July 31. St. George, Grenada

We had a great time in Grand Ans D'Arlet and really enjoyed the most spectacular view. Although it rained every 20 or so minutes it still was a very pretty place. We also had the most incredible snorkel around the corner. The water was so clear we could see at least 60 feet and the whole underwater scene reminded us of a nursery with flower pots every where, as soon as you got to the flour pot it turned into a sponge. Sponges are an abundance here but we saw lots of other beautiful creatures as well. An eel, sea snake, sculpin, weird tube like worm about 12 inches long and see-through, cuttlefish, trumpet fish changing color according to background, a white albino sole and lots and lots of just perfect lobsters, although in traps. In my last report I mentioned a weird weather system showed up. Chris Parker told us that if it should turn into a storm that he would come up on the radio at 7 am and 7 pm on Sunday, which is usually his day off. He didn't come up in the morning, so we pulled anchor and left for Baquia, 90 miles further south. He did come up though in the evening and told us that there was a potential for the system to turn into a tropical depression and it would hit St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Martinique. Did we feel lucky we left and decided to continue as far as we could get, Grenada, 156 miles. We finally had a chance to sail, 15 to 20 knots of wind on the beam and 5 to 8 foot seas. It was like a dream come true, WE WERE SAILING!!! We sailed between 5.5 and 7 knots and had to slow the boat down for comfort. We took full advantage of the lee of all the islands which made the seas calmer, the wind a little different but better traveling, but we did have to turn the engine on to get us through the lee. We sailed pretty much the whole time between the islands and use the motor about 1/3 of the time in the lees. Every time we left an island we had an adverse current for about and 1 1/2 hrs. West of Baquia we had the worst of the currents for about one hour, but as soon as we got into the lee of the next island all the swell dropped to about 4 to 5 feet and less. In all we had from 1/2 knot to 1 knot of current with us most of the way. We had a wonderful trip and are glad we left. Glad we're here and feel a bit saver knowing to be further south and out of hurricanes harm, well almost, if it wasn't for the last two years.

July 28. Grand Ans D'Arlet

Heavy rain woke us up as a squall with up to 29 knots of wind blasted us. We had one squall after another and were not sure yet if we were able to leave. Sid managed to wave his white flag to the ferry driver and wouldn't you know from then on he came in three boat lengths from us instead of just a half one and a lot slower. The weather wasn't so good, but the window for Sunday stands still open. There is a weird system out there, which they can't explain, but at least we know that if it should turn into something, it's going to happen north of us. After at least 6 squalls we finally lifted anchor and sailed, I said SAILED the 5 miles to Grand Ans D'Arlet. Wow what a rare thing to actually pull the jib out and sail 5 knots with jib only, can't remember when we did that last time. We made it just on time to our new anchorage, the anchor set, Sid had enough time to get back into the cockpit and a heavy downpour of rain swept over us again. This anchorage is really beautiful with water as clear as in a swimming pool. Later in the afternoon we cleaned the bottom of the boat and also looked at the anchor how it was set and we saw the weirdest creatures, fish with wings, lots of them. They were hanging around the chain amongst dozens of baby sole. If the flying fish have their wings closed they somewhat resemble a huge fat grasshopper and change the appearance completely when opening the wings which are now surrounded by a glowing bleu color. As we cleaned the bottom of the boat I also noticed little tiny shrimp eating off the hull, they could have not been bigger than one millimeter. Here we are again in another beautiful tropical anchorage enjoying the view and waiting for the next weather window.

PS: found frozen blue crab in the store, already cleaned, 17 crab for under 10 bucks from Cuba! This is going to be a yummy dinner tonight.

