Puerto Rico

Arriving in Puerto Rico marked our first time clearing into an American controlled area. Since we left for the Bahamas in January we have been outside of the US.  Prior to leaving for the Bahamas, I researched what would be needed for our entry into Puerto Rico. The prime thing that is needed is a US Customs Decal.

To get the US Customs Decal you visit the website for US Customs and Border Protection [https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/main/#].  Its a relatively simple process to register as a user and then apply for a decal online.  Within 5 days our decal number was issued and it could be viewed online. The actual physical decal showed up at my farther’s house several weeks later. But all you really need is the decal number. The fee is $27.50 for a year for a private vessel and there was an online user fee of $5 as well.

When we arrived in Puerto Rico we flew the yellow Q flag, as you do when ever you enter a new country. But since this was an American controlled area and we already had our US Customs Decal the process got considerably easier for us.  We simply called into the local US Customs and Immigration office (the number was on Active Captain and in information the marina gave us when we arrived). We were able to check in over the phone following a 10 minute conversation that mostly covered spots not to miss while in Puerto Rico. Sea Frog and Last Tango didn’t have a US Customs Decal and had to rent a car the next day to go to the US Customs and Immigration office to get their decal. Party of Five are Canadians so all five of them had to go to the office to present and show valid passports.

The marina we choose to make our initial base for clearing in and provision was Marina Pescaderia in Port Real (Mayaguez) .  It was a medium sized marina with decent facilities. The best part of the marina was the little restaurant at the end of the dock. The people that worked there were great! Nelly, the young women who is the chef is great and creative. She even played dominos with us one night. The bar was cool and had great fresh cocktails. They introduced me to one of my favorite new island drinks: Scotch with coconut water and coconut water ice cubes.

The marina also offered reasonable car rentals.  You could get a compact car for around $30 a day right there. Which was great because within a short drive there were all kinds of great options for provisions and supplies.  We hit a Home Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club and a decent grocery store. The prices were really close to what we had in the States and that was a great break for the budget from the expensive Bahamas. We had a car with Travis and Daph from Party of Five.  We filled it to capacity twice!

Totally restocked and having our fill of marinas over the past week, it was time to head out on the hook again. We thought a short jump down to Boqueron would be a good way to get acclimated to being on the hook again. It was only 6 nm from the marina. One at a time we took turns moving from our slips to the fuel dock and then off towards the anchorage.  Party of Five was first, followed by Sea Frog and then us. Last Tango and Sea Squirrel would go last.

About halfway to the anchorage we started seeing some really dark clouds and hearing thunder. We called ahead to Party of Five. They were just about to anchor and thought the clouds would push south of the anchorage from their vantage point. We decided to speedup and try to anchor before any potential storm hit. We also called back to the other boats that they may want to wait at the marina for this storm to pass. We anchored just as it started to down pour, however, our anchor set didn’t feel right. We decided to set the anchor alarm and watch the GPS. We could reset after the storm passed if we still didn’t like our set.

Party of Five’s thoughts that the storm would pass south of us were wrong. We got a full brunt of the storm. We had winds around 35 knots with driving rain and lots of thunder and lightening.  The other two boats made it into the harbor and anchored before the storm really picked up.

We started to drag from high winds. I sat in the cockpit with the engine running ready to take action if we dragged too close to any other boats.  We were only slowly dragging, so our thoughts were to wait it out if possible and re-anchor after the storm passed.  While I was sitting in the cockpit, I was watching lightening strike all around us on land and out near the mouth of the harbor. The storm really resembled the “charging like bulls” description from the Thornless Path.

After about 30 minutes, the storm was starting to slow and it looked like the end was coming. Just then there was the loudest crack of thunder & lightening I have ever heard. The hair on my arms stood up from the electricity being so close. I immediately picked up the VHF and asked if everyone was ok.  Party of Five responded, “we were hit!” and then nothing…..

It took a few seconds for that to register and about a minute later they came back on their handheld VHF. Everyone was ok. Most of their electronics appeared to have been fried by the hit, including their primary VHF. They were beginning the analysis of what was damaged and what still worked.

