The 51st State?

April 27^th 2013

Position 18° 04.718’ N
                65° 47.797’ W

Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico


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Lavinia, Bill & Ann

We agreed to share the cost of a rental car for a few days with our friends and traveling companions Bill and Ann from ‘Ann Louise’ their 48’ Kadey Krogen. Our first outing was to Old San Juan, we had decided to see the Spanish built forts that surround the old city as well as to take in the town and sample some of the local cuisine. From Salinas to Old San Juan, highway 52 would take us straight there. Immediately we were outside the small township of Salinas it became apparent that we were in the United States, all the familiar franchises and stores are present here. The ‘Mall’ concept is also here, and as in the US, every few miles there is another shopping mall! The main difference in PR is that the first language is Spanish although most people we encountered spoke very good English and the lifestyle here is definitely Latin; the culture predominates through the music and traditions. The wealth of the United States is not here, from the roads and basic infrastructure which are in need of repair to the more modest homes it is evident that life is different. As we drove north one could see people sitting in the front of their homes talking and just congregating, not a sight seen in the US, there is obviously poverty here. To contradict the last sentence every shopping mall we stopped at was full! We had the utmost difficulty finding an empty parking space, so there is obviously enough of the population with disposable incomes to be able to support the malls. Even so it certainly didn’t look like there was from what we were seeing along the route. When we arrived in Old San Juan our route took us past the cruise ship docking area and low and behold ‘Regatta’ the cruise ship that Lavinia and I had cruised on twice was in port. We both loved the ship and the cruise line Oceania and would recommend it to anyone. Once in the city we easily found a central parking area which put us within walking distance of everything.

 
The oldest parts of the district of Old San Juan remain partly enclosed by massive walls. Several defensive structures and notable forts, such as the emblematic Fort San Felipe del Morro, Fort San Cristóbal, and El Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as La Fortaleza, acted as the primary defenses of the settlement which over time was subjected to numerous attacks. La Fortaleza continues to serve also as the executive mansion for the Governor of Puerto Rico. Many of the historic fortifications are part of San Juan National Historic Site. The construction, considering the lack of heavy motorized equipment is literally awesome. It is hard to imagine the engineering feat of moving the large stones and building materials the Spaniards used to build these fortifications and the city walls. Old San Juan is an Island and was completely surrounded by walls and forts. Much of the fortification has survived and in part has been renovated. Of particular note to me was that the Spanish realized the importance of a good and clean water supply so in the bowels of the forts cisterns were constructed and the whole structure was built in such a way that rain water was collected and directed to the cisterns. No animals were allowed in the forts thus ensuring that the water did not become contaminated. The view from the battlements was incredible and as we all stood there overlooking the harbour and the Atlantic Ocean one couldn’t help but imagine the days when a sentry on duty called out that the enemy fleet was sighted approaching the harbor! The old city itself is abound with cobbled streets and oozes history, some of the architecture is modern but most of the fascias and facades have been preserved although behind many of them modernization has taken place. The city is bustling, alive with restaurants and shops, street vendors are plentiful and pleasantly were not ‘pushy’. All the local people we asked directions and advice from were warm, friendly and just plain helpful. We enjoyed our visit and would recommend Old San Juan as a must see…

 
In Lavinia and my opinion the Puerto Rican food leaves a little to be desired. We found the taste a little ‘samey’ and bland. One of the much spoken about dishes ‘Mofungo’, plantains and garlic, we thought was overrated. We did try it twice in two different places, our opinion unfortunately didn’t change. We loved the word however. During conversations the subject of dog ownership had come up, I would love to have a dog although on board, for us, we think it would be restrictive. I think, prompted by these conversations, Bill and Ann bought me a small stuffed dog with a collar they made naming him, yes; you guessed it, ‘Mofungo’. He now sits next to ‘Moose’ (presented to me by my three Norwegian grandchildren) in my pilothouse.


The next day we used the car to drive to Ponce on the South coast and visited the art museum there, we also walked the central city square to sample the ‘life’ of Ponce. This was another full and interesting day. When we returned to Salinas we all agreed that a visit to John Batista’s waterfront cruiser bar, which is the local hangout, was in order. A round of Medalla’s, the local brew, were quickly downed followed by an encore. We slept well that night…

 
Salinas is a well protected anchorage with no surge and very little wind; the water is typical of a mangrove area and is cloudy although clean. A word of warning to boaters who follow us here, the barnacles do grow and a layer of green slim will appear around your waterline! We left our dinghy in the water for a week and had to scrape the bottom and polish it to get rid of the tiny barnacles which had adhered themselves to both to the fiberglass and the Hypalon® of our RIB. We had a diver clean ‘Partners’ while we were at our next stop of Palmas del Mar.

 
While we were in Salinas ‘Hobo’ another 42’ Kadey Krogen came into the anchorage. Larry and Lena had been in the Caribbean for several years and were on their way back to the US. They had crossed from Culebra; we cruised over in our dinghy to say hi and were invited on board for cocktail hour later. We had a Kadey Krogen convention on ‘Hobo’ that evening. It was very informative to listen to Larry and Lena’s experiences. They had spent six months in Trinidad where they had ‘Hobo’s’ hull painted and her superstructure re-gel coated plus other jobs. Larry was kind enough to share the names of all his contractors so that if we decided to have some work done on 'Partners' we would know who we could trust. Isn’t the Krogen family great!
 

