June 29. St. John, US Virgin Island

The waiting game continues as well as the pounding into the weather. This seems like a never ending slug heading east as we're running out of time with hurricane season on the move. One tropical wave after another is underway leaving us just one to two days to travel. We stayed longer in the Crown Bay Marina as we had planned. Another tropical wave went by, Welsh Rover was waiting for mail, the girls did a lot of shopping in town and we rented a car and played tourists. We had a good time and it felt good to wash the boat down, but Sid and I enjoy it more to be in an anchorage. St. Thomas is a very pretty island but it only takes about 20 minutes to drive around. Toni was doing the driving again, as a Brit he knows how to drive on the wrong side, although we had to remind him now and then. As we waited for the mail we missed a couple very good weather windows and as we finally hit the road again, we had just about a 24 hour window left. The sail to St. John was again rough and the closer we got to Round Bay on the east side of St. John Island the wilder got the ride with 8 foot swells and very choppy seas. The Bay is fairly big and has several small bays within, all surrounded by steep lush hills. We headed into the national park and then realized that anchoring in the whole park was prohibited. They have some daytime moorings though but only allow you three hours of use. Just around the corner, some 2 miles lays Coral Harbor, which has a little convenient store, three restaurant a few souvenir huts and a small marina. The anchorage unfortunately is very crowded with derelict boats and private moorings and leaves just little swinging room for cruisers. Besides it is open to the weather and a bit rolly. It was such a bummer not to be able to anchor in the beautiful national park and having to be in such an ugly anchorage, so I went ashore to find out where else in this bay we could anchor. The southeastern most bay with a little bite into it is half park and half not, so we anchored in the not park area the next day. It's the kind of anchorage you dream about, the first pretty anchorage since we left the Bahamas. With it's rocky shores, cactus and shrubs it reminds us a bit of Catalina Island, except that it is more lush here. We took the dinghy ashore as there is a very steep road (45 degrees) with the most spectacular view of our anchorage and the other side of the island with Tortolla in the background. Later on in the afternoon we enjoyed snorkeling in the pristine and crystal clear water. And to finish off a perfect day we had Welsh Rover over for dinner, Ceaser Salad, Ossobucco with Polenta and for dessert Tiramisu. Another strong tropical wave is approaching and will keep us here for a few days, then we hope to have a long enough window to head straight to Dominica or even Martinique. But in the mean time we'll enjoy this most beautiful anchorage and spend a lot of time in the water snorkeling.

June 22. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

I think we had just about 20 minutes time to explore our new anchorage in Ensenada Honda, before the next tropical wave rolled in, then it was one squall after another. Just as soon one had passed the next one started and that for a whole day and night. Today we finally had a break in the weather but tonight a new tropical wave will hit us again. We took the opportunity of that 24 hour weather window and headed the 32 miles to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. We actually were very surprised to see that the ocean was kind of calm as we came out of the anchorage, but it was too good to be true, within a few minute the waves started to build up again. In the next hour a huge squall hit us, lots of rain but luckily not much wind. Then we slugged along direction Virgin Islands. As soon as we passed the Vieques island and headed into the canal to St. Thomas a current was pushing us in to the oncoming waves. At one point we had huge waves but right next to us the water looked like a giant pot of boiling water. We got out of that as fast as we could by heading north. The bow went completely under the water several times and it was just another miserable trip. It was a fast trip as we traveled mostly with over 6 knots, but I couldn't believe the mess I found when I went down below. Normally we set up the boat so nothing will fall down inside, but we didn't think about things falling up, they sure did. Everything flew around, even one of the wine bottles fell out of the wine rack which has never happened before either. Well, here we finally are in St. Thomas, knowing that from now on sailing will, could, should be easier. We took a slip in a marina for three days and rinsed all the salty crust off the boat. We'll enjoy the luxury of a marina for before we start heading south. Well, most of it will be spent cleaning up, oh joy. LOL
By the way Terry and Nancy, you're right, as soon as you hit the Caribbean the boaters are naked, makes it hard to have an eye to eye conversation.

