Atlantic Ocean
20.18.76N
70.05.25W

We motored throughout the night and easily tracked 12 ships during our various watches. On one of my watches, I was tracking 4 at one time. Luckily, they passed well away from us so no evasive maneuvers were necessary.

Also during the night, the line of clouds that stream off Puerto Rico, across the Mona Passage and toward the Dominican Republic, held some lightening. All of it was well to the south of us and with stars directly over us, there nothing to worry about. As morning dawned, I watched a large black cloud shift from over the DR and out to sea toward us. However, the more it moved out to sea, the more the sun burned it away. Good deal! Our luck is holding.

We did have some light wind today that allowed us to sail with our spinnaker for about 5 hours making 5-6 kts. We hoisted it further up the mast this time in hopes that it would alleviate the chafing we’ve been discovering after each use. When we brought it back down, the line was once again worn but not to the extent that it had been previously. We decided that maybe some leather at the chafing point might be in order. Otherwise, we’re at a loss as to what to do next.

Our 6pm calculation reflected a possibility of another 24 hours before landfall by sail. Since weaving through reefs at sunset is not our idea of fun, we turned on the engine.

We also needed to adjust our course a bit. On our trip down, we had traveled directly south to Luperon but on our way back, we were making a direct course to the Turks & Caicos Islands from Puerto Rico which is north west. Unfortunately, this route took us over some rocky shoals and reefs; also not our idea of fun. So we angled around the shoals during the night to intersect our original route south. So far, so good.

Behind us, there is lightening in the sky over Hispaniola; above there are still stars.

Atlantic Ocean
19.05.800N
68.28.544W

Before heading out, Dale changed our running lights bulb again. It had burned out just as we were anchoring and with the marine police boat, we’d forgotten about it. With that completed, we hoisted our anchor and motored out of the northern entrance to Boqueron and headed out across the Mona Passage.

We had consulted our charts and discussed the possible routes last evening and debated whether to follow along the western coast of Puerto Rico or head directly across. With the lack of wind, we decided to just head straight out and motor until we could find some worthwhile wind. Further away from the island, the wind filled in from directly behind us, so we cut the engine and hoisted the main sail.

We were just approaching red marker #8 when a small boat with 2 men aboard waved us down. One of the men was clearly waving his jacket over his head in our direction and with the Coast Guard issuing an advisory for all boats to keep a lookout for a vessel in distress, we started our engine and made our way over to them. However, as we approached , we could see that they were anchored. We kept a fairly good distance from them, circled around and Dale went up front to see what they needed.

At first they asked if we spoke Espanola; Dale answered no and again asked if they needed assistance. The young man in the wrap around gold glasses spoke to his companion, said no, replied back to Dale that they were waiting for another boat, so we completed our circle around and continued on our way. Although the second young man in the front of the boat had a fish in his hands, we considered this to be a very unusual circumstance. We debated calling the Coast Guard but considering there was nothing to report, we decided to continue on our way.

We passed another small boat SCUBA diving on the western side of marker #8 and then finally a small sailboat approaching us from the direction of Mona Island. By this time, the Coast Guard had suspended their BOLO for the vessel in distress.

From that point on, we saw only 2 ships for the rest of the day. Both passed about 2 miles behind us. Hopefully, once we get to the other side of the Mona Passage, we won’t be dancing with the big boys anymore.

Boquqeron, Puerto Rico
18.01.192N
67.10.700W

During the night, the anchor alarm went off 2 more times even though I extended its range. I got up and checked but there was no wind and we appeared to be in the same position. If we’re dragging now, it’s very slowly.

We listened to the weather and found out that there’s a window to leave now and its even better tomorrow. So . . . we’ll be leaving and instead of stopping by Mayaguez on the way, we’ll just keep on going as we’ve not gotten off the boat and flown our “Q” flag the whole time.