July 27. Rum Tasting

OK, here it is the rum tasting result. The first day we played tourists in L'Ans Mitan, we hit a couple of restaurants had the best Pizza in a long time, the very thin crust you can only get in Italy and of course Sid ordered each time a different local rum. The first impression was not very good as the rum was probably the worst we've ever tasted. It's so strong you can instantly pickle your liver. The result was the same with each rum he tasted, they didn't even have a rum flavor, just pure alcohol. So when we rented a car to drive around the island we stopped at 3 distilleries, which was really interesting to see how rum is produced. We of course didn't taste the cheapo rum but went straight for the aged rums, which nobody seems to carry in the restaurant. We did end up finding 3 very good bottles of rum, each aged for 10 years, the oldest rum we could find anywhere and of course paid a price, but it was worth buying them. We even broke down and bought snifters, which probably will break the first time of use. We had a wonderful time driving around the island, which is 75 miles long and 30 miles wide. Rich in rivers and springs, the island is covered by contrasting vegetation and was know as "Madinina", the flowery island. The southern part is a large plain with close to sea-level hills, that mangrove swamp lines in the east and the west many coves, capes and bays. The beaches lined with white sand, coconut palm and turquoise blue sea and lots of islands. The road then took us along the eastern or windward side of the island, with tall mountains which gradually decline to the beaches all overgrown with banana plantations. The coast was more rugged and waves crashing onto the shore. At one view point we pulled out we witnessed rip currents heading out to sea, very interesting. Most of the windward side is surrounded by churning reefs. In the north are the highest peaks of Mont Pelee, Macouba hills, the Lacroix peak and the Carbet peaks. Here is the territory of the big, humid, luxuriant and virgin in places tropical forest, wherein rivers, waterfalls and cliffs are mixed. We drove up to the top of Mont Pelee to view the crater. We were just amazed when we drove up that lush mountain with no sign of any lava streams or volcanic rocks, nothing hinted to a volcano which exploded just 100 years ago, killing a whole village of 30 000 people. Since it is overgrown with a lush rain forest it builds its own weather and the top was totally fogged in, we couldn't even see a crater if there was one. Well, there is but is also overgrown with lush tropical vegetation. Driving down the steep Mont Pelee took us by the Depaz distillery, which is built right on the foot of the volcano and includes a most beautiful castle overlooking the Caribbean waters and the northern islands. Which by the way was re-built by the soul survivor of the Mount Pelee disaster, the only survivor of the Depaz family. We stopped in St. Pierre and had a wonderful Creole lunch. The sand on the northern beaches is mainly black as a result of the volcano. The Leeward side is very steep and not as soft looking as the Windward side. We had a great time exploring the island and planed was to leave the island for Baquia the following day. With a predicted 20 knots of wind and 7 to 8 foot seas, we decided it was not a good enough weather window for us and remained in the anchorage. Good thing too as the weather was worse and we would have had the ride from hell. Although we have the anchorage from hell at times. There is a ferry dock ashore and every 20 minutes one or two will drive by. Yellow buoys divide the ferry channel with the anchorage. We are anchored at least 100 yards away from the yellow buoy. I don't know what it is but they sure are picking on us, maybe because we are the only boat flying the American flag in the anchorage. There are two ferry drivers that every time they come in, they don't use the channel but instead drive right through the anchorage and about 1/2 boat length next to us leaving us a 4 foot wake, which will toss everything on the floor if it wasn't secured. One time the two came in at the same time and sandwiched us, which by the way was very dangerous, one on either side a boat lengths away with now the double wake for us and there is nothing we can do, other than give up and leave. Tried to do that but the fuel dock was closed on Tuesday, no fuel and no checking out, so we were stuck. We've dealt with the ferries for the many days now but yesterday for some reason every single ferry slowed down before coming in the channel and non ever came through the anchorage. We have no idea what happened we assume somebody complained. Today a different story again as they come blasting by. Sid made a white flag out of a rag and a pool and the next one blasting by he'll be standing on deck flying it, wonder if they get the hint. We wanted to leave today but weather is not allowing it yet, so hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to head the 4 miles around he corner to Grande Anse D'Arlet, where there are no ferries we hope. Another two waves have come by and one more is underway, hopefully right after this one we'll have a chance to head further south. Last night we had the most spectacular lightning show with cloud lightning, at times the lightning looked like it came out of the mountain peak like firework shooting up into the sky, really neat.