June 20. Ensenada Honda, Isla Vieques

Sun Bay was a fun stop as we hiked along the beautiful beach, which had some tidal pools deep enough to sit in and cool off. Now and then a wave crashing ashore would make it high enough and trickle over the rocks of the reef into the pool we were sitting in, like a little ambiance waterfall in a pool. One of the next bays over is known for its bioluminescence and since the ocean was too rough to take the dinghy around I went ashore to find the one mile path to get to it. I was about 5 minutes away from the bay as a heard of wild horses were grazing along side the path. Most of them got out of my way, a lot of them were hidden in the bushes but one jumped out in front of a smaller one and walked straight towards me with head high above. Well, it didn't take me long to realized that I was trespassing and turned around and walked as fast as I could the direction I came from, now and then looking over my shoulder to see that the horse would start walking towards me again every time I looked back. So later when it was dark we didn't think it was a wise idea to hike the trail in the dark amongst wild horses and never got to see the bioluminescent bay. Although, Stacey and I took the dinghy around to the town of Esperanza which had a small convenience store, two restaurants and a few tourist shops, we had fun exploring and the excitement was coming back around the corner into our anchorage as 6 foot waves came towards us, making it rough for us. The only way to get back was driving the dinghy very slowly, of course we got soaked but arrived without any problems. While here another tropical wave came by bringing some squalls. On the 19. we heard another system was already underway and since this anchorage was a bit rolly we decided to lift anchor and sail to Ensenada Honda which is surrounded by mangroves and very protected. It was only 8 miles to go but getting there was tough as the wind started building and the waves doubled up. We had 8 footers crashing right over the bow and the two hour trip seemed like a whole days nightmare. The water turned into a bigger mess that we had in the Mona Passage. We're glad we did the change of anchorage, because as I'm writing this we're being hit by squall after squall, this one has winds up to 30 knots. This tropical wave should be gone by Thursday and maybe luck has it that we can sail from here straight to St. Thomas. Well, luck has to be on our side at one time or the other, we would like to believe.

June 17. Sun Bay, Isla Viequez, Puerto Rico

We left Patilla at 11:00 pm, the wind was not blowing all too much but the swell and lumpy sea still existed. I don't think this water here is ever calm. We had to dodge some squalls and missed them all, a good thing. Unfortunately some fisherman put out nets, where they shouldn't be and we ran over one and a loud bang got our attention. The motor never slowed down, so we figured the shaft shark cut the net loose. A few minutes later the prop started whistling, not good. Then some 20 minutes later another bang, this time we're not sure if it was another net or the remnants of the other one and the whistling stopped. The engine again never slowed down. First thing when anchoring in Sun Bay, we got in the water to see what the damage was. It wasn't pretty as the strut is bend about 3 inches. With a line wrapped around the strut and running around the winch Sid used a 4 pound sledge hammer on the strut and I winched in the line in and he got it bent back about 1 inch at least it is freed from grinding on the hull. Poor Sid was under water for over 2 hours and is pretty sore now. We do have to haul out, but have to wait till Saint Thomas. In the mean time we're enjoying this beautiful bay and once more have to wait out weather. Another tropical wave is sending us squalls and heavy winds. Looks like we will have our next window next Tues/Wed. Good thing is Isla Vieques has all year round lobster season, so who knows, we might just get us some.

June 16. Puerto Patilla

After many squalls in the afternoon we enjoyed a breeze free evening. The scenery was spectacular as the rain washed the air clean and we could see every single plant in the distant mountains. After a restful night we pulled anchor at 5 am and slowly inched our way out the harbor into deeper water. The wind was still asleep and so we had flat seas with occasional swells. That didn't last long as the east sky was covered with squalls, the question at this point was which squall would hit us. We found out soon enough as you can see the rain on the radar screen. It looked like there was no wind involved in this squall and knowing we already had a reefed main and staysail up we shouldn't have any problems. It started raining no big deal, but a few minutes later we saw that huge squall line in the water and knew trouble laid ahead of us. Luckily we were prepared, Manuela on the helm and Sid tending the sails. We got hit with 32.2 knots of wind, the sails were flapping noisily in the gusts and we headed right into the squall. About 5 minutes later it was all over, us soaking wet with an adrenaline rush and glad it was over with. Poor Tika didn't know where to go before she decided to hide down below, we didn't see her anymore for the rest of the trip. A few more squalls skirted us but no problem as we even reefed the staysail. We only sailed 18 miles, which seemed a whole days trip. The trades started to blow again and we started doing the two step forward and one step back deal and started motor sailing in a zig zag pattern along the coast to make it more comfortable. We're anchored now in a very beautiful tropical anchorage in Puerto Patilla. Plan is to raise anchor again tonight at 1.30 am (if the wind dies down) and to sail to Isla Vieques in the lee of the night and arrive just around 8.30 am to enjoy breakfast on deck, maybe even a Bloody Mary.

