Arrived Puerto Rico!

Sometimes patience pays off... Especially when when awaiting good weather is involved. Our passage across the Mona was glass-smooth and filled with whale and dolphin watching, INCREDIBLE!

Upon our return from the wedding flurry in Colorado, we found our entire traveling group (now appropriately called the Crazy 8'S) still present in Luperon waiting for a window which was predicted to be coming within a week of our return. Sure enough, when we got back to the boat on Friday, after a rather arduous three days travel from Colorado, we were informed that we should be prepared to leave as soon as the coming Monday. So we did the only thing sensible, somewhat jet-lagged cruisers would do: we enjoyed a big "welcome back to the harbor" party thrown by our friends the night of our return. It seems that each Friday night, the marina club hosts a gathering featuring a special buffet menu and Karaoke singing. Since our group knew we were returning on Friday sometime after noon, they had placed reservations for us to join in those festivities with them. It was great to be back amongst the crowd and they all were excited to hear of our snowy adventures.

The next morning we arranged to have our props and rudders cleaned from the barnacles and growth that accumulates in salt water. It gets especially bad in dirty salt water like what we had in the harbor at Luperon. This kind of growth also attaches itself to the bottom of ones hull but we were not prepared to jump into the water of Luperon Harbor to do a bottom cleaning since the water is so filthy there. The local boat boys don't seem to mind it though, so we hired them for $10 US to do the props and rudders, and we'll do the bottoms once we get to cleaner water. The growth that attaches itself to the boat will adversely affect the speed through the water and will continue to get worse until it is removed. So we must do it soon. Actually, the bottom paint we have on the boat actually sloughs off while underway as the water friction "washes" the growth off along with a thin layer of the bottom paint. Eventually, one needs to repaint the bottom to replace what's been worn away, but that usually is only about every 12-24 months.

We monitored the weather all weekend and saw that the "best weather window in about two months" really was approaching the upcoming week beginning on Monday, so we all prepared to shove off late Sunday night, at 11 pm. Final preparation for this trip was undertaken and everyone settled in for a descent night's rest on Saturday night, knowing that most likely during the next few days, long stretches of quality sleep would be unlikely. We planned two options for the trip, as prudent mariners always do. One being what you would like to have happen, and the other what you will do if that plan becomes untenable. Our first choice was to make a couple of short hops along the remaining coastline of the Dominican Republic, some 160 miles. Now, to most of us auto traveling folks, this sounds like a short distance, a trip by car of maybe 4 hours. But remember, a sailboat, even in good winds with the motors running, will only make 6-7 knots (MPH) usually. 50 miles in a day is considered a good days journey by boat. Additionally, along the island coasts, there exists what is called the lee effect. Basically this means that in the evenings (night) the wind calms down and blows off shore from the land, allowing one to use this calm, steady wind to one's advantage. The option is to try to bash into the waves and prevailing trade winds which come straight onto the bow as you head east, further slowing down your progress. In these daytime conditions it is not uncommon to only make 2 to 3 knots, a very long trip. So our plan was to use the lee effect to our advantage and travel in three hops along the coast during the night hours, trying to get settled into an anchorage by 9am each morning.

The night we left Luperon, was a no moon night which made for a very scary exit from this crowded harbor as one had to zigzag out between several anchored boats on the way to the mouth of the harbor, in the pitch-black dark. Everyone carries a large spot-light (usually one or two million candle power strong) but turning that on temporarily and quickly robs one of whatever night vision they may have, so using the spot is only in dire straights. All four boats made it out of the harbor in good shape with only one, Nebula with Richard and Laila, having spotlight trouble and them having to get from the furthest back in the harbor. They made it out, but as Richard said, in his typical English manner, "it was a bit spotty at times."

We traveled throughout the first night with our sights set on a small anchorage about 50 miles down the coast. We made it in safely in the morning and all had a restless "days" sleep, due to the rolling waves in the anchorage. Trying to sleep in the day is hard enough, but add rolling bed the the equation and it becomes very hard to rest for long, no matter how tired one is. Early afternoon we all began readying ourselves and our boats for that night's further assault on down the coast. The next leg was to take us to Escondido, a picturesque fishing village with incredible palm-lined beaches and towering cliffs all around. This was to be a very protected anchorage and we were all anxious to get there to try to get good rest before the all night-all day-all night passage across the Mona the following day.

Arriving at Escondido at dawn the next morning, we found the harbor to be exactly as advertised. And after a reasonable sleep period, a quick captain's meeting convened to decide when to shove off for the next leg. We all decided that since this place was so beautiful and the weather window was only getting better, we could "burn" an extra day here and really get some quality rest before heading off on the next, longer, leg. Then we would make it a one leg, final run all the way from our current anchorage, across the Mona Passage, to our intended destination, Boqueron, Puerto Rico. Anticipated time afloat: 36-42 hours.

