Mayaguez Earth Angels

We arrived in Mayaguez in the middle of a torrential downpour just before Customs etc closed and decided to wait till morning! We had no idea what was to occur as nowhere did it mention the offices were closed on the weekend!

Anyway bright and early we made our way over to be standing at the door at 0800. We had no cell phone that works in PR aboard so we didn't call in ahead of time! Eight o'clock came and went and no signs of life from US Customs house! No problem we thought, they must open at 0900, we needed to draw cash to pay them anyway and made out way to the nearest Banko Popular! It was still early with that done so we headed off to buy a chip (Sim card) and were directed to Centro shopping center.

Ten minutes later we found the cell phone shops there did not sell chips at all! No problem they said, go to the Mall!

On the way out we stopped a young man and asked if he spoke English? 'A little' he replied! Good can you show us which road goes to the mall? He asked why and we explained we were walking there to Claro (the local service provider) to buy a chip! It's quite far he advised us, it's better to take a taxi or Uber or....... He hesitated for just a second then said; or I can take you I am going that way!

This is how we met Edwin, a real live Earth Angel!

On route chatting in his pretty good English and our very broken Spanish he established we didn't need the mall at all just the Claro main office which, it turns out was closer!

We expected him to drop us and take off, but he insisted on coming in with us to be sure we managed, got a good deal and to translate if we needed it. As it turns out we got a great deal and he will be switching his own service to Claro too. Claro we need commission 😜

He then asked where we were going next and we explained we needed to go to Customs Office to check in. Later in the day he admitted he had misunderstood and thought we were looking for a  Costume Office! Haha he said he knew his wife had hired costumes before, like superman or bat girl but he couldn't figure out what on earth we wanted costumes for!

Anyway he insisted on taking us, on route he picked his wife Mayito up from the gym and we headed off to US Customs House. There we finally found a guard who explained the office is closed on the weekend and we had to go to the main airport, two towns away! He assured us it was about 30 to 40 mins drive away unless there was traffic! Sigh!

No problem, insisted Edwin and Mayito, it just so happens they had to go that way anyway as Mayito is presenting her doctorate thesis in Computer Engineering at that University campus on Wednesday and he had to show her the route to take to drive there!

In fact both Edwin and Mayito have just finished their Doctorates in Computer Engineering. They both have one task left, to defend their thesis in front of the board and then they are qualified! Mayito has majored in Statistics and Edwin in Mathematics! They hope to be able to continue studying before traveling the world together! They are both Columbians studying here on a bursary!

Ten minutes into the drive we hit traffic! Face booking her friends Mayito found out the US Hurricane Hunter Aircraft was on show at the Airforce base next to the airport! We think every person in PR was headed there. The 30 minute journey ended up taking 3 hours!

We find the Cutoms office and hand over our papers only to discover I had left our old passports that have our US visas in on the boat! Grumbling a little the Customs officer must have seen the horror on my face! I just couldn't imagine having wasted Edwin's and our time and having to go back to the boat to fetch it. Well the officer had a touch of earth angel himself, he examined our passports saw we had been in and out of USA and accepted that we must have Visas to be able to do that, so ' No Problem'. He nearly got kissed!

On route back we had them stop so we could get us all lunch and had local speciality dishes of fried plantain, stuffed chicken breast, beef bits, rice and beans and of course a couple of Cervesa's each.

By this time everyone from the display was going home and it had been raining all day! The trip back took 2 hours with detours to avoid flooded roads.

We are so thankful to our Earth Angels, Edwin and Mayito! We could not have done today without you and we got to meet awesome interesting new friends. 

Isla de Mona - Paradise!

Realizing we would not make landfall in Puerto Rico before dark we decided to drop anchor at Isla De Mona! Wow, thank goodness! We would have missed a slice of Paradise had we not stopped!

Heading into the anchorage following two range markers, all you can see is waves smashing on the reef and until you up close no gaps! When the gap appears it's a maximum of two boat widths! In the gin clear waters below you the reef lurks as dark brown stains on the sandy bottom! Holding our breath we motored in almost to the shore then turn sharp left to the mooring balls!