We hustled around and completed the projects that we needed to get done except that I want to pre-make some sandwiches and dig out some canned goods that can be microwaved. We had some straps that we wrapped around the forward bunk and the bicycles and then criss-crossed a couple of bungee cords across it to hold everything in place. Now if it shifts, it’ll be mattress and all.

Its amazing to think that it took us months to travel from the Turks & Caicos down to the Dominican Republic across to Puerto Rico and then around the Caribbean to Bonaire. Now in a week’s time, we’ll have gone from Bonaire to T&C.

Boqueron, Puerto Rico
18.01.192N
67.10.700W

369.8 NM
6.1 Avg. Kts.
9.0 Max Kts.
60.30 Hrs.

Current Odometer: 7040.0 miles

In spite of the lack of sleep over the past 3 days and the fact that we didn’t get to bed before 5am, we woke up about 8:30am. Dale was hungry and wanted pancakes. Well, he must be feeling better.

We were just finishing up breakfast, when I heard a dinghy approaching. Since we rarely visit an anchorage anymore without seeing someone we’ve met before, I figured someone recognized the boat and was coming for a visit. Not this time. We were dragging! The people in the dinghy had tried to raise us on the radio but since we hadn’t turned it on yet, they assumed correctly about a night passage and came to warn us of our situation.

In the light of day we could see that we had indeed anchored at the back of the pack, which consisted of about 2 dozen boats. As we had intended to move closer to shore anyway, we thanked them profusely and proceeded to lift our anchor and select and new spot.

Our new spot was closer to the town dock and not quiet in the middle of the anchored boats. We dropped the anchor, back down and although it did not give us that sharp jerk we like to see, the chain stretched out and appeared to be dug in. The water was muddy so Dale wasn’t going to see anything if he dove in. We went below again and 2 hours later, we heard once again heard whistles and horns that brought us topside.

Sure enough, we dragged again. This time we passed between 2 boats before coming close to the 3rd one who was tooting his whistle for all he was worth. I told Dale that we were making up for lost time. We’ve been very lucky in the past with our anchoring and our luck was holding today considering that we hadn’t hit anyone and our next stop would have been in the mangrove trees further behind us.

By now, the normal winds that pipe up mid-morning were filling in and we were getting gusts in the 20 kts range. Once again, we lifted our anchor and tried again. This time I backed down hard and then waited. Within a couple of minutes, we could see that we were still moving. We picked up and moved to another spot that looked to have a sandy bottom. We dropped, backed down hard, then waited. Again, we were still moving. We did this routine 3 more times before finally, the anchor appeared to set. By this time, we were both exasperated. Dale was adamant about not wanting to switch to the storm anchor and neither one of us could figure out what the problem was.

We took turns for the rest of the day sitting in the cockpit on anchor watch. I’d even set the anchor alarm which would go off each time we swung wide when the wind would pick up. I reset the anchor alarm extending the radius and then sit, wait and watch.

About mid-afternoon, I reminded Dale that we hadn’t checked in yet. He gathered all of our information and called the Customs telephone number that we had used before. This time, however, in spite of our current sticker and the new frequent border crossing number we had been given in St. Croix 4 months ago, the Customs officer wanted to see each of us in Mayaguez. Apparently, this documentation only gives the inspector the option of not seeing you. There was no way we were going to leave the boat today to find a taxi to take us to another city so that he could lay eyes on us. I suggested that we move on up the coast as we had to go in that direction to leave anyway.

We dug out the charts and cruising guides and started studying. There were a couple of anchorages nearby that we could use until we got a weather window as the guides noted the poor holding in Mayaguez. We’ve already had our fill of “poor holding.”

Tomorrow after we listen to the weather, we’ll move on up.

Caribbean Sea
17.28.086N
67.22.690W

Our luck held throughout the night. We passed under 3 distinctive bands of clouds and only found a light shower under one. Not enough to rinse off the boat or even its handkerchief sails.
Thankfully, our second day was much more comfortable. It was a bright sunny day with both the wind and seas diminishing. We shook out each reef one by one until we were flying full sails by mid-afternoon. Dale was starting to feel better, at least he was eating. However, we continued with our arrangement of eating and sleeping in the cockpit because it seemed easier than trying to make our way up and down a listing stairway.