June 14. Playa Salinas

Playa Salinas is a beautiful anchorage which is considered a great hurricane hole as it is one of the most protected anchorages along Puerto Rico's entire 300-mile coastline. We are anchored off the Marina de Salinas, which is the only marina here. Welsh Rover and Paradise were looking forward to renting a slip for a couple of days to wash the boat down. Unfortunately the owner of the marina does not like transient boats and has no room for us. But that's OK as we like to anchor better anyway. The anchorage is very cute. The whole bay is surrounded by mangroves, some of them are as tall as a regular trees. Even along the little town the houses built right on the water are surrounded by mangroves, which gives it a really pretty appeal. As we anchored we noticed a sister ship on a dock right behind us. Far Out is hull number 5 but was built into a catch. We had Joe the owner over and the guys just talked and talked and talked, I think in the 4 hours he and Brenda were on board, they didn't cover all of it. It was great to see another great boat like ours out here. As we were once more stuck due to bad weather, a tropical wave was heading towards us, we decided to just chill and eventually rent a car and tour the island. Saturday Jack came by, we met him via VHF radio in Poqueron, he had offered his address for us cruisers to receive mail. We took him up on it and on Saturday he delivered it, three huge envelopes full of mail since February. We didn't realize that he was living on the other side of the island and had to drive over one hour to deliver our mail. Well, his boat is anchored here too, so he probably was keeping an eye on her too, but really that was super nice of him. Of all the other places we've stopped so far, the people are just super nice and are going out of their way to help us. Everybody, especially cruisers and boaters living here in Salinas, told us about the wonderful Cafe here who has delicious food, breakfast all day long and provides internet service. So on Sunday the guys decided that we ladies deserve to have lunch out and took us there. Stacey and I took our computers with us and immediately hooked them up. A friendly waiter approached us: "Hello, my name is Juan, I'm your server", -pause- " I'm blind" -pause- "I'm not kidding, I'm blind, what would you like to drink?!" Toni ordered a pineapple and an orange juice, Sid just an orange juice and us girls unsweetened iced tea. Juan comes back with one pineapple juice and one orange juice for Toni and a grape juice for Sid. Then he starts to take our order and after we told him what we wanted, he said: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, but you know I'm blind, would you mind writing your order down for me?" and handed us his ordering sheet. No problem the waitress I was I wrote our order down and went to the kitchen to make sure the chef understood my short cut writing. After about 30 minutes lunch showed up. Well, Sid and Toni's breakfast showed up, then we found out that he had to make fresh iced tea, no problem. We also tole him that we had no silverware, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..... Some 3 minutes later our Ceaser salads with chicken were delivered and the waiter asked if we needed anything. "Yes", Toni said, "my toast and his biscuit with our breakfasts". "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, it will be right up." A few minutes later he finally came back with our iced teas and we mentioned to him that we had no dressing on our salads. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I will be write back with dressing and toast and biscuits!" Another few minutes later he brings us an empty bottle of Ceaser dressing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry........" Five minutes later he told us that they had no new bottle but presented us with an Asian Ceaser dressing. It was the most disgusting salad we've ever eaten, besides there were a few miniature pieces of boiled chicken in there. Stacey also ordered the soup of the day, which had no flavor nor salt, horrible, and we told Juan about it. Toni got his toast just after he had finished his breakfast and Sid got his biscuits about 5 minutes after Toni did, still frozen. And by the way we never got hooked up on the internet, that didn't work either. As Juan presented us with the bill the horrible soup was still on it, so I approached him about that, he just pointed at the chef and told me to talk to him. So I approached the chef telling him very politely how bad the soup was, he just said that he didn't make it, to which I answered that I didn't cared who made it that I was not going to pay for it. So they took that off the bill. We had a good laugh though, this was the most hideous dining experience ever and if Juan would have said I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry one more time I think Toni would have strangled him. We still laugh about it and believe it or not, Stacey and I are going back tomorrow and see if we can do some email stuff after all. I think I will order a beer, can't go wrong with that unless he cannot get it opened. Actually I just figured out why they serve breakfast every day, that's the only thing they cook well, other than the toast and biscuits!
We did rent a car and drove to San Juan, did some shopping and had a wonderful paella and the most wonderful home made flan ever while it rained and rained. It was fun though we did get the feel of very beautiful San Juan's old town, but I think the highlight for the guys was our 2 hour shopping spree at West Marine, a guys jewelry store. The second day Sid and I took off by ourself. We first drove to the El Yunque Rain Forest, where we hiked down to the Minas Waterfalls, just absolutely beautiful. The south side of Puerto Rico is rather on the dry side but once you drive across the first mountain range it gets really lush. The north side, where the rain forest lies is filled with all colors of greens and not to mention all the blooming flowers in any imaginable color. We spent a couple of hours at the park indulging on the fresh fragrances of flowers and trees and our eyes were feasting on the never ending greenery. Then we followed Autopista 3 to Fajardo and drove out to the Lighthouse. From here we had a beautiful view to the Culebra and Vieques island, where we will sail to as soon as the weather settles. Then we took the Autopista 53 south, past the famous Rosevelt Road Navel Base which unfortunately was closed, then to Humacao and took the 30 back up to Caguas. From there we headed on the 52 back to Salinas but took exit 184 to Guavate and drove a very scenic narrow road up the very lush canyon until we reached kilometer marker 27 where several restaurants and huts are staged which offer fire roasted pics. Oh, that was the best pork we ever had, it was so good we ordered some to go. Puerto Rico has just impressed us so much, we both put it on our list of retirement, if we ever give up cruising that is, LOL.
In the meantime the tropical wave has passed us, the first tropical storm Alberto has hit the Florida coast, we are all provisioned again and are just waiting once more for a good weather window to head to Isla Vieques, Isla Culebra, the Virgin Islands and finally direction south.

