Chapter 95: Puerto Rico!

Let’s be clear: Puerto Rico is NOT a new country. It’s part of the U.S. Look it up. But it definitely has it’s own vibe. We left the Dominican Republic early Thursday for the estimated 30 hour trip to Puerto Rico, aiming for Puerto Real at the southwest end of the island. Thanks to some excellent route guidance from Jamie and Behan Gifford, we had an AMAZING trip. Because we are now in the region where the tradewinds blow, the wind is almost always from the east. That means going east generally means motoring the entire way. And the waters between the DR and PR, known as the Mona Passage, have a reputation for rough seas and high winds, as the tradewinds get funneled between the two land masses. The day before we left, a boat came into the marina where we were staying seeking shelter after being caught out in “The Mona” with 40 knot winds. Fortunately for us, with good weather and good advice, we had an easy, and amazingly fast passage. We motored for the first 10 hours directly east. At that point, we ran into a wind shift and were able to put up the sails and shut off the engine. From then on, it was a race to Puerto Rico. We were averaging 8 knots and a few times saw 10 knots as we surfed down some swells. We actually had to reef down in the middle of the night to avoid arriving at 4 AM (not cool to approach an unknown coast in the dark). We ended up making the trip in 25 hours and could have done it in less had we not reefed. It was amazing!

After getting settled, we ventured ashore for lunch at a local place serving Mofongo, which is a bowl of stewed ingredients in a fried plantain shell. Delicious!! The cost of that meal? Not much in dollars, but, well, when we got back to the boat, we were aground. Even though we anchored in 12 feet of water, there must have been an obstruction on the bottom-likely an old, uncharted wreck-that we pivoted onto. Fortunately, we came off easily. But then it took 5 tries to get re-anchored because we kept dragging. Eventually, though, success!

This morning, we motored south a few miles and anchored off Cabo Rojo. There is a beautiful park here with an historic lighthouse. We hiked there for a couple of hours and then made our way back to the boat. So far, Puerto Rico is living up to its reputation as a beautiful place. Tomorrow we plan to head east to Ponce. We’ll hole up there for a while to get some boat work done, explore the island and provision ahead of venturing into the Caribbean Islands.