July 21. Anse Mitan, Martinique

We left the marina as planned and when we started motor sailing along the lee of St. Kitts instead of calm seas we encountered a swell against us making us do the Caribbean two step all over again, two forward one back. Knowing that the wind would die down later on the day and even change direction from 110 to 90 we went the 2 miles to Ballast Bay and anchored. We enjoyed lunch, awed at the beautiful scenery and Sid watched two Barracudas swim under the boat. One was really huge and then we heard this splash and saw the back of the big barracuda cutting through the water like a rocket and the little one chasing behind him. He would get back under the boat, but a few minutes later again would make a wild dash away from the boat with the little guy in hot pursuit. That's when we noticed again that his whole back was out of the water, he was not doing well and the little one knew that and saw dinner. We decided that this was not a good idea to go swimming at this time. It was quite interesting to watch the ordeal. After relaxing till the afternoon we noticed the seas had settled as per the prediction so pulled the anchor and continued our adventure south. This time motor sailing along the lee shore was calm but as soon as we came to the end of the island the water turned into a washing machine (they call it a katarac sea, it's current against swell and wind = nasty, nasty). This lasted about 2 miles and not just that I noticed some fishing buoys and when we checked on the chart on the depths we noticed that we were on a shelf. Since we didn't want to run over a trap again, we immediately changed direction due west, pulled all our sails out, turned the engine off and sailed a couple of miles and off the shelf into deep water where its normally too deep to place traps. From there it was smooth sailing for a long while. Wind was 12 to 15 Knots and swells 4 to occasional 5 feet, a pleasant motor sail. We past the island of Nevis which was definitely prettier than St. Kitts and a bit more tropical looking. The next island was Montserrat, where the Soufriere Hills Volcano is very, very active at this point. He first erupted in 1995, destroying the capital Plymouth. Two years ago scientists expected that the volcano would quiet down. However, the volcano just won't go away. Last May another major eruption showed that the mountain is still very alive and unsafe. There is both land and a maritime exclusion zone and extends 2 miles from shore around the southern half of the island. In times of bad eruptions and dome collapses the flow of hot ash has been seen to travel in a volcanic cloud at least a mile and half out to sea. The hot ash could burn wholes into sails making them look like Swiss cheese. The best to avoid the effect of the volcano is to sail around the east side of the island. By that time the wind and sea conditioned had worsened a bit and in order to sail around Montserrat due east would have been a long 8 to 10 hour pounding, Caribbean two step trip as we would have to sail into the weather. Too long of a trip to be miserable and decided to take the chance and sail around Montserrat on the western side. Our thought for taking this chance was, if it was our time to check out yet, might as well go out with a big glow, but if time was not yet here Montserrat will behave and he did, although he did let us know that he was there by the punched odor of sulfur and the gritty feel of dust and we were 7 miles west of the island. We were not alone, three other boats were out here taking the chance. There were several more islands (Guadaloupe, The Saintes and Dominica)we sailed by and every time just before we got into the lee of the island we could feel the Katarac effect again for a couple of miles. Sloppy but doable. All in all it was pretty comfy and the boat wanted to sail with 6 knots badly but every time she did that we had buckets of water spray over the boat, half way up the sails, into the cockpit and over the dodger and bimini and of course all over us, so we had to slow down and slow down again by a half knot and you wouldn't believe the difference in comfort by just a half knot of speed. Since we departed from Ballast Bay a bit later our estimated arrival time in St. Lucia would have been around 5 pm. Not just that the next tropical wave was underway and we did not want to get into it, so we decided to make it as far as Martinique. We arrived at the north end just around midnight and since St. Pierre is a very easy anchorage to arrive in the middle of the night we parked the boat there, got a deserved 3 hour sleep, alarm was set for 6.30 and after we indulged in Sid's super morning coffee we headed the rest to Port de France. Saint Pierre was worth the stop and is definitely on our plan next season when heading up into the Caribbean islands to explore, it was the most breathtaking view to see the French looking houses along the beach, with lush hills in the background and in the near distance the towering Mont Pelee Volcano, which erupted and destroyed the whole village including all inhabitants in 1902. Many ruins still remain. Post-disaster buildings have been built onto old structures, so many new buildings share at least one wall with the past. Just outside of the anchorage a school of juvenile dolphins surrounded Paradise. They were a happy bunch as they fully jumped out of the water, while some waved their tails, while others played tag with the bow. At one point 15 dolphins surfaced next to each other in front of the boat, looked almost like a ballet, it was beautiful.
In Chris Doyle's boating guide of the Wayward Islands he wrote that the customs office in Port the France closes at 12.30, he also wrote that the chandlery in town will check boats out and may be able to check them in in the near future. I jumped ship right away to catch the fairy across into town to check in before they close the office, but headed first to the chandlery. Indeed can we check in there now as the customs office moved some 10 miles out of town. Not just that boaters can check in and out at the Internet Cafe and in Pointe du Bount, where we are. It was easy, just had to fill out a form with our info and there was no fees attached either. Then of course I went exploring the city. I found a great supermarket right around the corner from the chandlery and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The store is filled with European goodies I haven't seen in years and the wine prices are the best I've ever seen anywhere. You can buy good French wines from E$ 2.80 and up. Rum is pretty cheep too and they had a better goat cheese variety than we have in Switzerland and sausages and salamis, just the best of the best. I will have such a great time to provision here. We also found out that there are a lot of rum distilleries on the island and since we're going to be stuck in yet another tropical wave, actually two, we're going to rent a car and go rum tasting, sound fun doesn't it.
On another note, we think that Tika is thinking about shooting us soon. It's not been easy on her at all with all the pounding into the weather ever since we left the Dominican Republic. One of the main problems for her is not being able to use her litter box in the bathroom. We found pee on the floor next to the box, then one time she peed on the bed. Along Vieques, I guess she had to go really bad, she walked right by us, hopped up on deck, placed herself in front of the dodger where she was in full view of us. We wondered why the heck she would go up there in this chop until she hunched down and rolled a couple of fresh turds down the icing glass. That gave us a clue how difficult it really was for her. From then on we had an extra litter box in the cockpit, which she started using too, with our help holding on to the pan. On our trip here, she stepped into the litter box and was balanced a bit oddly on the rim, we couldn't get to her on time and the box tipped over and interrupted her business. But only for just a couple of seconds as she threw us a dirty look and then pooped right in the middle of the companion way. We had to tell her too what a good kitty she was, poor little thing. Sid just told me to add that Manuela tried to catch each single turd as it came out. Tika might have been embarrassed but she sure had a smile on her face.
Oh by the way Welsh Rover arrived in St. Kitts and is weathering the next few tropical waves there.

