows West Northwest in this area. With the currents and the sound being on a shallow plateau the area is very unpredictable.

0110hrs. Swells have grown to 4-6 feet and building. We left non too soon from Vieques.

This is a picture of the storm brewing on our way to Culebra.

01250 hrs.We are anchored in Ensenada Honda, Culebra in 24 feet of water. 18 degrees 18.258” 65 degrees 17.825”. The anchorage does not have a lot of protection. We may need to move.

Dec. 10th...We have in fact moved to what we hope will be a better anchorage. Looks like we are likely under the airports flight path but hopefully the waters will not be as choppy and we may get some protection from the winds being behind a small island off our starboard bow. We are in 14.8 ft. of water. Yesterday we completed our flight plans to go home for Christmas. We look forward to seeing as many people as possible; however, we are not too sure how we'll enjoy the cold. The other concern is I know we will not get to see everyone which is dissappointing. The weather here continues to be stormy. We plan to put down our second anchor before we head home.

Interesting, in town to-day we were trying to find a coin operated laundry and met some locals. Of coarse we all started to comment on the weather----"This is really early for high winds" one young girl says..."I can't remember it being like this--I even have to put a blanket on my bed". Sound familiar... Back on the baot a couple from GABRA came by. They have been in Dewey since 1989 on their boat. They can't believe the weather...It's always great this time of the year!! DEREK AND EVELYN....does this sound familiar??? Quite frankly this bay feels like Galliot Cut.

Dec. 11th. Tropical storm Olga is upon us. She really started to kick in around 0630hrs. Randy decided to pull up the second anchor just in case we have to ove quickly. What a time he had. We have had gusts to 50 knots. Figures, just after we make our plans to go back to Victoria.