During our stay in Salinas we had the opportunity to met up with some friends of friends of ours back in Sarasota who had lived in Puerto Rico some years ago. Bonny and Roberto who live in Humacao, where great and were kind enough to introduce us to the 'real' Puerto Rico. We travelled all over the eastern end of the island and sampled the local cuisine and saw some 'out of the way' places that we would otherwise have never encountered. One of these places was the mountain top bar which could only be reached using 4 wheel drive. As you can see from the pictures the army where there too teaching there new recruites how to drive up a steep rocky road!



Salinas was where we parted company with ‘Ann Louise’, they were going to stay in Salinas longer and we needed to get to a marina where we could get some work done. On the evening of April 14^th we staged ourselves just outside the harbor area so that we could leave easily at 01:00 the next day for our 35 nm trip to Palmas del Mar. All started well until Stonewall Jackson quite again…more air in the engine fuel filters. Where is it coming from, both of us are really getting fed up with this problem, the engine runs perfectly in between the periodic stops so we know the problem is only the ingress of air into the fuel system, but where is the leak? We made it, in less than ideal conditions, to Palmas and were safely tied up in slip B37 by 09:00.

 
Our stay in Palmas del Mar was great the staff and facility were wonderful the only drawback is the remoteness; one does need a car to go anywhere. We did rent a small car for two days so we could do some essential shopping and sightseeing. HT lost another pair of glasses to ‘Davey Jones’s locker’ so we had to find an optician where we could get a new pair made in a day. So, the first day was a shopping day and the second a fun day which took in a trip to Fajardo which is on the northeast coast of PR and is a ‘big’ boating area. We stopped at West Marine there to buy one or two items that we needed and then visited Marina Del Rey which is the biggest marina in the Caribbean with a 1,000 slips. While we were there the marina office recommended a ‘rigger’ to me that would be able to install the additional hoist we had bought to solve the difficulties of lowering and raising our dinghy. From here we drove to El Yunque which is the only natural rain forest in the whole of the United States. We drove to the welcome centre and collected all the information for our visit. We then drove and walked to waterfalls and lookouts plus climbed the observation tower to experience some of the most fabulous unspoiled views imaginable, all in all a great and fruitful day.
 

Keno the ‘rigger’ came and did the job of installing the additional hoist to work our boom up and down. We have found that in Puerto Rico time is not how we tend to view it, an appointment at 13:00 is not an appointment at 13:00 it is ‘code’ for an appointment for 15:00! Anyway we got used to being told one thing and experiencing another. All was well in the end and the job was finished, one day late nevertheless which caused us an extra day in the marina and the charges that go with it! We also had two other workers on board to replace the piece of rubbing strake that we lost on our starboard side in Marina Puerto Bahia, in the DR. I supplied all materials and the labour cost for two men for two hours was $60!
 

The Admiral and I brought two very nice, expensive bicycles with us on board. We have had them tied to the railing on our boat deck since we left Sarasota on February 8^th, they haven’t moved! Roberto the fabulous dock master at Palmas del Mar was Eddy’s (from Ocean World) equal, he helped us no end so we felt he was a worthy recipient of our gift to him of our two bikes. The last that we saw of them was Roberto and one of his dock hands riding them off the dock to his awaiting truck and the only reminder of them is the small rust stain on the boat deck which they left behind. The motto here is experience the lifestyle before buying everything that you think you might need in order to experience the life style!
 

Talking of the Admiral (aka HT), she has requested a demotion and will from now on be known as the First Mate, (FM). She feels that her lack of practical and academic qualification requires the demotion from her lofty position of Admiral, (a sinecure position anyway) she is a humble gal and learning fast!
 

After listening to Chris Parker for the last week the weather window he has been talking about has arrived. Our next passage is to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands, to me this is a significant change as we will be leaving the ‘big’ islands now and starting to experience the smaller Caribbean islands that we all see pictures of in glossy travel brochures; we’re excited! We set off from Palmas del Mar at 09:00 on Thursday 25^th, apprehensively I might add, as we were not sure if all the work I had done in the engine room had fixed the ‘air in the fuel’ problem. I asked Roberto to accompany us in the marinas large dinghy as we left the marina just in case we had a problem and needed assistance, we didn’t! As each hour passed I gained more faith in Stonewall Jackson not stopping. He didn’t, the whole trip was great, the weather was as Chris had predicted and the day could not have been more perfect. We cruised into Ensenada Honda, the large bay on Culebra, at 15:00 and proceeded to the mooring field just behind the reef at Dakity. Due to the coral reef the Department of Natural Resources has placed mooring balls in this area so boats can moor and don’t have to anchor which could cause damage to the coral. In fact most of the anchorages around Culebra have mooring balls which is very nice. We boaters love mooring balls as they eliminate the worry of dragging ones anchor and allow us to sleep a little easier. We were in 12’ of water and could swim off the back of the boat in the beautiful turquoise water. This place is tranquil, beautiful, unspoiled and very calm. The reef obviously stops all the waves from penetrating the area and the water had barely a ripple, our kinda place! Almost like an atoll in the Pacific.
 