Only then did we breathe easy! Having just sailed an overnight we turned in to catch up on some sleep. About two hours later we surfaced rubbing our eyes in wonder at the Paradise we found ourselves in!

Gin clear waters gently rolling onto clean white sands or against towering cliffs! The rocky shore waved in and out creating small private beaches between them. Looking out to sea the reef stretched from end to end except for the small gap we entered through!

It didn't t take us long to don snorkel gear and set out to explore! Stunning healthy reef teeming with Blue Tang, Parrot fish and the beautiful Black Durgon of the Triggerfish family with his electric pale blue lines between his tail and body!

Isla de Mona is often called the Galapagos of the Caribbean and we can understand why! Fourty nautical miles west of Puerto Rico, this isolated island is about 7 miles long and 4 miles wide! It is a designated National Marine Sanctuary. We had been told you were not allowed ashore unless you had made application beforehand but decided to take our chances and go and ask! What a friendly warm reception we got! There are four Rangers, two policemen and a biologist on the island and they do one week rotations from Wednesday to Wednesday! The new crew hand just landed and taken over. They spoke good English and were super friendly! We were welcome ashore to hike the island, they even opened the small museum for us and gave us information on the trails and caves to visit!

 

The Island teems with large Iguanas, found only here, with their two horns on their heads. Wild boars dating back, according to the Rangers, to Christopher Columbus' times and goats.

It was inhabited by the Taino Indians for centuries and there are Taino drawings on the cave walls! Christopher Columbus 'discovered' it in 1493 and it became a port of call for Spanish Galleons. Following the Spanish the Pirates took over and it's rumored Captain Kidd made use of it. The numerous caves were used as is supported by the cooking utensils, fragments of Sabers and even chains found in them.

Following Pirates Guano miners harvested there until 1927! Piles of their rusting equipment and remains of train tracks are to be seen.

In the 1930 and 40's a sport fishing club was established and their old lodge can be found on the western shore!

Boar hunting season takes place between May and November. This is to keep the numbers down and generate income for the maintenance!

Strolling along the reef edged beaches we were delighted to find fresh turtle tracks from the sea. Obviously the night before they had come ashore and laid eggs. The large indentation where they made the nest and their tracks back to the sea easy to spot!

 

Turtle track and nest

After a chilled evening listening to the sounds of silence we slept well.

The next morning we set off to climb the path up the cliffs, we wanted pictures of the boat from above! Along the trail we found freshly dug earth and peering around we saw brown bodies scuttling away back into the bush! Boar or Goats we are not sure but it was thrilling.

The path up the mountain strewn with the fallen leaves of overhead trees is teeming with hermit crabs. It amused me that as they heard us coming they would pull into their shells and now being on a steep slope would roll down the side among the leaves, their bright red legs and pincher tucked tightly into the shell! Their favorite abode is the empty shells of the periwinkles found everywhere.

 

Hermit crab roll! :)

Words do not do justice to the magnificence of this place!

Diving with Reef Shark

Diving with Reef Shark

Dominican Republic

Having been in Haiti I was not sure what to expect from the Dominican Republic. We had a hard, horrible sail, as was expected with the easterlies blowing. We crashed bashed and smashed into the swell and waves as we rounded the Cabo Biata through the channel Canal de la Biata headed for Barahona!

It was dark by the time we had Barahona in sight and anchored ships alongside the channel were rolling to about 30 degrees each side as we passed! We found a spot dropped anchor and hit the sack.

We woke to a gentle swell and little wind what a relief! As we sat drinking coffee in the cockpit we heard someone shouting and whistling from the nearby quay! We assumed the were calling us to check-in and quickly got ready loaded our documents in dry bags and set off for shore. Arriving they introduced themselves as being from Immigration, Customs and the Navy and proceeded to climb aboard the rolling dinghy.

Aboard Rat Catcher they asked if we had anything for them to drink (It was a Sunday) and we offered Cerveza (Beer), which they accepted! They completed the documentation, did a cursory search of the boat. They insisted on looking under the bed, when Andre showed them an engine they were happy and didn’t search further. Just before going back to shore they asked if it was at all possible to give them a tip but assured us it was fine if it was not possible. We explained we had minimal cash and could not! No problem! We had especially bought small bottles of Rum in Bahamas for this situation and offered them a bottle. They were delighted! We had friends for life.