With the storm subsiding we re-anchored. When we brought up the anchor we had a 10 foot piece of pipe and some old anchor chain caught under our anchor that prevented us from setting well.  We moved over to a better sand patch and set the anchor again.  Feeling more confident in our holding, I packed up all my electrical tools and supplies and headed over to Party of Five. Travis and I worked for several hours to figure out what was still operational.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find any of the electronics to still be working. After a few hours we called it for the night and planned to resume the next morning.

The next morning Stacey, Summer and I went over to Party of Five to resume working on the boat. Sea Frog offered to come over but they were both sick and didn’t want to expose us to their illness. Last Tango had offered to come over for moral support but didn’t have much in the way of technical skills to help.  Sea Squirrel had left at first light to maintain their schedule. Travis, Rhonda and I spent the day going through the boat while Stacey and Summer kept the kids entertained. Rhonda went up the mast to do an inspection for damage and to diagnose what was damaged by the strike. We also setup some backup navigation options (lap top running Open CPN, Navionics on a phone, etc.). Using Stacey’s cellphone as a hot spot, Travis was able to order new items to replace the damaged ones. We picked a marina on the southern coast of PR as base to stay at while repairs would be made and the parts were shipped there from Defender. (Side note on Defender, when they found out what happened Defender upgraded the shipping at no charge so that the parts would get to Party of Five sooner. Great people at Defender!)

You can read all about Party of Five’s experience with the lightening strike on their blog post, Shocking!

We left at dawn to head to the next anchorage.  To get on the southern coast of PR, we first had to round a cape. The Thornless Path recommends a technique for attacking the southern coast.  You leave at dawn, sail as far as your can before noon and then tuck into a harbor before the afternoon breeze kicks up.  The trades are still going from east to west so heading east means heading into the wind. You can sail a little more here though.  You would sail southeast until around 10 am and then tack and head back towards land. 

Once we rounded Cape Rojo we were official in the Caribbean Sea! Our little 31 foot sailboat has now traveled as far north as Maine and as far south as the Caribbean. 🙂

With a pieced together Party of Five, we decided to motor sail due east and stay as close to the coast as we could rather than sail following the directions in the Thornless Path.  This let us stay within the protection of some of the points of land and islands along the coast.  Using this coverage we were able to make good progress well into the early afternoon.  We made it to our chosen anchorage by Gunica, also known as Gilligan’s Island by the locals.

Gilligan’s Island had a great lagoon in the middle of the island.  It was where two channels through the mostly mangrove island cut through the islands and form a wide, shallow lagoon.  The current runs from the ocean side to the lagoon.  Using the mangroves to assist, you make your way against the current to the southern end of the island to where the two channels join on that side of the islands.  Then you can float back down either channel like a lazy river. You can also climb up the mangroves and jump off into the channels. We stayed a couple of nights until we had confirmation that Party of Five’s new electronics had been delivered to Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club.

We made our way to Ponce.  The Yacht and Fishing Club was expensive for a night but had a great weekly rate. At first Party of Five took a slip while the rest of us anchored. But after a couple of nights in the rolly anchorage, we moved into a slip as well.  We all took advantage of being at the club. There were a couple of pools, showers, a grill, tables for socializing, and an address where we could have packages shipped from Amazon. We played dominos and Cards Against Humanity and had a pot luck dinner with some other cruisers that were staying at the club.

The marina proved to be a great location to get Party of Five repaired. Once the packages were in we were able to get almost all of the broken electronics replaced within the first couple of days of repairs. Unfortunately, one of the things we discovered about lightening strikes is that more things will break after time.  Alternators caught fire, computers were found to be broken, plastic bushings were melted from the heat, ignition switches broke. There was little rhyme or reason to what had broke and what didn’t.

A happy coincidence of our little armada was that three of us had birthdays within a week of each other.  Not just a birthday but we were all born within days of each other. Kendra, Rhonda and myself were all the exact same age.  So for a week we were celebrating a birthday every other day. I just wanted a beer and some steak. Kendra wanted sushi. Rhonda wanted a girls day at the mall. We had a lot of fun.

We also took a cab ride into Ponce and hung out in the city for the day. We toured the old fire station. We also did a walking tour of the historic parts of the city. Ponce was a great place with lots of history. Unfortunately, we timed it wrong and the art museum wasn’t open. We still got to see a lot of great things in Ponce.