July 18. Basseterre, Saint Kitts, Leeward Islands

We are definitely not marina people but we really enjoyed our stay at the Moorings and have to admit that we would stay at any Moorings Marina again. It's like checking into a hotel, actually easier, they didn't even want a credit card info when we checked in. There is 24 hour staff on hand and whenever we placed a bag of garbage on the dock, a minute later the staff took it. On the weekend the dock were swamped with people, some leaving, new ones coming and the working crew getting boats ready for the newcomers. We met some nice people and all squeezed everything out of us about cruising, of course we love to talk about our life. One group was 8 American Airline pilots, chartering a catamaran, the other 16 neighbors from Atlanta, GA chartering two cats (I would move into their neighborhood, they were like a big family). We were busy talking that's for sure and just had a blast.
When Chris told us that we had a two day weather window we jumped right on it, provisioned, checked out and couldn't head faster out of there. Unfortunately Welsh Rover decided it was not time yet to leave and we parted. We had such a great time with them over the last two months but the good side is, they are heading south too and so our paths will cross again, the latest in Venezuela. We sure will miss them. We left Sunday at 11 am, the wind was blowing 12 knots and increased to 15. We did have to tack our way across the Sir Francis Bay to Round Rock where we finally headed into the open sea. We were really anxious to see what awaited us out there. We had a fairly strong current out the cut but then it was easy motor sailing. The seas were 5 to 6 feet and the wind blew mostly 12 to 15 knots, a comfortable ride. Later on at night the wind increased a few times to 18 but that was about it. Our plan was to sail the 80 miles to St. Martin, but the wind and waves came out of that direction and we had such a good motor sail SE that we decided to head for Guadalupe instead. The trip was a piece of cake, although a pound cake that is, as the night crawled along it got a bit bumpier but still comfortable enough. Considering what we've endured the last months this was just a walk in the park. We actually had to slow down as we started to jump the waves and came crashing down a couple of times, slowing the boat down a half knot made the difference. And of course a crossing is not perfect unless something or two things break. We had two glitches, the Autopilot refused to work again, so we had to manually steer the boat the entire 126 miles to Basseterre, Saint Kitts. Then the wind gen. came loose from the base and started swinging around madly, Sid grabbed it and the solar panel bracket that also came loose woke me up out of a dead sleep, plus some &(%#@! words out of Sid. I grabbed the wheel as Sid was fighting the darn thing for 45 minutes before it was securely tied down again, while the seas were at it's worst. Luckily Sid caught it before it destroyed itself and the solar panels. Poor Sid was sore the next day and had know clue why, until I brought up the fact that he was wrestling a wind gen. during high seas. Due to that we decided to head for St. Kitts instead for repairs. Good thing too, because the two day window we had closed after a day. And wouldn't you know right after the gen. was tide down again, the sea got calmer again too. As daylight approached the water got a bit more churned up again but it still was very tolerable. As a matter of fact whenever the seas got churned up Sid would check on the depth finder to find some sea shelf that disturbed the surface. By sunrise we closed in on Isla Saba and were just flabbergasted by the humongous rock formation of an island. The huge island shoots out of the ocean with steep walls, a huge mountain in the deep blue water with no beaches anywhere, just a rugged coastline around the island. On the SW side is something like an anchorage but I bet the water stays deep until it hits the rocky shore, as all the boats were sitting on a mooring. Then there was this steep, steep road heading 3/4 up the mountain and all the way up there are villages to see. House were built way up the mountain and right next to the most horrifying cliffs, with probably the most spectacular view over the other islands. It's a very bizarre looking island, but pretty neat at the same time. Two islands further south was Saint Kitts, what a beautiful island to approach.
You have no idea how good we feel to finally be in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, from here on the weather will be easier to travel than what we had to deal with so far. The tropical wave that is underway now, has the potential to build into something stronger, which is good and bad, the good thing is, it will give us a bigger weather window to head further south. We were some 25 hours underway and of course as tired as we were we had to check in with the authorities first. Then it was relaxing time and that we did. Our plan to sail another 10 miles to a very pretty anchorage but Sid noticed the cap to our water tank on deck was open, he forgot to close it when we left. Result, our drinking water was all salty. Since he still had to fix the wind gen. and autopilot we decided to head into the marina here where it is calm to do the repairs. It's not the most modern marina, but water was included and we paid only 50 cents a foot. Sid fixed the gen. and the autopilot and we filled up with fresh water which is just as good as the water maker as a result of daily rain here in the mountains. This morning we also found out that the weather is going to cooperate and we can leave sooner than we thought so we checked out today and will leave early tomorrow and have plotted a 225 mile sail to Saint Lucia, hope the weather window will stay open for the 48 hours it takes to get there. If not we can stop at any other island before that. Keep your fingers crossed.
Probome checking in!!!!