With nightfall, we saw a band of clouds on the horizon, so once again, we reefed the main and jib to the first reefing point. Later, as we passed under the clouds, the winds picked up again, but with the sails already reefed, it was a non-event.

Our calculation this morning approximated a Tuesday morning arrival in Boqueron. However, as we came out of the west setting current the closer we got to Puerto Rico, the earlier in the morning it became. Dale was on watch as Puerto Rico came into view and at our 2am watch change, it was obvious we would be making landfall before sunrise.

Our approach led us up the west coast of Puerto Rico and from our last time through, we knew that our chart plotter was spot on (within reason). There were a few reefs and shallow spots to avoid so we rolled in the sails and turned on the engine. I found no problem in avoiding the hazardous areas and as soon as we spotted the channel light to the Boqueron harbor, we altered course slightly and entered without mishap.

We eased our way up to the coastline and started looking for the boats we knew would be anchored there. We could only spot one, so we selected a spot to the outside and behind it. As we were trying to anchor, we spotted a light that at first appeared to be on shore but then was clearly moving towards us. The bright light stayed on us making it extremely difficult to see but Dale was able to drop the anchor and about 80’ of chain before he headed back in my direction. I was starting to get nervous but as the bright light got closer, I could see a small blue flashing light beneath it.

I don’t recall that they ever identified themselves but assumed that they were either harbor patrol or homeland security. A male voice with a Hispanic accent asked us (in English) where we were coming from, how many people were on board, and how long we were planning on staying. Dale answered each question and soon they went on their way; heading back out and toward Mayaguez. Maybe they were Customs & Immigration looking for illegal aliens. In any event, I’m sure we looked and smelled our best at 4am and 3 days with no showers.

We went back to anchoring, letting out more chain and despite not getting a good tug when we backed down on the anchor, we put on the bridle and dropped below for a couple of hot showers before dropping into bed.

Caribbean Sea
14.49.223N
67.58.561W


We gave our hugs and kisses to Gerry & Nicky, choked back the lumps in our throats and dropped our mooring ball at 4pm. We unfurled our main to the first reefing point, as the wind was pretty gusty even in the bay and motor sailed to the end of Bonaire in incredibly deep water. We rounded to the north, unfurled the jib and set our course to Boqueron, Puerto Rico.

The wind was blowing 20-25 kts but was forecast to moderate back to the normal 15-20 kts range by Mon. The seas were supposed to be 5-6’ with a 6 second interval. I swear that more of them were in the 6-8’ range, as we were taking green water over the bow and occasionally over the cockpit. When we started seeing 26-29 kts being registered, we put a reef in the jib and continued on.

The sunset was particularly beautiful (no green flash) but once gone, conditions that had been challenging during the day became nerve racking after dark. Only the ¾ moon gave us any type of reprieve. At the 11pm watch change, we added another reef to the jib. Dale lost his favorite hat when he climbed out of the cockpit to check on the lines; there was no question that we wouldn’t be going back to retrieve it. During my 11-2 watch, I eased my grip on the jackline holding my tether and me in place, and looked back to identify the Southern Cross for the last time on our voyage. At the 2am watch change we added another reef to the main and discussed the option of turning around and heading back. Cooking was out of the question. Even hove to, I could only microwave something quickly; I’m glad I picked up that bucket of chicken. Sleeping was confined to the cockpit in case of emergency and the fact that Dale was starting to feel the effects of the nasty conditions. Going below for any reason was a challenge that we saved for the watch changes. Our bicycles that have never shifted before, were now a jumble on the forward cabin sole along with everything else that had been packed around them. Dale reasoned that if the conditions moderated as they were predicted, we would have lost 12 hours by turning back. We weren’t in any danger, the boat was handling well, it just wasn’t very comfortable. We sallied forth.

