From DR to PR

Lions in Ponce

The Mona Passage is the body of water between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Even just uttering its name is enough to send chills down a sailor's back. It is notorious for rough seas because swells from the open Atlantic as far as Ireland are subjected to a change in depth from thousands of feet to less than one hundred in a short amount of time. The good news is that by navigating the south coast of the DR we were able to avoid some rough sailing, or so we thought...

While crossing the DR we noticed a significant change in the weather. The forecast for two weeks straight called for thunderstorms and around 1:30 each afternoon the wind would change direction and torrential rain would fall, often with the bonus of thunder and lightning. After a week of this we got a bit used to it and it didn't bother us too much and as we headed out to cross the 100 miles to Puerto Rico there was not a cloud in sight. As soon as it got dark however we began to see a light show off in the distance and the thunder started rumbling. We could see the rain coming as massive purple splodges on our radar screen. We had never heard thunder so loud or had lightning come so close. The strobe-like flashes were so bright that they hurt your eyes and one even hit the lighthouse on Mona Island as we were passing it, too close for comfort.  With fork lightening landed either side of the boat there was a lot of deep breathing going on!  After fighting off 12 hours of squalls with the thunder and lightning and 25 knot winds and cold torrential rain, we were then treated to high winds and seas just off the shore of Puerto Rico. We were so close to our intended destination of Boqueron only to have to sail further north for the easier approach of Mayaguez. Of course as we put the anchor down in exhaustion the clouds broke and the wind calmed to a gentle breeze! Story of our life on Nomads!

Mayaguez wasn't a bad place to make an unplanned stop. Despite getting a bad reputation from cruisers, the town is nice and convenient and the people are extremely friendly. At the dock we asked directions to customs from two locals that were fishing.

Edwin and Betsy

They introduced themselves as Betsy and Edwin and offered to drive us to customs, to get a SIM card, and to the grocery store! They took us to a local restaurant and we all had lunch and had a lot of laughs. We tried the local dish 'mofongo' - mashed plantains - with fried pork, fish soup and crab and lobster stuffed empanadillas.

Mofongo, Empenadillas, Fish Soup

We joked that Betsy could make some extra money being a guide for visiting cruisers especially since her translations were impeccable! The town even had a restaurant with an all-you-can eat salad bar - we haven't had access to so much fresh lettuce and vegetables for a long, long time.

While checking in to Puerto Rico we met up with some other boaters, from West Wind and Imagine 2. We had recognized West Wind from Turks and Caicos. They had taken the traditional Mona Passage route and of course had a lovely sail.  We all had happy hour together in Puerto Reale - best mojito I've ever had! The two boats were horrified that we didn't have a working auto-pilot and Jason on West Wind graciously came over to help us fix it but without being able to order a part from the company there isn't much we can do.

Drinks with West Wind and Imagine 2

We continued around the south coast of PR fairly quickly.

Anchored at La Parguera

Mountains of Puerto Rico

It is an interesting island, being a territory of the United States it could easily pass for another state, albeit one with hot temperatures, Spanish as a first language, beautiful ocean views around every corner, and very cheap and delicious beer.

Cheap!

At 75 cents a can it's the cheapest in the Caribbean. We stocked up on said beer and many other American products with a trip to Walmart in Ponce - it was like being back in the good old USA.

Ponce

We experienced the friendliness of Puerto Ricans once again in the town of Salinas while yet again attempting to fill our fuel tanks. We walked an hour from the marina, which had run out of diesel, to the closest gas station with our jerry cans. After filling them we realized we were going to need some help getting back. It wouldn't be that unreasonable to try to find a ride in a town without taxis - would it? Sure enough after five minutes standing at the roadside with our cans of diesel and our thumbs out, the first pickup truck to pass by pulled over, driven not by a big Puerto Rican guy with tattoos and a goatee but by a mum and her teenage daughter who were dressed up for Mother's Day and going in to work at the family restaurant. When they asked where we were from the daughter started shrieking 'Justin Bieber!' We threw the cans in the back and ten minutes later were back at the boat. Thank you Elizabeth and Elizabeth!

Salinas

The next day we headed to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. After the usual squalls and downpours, we were treated to the dolphin show of a lifetime. For two whole hours the dolphins swam either side of the boat performing an impressive selection of jumps, back flips, belly flops and spins! It was incredible and by the time the show was over we were almost there. After a rejuvenating day at the beach in Vieques it was time to move on to the Virgin Islands!

It was a choppy sail so the dolphin footage is a little weak :(

Ponce

Ponce