We spent Christmas in the US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. John, at some lovely anchorages on the south coast. The wind was picking up, so we sailed over to the British Virgin Islands while we could, and cleared customs and immigration on December 27 in Road Town, Tortola. Then we bashed our way to windward and dropped our hook at Fat Hog's Bay, on the eastern edge of Tortola, where we'll wait for the winds to come down a bit before we make the hop over to St. Martin.

We spent December 18 - 21 at the loveliest little island we've ever seen, Culebrita, just off the east coast of Culebra. It is part of the Spanish Virgin Islands, east of the main island of Puerto Rico. Most of the time we were there by ourselves, on a mooring ball, with clear, blue-green water dotted with reefs and much sea life to snorkel in. We saw hundreds of colorful reef fish, sea urchins, starfish, and many other sea creatures. Also, part of the island looks like the western U.S. - boulders, sheer cliffs, and great hiking. We hiked up to the top of the island, where the ruins of a lighthouse stands, and could see for miles. St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands beckoned us to the east - and we sailed across the Virgin Passage on December 21.

We sailed into Culebra's harbor on the afternoon of December 4, expecting to spend a day or two. Instead, weather intervened, with a late tropical storm passing to the north of us, bringing brisk winds and squalls. The forecast calls for settled conditions, but higher than normal trade winds (between 20 - 30 knots) through Sunday. So, we'll stay put until the weather is more favorable for our next hop to windward, the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas. We could see St. Thomas as we sailed into Culebra; it's about 20 miles away.
In the meantime, last Friday before the storm hit, we took a ferry back to the main island of Puerto Rico, to Fajardo. Here is the sun rising over Culebra on our trip over. It was fun to let someone else worry about the navigation, the piloting, the waves, the weather. On the way back the waves were breaking over the enclosed first floor of the ferry, and we stayed down there.

We left Salinas on the morning of November 28, and anchored just 6 miles away at Boca de Infierno to scrape the boat bottom and propeller, and rest. We buddy-boated with our friends Pip and Luz for the first part of this trip and enjoyed their company very much.
In Patillas, we anchored for a couple of days, waiting for weather. We saw this parachute sailor in the anchorage. Later the couple both tried windsurfing.
On the way to the west coast of Vieques Island, we left in a bit too much wind and had a real shake-down of the boat. We had the footrest platform on the bowsprit come loose; we were able to retrieve it, but it will need replacing. Then we were taking water into the anchor locker; Larry realized this when water poured out of the locker over our bedding in the V-berth. We lost the cover for the windlass. Then the jury-rigged depth sounder came loose and we had to do another jury rig on a pole to lower the sounder when we take readings. We need to replace the sounder with a permanent one when we get to a boatyard.
Here is a photo of Pip's boat underway from Vieques, where we anchored for one night, on our way to Culebra.

Debby flew back to Puerto Rico on November 5, and heard all about Tropical Storm Noel from Larry. It was gusty winds and torrential rain for four days, but everything turned out OK. We did a lot of provisioning at the larger supermarkets in Salinas. Shown here are the beach over by the coral reef, with its protected swimming and snorkeling area, and horses grazing in the field between Playa Salinas and Salinas.

We also had to take apart our trusty little outboard motor, a Mercury 3.3 HP. We rely on it every day to ferry us to and from shore while we are at anchor. We hadn't done this before, so we were very careful to read all the directions and save all the little screws and parts. We cleaned out the carburetor and got it going again! One more task we learned how to do.

We finally left Salinas on November 28, bound for islands to the east.

While in Salinas, Larry helped a small nonprofit organization with their business planning. VOLUNAC is a social service agency that provides assistance to poor, elderly and disabled residents of the Salinas area. The agency was created by Carmen Rosado who manages social work for the town and teaches at a nearby university.
VOLUNAC takes an innovative approach to social services by establishing a network of community volunteers which helps leverage scarce resources. But more funding is needed to undertake new projects. To do this, the agency is applying to the U.S. IRS for tax-exempt status which will greatly expand their fundraising opportunities. The IRS application was an extensive, detailed document that needed some English translation and interpretation of its work plan and by-laws.
It was a pleasure to work with and get to know the staff of this small but effective agency. Kenny(college intern), Larry, Carmen and Nancy.

