A Little Too Much Excitement

Saturday morning and we were all up bright and early to catch the 6:30 am fast ferry to Fajardo, on the eastern end of Puerto Rico. We joined the crew of Almost There all ready for the 45 minute ride (cheap cheap at $2.25 a person) and a plan for breakfast in Fajardo.

As light dawned on the dock, the slower cargo ferry was loading and no fast ferry in sight so we took our open air seats and enjoyed the hour and a half trip.

Earlier in the week I snapped this with both ferries, fast on the left, cargo on the right.

Our plan was to run errands for repair equipment and replacement parts, do a bit of shopping at West Marine and Wal-Mart and then head off to enjoy the sights in the rain forest. As is usual with us, we hate planning way ahead so the only car we could find to rent on a Saturday morning was an old, and little bit rusty and clunky Ford Taurus. We all piled in and bounced our way over pot-holes, frequently looking back to see if anything had fallen off the car.

Errands and shopping completed, we headed into the El Yunque National Park. We have been here before but not Robert, Shena and Kinsley, so we clambered around some of the waterfalls and generally enjoyed the moist coolness of the forest. Did I mention there was a lot of mud? It's a rainforest so of course there's rain, which makes the trails very slippery with mud. We still managed to make our way up one waterfall and then once back to the car used another waterfall pool to wash off our shoes, ankles, legs and anything else that was spattered.

We got off the main road looking for the park entrance...

Lost? We're not lost! Everyone comes through the bamboo forest to find the rainforest. Ok, maybe we're a little lost.

Shena & Kinsley trying not to take a dip in the super cold mountain water.

So many shades of green.

Critters and birds were everywhere - although most of the birds we could only hear.

Never ending cascades; you could hike here a long time and never see the same waterfall twice.

A mid afternoon meal at Lolita's Mexican restaurant along the highway was our next stop. Tacos, chimichangas, enchiladas and empanadillas all washed down with the house sangria ... Yum! The place is so busy that even at four in the afternoon they need a parking valet. He was amused by our car I think.

By 7 pm we were all ready for our fast ferry ride back to Culebra but once again the cargo ferry was in place at the dock so we donned our sweaters and waterproof jackets in preparation for the upwind ride. It was most likely going to be a bit rough and salty, but we much preferred the open air seats to those inside where, to be honest, we knew the smell and sound of other sick passengers would be enough to set us off.

This is where the excitement of the day set in... We were only about five minutes off the dock when there was a commotion at the port rail. We though someone was shouting they could see dolphins but given it was dark we figured it wasn't worth moving. Then a fellow hopped up on the stair and started banging on the pilot's window yelling that there was a man overboard!!

Mass confusion ensued with passengers and crew alike running back and forth, very quickly becoming evident that the ferry was not properly equipped to deal with this situation. No floodlights to angle out over the water and no life-rings to throw and for us, the language added to the feeling. Kudos to the captain though as he cut the engines but still managed to angle the ferry in the wind and waves to be able to pick up not one but four guys from the water.

We didn't get a lot of detail, but the end story was that these were not passengers who had fallen off the ferry but rather four guys whose boat had capsized or sunk, from the looks of it rather quickly. They had no life jackets on and had grabbed anything they could that would help them float. One guy was clutching a diesel can, another a buoy, and it must have been a truly fearful time for them as the ferry was steaming out of port and straight down on them. I think we all took it as a reminder of just how careful you have to be at any time but most especially at night.

The ferry returned to port where the rescued boaters disembarked and reports were made to the coast guard, and then about an hour later we were underway once more. As expected it was a rough, wet rid upwind to Culebra but sheltered behind the pilot house we arrived relatively dry and a lot less green than many of the passengers.

Time for a restful sleep with no dreams of disaster at sea.

 

Off-Roading on Culebra

Time for a day ashore and enjoying this beautiful little island!

The crew from Almost There were also up for a little exploration so we headed into town to rent golf carts for a tour of the island. As with most things we do, we hate making plans and booking in advance so of course when we got to the rental shops, there were no golf carts left but we could all pile into a jeep, which we did.