Talking of Tranquility, it is something that most of you back home don’t experience very often. The ‘normal’ lives that we all, for most of our lives anyway, experience is one of some noise, a lot of noise sometimes, hustle and bustle, time restraints and schedules. Mine and Lavinia’s life now, since we have become cruisers, starts with the calm still serenity which greets the first light of day, progressing to taking in the beauty that abounds and surrounds us every day and ends with vivid views of the stars under which we usually eat our dinner. (The lack of light pollution at night gives the stars an extra brightness). These Caribbean islands are special and remind me, in many cases, of days gone by. The little shops open five days a week, the hard part is for us to remember what day of the week it is! Weekends are sacrosanct and people seem to have a good time, a family time. It is not difficult to adjust back to these times and begin, once again, to savour life and the beauty that nature has placed on our doorstep. These thoughts came to me this morning as I made my first cup of tea of the day and took it to the aft deck where I sat and admired the unspoiled scenery and the absolute tranquility that prevailed, special…please strive, sometime in your lives before it is too late, to

Our tranquil anchorage

experience something like this, be it on the water in some beautiful remote anchorage or on a mountain side overlooking nature without a single blemish provided by man. We are lucky and I know there are sacrifices and a balance to achieve. The island people we observe and meet do not have the material ‘wealth’ we westerners have and seem to treasure so much, they also don’t need to have the daily stress which is required in order to perpetuate the supply of money to uphold the materialistic lifestyle either. I am not suggesting chickens in the back yard and growing one’s own vegetables, I am just suggesting a balance over a lifetime which will allow one to experience some of both extremes. Both Lavinia and I agree that we truly had forgotten what ‘life’ could be like. We are more active than we have ever been, we are in as good shape physically as we were ten to fifteen years ago, and we talk to each other more and laugh a lot. Everything that we do seems to have a purpose. I know some of this is a little ‘deep’ but I just want to dangle the carrot, we are really having the time of our lives, hard yes, fulfilling you bet…what are you going to do today? Suggestion…why don’t you set a goal of when you will retire and start living life under your own terms? Oh, and write it down!

Hispaniola

March 31^st 2013

Position 19° 19.474’ N
                69° 35.516’ W

Samaná, Dominican Republic

We entered Marina Puerto Bahia by 10:00. We were again met by the officials and the dock master with his staff who helped us to dock and tie up. Our slip was on the main dock right in front of the marina and hotel building. Marina Puerto Bahia is again, like Ocean World, a resort, it is either owned or was financed by the Don Q rum distilling family we aren’t quite sure, either way it is impressive. The complex is stunning and is run under the Bannister Hotel banner. The Dominican Republic is an emerging nation and the contrast between the life in the interior and the small coastal enclaves where development has taken place is dramatic. The country has obviously recognized the tourist dollar and further development will continue. Please visit this beautiful country and see it, meet the warm friendly people and sample their life before it is gone. Hispaniola is big with one third of the landmass occupied by Haiti to the west with the eastern two thirds being the Dominican Republic. Everywhere is lush and fertile, the country produces much of its own food and everything is available at very affordable prices. We took advantage to do some re-provisioning while there. The check-in process was a little complicated as we, wrongly, had obtained a despacho to Puerto Rico when leaving Ocean World on the north coast and therefore had officially left the Dominican Republic and here we were back again, actually having never left, The officials were sympathetic when I explained the shelter we decided to seek due to weather and only charged us the minimum they could to re-enter. So here we are still in the Dominican Republic, life is good, we are in a beautiful marina having arrived here without a single ‘cough’ from Stonewall Jackson so we are figuring that the fuel problems that were so crippling when coming from the Bahamas have finally be resolved. 

This five star facility exudes a relaxing atmosphere, the aura created by the linen drapes is all but hypnotizing, they hang from the foyer openings throughout the reception area flowing in the breeze, luxury sofas with their over abundance of cushions adorned the space and are scattered throughout the area opulently. An accompanying well stocked cocktail bar provides gourmet coffees and libations. The whole setup is just plain fabulous. The bonus to this gem is that all the facilities are available to us as marina guests all for the outrageously low cost of .90c per foot of boat length, in our case $37.80 per day! 