June9. Salinas, Puerto Rico

Yeah, we finally left Ensenada, about time, we were stuck for 6 days. While in Ensenada Stacey and Toni were happy to finally get some full rested sleep as they were rolling from ear to ear in the last two anchorages. Sid tweaked his back and needed some rest as well, so as much as we hated the bad weather it helped. You must think that the weather in the Caribbean is just absolutely awful, it's not really the sun is out and it's hot, hot, hot, it's just the wind that gives us grief. As we arrived Welsh Rover and Paradise were out of fresh produce and meats, Stacey and Manuela went shopping. Toni dropped us off ashore and we started walking to the little town of Ensenada, not even underway a couple hundred yards a pick-up truck stopped and Louise gave us a ride to the Super Mercado in Guanico, that was nice. Louise had served 17 years in the Army and was very proud of it, he said ever since the Army he knows how good it feels to get a ride anywhere. It was Christmas for us to go through the Market and we found anything, plus, we needed. The problem now was getting back to the boat, so Manuela asked the cashier if there were any taxis here. There weren't but we were told that they deliver the groceries right in front of your door step, well that's nice, if you have a house here, besides we go with the groceries and passengers are not being delivered. One of the cashiers was just going on break and offered us a ride to the Guanico Harbor, which was no problem as it is on the other side of out anchorage. A couple of days later we were still waiting for the wind to subside, but that wasn't gonna happen for another few days, so we rented a car for two days. Again as Sid, Stacey and I walked to Ensenada to catch a Taxi, there was none, but a friendly guy at the gas station told us that he would drive us to the rental car place. Of course we didn't even know yet if there was one and where, but that was no problem for Junior, he had his cell phone handy and called a few of his buddies. While waiting for them to call back with info, we stopped to pick up a buddy of his, then they drove us to Yauco the next city of and dropped us off at a car rental place. I tell you we are just so impressed with the friendly helpful Puerto Ricans, they really go out of their way to help us. No matter where we went, they were eager to help, we have never seen so much friendliness anywhere. The first day it was Sid's day to chauffeur us around. He drove us to Ponce the second largest city in Puerto Rico with Walmart, Sam's Club and oh yes the Home Depot. We shopped till we dropped all day long while Toni boat-sat. Then it was Toni's day while Sid kept an eye on the boats. The highlight of my shopping trip was Home Depot where I bought a new no-slam toilet seat. Yes, Toni and Stacey gave me a hard time too! But I have a perfectly fine explanation for it. Imagine being underway in a little boat, it's a rough day, the sea is raging and the boat is bobbing back and forth and up and down, you have to hold on for dear life. You're dressed in foul weather gear to keep dry and now and than you have to go tinkle. Well for the guys it's an easy deal, sipper down, lid up, pee, lid down, sipper up and flush. For us girls it's a bit more difficult. As we struggle to keep balance in the bathroom, which by the way is just big enough to turn around. We have to open the toilet lid which will slam shot again as soon as a wave hits, then at the same time hold on for dear life while also taking off foul weather gear than pulling pants down, now they are around your knees and make it even harder to keep balanced, now up with the lid again which slammed shot several times already as you try to turn around and sit down as fast as you can while lid is still open and do now your well deserved business. Than stand up, while one arm reaches behind you holding the lid, balance with pants still wrapped around your knees, turn around to hold on for dear life. Oh yes, the darn lid just slammed shut again. Now while still holding on for dear life pull up pants one-handed, keep balance then flush. Get on deck and recuperate from the whole ordeal. Now with my new no-slam toilet lid it's almost as easy as lid up, sipper down,...... except I still have to sit down.