Debby spent six weeks in Minnesota and arrived back in Puerto Rico on November 5. Mom moved into a very nice private room at Presbyterian Homes of Roseville. Mom's birthday fell during my visit and we had a little party for her. I visited lots of other family and friends while in Minnesota also, and stayed with my friends Dawn and Gil. On the day I left Minnesota, snow flurries were predicted, but Puerto Rico has been mostly sunny and in the 80s since I've been back. Larry had to deal with a week's worth of drenching rain and squalls from Tropical Storm Noel while I was gone, but everything turned out OK. I'm glad to be back in the Caribbean and we're getting ready to sail onward to the east, the Spanish Virgins, US and British Virgin Islands, and St. Martin in a couple of weeks.

Letter from Puerto Rico, to one, and all

Sandy,

On our floating home here we realize just how much we take our physical inde-
pendence as a given. We ferry and lift all of our own fresh water in 50 lb jugs from shore back to the boat and do a lot of other manual stuff. Our attitude changes when one of us bruises or strains something and is suddenly in less than peak form. When that happens it's really just an inconvenience compared with, say, a worker in the 3rd world (or 1st or 2nd for that matter) whose family might not eat if there's a minor injury or sickness. Reminds me of a story in the book, City of Joy, about a rickshaw puller in Calcutta who was always on the verge of collapse or starvation, and then would get hurt.

Speaking of books, I haven't heard of the writer Van Gieson but will check her out. Since you mention Shape Shifters, I have enjoyed some short stories in The Mysterious West, ed. by Hillerman, and also several Nevada Barr mysteries which are each set in a different national park. In other veins, Attack by Yasmina Khadra was pretty interesting as a look at the Palestinian/Israeli rift. I want to get to Independence Day by Richard Ford and Money by Martin Amis, mainly to see what they're like since I don't read that many current novels. Mostly nonfiction, although now that I've got more time I'm going back to try some "classics" like Don Quixote, with its Spanish roots, and Middlemarch by George Eliot which I liked, although years ago I would just not have been able to get into it. I should mention a book about writers and language that I thought good is Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. She illuminates a nice range of authors without being pedantic.

As for Puerto Rico, yeah I think it's about time to move on as the storm season tapers off even though this is a pleasant island with friendly and interesting people. Things are somewhat uninspiring here now since Debby has been back in Minnesota helping her mother for the past few weeks with a couple more weeks to go. Met a British couple here the other day who have been visiting PR on their boat for the last twelve years. They like the natural environment but are dismayed by the American/West Eur. direction they've seen some things going in that time.

You notice vehicles driving around booming LOUD music from external speakers(for political candidates), slick TV programming and advertising, burgeoning fast food joints and epidemic obesity—all just like the states, except childhood obesity here is something like 50% higher than in the US. But some features are homegrown and not an evil Western influence. There are a great many stray dogs roaming around the towns and also incessant barking through the night. ( http://www.saveasato.org/ ) (www.saveasato.org/animalhell.htm) ["Sato" is slang for a street dog in PR] We also hear widespread rooster crowing in the wee hours from residential neighborhoods. Since we're anchored in the harbor at a distance from most of the racket, the cocka-doodle-doing is really not bad, reliable like a clock with preset alarms. It takes some getting used to the plentiful chickens in this small town wandering around yards and sidewalks. (Is there a vaccination for bird flu?) Puerto Ricans take it all in stride and are generally warm and welcoming to strange visitors who show up on boats. We have also always felt safe here, unlike many places in the states.

Much of Puerto Rico's population is poor; per capita income about half that of the state of Mississippi. Yet you don't get the sense of poverty, just simple living. The island does lag behind the US economically, but is quite prosperous by Caribbean or Central American standards. People from the Dominican Republic or Haiti, on the next island over, would give a lot, and probably do, to make their way to PR, and then maybe to the states if really lucky.

But the Puerto Rican economy seems to be in a downhill slide, so seeing the greener grass depends on where you come from. Unfortunately the island government here, which might be a source for some leadership, does not seem too competent(they're not alone), mired down in Latin bluster and corruption supported in great part by American tax dollars. Everything is complicated by the odd political atmosphere that colors people’s outlooks according to how they see PR's future: 1) continued status as US commonwealth, 2) statehood, or 3) independence.