Another Kadey Krogen trawler, a 48’ model, was in the marina; while I was up in the Pilot house of ‘Partner’ a lady walking on the dock spotted me and walked to our finger dock. She introduced herself “Ann Miller from ‘Ann Louise’, she was from the other Kadey Krogen. Her husband Bill was, not uncommon on boats, in the engine room doing jobs! Ann invited Lavinia and me to stop by their boat, just a little farther up the same dock, to meet Bill and see ‘Ann Louise’. When we travel many things have to be stowed in order that they don’t become missiles or crash and burn in the pitching and rolling conditions a small boat encounters deep sea; they all have to be unpacked and made usable again so, we tidied up ‘Partner’ after her 18 hours at sea and later in the day after we had done the chores and explored the area a bit, we walked over to ‘Ann Louise’ and asked “permission to board”, it was granted and there began a good friendship. Bill and Ann are mid fifties retirees who built their boat in 2007 so she is bright white and sparkling new, beautiful. The 48’ is just like our 42’ to look at just bigger in all areas. We talked and talked and found that they were heading for Trinidad the same as us. It didn’t take long for us to agree to buddy up for the crossing of the Mona; a little company is always comforting on a long passage. We enjoyed a drink with them and super, Bill cooked up a quick but very tasty bowl of quinoa, a little hot sauce and vegetables; it was great! When we said “good night” we had already set up a date for the following evening for us to return the complement and have them over to ‘Partners’.  

The next morning the dock master Pedro asked if we would mind moving to another slip in the marina, on the same dock but on the other side, the owner of our slip was returning. By mid morning we were ready and began the move. Oh no! The engine failed again as we were moving within the marina, always a scary event, I managed to restart and after two more failures managed to enter our new slip without hitting anything! The marina staff gave a sigh of relief, they were running from dock to dock as we were drifting, in readiness to fend us off and avert the impending collision. The rest of the day was spent going over and over the fuel system trying to find the cause of the engine stopping…I couldn’t find anything wrong, this is the worst scenario as it is always better to find something! I continued to start and run the engine each day to see if it would stop again, it didn’t!

Las Terrenas, DR

During our stay the four of us hired a car and one day drove to a small town on the north coast of the Samaná peninsula which was settle by mainly French and some Italians in the late 70’s and early 80’s…Las Terrenas developed into a tourist destination for Europeans. What a great destination, once there one begins to experience a little piece of Europe in the Caribbean but all at DR prices! We encountered a great French restaurant where we enjoyed a fabulous, perfectly prepared lunch which cost us under $4 per head and the restaurant was right on the beach facing a coral reef protected lagoon with the open Atlantic Ocean beyond…a tough life right? The town has now become a hotspot for the more affluent people of Santo Domingo, the Capital, who can drive to the town in 2 hours on the new recently constructed highway. An international Airport also serves the area now. As I said before please visit DR soon before everything changes too much. The scenery on our way was breathtaking, Hispaniola is a mountainous island with towering peaks and fertile vales and valleys, population is sparse and although there are cars now there are still many horses and mules used for transportation…life is slow. 

We visited the town of Samaná which was about three kilometers from the marina, we thought it looked a rough town, it bustled but it was broken down and in need of much infrastructural renovation. The Dominican Republic is an immerging third world country but the people are among the happiest, engaging and proud we have encountered so far, we loved them.  


Our visit to DR was coming to an end it was time to prepare to go to sea and cross the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico. Both Bill and I use a weather service provided by Chris Parker, as do many other cruisers in this part of the world. We had been listening to his forecasts and studying his daily e-mails, we saw a weather widow approaching on the 3^rd and 4^th of March which would give us the best shot at a crossing. It seems there are few if no smooth crossings of the Mona, even HT remarked “maybe a 4’- 6’ sea is the best we can expect”. Bill and I made the decision to go but with a plan to fall off to Punta Cana, another resort marina complex on the southeast coast of the DR, if the weather window closed on us. The distance to Punta Cana was approximately 80 nm with another 80 nm from there to PR. We set off from Marina Puerto Bahia in the late afternoon intending to hug the coastline of the SE DR over night rounding the infamously notorious Cap Engano until we were off Punta Cana and then we would make the decision to either continue to cross Mona or fall off to the marina. The first 80 nm leg started at 16:00 hours and as the night progressed all went to plan until, yes, Stonewall Jackson quit again. What could it be…I first went to the fuel filter on the engine as the Racors all looked perfect, sure enough there was air in the filter, in its self not a problem as it is easy enough to bleed the air out, but where was it getting in? I bled the air and tightened all hose clamps and fittings I could see in the hope I would eliminate the culprit. When we stop the boat she always lies in the troughs of the seas and we were experiencing 7’ – 10’ swells with 4’ -6’ seas on top which are fine while underway but not when one is wallowing at a dead stop in their troughs. It would be too bravado of me to say it is not frightening, it is! The intermittent stopping continued about every 10 – 15 minutes and was becoming impossible, Lavinia was becoming distraught and me just plain tired and whipped. We decided to abort and go to Cap Cana and like our wounds. Bill came on the radio, all was well with them, I told him what we had decided, his reply was to reconfirm his companionship and that he would stay with us if we wanted to try to cross to Isla de Mona, which is a small island half way across the passage, where we could anchor in comfort and effect some repairs. After another talk HT and I decided to go for it…we did have some more stoppages but each time I torqued the central filter bolt a little more in the hope that was the source of allowing the air into the filter, it worked! We were able to continue to Isla de Mona without further stoppage.  