July 13. Road Harbor, Tortola BVI

It shows again how small the world is, on our last day in Coral Bay a family showed up on the beach and a bit later swam out to us. We talked for a few minutes when we found out that they were out of San Diego. As we told them that we were out of Marina del Rey, she said that her father is a life guard in LA, since 50 years already. "No way, what's his name?" was Sid's reply and sure enough Sid knows her dad. Here is a photo of the family of Dick Ellerson swimming by our boat. Hope to hear from them when they get back from their vacation.

Can you all believe we moved a whole 12 miles further east because a tropical wave was headed our way (what's new), that was trying to become a low pressure system and since we were so close to a well protected marina we decided to take advantage of it and be safe. It should have been a very short and easy trip to Road Harbor as the Francis Passage we sailed across is surrounded by small islands and protected from the Atlantic swell, kind of being on a lake. But with the blow of 18 to 28 knots of wind we endured it turned this usually calm stretch into a churned up wild ride with white caps all around. In the middle of the stretch is a counter current and oh boy, did it get uncomfortable there. The bow dug into the waves, water sprayed over the dodger into the cockpit and the boat slowed down to 2.3 knots.
Customs in the BVI are very strict and you have to check in right away and only in Road Harbor if you have pets on board, which both of us have. You are not allowed to enter a marina before checking in either and have to anchor in a horrible anchorage, the only one here which is right in front of the customs building. The anchorage was full of mooring buoys all occupied with boats, surrounded by yellow cones stating no anchoring here leaving us barley any room. Right next to us was the busy ferry dock and we were right on the edge of the fairway and got the wake of each boat that came by. Check in was short and sweet, then we headed to the Mooring Marina to weather out another approaching wave. The weather has just been unbelievable, a lot of boats are still stuck between the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and here, just as we are. The positive side is, if it wasn't for the weather we would have not seen much of the Virgin Islands which are really too beautiful to miss. Almost forgot to mention, while in St. John no matter where we went people kept greeting Sid, some took photos of him, some gave him hugs, most wanted to shake his hand and we still want to know who they think he is. We'll see if the reaction is the same here.