The weather finally cooperated and we left Ensenada last night at 11 pm. The seas was still with 4 to 6 foot waves but apart enough to make it tolerable. The wind blew between 8 and 12 knots and some occasional squalls tried to pee on us. Considering what we've been dealing with in the last months, this was a piece of cake and we arrived happy in Salinas at 7 am. We found out that our mail has arrived, well out of three large envelopes only 2 arrived. Haven't received mail since February so we hope the missing one is not all too important. Well here we are again in another place, new people to meet and once more waiting for good weather.

June 06. Essenada, PR, waiting for weather

The system with heavy wind is passed us now but was immediately followed by another system of another predicted 5 days of heavy winds. Usually there is a lee at night along the Puerto Rican coast, which means the wind will stop to blow around sunset, but will start again around 8 am. We've been waiting for that to happen. According to Chris Parker this was going to happen last night, although the local predictions are always about 5 knots stronger than Chris predicts and have been right so far. So we got up at 2.00 am, well the guys did, and as the wind still blew up to 16 knots and knowing we are in a protected anchorage, totally surrounded by hills, we don't get the whole effect of the wind. So the guys crawled back to bed end continued with their dreams. The guide for Puerto Rico says that the 60 miles will take 11 days to cross, I think we will brake that record. In a normal conditions we would love to go sailing in 15 knots of wind and 20 would be a fast cruising day. But here with the same coastal situation as in the Dominican Republic it is another thorn in the passage and should not be taken lightly as a boat can easily get in trouble. Almost every day we hear mayday calls on VHF CH 16. Not just that it is wear and tear on both crew and boat. I just read in "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" a very good description on what is happening. The Mona passage for instants drops from a shallow 150 feet to the second-deepest hole in the world, the 16 000-foot-deep Puerto Rican Trench. As massive volume of water tumble across the uneven bottom in an underwater waterfall, the surface churns, setting up wild and conflicting currents. Even in benign weather, crossing this stretch from west to east is like booking passage inside a washing machine. I couldn't describe it better. The bottom along the north side of the Dominican Republic and the south side of Puerto Rico are the same with uneven depths, creating currents and churning water on the surface. It is said that a good weather window is when the wind blows up to 10 knots, but it still can be rough. If the wind blows at 15 plus, it's definitely a no go and we learned that so far. So we're stuck again, in good company "Welsh Rover", which makes the waiting game more tolerable. We also had some heavy rain, which was needed as the boat was covered with crusty salt. In the mean time 3 tropical waves have passed and a few more are underway, which tell us that hurricane season is just around the corner. Knowing again that a strong hurricane year is predicted we really need to get out of the hurricane belt as soon as we can. We truly hope that between today and the next wave that we can get some miles towards the east behind us and leave Puerto Rico for the Virgin Islands, where the Anegado Channel will be the last thorn on the Thorny Passage, from there on we should have smooth sailing south. Hope Montsera will not give us any grief either as the volcano is very unsettled and is said it can blow any minute now. Said all that we'll be enjoying our secure little anchorage with green water that is hugged by mangroves and lush green hills, where turtles, dolphins and even manatees frequently swim buy to observe us intruders.

