In the past week we have travelled the southern coast of Puerto Rico and are now tucked away in Puerto Real on the West coast where we are taking care of a big reprovisioning and a few other details to get set for our next passage to the Bahamas. Wow, how time is flying. I hope spring starts to arrive back home as we start our trek north.
Our first stop was Patillas where we stayed for a couple nights. Our first trip ashore we beached the dinghy at the local park and as we crossed the road we found a local pub with $1.25 happy hour beers on Thursdays. It was only Wednesday so we had to pay the full price of $1.50 when we stopped after a walk around town. It’s a hard life!
Next was Salinas, a popular stop for cruisers. We pulled in on Friday and clearly the nightlife is a big part of Puerto Rico, atleast from Thursday through Sunday. Salinas is fully protected from waves and swell so when the winds died off in the evenings we had very calm conditions and had the best two nights sleep at anchor possibly since we left Georgian Bay.
We checked out the waterfront street which has a few small casual restaurants and a couple mid range ones.
Of course Magnus always likes to meet the locals, but we do have to be weary as they have many strays here. The strays have all been friendly so far, with a few barkers that keep a watchful eye on us but mostly we just want to avoid Magnus picking up any ticks. For those that don’t like barking dogs, you may want to skip Puerto Rico. In the evenings all it takes is one dog to bark and then it sets off an entire chorus.
Catering directly to cruisers, this bar has a dinghy dock and advertises that they have wifi, a big feature for many cruisers.
Next stop was Ponce. Just outside of the town they have a waterfront boardwalk with restaurants and on Sunday when we arrived they had 3 live bands, and good number of locals out enjoying.
We felt it was about time to try some of the local cuisine along with a few mojitos for dinner.
The party keeps going well into the evening, but as sailors midnight rolled around (9pm) we called it a night and dinghied back to the boat and went to bed. Not sure how late the music went but it was definitely past midnight. The old saying not to buy a car built on a Monday would definitely be true if they had an assembly plant here, as we’re confident the special occasion for the late night festivities was because it was Sunday. Puerto Rico seems to like to keep a good balance to life, in the work-life scheme that so often is tilted way too far towards work back in North America.
Our second day in Ponce, we went to the actual town. We dinghied across the bay to a little marina that was kind enough to let us tie up for free so that we could walk to get some groceries. Chrissy reported that there was a better selection than we had back home and Magnus and I wandered across the road to confirm that the mall was as big as you would find stateside.
I definitely need to pick up some spanish if we return, but now I think I can figure out what to ask for if I need the fire department.
They make a Corona Light? Oh yeah, and the price is respectable too.
Ponce has a large port with some cranes that appear to be in great shape, but we didn’t see much evidence that the port is used often, but the rest of the city seemed to more affluent than the other areas we’ve travelled.
We left Ponce to head to the west end of the island. We had a combination of sailing, motor sailing and finally just motoring. Seeing as we had used less than a half tank of diesel in two months, I splurged and motored at a full 6 knots instead of a slightly slower more fuel efficient speed. It is good to give your engine a good workout once in a while anyway.
Here we are with full sails up. I think for the first time since we left the US Virgin Islands. It seems that the past month the mainsail was permanently double reefed as we have had nearly constant enhanced trade winds. This made for a much more comfortable ride, but after all our fast big wind sailing it seemed a little dull so we let Otto take a turn steering (Yes we named our autopilot).
Our miserable dog. Clearly deeply distraught that he gets to spend every day with his servants, even if it is warm and on a boat.
Can you see Big Brother watching here? Look closely for the big blimp. It apparently has 200 mile radar capability so they can see you coming long before you know it. On the bright side the company selling these blimps has covered off a few weeks groceries via their dividend. Although I’m not sure how I feel about profitting from Big Brother.
The landscape on the south west corner of the island and the light house are just amazing. No camera can do it justice, but just to give you an idea, here it is.
So… it seems that you are heading back this way. Have you decided then on making this a one year adventure, even though you allowed as much as three years for it? Would you embark on a prolonged voyage in the future? Keep having fun. There is still a lot of snow here although we are getting some gradual melting this past week and we do get above zero temperature but don’t hurry… it will be a while before we even think of taking the cover off the boat!
Walter
We are still on the multi year plan right now. Our intention when we set off was to head west from the BVIs towards the Bahamas this winter and then up the coast towards Cape Breton for the summer. We are gaining a good idea of the type of places we enjoy now and have a few possible routes for next fall, winter and possibly beyond but need to do some research on routes and timing and storm seasons before we get ahead of ourselves.
Awesome journey!! For those of us without the means and courage to sail away ourselves, thank you for allowing us to enjoy vicariously. Keep living large and sending the updates!!
Thanks Chris,
We’ll do our best to keep the adventures coming!
Hi Jeff and Chrissy!
You guys are totally right with respect to the work-life balance in NA. Consider that it makes sense to work in order to (pay for) have(ing) a life, one spends quite the amount of awake hours working, rather than living.
Guess it is to the lucky ones that really love their jobs.
Problem comes in when you suddenly have a family and you realize those kids don’t want anything more in life than to hang out with you. 🙂
They should at least make a law here that makes it illegal to even think about work during the weekends. No emails, no nothing,…
BlackBerry has been really good to us, but I am not sure how proud I am of the work/life balance they allowed to get ruined for many.
Wouldn’t be as balanced as those living close to the equator, but they don’t need the comfort of nice spacious and warm houses during the winter month.
Fair winds and good sailing,
Albert.
Hey Albert,
It is amazing when you consider we spend more hours with those we work with than with our loved ones at home. At least both of you aren’t doing the long days and commutes so that when the family is all together you can focus on the family time.