July 10. Still stuck and playing the waiting game

We're still stuck and playing the waiting game. Even according to Chris Parker this has been a very unusual year for this kind of weather. He has never seen such strong trade winds to last as long as this year. They usually are also five days apart from each other, not this year as we get one every 3 days not giving a chance for the sea and wind to settle and leaving us stranded instead. Unless we want to stick our necks out into "Small Craft Warnings". So we played tourists once more and rented a car for three days. Three days of driving didn't even put a dent into the tank as the island is even smaller as St. Thomas and also a lot more pristine with breathtaking views. The driving is also more exciting as the roads literally turn into a roller coaster ride. The roads are very narrow, of course they seem a lot more narrow when driving on the left side and go over every steep hill there is. As the car slowly grinds it's way up, up, up and up and come to the top all you see is blue sky, until the car drives over the hump and goes down, down, down and believe me it gives you the willies when you look down that steep narrow road. Some are as steep as 60 degrees and wayyyyyy down the hill the road disappears, I mean gone as in no more road until you just get to the end and you realize it sharply turns to either left of right and up, up, up you go again. I you sit in the back seat all you see is asphalt on the downhill run as it is so steep that the roof of the car is blocking your view. It was quite exciting and made for a few screams from the girls in the back seat, more so the first day as we slowly got used to it by the third day. At every curve there is a sign saying "Stay Left", even though the curve turns right, but it will keep you alive driving in the left lane. Some occasional wild goats and donkeys help the excitement as they like sharing the road. It was quite an adventure and we really enjoyed the magnificent views of all four sides with all the little islands of the Virgin's in the background no matter where we looked, especially the view over the BVI. The beaches we followed around the island are just as you dream them to be. We also had the change to watch Italy win in the soccer finals.
Last night we had another strong wave blasting us with heavy winds and lots of rain and another one is already on it's way leaving us little time to move, not enough to head to the Leeward Islands yet. Tomorrow we'll sail to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and from there to Virgin Gorda, where we hope to finally catch a ride south towards St. Martin and finally our destination Venezuela, before the tropical waves decide to turn for the worse.

July 7. Invisible husbands ................ found

As we are waiting for another two tropical waves to pass, the guys decided that we girls deserve to have lunch ashore and took us 2 miles across the bay to "Skinny Legs" in Coral Harbor, a favorite hang out. We're in the land of the 10 dollar burger but we all admitted it was one of the better ones we've eaten. After lunch came the shopping as there are 5 little tourist stores attached to the restaurant. So Stacey and Manuela went shopping, and after 5 minutes we came back to see the guys, but they were not at the table anymore, "oh well, we'll just go into the next store". A few minutes later, we returned to the restaurant, but no Sid, Toni or Sailor the dog. So off into another store. After this one, we checked again, but still no Sid, Toni or Sailor. So we walked down to the dinghy dock to see if they were there but again no Sid, Toni or Sailor. We were done shopping and so we decided to have a drink at the bar while waiting for the boys to return. We sat on two tall bar stools by the guard rail next to the steps that lead from the open patio down to the horse shoe pit and sat there for at least thirty minutes waiting for our husbands. Still no Sid, Toni, nor sailor. We came to the conclusion that the boys went to get gas for the dinghy and not wanting to order another drink, we decided to walk towards them. The question now was, which path to take, the one leading along the water or the road. Since the one along the water was not paved we figured they would have to come back via road, to be able to pull the cart with heavy gas jug. So we walked in the heat and humidity and were sure that we probably would miss them as thy walked the other path. Of course we asked everybody who passed us if they had seen two guys, a dog pulling a cart with a red gas jug. Nope, nobody had seen our boys. Neither did the kid working at the gas station. From there we spotted a little Mini Market and since we came this far we decided to get some groceries before turning back, this time on the small path, again hoping to run into the boys. Nope, still no boys. Back at the restaurant again, Stacey walked down to the dinghy dock, I went back into the restaurant and checked out every table twice, and even walked over to the bar and looked at every customer twice, but no Sid, Toni or Sailor. Stacey came back and we're wondering where they could have gone. We didn't want to drink another drink, so Stacey saw a video store across the street and headed over there. While she went browsing in the store I stood guard on the terrace which was overlooking the restaurant, all 5 little stores, the dinghy dock and half a mile of the road, but still no sign of Sid, Toni and Sailor. Where could they be? It's been almost 2 hours since we've been looking for them and they couldn't just disappear. By now our feet were smoking and we were soaked from the humidity. Once more we go into the restaurant and this time I told Stacey to help me look. No Sid, Toni or Sailor as we walked from table to table and bar, then we approached the stairs, where we sat earlier, the one leading to the horse shoe pit and I discovered a table hidden right under the porch and who was sitting there? Sid, Toni and Sailor and had been sitting there all this time. They never believed us that we were done shopping after 10 minutes and had been looking for them for the last two hours. What happened was as we were in the first store, they were told that they had to leave the table as dogs are not allowed in the restaurant and so they moved downstairs, not telling us. But they enjoyed the all too many rum punches they HAD to drink while we girls shopped for the last 2 hours. Oh,yeah, they even saw us go by (our third store) and never let us know they were there. Obviously the rum punches made them invisible, while we were forced to shop!!!