June 2. Playa Santa

Cabo Rojo must be one of those places that don't exist or where rare things are happening: Shooting stars falling into the sparkling sea and the following day just before sundown a dolphin family swam up to Paradise. I think they went to inspect our flopper-stopper. The first dolphin passing it closely came jumping out of the water, the whole buddy was out of the water before he dove in again. Then the second did the same. The third had his flukes way up in the air and splashed it several times into the water, another copied him and then the ultimate. One came have way out of the water, his head slightly turned towards me and swimming backwards looking at me. Then a mom with baby came by and all swam off towards Welsh Rover. This was better than at Seaworld and I didn't have to pay for it either, wow. Earlier that day Stacey and I decided to go ashore to see the wild monkeys and to walk up to the pretty light house. As we approached shore and tried to get out of the dinghy our ankles disappeared in a slimy, yucky mud. So we tried another area, but he same, plus the dinghy got stuck over and over and we had to push us off with our ankles in the yucky mud. After several attempts going ashore we both decided that it wasn't that important to see the monkeys after all and kept our feet inside the dinghy as we drove to the mangroves where we saw baby spotted eagle rays. We had a good night sleep as the wind slowed down we found out the next day through Toni. He said that the wind finally slowed town to 8 knots at 2 am. So we lifted anchor and left at 6.30 am for as long as the weather permitted us to go. It was a bit rocky getting around Cabo Rojo but tolerable. The favorable condition didn't last all too long as the wind picked up again and blew 15 plus. The sea instantly turned into a washing machine again and we were just hobby horsing around. As Sid says the Caribbean two step, two forward, one back. It's not the wind or waves that are the problem it's heading into it and just as soon as we picked up speed to 4.5 knots some weird combination of waves turn into a speed bump and bring us to a full stop and this over and over again. The prop would cavitate, making weird noses and of course working over time. It was pretty uncomfortable and so we decided to cut it short and head in at Playa Santa, 13 miles further east. This coast is another thorn in the Thorny Passage and the weather guru tells us that it will worsen towards Sunday, great. Later that day Stacey and I went a shore to buy provisions as we are pretty much out of fresh stuff. We found two little stores with just barley the essentials, I think we have more on board then they do. But by the dock where we tide up our dinghy was a little office, we thought was the marina office selling ice. As we walked in the room we saw a scale hanging off the ceiling in the middle of the room surrounded by giant freezers. We didn't just leave with ice, but also with lobster and king crab, what a great dinner. Later on we had Welsh Rover over for cocktail and crab and we made more war plans for the next day. One thing is sure, we will leave Playa Santa tomorrow as it is a rolly anchorage, no problem for us using the flopper-stopper but for Welsh Rover it is.

