Puerto Rico

We refueled, re-watered and re-provisioned in preparation for our journey to Puerto Rico. The weather had been blustery with gusty winds, sporadic bursts of rain and the resulting high waves. We found a small window of opportunity and headed to Culebra.
Turns out the weather was about a literal 180 degrees from what was forecast. The winds were uncharacteristically coming from 270 degrees west and kept clocking so quickly that it couldn’t keep up with itself! We ended up in a dead zone and motored the remaining 20 miles or so to the Puerto Rican island of Culebra.
Hey it's all part of the experience right?... Great for honing those flexibility skills!

Last year we went to Culebra twice for the magnificent pristine coral reefs and the beaches. This year was no exception.

Dinghying out to a snorkel site we came across this really cool sculpture. 

In fact we would say that the coral reefs in Culebra have to be the healthiest we’ve seen throughout the Caribbean. 

Flamenco beach is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

And except for this incongruous sight ,

you would never know that Culebra was a major U.S. Naval testing site. In 1936 the Navy began using the island for bombing practice. Bombardment reached its peak in 1969 when pilots trained for Vietnam. Missiles hit the island on 228 days of that year. In the summer of 1970 the residents began a series of non-violent protests to rid the island of naval occupation. They succeeded. In 1971 the Navy agreed to stop using the island as a Naval test site.  However, there are still a few areas that are prohibited due to unexploded ordinance. 

Having spent a glorious afternoon  at Flamenco beach we were rudely jolted out of our euphoria by this "parting" neon red image ... 

OUCH!!!! I think he'll be standing for a while!!!!

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From Culebra we headed to Fajardo, which is on the northeast side of the Puerto Rican mainland. While it was a downwind sail, it was still not the most comfortable sail we ever had. There were gusty winds and six to seven foot waves hitting us broadside which meant we had to maintain constant vigilance at the helm. Oh well, at least we were able to sail…

There are not a whole lot of good anchorage areas on the northern side of Puerto Rico especially in San Juan.  But we really wanted to see Old San Juan so we anchored at Isleta Marina near Fajardo, rented a car and drove there. It was well worth the effort. I had spent several months in San Juan as very young child of six years old. I remember visiting a huge dark monstrous fort with really thick walls. I thought my childhood memories coming from a diminutive body and an inexperienced mind had to have been exaggerated… as it turns out, only slightly.

There are two behemoth forts in old San Juan. (I'm not sure which one I went to as a kid) The photo below was taken from one fort, San Cristobal, of the other fort, El Morro,

Both forts had very strong strategic significance. They were called the Guardians of the Carribean by the Spanish

Tunnels and staircases wind through the interior

Again, like most of the cemetaries we've seen in the Carribean, this one is glistening white and right on the water, 

 

After getting lost in the vastness and history of both forts we finally emerged and meandered through the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan

"Lamb of God"

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The weather continued to be blustery and wavy with no end in the forseeable future so we docked our boat at Sunbay Marina and took this opportunity to spend time with family back in the states. Sunbay Marina in Fajardo is one of the best we've seen. They are extremely friendly, reasonably priced, good wifi, laundry, homeland security on site and to top it all off  they even have full service fueling within reach of every dock space!

Needless to say we felt very comfortable leaving our boat there for a couple of weeks. We had whirlwind yet much needed and enjoyable visits with family in three different states. When we returned to the marina, Grace was secure, in great shape and the seas had calmed considerably.

Two days ago we embarked on our journey northwest hopping west along the south coast of Puerto Rico. Huh? why southwest you ask when we're heading northwest? Well the northern coast of Puerto Rico offers little in the way of anchorage areas...

So here we are anchored at our last Puerto Rican spot, Puerto Real, where we will wait for a four day weather window while preparing for our next jump. Our intention is to head directly to Mayaguana in the Bahamas, bypassing the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos. If all goes as planned, this will make it a good three to four night journey through the famed tumultuous Mona Passage. That's why weather timing and preparation are key.

Catch ya' in the Bahamas;)

A wondrous journey to all,

Pam and Jeff