Ponce is actually named after Ponce de Leon and his family crest, the Lion, can be seen everywhere.

We kept hearing that the must do attraction for the area was Coffin Island. It was only about 5 nautical miles off the coast of Ponce. We thought this would make a perfect shakedown trip for Party of Five. So all of us, including Summer, piled onto Party of Five and headed out to the island. The wind was about 20 knots on the nose with some steep chop.  It was a good test for the repaired boat. It was also our first time being on a cruising catamaran. I have to say we were shocked by how loud the banging on the hulls was from the waves as we powered into it. Travis said this wasn’t bad and they had far worse on some of the crossings we had recently. I can tell you Summer didn’t like it and has been a little shy on visiting catamarans since.

After a few weeks in Ponce Party of Five was mostly repaired and it was time to start heading east again. We intended to leave at first light.  At 6 AM, I was up and walking Summer when the rising sun illuminated large, dark gray thunderheads. A quick check of the radar confirmed the ominous clouds had some squalls heading our way. After a quick conversation on the VHF we all decided not to leave. By 9 AM, the squalls seemed to have passed us by and we were off for Salinas. It was a short, uneventful motor sail into the wind. Shortly after lunch time we had our anchor down in an anchorage surrounded by mangroves.

Salinas was chock full of manatees. We haven’t seen so many of these sea cows in one spot since we left Florida. We had lots of fun watching them surface for air while feeding on the marine vegetation. True to form these guys were not spooked by engines or boats and we could get pretty close to them in dinghies or kayaks. Of course we never got any good photos or videos of them.

Salinas has a great cruisers bar named Sal Pa’Dentro run by Janus and his wife. In November 2015, they had suffered a fire that destroyed their bar. However, you would never know it by their great attitude and the current condition of the bar. They have worked hard to reopen the bar as quick as possible.  The one thing they lost that they couldn’t replace were all the gifts from passing cruisers. We helped add to the rebuilding by leaving a burgee from our home port marina.

Sea Frog rented a car for the day and we tagged along on a trip to Old San Juan. We walked all around the island and checked out the historic fortifications and buildings. The architecture in this area is truly unique. Old world with some Caribbean flare.

After several days exploring Salinas we were anxious to get to the Spanish Virgin Islands. Going on advice from Janus and other locals, we chose to skip Vieques. Unfortunately, they are having an issue with crime right now with stolen dinghies and anchored boats being broken into.  Instead we chose to follow some local knowledge from Janus and head out at midnight with the intent of making it all the way to Culebra.

Bahamas Chapter 8: George Town (aka Chicken Harbor)

Have you ever gone on a cruise on a cruise ship or went to summer camp?  You know how everything is scheduled and everyone is friends by the end of the time there…this is what George Town is like.  I am not even joking…there is Yoga and Water Aerobics each morning, weekly poker tournaments, volleyball each afternoon, and fires & sundowners on the beach.  And, if all that is not enough for you, there is plenty of hiking, snorkeling, restaurants with live bands, etc.

The harbor consists of multiple anchorages, which is the home to several hundred boats that come to this stop in the Bahamas, where they remain for the entire winter season.  There is a Cruisers’ Net that comes over the VHF each morning to discuss the on-goings in the harbor, announces items available for Buy-Sell-Trade, and includes Arrivals and Departures of vessels to the area.  To be honest, when we first arrived here all of this was very overwhelming, after we had spent over three months in pretty small, quiet anchorages.

We had an extended stay here as we waited for our guest (Frank) to arrive from Boston, Massachusetts.  The timing could not have been more prefect.  We ended up being at this island during the National Family Island Regatta, which we learned is the biggest sailing event in the Bahamas.  Boats and people come from every island to participate in the races and festivities.  Regatta Point, an otherwise quiet street, became an entire town of shacks and stages just for this event.  Besides the races and drinking & eating, there were art exhibits, parades, a fashion show, and bands.  It was amazing to see this quiet little town swell with thousands of people over the course of just a week.  We had such a good time with Frank and miss him already!