July 3. Back on St. John Island

Well.......!!! after getting together with Welsh Rover the decision with an only 24 hour weather window was to take a shot at St. Croix, with the thought of being 40 miles closer to our destination. Early the following morning we lifted anchor and headed out the calm anchorage and bay into swells of 4 to 6 feet, just what was predicted. A beautiful rainbow was showing in front of a squall to the west in the background of the beautiful island and the wind blew with about 15 knots. Our heading was 196 degrees and placed the wind and swells on our port side beam. We were excited and glad to have found a good weather window and got settled into the wave action. About two miles off shore, finally out of the lee of the island the true wind revealed with a full 20 knots. A nasty squall that snuck up on us confirmed the ugly conditions. The waves all of a sudden were 8 to 10 feet high and only 5 to 6 feet apart and made it impossible to steer the 196 degrees as they now slammed us on our side and as soon as we came back up the next wave would slam us, soaking us to the bones with gallons of water right into the cockpit. Manuela was on the helm while Sid was tending the sails, but no matter how he adjusted the sails Manuela had the hardest time steering the boat. Then a clank noise from the staysail, the cheek block broke. This was not fun and if it isn't fun why do it, so we called Welsh Rover who were struggling behind us that we were turning around that this was a no go. They agreed and we both sailed back into the very beautiful and protected anchorage we left earlier. Sid also found the cheek block of the mainsail broken. Later on we heard the local weather on VHF with small craft warning. So we are once more stuck and playing the waiting game, but we truly are in the most pristine anchorage. Sid took the girls into the Coral Harbor Village around the corner to load up on some produce. There was a really nicely stocked Gourmet Market, but with gourmet also comes the high price, wow. The waiting game has been a pain in the you know what, but we do enjoy our company with Welsh Rover very much, makes time go by much easier and they feel the same way. There is nothing better than good company and between Stacey's and Manuela's cooking the guys are quite happy. Last night they were over on Paradise but the night got cut short by a nasty gust of wind. Later on that night, Welsh Rover hunkered down inside their boat and Sid snoring away in the cockpit, Manuela sat on the bow, looking up into the stars and saw the most incredible shooting star exploding twice and leaving an enormous trail. The area lit up like in a lightning storm. Several more interesting shooting stars were observed but non as incredible as the exploding one. Early the following morning Stacey and Manuela went snorkeling. The water was the clearest it has been and they saw everything from sole, snails, rays, trumpet fish, colorful tropical fish, boxfish a huge puffer and barracuda, but the most exciting was beautiful turtles, it was a great start to a beautiful day. As we are sitting perfectly calm in our anchorage, the waves outside the bay are raging. It is deceptive from here that only the crashing waves on the rocks, 2 miles across the bay reveal how bad it really is.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

July 1. Immer noch in St. John

A strong tropical wave over the last couple of days has finally past and this morning we were anxiously waiting to listen to Chris Parker's weather prediction. And he confirmed our fear. It's a no go again as heavy and gusty winds are sweeping through our area, which is caused by a high pressure and low pressure system working against each other. Therefore the sea state has no chance to settle and knowing we have to plow right into the weather would be a very miserable trip. So the question is, do we want to get beat up across the Anegada Passage and Saba Banks, which is roughly a 24 hours trip, or do we just sit tight in our protected anchorage and wait out the next tropical wave. Tomorrow the weather should be OK for just one day, but not enough for us to do the crossing to St. Kitts, so we have two other options to sail to either Tortola, the British Virgin Islands, which is just around the corner or head to St. Croix which would give us a bad angle again to head towards the Leeward islands. Last night as we had pizza and movie night on Welsh Rover we were discussing the Thorny Passage and if we would do it again. We all simultaneously came to the conclusion that we would NEVER sail this stretch again, it's just too rough and unenjoyable, not to mention the wear and tear on boat and crew. We are meeting with Welsh Rover in an hour to make new war plans, lets see what we will come up with. To be continued........

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.