Inside the reef

Our friend's boat 'Ann Louise' a 48' Kadey Krogen

The approach to the Island is straight forward but then one must transit a reef entrance to gain access to one of the prettiest reef protected anchorages we could imagine. The places we are experiencing are breathtaking and of course can only be accessed, in a lot of cases, by boat, this is one of them. We feel privileged that we can experience this place with its gin clear water and spectacular cliffs…enjoy the pictures. 


 There were three mooring buoys in the small lagoon provided by the Department of Natural Resources who maintain a base on the island; it is part of Puerto Rico. We rested, ate and took a nap, after 4 hours in this most idyllic spot it was time to leave. We had timed our departure so we could arrive in Salinas, our port of choice on the south coast of PR, in daylight. Good practices always say enter an unfamiliar area in good light. We are becoming pretty good at reading the water now and know the depths just by the colour and shades of the water. Our two little

Paradise!

white ships headed towards the SW tip of PR on a course of 141° M. During overnight runs HT and I keep watch and it has now become established that she mans the 19:00 – 22:00 and 01:00 – 04:00 and I do the 22:00 – 01:00 and 04:00 – 07:00. Lavinia is getting the hang of using the radio now and seems much more confident in effecting a course change. She is also comfortable with using the radar and depth finders…she’s getting it! She was very worried at the beginning but I told her it would all unfold and the practicality of actually doing it would soon give her proficiency. Being only two months into our cruising adventure she is doing just fine.

Isla de Caja de Muertos

As we approached the Puerto Rican coast we received protection from the ENE wind and the seas calmed dramatically we also started to pick up some east flowing current along the south coast of PR which enabled us to slow the rpm’s a little so as to adjust our arrival time. We rounded the islands Isla de Caja de Muertos just off the coast of our entrance course to Salinas right at sunrise. The approach to Salinas was easy and uneventful. Wow! As we worked our way along the channel towards the anchorage, what a lot of boats; Salinas is a popular destination for cruisers and has grown to have most of the facilities we boaters are looking for including an amazing number of restaurants and ‘watering holes’. It is a small town but is close to the metropolis of Ponce and only an hour’s drive from San Juan. Once anchored we called the customs and immigration office to report our arrival, we have what is known as the Local Boaters Option, theoretically allowing US Citizens and registered boats a hassle free entry into any US territory; almost right! We found out that apparently Salinas is not an official port of entry, Ponce is. The immigration officer, customs and agriculture officials wanted to inspect the boat. After two phone conversations they agreed to come from Ponce to us and at 13:00 it was agreed they would meet us in the Salinas Marina office. After a little officialdom everyone relaxed and our entry to PR was completed by the Immigration official saying “Welcome to Puerto Rico, this is your home”, I said to Lavinia how nice it was that he said that as it set the scene for us to feel comfortable in this a separate island but just as American as the US mainland…  

More to come from Puerto Rico...

The Cruisers Terminus

March 24^th 2013 

Position N 23° 51.402’.
               W 75° 74.717’.  

Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas

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After saying our goodbye’s to ‘Cocoon Two’ and ‘Moon River’ we sailed south from Big Major toward Galliot Cut and the deep water Exuma Sound where we would cruise down to Georgetown. The trip to Galliot was a short 18 nm run; the weather was in full cooperation which made the journey a leisurely and pleasant event. We arrived at Galliot Cut to find two other boats anchored there a 56’ Hatteras and a 36’ Monk trawler. It is always nice to find someone else safely anchored in the area as it is confirmation that the holding is good and that one’s anchor is not likely to drag. As we approached the lee of Big Galliot Cay the Hatteras called us on the VHF and said “move a little closer in towards the island and you will find a clear sand bottom and ten feet of water”, I thanked him for the advice and preceded...sure enough the dark weed bottom changed to the light associated with an unobstructed sand covered sea bed. All boaters prefer a sandy bottom to anchor on as it provides good holding and a clean anchor and chain when the time comes to weigh the anchor and move on. The people from the Monk trawler had dinghied over to the Hatteras and were obviously enjoying sundowners, it was 17:00. We got our SGT’s and sat on the back deck enjoying the calm conditions and the sunset. On their way back Jeff & Sally from ‘Adirondack’ the Monk trawler stopped by in their dinghy to introduce themselves and say hello. Cruisers, as I have said before, have to make friends quickly before the company passes in the night! Both the Hatteras and the Monk were not going south to Georgetown so we would part company in the morning when we upped anchor and headed east through the Cut to Exuma Sound and they headed south on the Banks side of the island chain.
 

The pass through Galliot was uneventful and we entered the Sound; the North Atlantic rollers could be felt immediately, spaced well apart they gently lifted us up and at 10 – 12 second intervals, set us down again. This was the Ocean, nothing between us and Africa! The motion soon became unnoticed as we travelled the 40 nm to Conch Cut which is the western entrance to Elizabeth Harbour and the huge area of protected water that is Georgetown. As our cruise proceeded down towards Conch Cut the sea built to a point that the waves on top of the swell began to break heavily on the island shores. When we approached the Cut there were breakers and apprehension consumed us! HT became very nervous with visions of us broaching, surfing down waves and crashing into the reef! The swells were still long so as we got closer I saw that we would be able to time our entry between the waves; all went well...we were in; the seas calmed and we became excited that we had arrived in yet another new destination. Georgetown is a terminus and is known as ‘Chicken Harbour’. So many cruisers get this far making short ‘hops’ down the Bahamian Islands but due to the longer passages that have to be negotiated in order to go farther south from here many turn back. We are determined and will go south!
 