Diesel refill

Fernando and Captain

They also offered the services of Fernando, the local go-to guy for tourists who will walk with you, translate and show you where things are. We declined with respect and they laughed saying they understand because Fernando wanted money and we didn’t have it.

Ashore we wandered into the town looking for a ‘Supermarkado’ (supermarket) to stock up on some fresh greens. Everyone was friendly and super helpful and the prices were fantastic compared to Bahamas!

We discovered Restaurant D’Lina. Great food, free Internet and LARGE beers at $1. Who can complain about that!

Barahona also boasts Lake Enriquillo, the largest lake in the Caribbean covering about 265 square kilometres. It is also the lowest point in the Caribbean being 40 meters below sea level! The high salt content created a seemingly barren environment inhospitable to humans but is ideal for crocodiles, iguanas and pink Flamingos.

Two days here and the next weather window appeared and we were off! Salinas our destination! Not wanting to enter Salinas at night we decided to make a stop at Palmar da Ocoa! What a delight. A quiet beach edged with moderate properties. In shelter from the swell and seas it was great to spend the night.

The next morning saw us sailing into Salinas.

Las Salinas has the dubious reputation of having a number of children in the village with a rare 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. Although having a Y-chromosome and male internal organs, at birth they tend to appear externally female and are raised as girls. Around puberty, the onset of male hormones causes virilization and their actual sex becomes apparent. At this point, they switch genders and are raised as boys. This is a common enough occurrence that it does not cause much concern among the townspeople, who are accustomed to it. These boys are called "guevedoces" from a combined slang form meaning "eggs (testes) at twelve"

Las Salinas is one of the most important salt mining centers in the Dominican Republic, interesting wonder if the two are linked in any strange way! Salinas is made up of salt flats and apparently the most extensive sand dunes in the Caribbean.

We loved the tiny town of Salinas. The people were friendly and we found the best restaurant ever WITH free wifi. Restaurant Bahia De Los Pirates! (Pirates Bay Restaurant)

It was obvious Matthew had been through here with sunken yachts and more than one with its jib shredded, like bunting! The owner had removed the mainsail but obviously thinking a furled jib was safe had left it behind. We not sure if he has seen it yet but its trashed!

 

Next stop Casa de Campino! You have probably read about our experience in “Drama at Sea”. Its regretful that a handful of super rich, it seems American, land owners can manipulate the local in such a way they will not even follow the international law of safe harbor!

Heading back to check out today they tried the same story. We could check out now (yesterday it wasn’t a checkout site) but had to leave afterwards. I was not having it! Ranting about rich owners forcing us out into unsafe seas AGAIN, with trembling lips and shaking voice the poor manager must have said to the owners, A crazy unstable woman is in my office help! So we were allowed to stay in anchor for the night! Woman 1 ; rich owners 0. We are so tempted to go park a hot turd on their nice beach before we leave. lol

Drama at Sea

Admittedly not every passage is wonderful. André does lots of planning and weather watching to attempt to choose the best conditions to set out in.

The morning we left Salinas promised to be a good one, the winds had turned more north and the sea in the bay was flat. We didn't fool ourselves that these would be the conditions once we sailed out of the bay but we hoped for a good few hours in our 21 hour passage, averaging 5 knots, to Casa de Campo.

As we exited the bay the seas picked up and with a swell onto our starboard forequarter we started to smash and bash, pitch and roll but it wasn't too bad! Yet!

About three hours into the voyage the port engine coughed, spluttered and died! We were sure we had solved the problem of it sucking air but it seems not! There was no way with that crashing and bashing we were going to try to clear it at sea, we would make way with some wind and one engine! We crept along averaging 3 - 4 knots! Yuk! This was extending our sea time from possible 21 hours to 26 hours! Doesn't sound like much till you bouncing and rolling, bashing and smashing into seas!

