St Thomas USVI

We were finally able to leave Puerto Rico and we made it safely to St Thomas! We’re out of data and departing for the British Virgin Islands tomorrow, so sorry no pictures right now. We have been here for two days and we love it!! Wish we had more time here, looks like we’ll be back this fall. It has rained more in the past two days than we have seen in the past six months and we are still having a complete blast here. Can’t wait to come back! Pictures when we find better Internet.

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Salinas

We’re still in Puerto Rico waiting on a weather window to head east. Right now we are in Salinas which is a perfect anchorage.

…we found a few pictures from the DR…

While in Luperon we had the boat bottom cleaned for $22. They attach a compressor to a beer keg and run a hose and regulator to breath under water:

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 Then they attach their boat to yours and clean the bottom:

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Random pictures of the north coast of the DR:

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We made one stop along the north coast of the DR in Escondido, which is almost like a fjord. The wind and swell was out of the northeast which made this anchorage something of a living hell:

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Our first sunrise along the west coast of Puerto Rico:

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We checked into PR in Puerto Real-Cabo Rojo, moved into the marina (awesome) then moved on to the south coast. We anchored east of Guanica near “Gilligan’s Island” which is a state park:

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Dea Latis anchored just north of Gilligan’s Island:

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There are random sites with bbq pits, the island is open to the public and gets quite busy on the weekends. Fortunately for us we were there during the week:

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The water is warm and there is a river surrounding an adjacent mangrove island. We had fun swimming up one side and floating down the other:

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Dea Latis:

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From Guanica we moved southeast to Isla De Muertos, an island south of the city of Ponce, which is also a state park:

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After anchoring we took the dinghy to the pier and walked around:

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Dea Latis and Renegade anchored Isla De Muertos:

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There is a lighthouse on the island which was built in the late 1800s:

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There are many things you can do here. Look at the third square from the left on the top row. We’re from Maine and really wanted to go snowmobiling here…in Puerto Rico…on an island in the Caribbean Sea. Whew lucked out on that one:

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You can snowmobile here but I guess we’re out of luck if we want to play the flute:

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Now that we have the rules straight we jump on our snowmobiles and head up the hill to the lighthouse:

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Past these cacti:

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Bird following us:

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Lighthouse:

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Dea Latis and Renegade anchored:

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Looking south:

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Back down the hill:

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No shot putting:

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Bird following us again:

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We’re stuck here for a few days waiting for the winds to calm down.

We will update again soon!

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | 1 Comment

Puerto Rico

We have been in Puerto Rico for the past few days, it has been a blur. We crossed the Mona Passage from the DR to Mayaguez in Puerto Rico, then headed south inside the reef to Puerto Real. We anchored for a few days then took a slip in the marina. This stop was a working stop for us, provisioning, fixing and cleaning. We rented a car to make shopping trips to Mayaguez and Ponce. Nothing exciting.

Checking out of the Dominican Republic. First stop Port Authority:

1 check out DR

Then across this rickety old bridge to the Coast Guard:

1b Coast Guard

1d Coast Guard

Where we hung out while they filled out our forms in duplicate…by hand:

1f Tanya

1g checking out at the DR Coast Guard

Then back across the bridge:

1h back across bridge

We repositioned outside the harbor for a late night departure:

1i staging outside luperon

Looking back at Luperon Harbor:

1j staging outside luperon

We made one stop along the coast at a place called Escondido. We anchored for a few hours then moved along the coast almost to Punta Cana where we turned east toward Puerto Rico. The trip took 50 hours.

Thanks to Tanya’s father and the US Postal Service, we were able to get our mail!

1k got mail in PR

1l got mail in PR

Lots of nice stuff in the mail including these huge ice trays!

1m ice trays

It’s getting hot so these will be a nice treat!!

1n ice tray

Again, it was a working stop for us. Scrubbed the boat down:

2 cleaning boat in PR

2a cleaning boat in PR

We did find time to treat ourselves at the marina bar:

3 marina bar in Puerto Real PR

…and happy hour with an ice cold bottle of Prosecco and some Camembert:

4 happy hour

We checked out of the marina this morning and are now anchored just west of Cabo Rojo lighthouse. We will be heading east along the south coast over the next few days. We’re running short on time and have to make decisions regarding what to see and what to skip along the way.

 We will update again soon!

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Made it

Made it safely to Puerto Rico!

We’ll update soon…

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Window

We may have a weather window to move east. The reports are getting better and better each day. We will make a decision in the morning for a PM departure. Hopefully you will see a new dot on the position report within the next day or two.

While we have enjoyed our time here it is time to move on!!

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