Chat 'N Chill Beach

Stocking Island

Georgetown, the fabled home of so many boaters, we were here! The town really caters to the cruisers and it is obvious that the economy relies on the annual migration. The actual town was smaller than we had imagined and, in fact, did not have as many boat related stores as we had thought there would be. From all we had read we got the impression that Georgetown had everything, it doesn’t! We thought that we would be spending a while here so we ordered a mail drop from our service, big mistake! We chose DHL as the shipper and ‘Top to Bottom’ as the store to receive it. We were told by ‘Top to Bottom’ that it would take three business days, well, it didn’t it ended up taking 6 days...all of this is typical in the islands, a sense of urgency is something which is none existent here! “Island time mon, just chill...” We had fun in Georgetown but would not spend as much time here if we were to visit again.
 



Abraham's Bay

The itch to move on arrived on the 21^st; we weighed anchor just after lunch time and headed east toward the SE exit cut near Fowl Cay, soon we were in open water again with the Atlantic swells we were introduced to in the Exuma Sound. Our course would take us round the northern tip of Long Island down its east coast the across the east coast of Crooked and Acklins Islands. We decided to pass to the west of the Plana Cays hoping to gain some lee from the swells and wind; we did. After a benign day and night of cruising we approached Mayaguana and Abraham’s bay. We had allowed ourselves just enough daylight to negotiate the tricky entrance through and behind the reef. There were already four other sailing boats at anchor. After a good night we continued our journey south retracing our course through the reef and out of the bay setting a course for the Turks and Caicos Islands. We were not sure if we would stop at the Turks; if the weather was good enough we would continue south and cruise directly to the Dominican Republic, if the weather didn’t allow we would anchor at French Cay to wait for a weather window to continue. Some decisions are hard, when we were near French Cay the weather was not perfect but not bad enough to invoke the decision to stop there. We decided to continue... 

Our decision to continue was a bad one, the condition deteriorated rapidly the seas built continually reaching up to 15’ with winds gusting to 30 mph. None of this was forecast by the way! In addition to the weather all of a sudden our engine stopped! When this happens a boat will always settle in the trough of the waves so the rolling becomes violent and very frightening, HT was very frightened. I immediately suspected a fuel problem as most diesel engine failures can be attributed to fuel starvation or some other fuel related malady. I turned on the fuel polishing system I have on board to clean the fuel. We had taken on some diesel in Miami from a fuel truck and I suspected it may have either had water or sludge in it and was the cause of our engine shut down. It was not long before the evidence began to show up in the fuel polishing filter...water and sludge! I was able to clean enough of the fuel to restart the engine and get under way again. I then began to change the Racor filters for the polisher and the engine; the engine has twin filters so one can change one while using the other and vice versa. The engine stopped again! In total the engine had failed half a dozen times. We were now approaching the coast of the Dominican Republic and due to the problems we had had I wanted to be in a safe marina to effect proper repairs. On the north coast of DR there is only one marina Ocean World and we didn’t know anything about it. Our arrival couldn’t come soon enough...I was continually worried that the engine would fail again and now we were not in open water we were only a mile or two off the coast of the DR and the reefs that skirt the coastline. We arrived in Ocean World at midnight on the 23^rd after a hair raising 40 hour ordeal, the entry was straight forward, a buoyed channel led us in and we were met by some officials and marina staff who beckoned us to the fuel dock and helped us tie up for the night. With a sigh of relief we welcomed sleep...