All soon became anxious to explore this beach front. Large crashing breakers were coming onto the beach so a dingy ride through these large breakers didn't appeal to a couple of us, yet two of the dingys were brave(?) and made the attempt (one flipped and tossed its passengers in the drink) but eventually got it righted and got everyone safely ashore. They then were more successful finding the only tiki bar on the beach to enjoy a couple of coldies before attempting to return through these same big waves. After watching the flip, some of the group decided to swim in to avoid this dilemma and made it in rather easily. Since Suz and Richard and I decided to stay boat-side, after dingying around the cove to explore, we assembled convened on Allergic to Cities to watch the return event warmly and completely dry within the confines of the cockpit, cold beer in hand. Everyone made it safely back out from the shore with the help of a couple of locals who joined in to help launch the boats from shore. Once off-shore, all came onboard to join us and pronounce their bravado and machismo over more beer and rum drinks. The party continued to a reasonable hour and before too long, everyone headed off to their respective vessels for he night.

The next day was spent resting, relaxing and preparing for that days departure further down coast and across the open ocean. We all raised anchor at 4pm and headed off toward Puerto Rico somewhat apprehensive about the big water ahead. We had heard stories of the Mona being as potentially scary as they come, and none of us wanted to believe this would be our fate. The weather forecasts continued to predict good conditions and we had nothing else to go by, so continuing on, we hoped for the best. It was a beautiful sunset and we continued SE across the large open area between the two eastern tips of the Dominican Republic throughout the night. An interesting thing about traveling with a small group of boaters. Since each boat, each crew, each Captain's skill level differ, each boats tactic for each leg somewhat differ. The interesting thing, to me, is that with these differences, each boat taking a slightly different setting, some with sails, some motoring, some doing some of both, after traveling all night through the darkness, we all seem to arrive at the destination within 15 minutes of each other. Makes those of us who are more junior un experience gain some confidence, at least.

As the sun came up the next morning, we were finally out in the Mona, with easy winds and near flat seas. It is somewhat unnerving to experience smooth, calm water in the open ocean as it seems very surreal. You just kind of feel like something must be brewing to have the seas this flat. Kind of like that dead calm in the movies, when they begin to play the somewhat ominous music. Well, our fears were for naught, as the calm continued and the seas remained friendly all the way across the Mona. Along the way we were treated to many displays by humpback whales and schools of dolphin, content to play between the hulls of our catamaran. The route between the Mona Passage and Luperon is the path which the huge humpback whales travel each migratory season to and from their breeding grounds and is a popular whale watching place. So it was quite special to see them come up from the deep to check us out as we passed by. One of the boats got some good pictures so we will post those when we get copies. Unfortunately, we were unable to catch them out of the water on the digital camera.

We take shifts sleeping while underway for these passages and try to give the other person as much time off as our bodies will allow. Fatigue eventually sets in after about 3 hours in the middle of the night and the last hour is a bit of a struggle to stay alert and awake. Yet, knowing your time below is soon to be realized, it makes the time pass and then once awakening the other, one feels a sense of rejuvenation, making settling back to rest difficult. Sleep does eventually beckon, however, and once down, even on a rolling about mattress, sleep comes easily.

We made landfall at Boqueron, PR at around midnight, some 6-7 hours earlier than expected, in what we considered near-record time of 32 hours, due to the flat seas and easy conditions. We all quickly anchored and fell soundly into our bunks for a well deserved nights rest. We all felt the passage was a near non-event as it was so easy. The anxiety was, after all was said and done, unnecessary.

The next morning, Saturday, we all dingied ashore, with appropriate documents in hand, expecting to clear into customs, to find that the officials had traveled to another town to check a cruise ship in, so we couldn't clear. Legally, that means one is not supposed to even set foot ashore until cleared by customs. We however, decided that with 20 million illegal immigrants in the US wandering about freely, with no means of support, we could certainly feel justified in leaving our expensive yachts to go ashore and explore this small village. We did, without consequences and later discovered we were able to clear in via telephone which was very easy. The town offered little in appeal to us, as it was much more of a tourist destination for locals and college students, so we decided to move on toward Ponce, on the central southern coast the next morning, having one more overnight stop before arriving.

These legs were considerably shorter than the big passages to get to PR so they allowed us to have time ashore before bedtime at each port. Once we arrived at Ponce, we anchored and went in to check out the harbor. Not much available at the harbor proper, but being the second largest city in PR, we expect to rent a car and do some exploring ashore before we move on down the coast toward the Virgin Islands. Also, several of the boats have mechanical issues which need resolution and this is a big marina with skilled repair people available. We have two current issues: one involves the charging system on one engine not producing power to our batteries, and the other involves a possible broken throttle cable for one engine. Both problems should be somewhat easy to diagnose and repair, and parts should be readily available. I will be undertaking these chores upon completion of this entry.

As this is a very large city by PR standards, opportunity to provision en mass exists. Sam's Club, WalMart, Super K-Mart, and the like make us feel like we're back in Miami. We will stock up on American stuff we can't fiund elsewhere before moving again. Should be quite humorous seeing the car loaded with all the stuff we'll all "need". That trip will be later today, as the ladies will be heading there while the men stay with the boats doing the repair thing and awaiting the approaching front, complete with stronger winds in the anchorage area.

So until next time, I hope you are all enjoying our adventure stories as much as we enjoy the adventure.