Ensenada Honda is a huge deep bay in the middle of Culebra, coming up from the south. We drove out on the eastern side of the island and found some fabulous views back on the little town of Culebra and the airfield below.

Mowzer is anchored on the ocean side just over the saddle of land.

For much of our tour we turned off the main road and explored side roads and dirt tracks. It's a very small island but amazing what you can find away from the beaten path. Robert, our fearless driver maneuvered up and over hills until we found the jeep's limit but not before we'd found some interesting spots to continue on foot.

This little pebble beach gave up lots of beach glass and little interesting little bits of shells.

Blue and bluer!

Along the way we found lots of construction, new and old. This house had a beautiful setting and was obviously designed to take advantage of the views. Sometimes it's just nice to sit and dream...

Loved the entry / breezeway that led right through the house.

On our way to the top of the hill.

And back down to the bottom where we watched planes take off and land.

By lunchtime our tummies led us up to the northwest and Playa Flamenco. This beautiful beach has the most lovely fluffy white sand, interesting reefs and snorkeling, a moderate surf on this day although we've seen it crashing up the beach in the past, requisite palm trees for shade, and most importantly a charming collection of kiosks dishing up cold drinks and great meals. We opted for various seafood empanadillas and delicious BBQ skewered chicken which did not disappoint.

Playing around with the panorama setting on the camera ... Gives the bay a strange square effect.

This guy with the most gorgeous eyes desperately wanted to share our empanadillas.

As the sun set in the west we made our way back to return the jeep and then dropped into the Dinghy Dock for a few more libations and celebration of a day well spent with good friends.

Henry and I carried on to try out a new-to-us place called Zaco's Tacos. We'd heard good reviews and they were certainly bang-on with delicious soft-shelled tacos and quesadillas. Standing in line waiting for a table for two with two other table-for-two groups we quickly found out that a table for six was available. What better idea than to join up with two guys from Louisiana and a couple from Brooklyn. The special for the evening was Tongue Tacos, which I am pleased to report were delicious!

What a fabulous day. Nothing daunted we are now ready to tackle our engine problems tomorrow.

Puerto Rico Has It's Clutches on Us

The last three days have been a bit of an adventure, some highs and lows but we are now back to our beloved Culebra.

Let's see how it went...

On Friday in Salinas we walked back up to the grocery store and with the much needed help of a taxi ride back to the boat we did a final provisioning trip, mostly on cannd and bottled goods. You'll think that all we've done on PR is provision, but with prices like we won't see again in the islands we hope now that we've got supplies laid in for quite a while.

Canned goods stored in the bilges.

Can you tell we like Puerto Rican sangria? I foretell of some good times ahead.

With all the predictions and weather gurus telling us that if we wanted to move up the coast to the east, this weekend was the time to do it, we moved ourselves five miles up to the end of the Bahia de Jobos to sit behind the reef ready for an easy exit on Friday night.

A final farewell to Salinas and the magnificent mountain views.

Up we got again at midnight, made our exit and found the winds and sea blowing hard but decided to press on close to shore, tucking behind reefs where we could for some relief. Unfortunately, and we certainly knew the risk was there, we ran across a fisherman's trap float line and managed to wrap it around the starboard propellor. Of course this happened at 3am and as we were passing inside a reef, but we managed to cut ourselves free (sorry to the fisherman but there was no saving the trap in the dark) and limped on to the next anchorage on one engine. Isn't it wonderful that we have two! Also wonderful was that on this bit of coastline there are very few stopping places and we happened to be just across the bay from the last one. We anchored in Puerto Patilla in the dark, went to bed and waited until daylight to deal with our snag.

Never a good sign when there's a gritty float and line attached to the back of the boat.

The anchorage was silty and rolly so getting the line cut away was no easy job. Henry spent at least 40 minutes in the water getting his head bumped and shoulder bruised, but he was successful in getting the line away and the prop spinning as it should.

This is one of those times we wished we were divers.

Getting the line cut off the propellor shaft in bits and pieces.