Race boats arrive via barge or are towed by a power boat

Shacks being erected

Shacks ready for action

Cheers! Tasting our first Sky Juice.  From left to right:  Stacey & Jesse (sv Smitty), Chris & Jim (sv Radio Waves), Frank (sv Smitty guest)

Late night (well, early morning)….well past my bedtime, but well worth it

Chat’N’Chill is one of the famous stops of this area, just across the harbor from Georgetown on Stocking Island.  They have a weekly pig roast, daily volleyball games, and of course a beach bar.

We did manage to snug into a quiet spot that hardly anyone goes to anchor called Redshanks.  It was a great place to hide out from high winds that we kept experiencing.  The most amount of boats that we saw in this area was about 15, which meant that the most beautiful beach was virtually all ours! We probably spent the most amount of our time while in Georgetown anchored here. 

views around Redshanks

bridge that you go under as you dinghy to/from town.  

On each larger island, there is a monument that identifies to approaching vessels which island that they are in fact approaching.  The short hike up to the top of the hill to the monument on Monument Beach rewards you with the most spectacular views of the surrounding area.

sunset with Deborah & Keith (sv Wrightaway)

spotted this eel as we were snorkeling

You get a pretty diverse group of visitors to this island

This kid kicked my butt at checkers (likely because he made up new rules as we played)

Bubbly pool – nice afternoon of relaxing and wine with Radio Waves’ crew

weenie roast on Frank’s last night

Flip Flop Beach

this is how the local police handle derelict boats

sadly, this was where we departed ways with Radio Waves.  Thank you both again for everything – we had a really great time enjoying this experience with you!

Chapter 7: Lee Stocking Island

Lee Stocking Island may be our favorite stop that we made in the Bahamas.  There is enough to do that we could stay for weeks, which we did! But, we had to pile Smitty up with 30 gallons of extra water in a bladder and as much extra gas as we could, because there are no stores or other means of getting water or fuel on this island.

The island marker and the cut (entry/exit) for Lee Stocking

The Abandoned Institute

In order to pursue his interest in marine research and renewable energy, the 600-acre Lee Stocking Island was purchased for $70,000 by John Perry in 1957. He developed the island as a scientific field station and tried to make it self-supporting by incorporating working models of new technologies.

Wind Turbine – the cables were used to pull the blades to the top of the post (which looks like a mast of a boat on land)

The Perry Institute for Marine Science included laboratories, housing, an airstrip, a dock, boats, and dive support facilities.  Up until SCUBA technology became more advanced, the field station featured shallow-depth submersibles.

From the institute’s website: 

“The Perry Institute for Marine Science is dedicated to making a difference by protecting our oceans. We do this through ocean research and education that informs the public and encourages action. We operate a tropical marine laboratory on Lee Stocking Island in the Bahamas. Scientists, students and educational groups visit our facility from around the world to conduct ocean research in this remote, pristine stretch of the Caribbean. In the areas on and around our island, we study things like coral reefs, fisheries, ecosystems and the biodiversity of undersea life.”

After the death of Perry in 2006, research funding dried up and the institute was closed. However, the Institute was not cleaned up; tons of garbage (including hazardous materials), buildings and equipment remain on the island. 

A couple of the many abandoned buildings and a pick-up truck

Live-wells used for research

Airstrip

Hazardous chemicals and the remnants of a decompression chamber

The tanker trucks were used to hold fuel for the generators that supported the island

Hunting

Where the conch live

Conch:  Before                                      Conch:  After

Beautiful Beaches and clear water in every shade of blue

Hiking

Summer leads the way on the trail hike

Snorkeling

Anchorage with spectacular sunset

Farewell & Following Seas

One of the saddest days of of our trip so far was parting ways with Deborah & Keith and their pup, Kai on sv Wrightaway.  Thank you so much for the pleasure of your company, sharing the hunting and snorkeling spots with us, showing Jesse how to clean conch, and especially for sharing all of the super yummy fish & conch meals. 🙂

As I suspect that this island (or at least a portion) will be sold and developed into some sort of luxury resort over the next couple of years,  I am glad that we had the opportunity to explore this island now, especially in its current state (which, we found to be quite interesting and fun).