June 1. Cabo Rojo,

As we were the last day in Samana, neither one of us including Toni and Stacey on Welsh Rover had been feeling well. From previous experiences traveling in Latin countries Sid and I know all to well the symptoms and went to the pharmacy to buy some medication for amoeba, parasites and other critters. The treatment usually takes 3 days and we all felt better, except for Sid. He still had montezuma's revenge and wasn't feeling good at all, still to today. So we spend a couple extra days in Boqueron. What a cute little town, reminds Stacey and me more of Key West except for the many vendors along the street selling fresh oysters and clams which they chuck to order. Usually I'm the first in line to indulge on these yummy critters, but just after going through the treatment I wasn't going to take a chance to get sick again and ignored them. It looks like the Puerto Ricans are celebrating Memorial day as well, as everybody was out and about. The streets filled with people from grandma to kids and grand kids, beaches were packed and jet skis buzzing around. Saturday was great as the police wrote tickets to the annoying jet skiers, on Sunday nothing though and so they all buzzed around us, using us a slalom coarse. It felt like being swarmed by wasps, except these wasps left wakes. I guess they don't celebrate Memorial Day quite as much as we do as Monday was really quite again, not even one jet ski was on the water. Boqueron is a small little town and has only the essentials for provisioning. All we could find on meat was frozen chicken and frozen pork chops and in the other refrigerator we found some wilted lettuce for 3 bucks each, some giant carrots, huge cabbages for way too much and apples. For good provisioning we would have to take two busses to Mayaguez, but decided to wait until we make it to Ponce, which is the second largest city in Puerto Rico. We pulled anchor on Wednesday early at 7 to avoid the daily trade winds which start to blow around 11. Although the wind was blowing already, but knowing we only had 8 miles to go to Cabo Rojo, we stuck our noses out and headed for it. Not even one mile out of the anchorage the wind started to blow 15 and as we turned the corner towards Cabo Rojo it blew 20. It took no time for the sea to build to a nasty 4 by 4 chops. By that I mean they are as tall as they are wide and if you drive into them as we had to, they can bring a boat to a dead stop at which the boat is most vulnerable to be flopped around. It was a lumpy, bumpy ride to Cabo Rojo, which is somewhat protected, but the swells built by the wind still roll around the corner and make this anchorage a bit rolly. I was going to write this log entry yesterday already but we were rolling side to side and sitting in front of the computer in this was not all too fun and I had to go on deck to recuperate. Sid placed the flopper-stopper out to make this anchorage more comfortable for us. The flopper-stopper is a great tool, it looks like a giant stainless steel folder, you hang it a couple of feet to the beam via spinnaker pool into the water. As the swell come rolling by it pulls the flopper-stopper up and down in which it opens and closes and slows down the flopping back and fourth effect by 75%. A great tool to have. As every afternoon, we get together with Welsh Rover and make a new war plan for the following day. We learned that we had to leave earlier in the morning to avoid the trade winds, so we decided to get up extra early today at 4 am and head further east. For once the alarm clock woke us up and not smoke. Ever since Luperon in the DR, each anchorage we wake up to the smell of smoke in the middle of the night, which burns your nostrils. We haven't figured out yet what they burn and why, trash, sugar cane or make a fire to keep mosquitoes away. So during the night Sid got up several times and at 2 am the wind was blowing a steady 8 knots. At 4 we noticed to our dismay that the wind was now blowing a steady 15 with gusts up to 19 knots. After talking to Welsh Rover via VHF radio we decided that this is definitely a NO go and so we'll spend another one or two days here as they predicted the trades to increase for the next few days. In the mean time listening to Chris Parker our weather guru this will be the condition for the next 5 days, we may have a small brake on Saturday. I guess with 2 carrots, 1 chayote, 1 cucumber and 3 tomatoes left we will not run out of food quite yet. Maybe we'll try to do some fishing later on for some protein, if not there is a variety of cans aboard Paradise. I'm starting to understand now, why so many cruisers, new at cruising life, give up cruising after just one season. This passage know as the Thorny Passage is not a pick-nick it is rough sailing and always a waiting game for calmer winds and can take the fun out of cruising. I hope Mona was the biggest thorn and only small ones or non will follow. We know that after every long, tough stretch there is a beautiful anchorage waiting for us where we can relax, so this is still what we like to do and what we do best. Hey you have good days and bad days at work. We do the same. Besides today we had a beautiful morning as the clear sky was filled with twinkling stars and now and then a shooting star would race towards earth, reflecting in the water, which was sparkling too with phosphoresces. It was a twinkling above and below and we didn't mind that we got up for nothing, because it was quite something.