The final collection of line and float.

After testing that our prop was not free-spinning and talking to a couple of friends via phone, we made the decision to move on, knowing that where we were anchored would not be possible to get any service if needed. We had a choice of returning to Salinas, 15 miles behind us, or pressing on and try to make the marina at Puerto del Rey and service if required. The winds were down a bit so we decided to carry on and both engines behaved beautifully.

By mid afternoon we decided to divert to Vieques since there was no way we would make it up the coast to the marina before dark. Weren't we thrilled to arrive at the anchorage and find Laura and Jason on Blue Blaze there, welcoming us to drop anchor beside them. We spent the day in Ponce with these good folks and it was wonderful to meet up again.

Even more wonderful was Jason's offer to dive under the boat the next morning and replace our propellor with our spare. Sure enough, there was one small piece of rope left and a small dent in a flange on the propellor so we were very happy to get the new one installed. Friends like this are pretty amazing!

New propellor in place Sunday morning saw us setting off for Culebra. As we sailed around the reef at the tip of Vieques, we were once again in the beautiful clear blue waters of the Virgin Islands and all felt much better in the world. After two weeks of beating our way to windward up the coast of PR we now really appreciate just how special a place the Virgin Islands are with their protected anchorages, shorter distances and beautiful waters.

A much happier sailor!

Not to be outdone though, our starboard engine may have sustained further damage in our late night incident and about 10 miles from Culebra it went on strike. Once again we limped into the anchorage on one engine with winds blowing hard making it difficult to anchor. The relief was palpable once the anchor was down and we both decided we were in much need of pizza for dinner.

Heather's Pizza dished up a great dinner in a very busy little spot.

Tomorrow is another day and the saying goes that cruising is really just doing boat maintenance in exotic places. Seems like we have another day of boat work ahead of us.

Daily Meanderings

Sitting in the Salinas anchorage for a few days has really made us lazy. We typically struggle out of bed around 7:30 and dawdle over a leisurely breakfast, catching up on the happenings on email and Facebook, and occasionally checking on what is happening in the world, although the last is a stretch for us these days. Must make a better effort but to be honest once you're isolated from the constant barrage of news networks, the radio and "water cooler" chit-chat you realize just how little it really matters that you are up to date on the latest happenings, especially when they don't directly affect you and your family.

That said, Henry tackled the chart-plotter and made great headway in gaining a better understanding of how the whole rat's nest of wiring behind the helm station is connected. The access is through a panel above our galley sink and although he looks like he is having a footbath, I can assure you we did not mix water and electricity on this task.

I was able to advance my dinghy chaps project to the stage of first "dress fitting". I'm pretty darned pleased with the outcome and just have the final attachment points, inside finish and convenience pockets to finish off on this project. She's looking pretty sweet, and the chaps will help to protect the hypalon from sun damage.

After a day on the boat yesterday, today we headed into Salinas to stretch our legs and see where our feet would take us.

Not much of excitement to report in this little town, but here's a little taste of what we found along the way.

This laden mango tree was dropping its fruit all over the roadside, so we helped ourselves to a couple of low hanging fruit.

In Puerto Rico, cockfighting is legal and supposedly many backyards have crates with roosters. These were conveniently stationed in view of the roadside.

Here's a little change from Medalla. I really liked the Coqui lager and Henry enjoyed the Santo Viejo pilsner.

We stopped in at a little ferreteria (hardware store) and at this point I realized how completely my life has changed. We were so excited by the price of marine adhesive that we bought their entire stock of three tubes. We got home and our two best "purchases" of the day are proudly displayed below.

At $10.95 a tube we couldn't resist. In St. Martin the going price was supposedly cheap at $18.

And of course fresh off the tree beats all. Looking forward to green mango salsa tomorrow.

And last but not least - a very happy birthday to Jamie back home. Hope this next decade is a good one!

Engines Yay! - Chart Plotter Booh!

Sitting at Gilligan's Island gave us time to work on a few of the kinks that we have been experiencing, it's been an exercise in gremlin extermination.