There could be a general vote here someday on PR’s status; the arguments on all sides are endless. But I would bet that PR as the 51st state is fairly unlikely, while becoming an independent country would be stepping off into a black hole, unless another well-heeled sponsor came along to prop the place up. Someone like, oh I don't know, say… Hugo Chavez, who would no doubt love the opportunity to imprint his brand of dysfunctional government on a fresh, desperate populace. Not that Chavez hasn't done some good things in Venezuela and elsewhere with health care, poverty programs, etc., etc. Most likely if the independence scenario did come about, and Chavez made a move toward "our" former colony, the US would respond by sending in the Marines (to PR or VZ?)--a tried and true remedy in this region--rather than let a rich, well-armed nutcase gain influence over this strategic real estate. We'll see what happens.

Enough spouting off for now. You have your own spectacles to watch in California which seems to be trying a few good things and has its own strongman in office.
Until later,
Larry

More reef exploration near Salinas: the Caribbean octopus and the reef squid. The octopus has always been hiding under a coral or rock shelf; you have to look closely to see her blinking eye or a tentacle. The squid are out in the open, in groups of four, five, or as many as nine. They seem to travel in groups, and in formation.

Debby will be flying back to Minnesota for a few weeks, to help move her mom into a nursing home. Larry is staying behind in Salinas to take care of the boat, as we are still in the high season for hurricanes. He may need to move the boat back over to the Bahia Jobos mangrove forest for protection if a hurricane threatens the area. It has been pretty quiet, after Hurricane Felix went well south of us a few weeks ago. Just to remind us we aren't through with storms yet, this morning we got rain showers from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ingrid, which is passing to the north in a disorganized fashion (which is the way we like to see our tropical storms, disorganized and disintegrating).

We have decided to stay in Salinas a little longer, since it is so close to the hurricane hole in Bahia de Jobos where we tucked in for Hurricane Dean. Another hurricane, Felix, has since passed through the Caribbean hitting a sparsely populated area of Central American. Some of the locals there, Miskito Indians from small fishing villages, had to flee in canoes (!)

On Labor Day weekend, we attended a local minor-league baseball game in town. The sport is very popular in Puerto Rico which has supplied many players to the major leagues including Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda(SF Giants), and Bernie Williams from San Juan, currently with the Yankees.

The enthusiasm that a Puerto Rican crowd brings to an event like a baseball game can hardly be described. There were homemade noise makers, cowbells, drums, whistling, and singing enough for a crowd ten times the maybe 300 people in this small town stadium. We really had a good time, even though the home team lost.

On Thursday, August 16, Hurricane Dean had just slammed into Martinique and St. Lucia and was headed for the Caribbean Sea. It was predicted to follow a path well to the south of us, but it was growing in intensity, so we decided to play it safe and head for the hurricane hole about 5 miles away from Salinas in Bahia de Jobos. A satellite image of Dean as it passed south of Puerto Rico is pictured here, on Saturday, August 18. Puerto Rico is completely covered by the northern edge of Dean, which stretched for over 400 miles from its northern edge to the Venezuelan coast on its southern edge. We never saw winds over 40 knots, but it rained in sheets all day Saturday off and on. It was a good "dress rehearsal" for what to do.
Here is the boat as we are prepping it. The mainsail got lashed to the boom, and the boom was lashed to its crutch. We also double tied the jib in case the furling line came loose, and stowed the small staysail jib below decks.

Had more wind been predicted, we would have taken down all sails and put them below decks, as well as all canvas. We also would have taken off the wind generator (we did tie it down so it wouldn't rotate during the storm). We also took the motor off the dinghy and put the dinghy on deck and lashed it down. Had more wind been predicted we would have folded the dinghy up and brought it below (where would we have slept, I wonder, with all these things below?).
I think, in hindsight, the biggest safety measure we could have taken but didn't would have been to take down the jib; we heard many stories of loose jibs in storms. My secondary tie would probably not have held, and it was below the jib sheets.
We also put down two anchors, our primary Bruce 33 lb. with 5/16 inch all-chain and a 15 foot, 3/4 inch chafe-guarded snubbing line, and our secondary CQR 25 lb. on 30 feet of 5/16 inch chain and 1/2 inch nylon rode. We also took one line ashore and tied it to a sturdy mangrove, with garden hose chafe guarding the mangrove side and more chafe guard in the anchor chock. For a worse storm we would have used more lines ashore and picked a narrower section of mangrove creek.
Here are our neighbors in the mangrove section we secured ourselves in. Everyone was very friendly and we all helped each other out.