At 08:00 sharp the entourage arrived, Navy, immigration, customs and Agriculture. The advantage of entering the DR in somewhere such as Ocean World is that one of the marina staff is present to assist with the check –in procedure and to ensure that all the correct fees are charged, they actually have a menu of the charges. It cost us $43 for our 42’ boat and $10 for each person on board, in addition it is customary to tip the other officials which we did, a total of about $20. We were in and the next thing was to check in to the marina and get to a slip. In our reading we were advised to seek a slip in the northern part where the surge effect was less, we did. All the staff in the marina were superb, in particular Eddie, one of the dock masters, he helped us with a trusted diesel mechanic Arturo who not only helped me clean and change all my fuel and fuel management filters but also fabricated a new fuel return hose for ‘Faraday’ as well as fit a new oil pressure alarm sending unit both of which were leaking. Puerto Plata just 3 miles east seems to have everything one needs. Arturo was only gone for a couple of hours to get the hose and the Westerbeke sensor, I was surprised! With the boat now serviced it was time to enjoy our stay here. Ocean World is quite a complex with a water park casino several restaurants a discothèque and all facilities a cruiser could want. It is actually a five star resort. Our stay was for only two days as a weather window gave us the opportunity to continue to cruise the north coast and possibly an opportunity to cross the Mona Passage and get to Boquerón in Puerto Rico. We checked out, bought 100 gallons of fuel and sailed out into the Atlantic once more. It was a beautiful day with calm seas. By the time we had reached the Cape’s that define the NE corner of the Dominican Republic the weather had turned and we were experiencing 8’ seas and winds in the 20’s. Yet another decision needed to be made. With another 24 hours ahead of us to cross the Mona Passage the Admiral and I conferred and it was decided that we would abort and divert to Samaná to await a better weather window to make the crossing. As soon as we turned south in fact a little west of south towards Samaná bay the seas abated and the worst was over for this night. We rounded in toward the town of Samaná at 03:00. I had looked on the chart to find a protected anchorage so we could drop the hook and get some sleep. I spotted a headland that would shield us from the swell and wind that had 12’ of water, this was our spot. At the time we anchored we had no idea what we would awaken to. After only two hours sleep daylight came and what surrounded our anchorage was revealed...we were anchored by a small settlement of fishermen some were already out in their brightly painted boats fishing in the protected area. The pictures here are worth a thousand words. We both thought that we were somewhere in the South Pacific instead of the Caribbean. After a quick cup of tea and in HT’s case a coffee we raised the anchor and proceeded to the Marina Puerto Bahia...

 

 

The Real Exumas

March 17^th 2013  

Position N 24° 39.789’.
               W 76° 63.294’.  

Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas


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We waited out an unusual weather front in the protection of the anchorage at Allens Cay, it stalled over the Bahamas and just blew and blew for three days and it was cold! We experienced gusts up to 43 mph and am pleased to report the anchor held! Presented with a good calm weather ‘window’ on the fourth day we headed south leaving Allens  Cay at 06:30. Our journey to Warderick Wells of 32 nm was uneventful and we successfully moored to ball #6 at midday. The water approaching Warderick Wells was even more spectacular than any we had seen before, are we really doing this? Lavinia and I have to pinch ourselves almost daily to remind ourselves that we really are making a go of this thing, the cruising life. We passed from the deeper blue water of the Banks and crossed a well defined line as we entered the shallows surrounding the Warderick Wells Cays. Literally one half of the boat was in deep blue the other in the lighter turquoise! 

We were looking forward to being moored to a ball and not anchored as, although the anchor did a great job at Allens Cay, the wind and the rocking and rolling we experienced there made for restless nights, so, being a little sleep deprived the security of the mooring ball and being inside a totally protected area was appealing. Oh! The beauty of this spot...reportedly Warderick Wells is the most visited of all the Exuma Cays and we can now see why. The crystal clear water, beautiful sand and just its idyllic serenity make it a standout.
 

Warderick Wells is the centre of the Exuma Park, an area set aside by the Bahamian government where no fishing of any kind or collection and removal of any fauna or flora is allowed. The idea is to provide a totally natural habitat and environment to allow the replenishment of life which will expand across the whole of the Bahamas. 
 

The area is so beautiful, we couldn’t wait to lower the dinghy and begin our exploration of the islands. Soon we were off just riding to the extremities of the Cays to get the lie of the land. There are three mooring fields the north one which is where we are and there is a south one between Hog Cay and Warderick and a west one at Emerald Rock. The north one is the spectacular one (we think) and the one usually featured in any photographs. Its setting and the varied water colours are captivating. There are many trails to hike and we planned to do one tomorrow, meanwhile back to the boat for a relaxing evening, dinner on the aft deck and a gooood nights sleep.
 

The islands are made up from limestone and have extremely unique and rough rocky terrain; in fact I have never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. Hiking the trails was not easy and a good stout pair of shoes is a must together with a certain physical ability. Both of us just, only just, qualify with the later qualification. We were proud in the end that we completed one of the longer and steeper trails, the one that took us to the highest point on the island, Boo Boo Hill. At the top is a monument of sorts built by cruisers who have taken drift wood, washed up on the beaches, and have either carved or painted theirs and or their boats name and placed them in an ever growing pile. It was fun reading over the menagerie and being reminded of the nationalities that have visited this spot. We felt privileged to be amongst the few who have been here. Being the highest point on the Cay the view was outstanding, it is not so much the height that enables one to see farther, it is the height that enables one to look down at the vista and see the colours of the water and just the blatant beauty of this place. 

After three days in this most tranquil of Shangri-La’s it is time to move on south, we took the dinghy for one final trip into the park rangers office, settled up with Andrew, bought a T-shirt each and that was it, we’ll be sad to leave...our next stop will be Big Majors at Staniel Cay just a short run of 18 NM.