Our engines have been chronically overheating with white vapor coming out the exhaust and what we felt was a reduced output of water from the cooling system. Our manual head (toilet) wasn't flushing properly and felt like there was something jamming the pump handle. Our compass light has never worked at the helm and finally, and most terrifyingly, our chart plotter would turn off its display without warning and typically it seemed, when we were trying to navigate tricky reefs.

For the engine, Henry was convinced that it had something to do with our haul-outs since we've had intermittent problems with the engine since Nanny Cay and more often since Casa de Campo. He checked the sea strainers (with help from Robert and an oversized wrench to get one open) and they were pretty clean, but he did notice that the air never seemed to clear from them. Referring back to all those years of running the pump on our swimming pool he set to work to get all the air out of the system and once again we can sustain full engine revs. This morning we ran at almost 6 knots for 38 miles and tested higher revs which put us up to 7.2 knots, with not a whisper of an overheating alarm. The lesson learned on this one (and experienced mariners probably have their heads in their hands) is to make sure the seacocks are closed prior to lifting the boat out of the water so that air can't get into the system.

Applying the same logic to the head, we found a slightly different problem but still a hose issue. A fold had developed in the hose where it was tie-wrapped to a support and the fold had very much constricted the diameter. This meant that not enough volume could pass through the hose which was backing up as resistance to the pump handle. We might also have developed an air bubble in the system. Once we straightened out the hose and opened up the kink, we were back in business (so to speak).

Henry reconnected the compass light and after a quick mid-passage adjustment last night we had a lovely red glow behind the compass. This was one of those simple jobs but the result can only really be tested at night, and we'd just keep forgetting to do it after we settled down for the evening.

Finally, the chart plotter. Sigh. It seems as though there might be some repeatable symptom in that if we turn on the autopilot prior to getting the chart plotter running with a position fix, the chart plotter will suddenly lose it's backlight, to the extent that you can't see the screen - it becomes a black hole looming with doom as you drive into the dark of night. Okay, that's rather melodramatic but it's a bit how it feels. The sudden darkness can be foisted upon you at any time, minutes or hours since the last petulant attack. Last night as we left Gilligan's Island in the dark we quickly installed the iPad in a ziploc at the helm station and ran the Navionics charts there all night as backup. This morning, Henry is reading up all the trouble-shooting tips and will be making good use of our phone card with a Raymarine tech, our backup plan being a trip to West Marine while we sit in Salinas waiting for the next break in the weather. I am convinced that I am not doing another night trip with this piece of cr... on board, but we'll see what transpires with techy advice and time.

Not to worry, our time at Gilligan's Island was not all work. With the folks of Almost There, we put in plenty of social time as well. We discovered that tucked in on the beach round the corner was the Copamarina Resort and they were most welcoming to sailors. We treated ourselves to lunch on Sunday once Robert discovered there were ribs on the menu and we were then welcome to lounge by the pool for the afternoon. Not too rough! We also discovered the cheapest laundry I've ever seen - $1.50 for a large wash and then the dryer was "jammed" on so it worked without further contribution. Got the sheets, towels and a blanket all done in one load and yes, they came out clean (nothing more disappointing than getting your clothes back dirtier than they went in.)

Plates loaded with ribs as we all tuck in.

A tree that could model for some of the God's Trees in Game of Thrones.

As you will have gleaned above, we have moved on now and are now anchored in the mangrove lined harbour at Salinas, a good place to wait out the next bout of high winds. The forecasts all converged and there was a 13-hour window last night with an opportunity to move comfortably eastwards. Almost There lifted anchor and waved goodbye at 6pm as they planned a longer trek than us, and we got up at 2am to make it up to Salinas by 9am. Finally, we had a perfect demonstration of the calming effects of the cool night mountain air stalling the trade winds and with nothing much over 10 knots and relatively calm seas, we hugged the coast and put the 38 miles under our keel in relatively quick order (with our nicely cooled engines.)

Nice and close to the coast, avoiding all the reefs and mangrove islands, gave us calm winds and moderate seas.