People who don't live aboard boats have often asked us what we do all day long. Maintaining the boat is usually a full-time job. Here's some of our more interesting jobs lately pictured here. Larry climbed the mast recently after we got carpet bombed by frigate birds at night. They were landing on the mast or spreaders and letting loose. It took most of the morning to clean up bird poop. So Larry went aloft and strung fishing line to prevent birds from having a perch to land on. So far it has worked.
Deb is getting ready to varnish (actually we use Cetol Marine Light) the exterior brightwork on the boat. Between the salt water and air, and the UV from the harsh tropical sunlight, wood work always needs a touch up to protect it.
We also have a sewing machine on board. Ours is a new Singer Scholastic machine; it can plow through 13 layers of denim, or several layers of sailcloth. Deb uses it to make curtains, patch canvas and sails, and mend clothes. Here she's making a mosquito door for the companion- way hatch, using stainless bolts for weighting the cloth.

While in Salinas, Deb joins a group of women three times a week to go swimming and snorkeling in a mangrove bay. This area, a short dinghy ride away, has clear water and a small coral reef, with schools of colorful reef fish and other marine life. Here are two squid just above the ocean floor.

It looks like we will be moving over to the hurricane hole about 5 miles away, in Bahia de Jobos, as the first tropical depression is heading our way. So far, every three or four days, a tropical wave goes over our location. This only amounts to a few showers, maybe a bit more wind, or even just more humid air. This depression will be growing into a tropical storm and probably a hurricane in the next few days. We hope it won't go over us directly, but we have a very protected bay to anchor in.

We rented a car on Thursday, July 26 to run errands and also to take another trip up to old San Juan and tour the fort (El Morro). The fort was built by the Spanish to secure their holdings in the Caribbean, starting from the late 1500s. It is a masterpiece in Spanish architecture - with walls fifteen feet thick, on a vantage point protecting all of San Juan's harbor. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and walked around old San Juan some more. We had lunch at La Bombonera, a popular local spot in old San Juan with great food and service.

The old fort has one of the world's notorious slums right next to it, on the other side of this fifteen foot thick wall. The slum, which we viewed from the other side of the wall, is called La Perla (the pearl), and visitors are warned to stay away from it.
Here is Larry walking down a stairway in old San Juan - some of the streets are built on hillsides that rival San Francisco.

We have now sailed east to Salinas, Puerto Rico, but here are a few of our favorite spots in Ponce. Larry is walking along the beach from La Guancha to the Hilton Hotel; we walked or ran on this beach several times, and treated ourselves to a wonderful buffet lunch one day.
Debby in front of Santiago's Cash and Carry, an amazing warehouse full of inexpensive food, some in large case lots but also smaller quantities. It was our main grocery store, only about a half-mile away from the dinghy dock.
Here's Larry in the courtyard by the cafeteria of the University of Puerto Rico, Ponce, which was about a two mile walk for us. They were very welcoming there, with staff and faculty eager to help us use the computers and printers, and Wi-Fi available on campus. We would take the computer over on the long walk there and back to be able to use Skype for telephone calls, do email, browse the web, and make a day of intensive Internet work.
Here's Deb at La Guancha, the public waterfront right by our anchorage; our boat is in the background. On weekends and holidays, even Monday and Thursday nights, the music was quite loud until the wee hours of the morning. We got a lot of use out of our ear plugs to allow us to get to sleep. The good news of being there is we never knew what kind of entertainment La Guancha was going to bring - a live band; an antique car show of old Chevrolets, Mustangs, pickups, all kinds of fully restored cars; and one night, a wrestling ring with live Lucha Libre (Mexican-style wrestling), which Larry thoroughly enjoyed.