Friday 8^th March. Today is ours and ‘Partners’ one month anniversary, we left Sarasota, FL on the 8^th February and we can hardly believe that we have travelled this distance in one month and have managed it in reasonable comfort in our little floating home. I think we have finally ‘got it’ that ‘Partners’ is our home and wherever she visits is where we live too! I think as cruiser we have taken on an additional quality, that of ambassador. We are very conscious of being ‘visitor’ in others countries. It is different than flying somewhere and knowing that you will be there for just a week or two on vacation and then will be flying back again to ones normal life. With us now we are visitors in someone else’s country for an extended time, we want people to like us and be helpful to us; of course this is not one way traffic so we have done what we can to ‘fit in’. We have made a point of exclaiming the beauty of the Bahamian islands (not hard to do) to the local people; we have taken time to talk to them. What a friendly bunch they are, always helpful, always happy! We find the lilt in their speech is also calming and they always make time for you.
 

We anchored off Big Majors Spot at noon after a relaxing cruise south on the Banks. Big Majors beach is famous for the feral pigs who swim out to meet you looking to be fed as you dinghy in. They are ‘big’ much bigger than the pictures I had seen depict. Some, so we were told, weighing as much as 500 lbs. They are intimidating and swim right up to you; the experience is definitely different! Big Majors is a popular anchorage with great holding and plenty of room for an unlimited number of boats. The large charter yachts come in and mingle with us small fry, it is a fun place. Staniel Cay just to the southeast has a small settlement, a yacht club, some stores and a Batelco telephone office.  

Our first evening here the Admiral requested a night off from cooking and as this was the first civilization we have visited in a while we went ashore to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for drinks and then a short walk south along the winding road to a small restaurant overlooking the water where we had dinner. Lavinia had a wonderful grouper sandwich and I had a plate of huge coconut shrimp, twice the size of the ones in Outback! We met some locals and after a very leisurely dinner and conversations we walked back to the dinghy dock at the Yacht Club and proceeded to drag the dinghy down the beach back to the water, yes we landed at high tide and now had to work off diner with some exercise. The tides here are about 3’ and the beaches exaggerate the tide as they are steep. The next challenge was to find our way back the two miles or so to ‘Partners’ in the pitch black. Fortunately it is not the first time I have done this and when we came in I instinctively made a mental note of various things, headlands, and other anchored boats, where the shallow spots are and so on, we made it to HT’s amazement! What a great night… 

After a peaceful night’s sleep, the holding in Big Major is excellent and we didn’t budge an inch, we started our first full day here with one of my full English breakfasts eaten al fresco. With not a cloud in the sky we planned to go ashore to Staniel Cay and do some grocery shopping, make a stop at the Batelco telephone office and explore the settlement. We managed to accomplish almost all but this was Saturday and the Batelco store was closed; weekends much more so are still observed here unlike the State. Our walk around town was interesting, the small modest homes by and large are well cared for and painted bright colours and there seems to be an unwritten code that no two shall be the same colour. Most people seem to live simply although every now and then one will see a large house, most of these are owned by foreigners we were told, they stick out as being rather ostentatious unfortunately and definitely do not fit into the general scheme of things. We saw it as a stark difference in culture, the large house typical of the ‘McMansions’ in the State where big is considered better and people tend to provide themselves with way more accommodation than they need, (we included) was in stark contrast to the typical Bahamian home where the mentality is providing yourself with just enough room to get the job done, just a different priority. The Bahamian people seem to be outgoing and fun loving, life to them is important and being social is a need which they all appear to fulfill willingly. 
At the Yacht Club there is an area where, every day, nurse sharks and some rays gather to be fed. Everyone can pet the sharks and feed them if they want; these sharks are well looked after and this day we saw many lobster carcasses in the water, minus their tails! Later we talked with one of the locals who told us a group had traveled to a spot some 30 miles down islands and had caught about 70 or 80 lobsters that morning by diving up to 40 ft and using a Hawaiian sling as the method of catching. We finished our days visit ashore in the Yacht Club where we met three boat crews we had first met in Allens Cay who had just arrived here and where anchored in Big Majors. Many boats leap frog their way down the island chain and therefore one frequently run into people seen before. Gratin and Jennifer from Moon River travelled from Warderick Wells the same day as we did and were in the bar so while they ate lunch we had a beer with them. We’re getting the hang of this ‘super’ social life. We all know how one thing begets another, well…after taking our bounty of fresh vegetables, eggs and bread back to ‘Partners’ we decided to explore the north end of the bay where ‘Cocoon Two’ was anchored. ‘Cocoon Two’ is another Kadey Krogen and Tom the owner had stopped by to say hello to us yesterday so today we stopped at their boat to return the complement. Tom introduced us to his wife  Phyllis and we nattered with them for a while and agreed to meet on ‘Partners’ at 17:00 for sundowners; Gratin and Jennifer were coming as well, six cruisers on one boat spells fun, trust me it was. Cocktails turned into much more and the evening didn’t wind down until 20:30!
 

Tom had owned ‘Cocoon’ a 42’ Kadey Krogen for 19 years before it caught fire while on the hard with them away back in their native Canada. The sad event halted their cruising lives for a year and a half before they were able to find ‘Cocoon Two’ their 48’ Kadey Krogen.  





The Cays around Staniel and Big Major have some notoriety for being the sight of the James Bond movie Thunderball and there is the famous Thunderball Grotto just a two minute dinghy ride from where we are anchored, a must do excursion…






More from Georgetown, Exumas…