We arrived in Culebra Puerto Rico on December 19th at 3:00 pm. Having dropped our mooring line in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas on December 13 at 8:00 am and traveled approximately 850 miles, our average speed was about 5.5 miles per hour. We were able to sail for several long portions of the journey but the higher percentage of time was under engine power. It’s likely that sailing speed would have been somewhat faster had we taken the time to clean the boat bottom but never got to that before the trip. Also, we made conservative choices with regard to sail plan as we become more familiar with how the boat handles different conditions. All in in all things went very well for us and we were quite happy to be back in the Caribbean.
Here’s a visual recap of the trip:
We spent a few days anchored in Ensenada Honda near the town of Dewey and got ourselves and the boat back in order from the days at sea. Back in the tropics is great but it brought with it new challenges with our refrigeration/freezing/power generation systems. Jeff has been able to get things under control with some tweaking. We will be replacing our inverter as it having some trouble with overheating while charging the batteries. We will also be adding more solar panels at some point soon, more solar power generation means less generator run time.
We we did make a trip out to Culebrita for two nights then back to Dewey the morning of Christmas Eve. Culebrita is a magical place when few boats are there.
We met two Dutch cruising couples and had a very nice Christmas Eve dinner with them at The Dinghy Dock restaurant. It was so nice to spend time with these people, both for their world cruising stories and to remind us of spending time with our wonderful Dutch friend Monique. One of the couples has been cruising since 1975 and has written 3 books of their travels. As yet, only one has been translated to English and we look forward to reading the copy we bought.
After dinner we headed up to the Catholic Church for mass. The priest was busy out side organizing the children who were to act out the nativity that evening. He was very welcoming to all and interspersed some English into the mass for the few non Spanish speakers in attendance. The event was very Puerto Rican in our minds, there was loud Latin music with most people moving to the beat. So lively ~ the priest danced down the aisle after mass ~ very happy we went!
It quickly became apparent that we had lost much of the progress we had made with our Spanish language skills last year. We’re listening carefully to Spanish speakers and try to translate but Culebra is a tourist area where many people speak English. Clearly we should continue with our Rosetta Stone program on a regular basis regardless of where we are in the world.
We have been moored out at Dockety for the past few days. Still in Culebra just away from town. Enjoying swimming, snorkeling, paddle boarding and relaxing.
Tonight we have been invited for dinner with Chris and Yonnie of Magus. We met them last spring in St. Martin where we were treated to an amazing meal which Yonnie prepared. We had considered moving on to St. Thomas earlier this week but are glad we stayed. We also met a couple from Boston who visited us last night, we enjoyed getting to know Peipei and Jerry and hope to meet up again.
We wish everyone a happy new year and special wishes and congratulations to our nephew Justin. He and fiancé Rachel will be married tonight in Detroit, wish we could be there!
~ Jeff and Mary ~
Happy New Year Jeff & Mary. I think we may have just missed each other in San Juan. Rick and I took a Caribbean Cruise out of San Juan, after spending two nights there December 12th & 13th, and arriving back in port on the 21st. You may remember Jay Toth from our World days. Jay and his wife Donna, who celebrate the same anniversay as us celebrated their 30th, while we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on December 15th aboard Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas. I’m still recovering from sea legs. Wishing you all the best in your journeys – May GOD continue to bless you! Thank you for the Christmas card – too much going this year for me to send any out.
Vicki Hickman
So good to hear from you Vicki, thanks for the good wishes! Glad I brought your address when we left Michigan, I didn’t want to loose touch. We did see some cruise ships while we were passing north of San Juan but I think timing was off for your return. Happy anniversary to you and Rick. I do remember Jay; happy anniversary to he and Donna too.
Happy New Year to the Pernick’s from the Keefe’s. We will be thinking of you at dinner tonight with Bill and Mary.
Happy New Year to all of you too!
One of these years we need to have a New Year reunion.
Tricia and I are in BVI for the winter if you’d like to connect at some point.
Lets do that Pat. Are you on a boat?
We are in St Thomas for a week or so.
Happy New Year to Mary and Jeff. May it bring many blessings as you continue your sea voyages.
Love, Bríd
Thank you for the New Year’s wishes Brid.
Our very best to you too.