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Ten hours later, at about 3pm, there was a horrible vibration on our working engine. We had been sailing through thick patches of weed and we hoped a lump was stuck on the prop and if we switched the engine off for a while it just might drop off! Well, hope beyond hope, it didn't happen!

We killed the engine again and hanging on, we peered over the stern trying to see if we were trailing anything, nothing could be seen off the starboard sugar scoop! Andre moved over to the port side and gave a shout of 'we have line'!

Dragging through the water behind us was black, floating nylon line! From here we could see a huge clump of it around the starboard propeller.

Catching hold of the floating length just off the port side we started pulling it in! It was unbelievable, it stretched as far as we could see disappearing into the swell far away! We pulled at least 200 meters of line and secured it to stop it pulling back! It had not pulled loose from the bottom of the boat and was obviously hooked around the rudder and or prop!

Pulling in line. Note thigh high pile of line!

Then we started on the starboard side. Here we were pulling in clumps of line between the lengths stretching miles from the boat! Eventually we had pulled in more than 500 meters and we're still pulling in line from beyond as far as we could see! Not having any idea how much was still out there we gave up and tied it off.

Twisted and tangled from the prop rotation!

Then came the worst! Andre donned his snorkel gear took a knife and went overboard with a safety line tied around his middle so I could pull him aboard if he got into trouble or got left behind. We had dropped the sails to slow the boat as much as we could, but the swell and current still kept it moving!

He started on the starboard side dodging the hull as it bounced up above him, smashing down next to him. He began cutting the line until I could pull the pieces loose on that side!

With priorities there was no time for videos or photos. They would have been awe inspiring, scary! Let me paint the picture; I am standing on the sugar scoop. Andre in the water, I have one foot on his safety line to stop it going overboard and possibly tangling on something and holding him underwater! As the scoop rises on the swell I pull in the problem line, then as the boat falls off the swell and submerges me in swilling water to my knees, I grab onto the boat to hold on, keeping Andre in my sights checking it hadn't landed on him!

Miles and miles of the stuff.

Once that side was loose, he then moved to the other side and sawed and cut line slowly loosening pieces as I pulled the ends aboard. There was one left trailing out to sea and no matter how much I pulled aboard we didn't see the end of it. Offering a silent apology to the sea and to any boats who came after us we had no option but to cut the rest of it loose! Finally we were free!

We got the boat moving and quickly showered the salt water off, we were both drenched!

As we gained motion the last swell rode up the port sugar scoop grabbing our conch shell horn, decoration and sunset herald smashing it against the back and washing it off. King Neptune had reclaimed his shell! 

No! It couldn't be! I realized that not having a following sea I had not closed the porthole above our bed! The one looking out onto the scoop! I raced down to our cabin hoping the wash of water up the scoop had not reached the porthole! No such luck! Our bed was now awash with salt water!

That was it, we had both had enough! A major sense of humor failure, but there was nothing we could do! More than halfway into the journey we had to battle on through the night!

Finally we arrived at Casa de Campo at 0830 the next morning. We called in and said we had only one engine and could we anchor until we had sorted it out! They were great, sent out a dinghy to meet us and escorted us to the small anchorage in front of a private beach edged with mansions!

We secured the boat as quickly as possible and both passed out! Exhausted!

Waking at about 11:30 we made our way over to the marina. We had planned to take a slip for the night to have access to fresh water and hoping for an eventless peaceful sleep! When we enquired about price we were told its 'very very expensive'! So what is the price we asked, we need to come in! Then we were informed that had no place at all, not even for one night! Strange! It did to look full to us.

That was ok we would stay on anchor and leave the next morning! That is not possible, they informed us, we had only been allowed the anchor there to sort out the engine but had to leave before the end of the day! We told them we still had not fixed the engine and possibly needed help! They said there were three anchorages between and hour and two away and we could go slowly along the coast on one engine to reach them but we couldn't stay under any circumstances!

So we once again lifted anchor and set out into the rolling smashing sea! We had decided to go with the swell back west to Ilha Catalina, two hours later we once again dropped anchor settled in, had a sundowner and dinner, watched a movie and slept a deep dreamless sleep.