The skies lightened with the approaching dawn and with it, our trepidation. Slowly throughout the day, the winds died back to the 20-25kt range. By afternoon, the seas also seemed to be decreasing so we shook out one of the reefs in the jib and grabbed a couple of books to read. I spotted a few bright purple man-o-war jellyfish heading west during the day but didn’t want to jeopardize my camera in the boisterous conditions.

With the nightfall, we saw a line of clouds that lay directly over our path, so we put the reef back in and hoped that we wouldn’t encounter any squalls during the night. (In case you’re not keeping track, we’re back to 2 reefs in each sail.)

Isla de Culebrita
18.19.128N
65.13.738W

Underway again! This morning Dale returned the rental car, I tried to confirm that my x-ray had been taken care of and we readied the boat for transit. Along the way, we finally met our neighbor Loretta who was starting laundry of epic proportions. We had met her husband Marshall a few days ago when they first arrived in the slip next to us.

We slipped our lines about 9:30 and said a fond farewell to Roosevelt Roads. We still don’t know if AAFES is taking over the marina or not but hope that they do, so that we’ll have our Puerto Rican home to return to in the future.

We headed out to the turning basin, unfurled our sails, then sailed in the direction of Vieques. The wind was a modest 12-15 kts with seas in the 2-4’ range. We got as close as we could to Punta Caballo before tacking back towards Culebra, dodging a Coast Guard buoy tender working in the area.

Orpailleur and St. Christopher left about an hour before us and we thought we were catching up at one point. However, in my infinite wisdom, I believed that since we had a good wind in the direction we were going, if we continued on the same tack, pinching as high as we could, we could round to the north of Culebra and scoot in with everyone else. It never works that way and I should have known it. Apparently, we actually were catching up with everyone until they tacked back behind Culebra (the normal route) and watched us taking off for points unknown. Although I was able to pinch quite high on the south side of Culebra, we needed to dodge the rocks that lead from Puerto Rico, after that, the wind started to die and we were well on our way to Africa when I turned the wheel over to Dale. About 4 pm he turned on the ‘iron genny’ to insure we made it into harbor before dark.

We arrived in Culebrita about 5:30 pm. St. Christopher, Orpailleur and Summer Breeze (our Trini neighbors) were all sitting in their cockpits watching the sunset as we scurried around trying to set an anchor bridle into the swell. (Dale refused to set a stern anchor again.) In spite of my “short cut” it was a wonderful day of sailing. The winds never rose above 18 kts and the seas were kindly, rarely above 4’ even on the exposed Atlantic side.

Dale dropped the dink and made the rounds saying hello to everyone as I set about gathering something for dinner. Gerry & Nicky joined us later for left over party snacks before we all called it an early night.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today the guys wanted to do chores on our respective boats prior to taking off, so I picked up Nicky and headed in the direction of a specific store to pick up a birthday gift for Dale. I can’t write about it now or it wouldn’t be a surprise. Then we headed back to the Palace to do laundry and make the isinglass cover for Jordan that I had promised. Nicky was pressed into laundry service while I sewed and bless her heart, Dale got her to help him put the outboard back on its perch on the back. Sad to say, Dale knows to stay away when I’m sewing but poor Nicky got sent to the corner when she pointed out that in spite of the fact that I was measuring hems with a ruler, they appeared to be crooked. After that, she was an angel when I clearly wasn’t sewing up to my usual standards. In any event, the cover was completed, in spite of the less than perfect stitches and returned to St. Christopher. Tom & Jordan weren’t there so I climbed aboard and left it in the cockpit, giving their guard dog, Harry, a little pat for being so quiet.

Next Nicky & I headed to the nearest grocery store for our last minute veggie shopping. One of the guests that Nicky is expecting is gluten intolerant so she was seeking items with no wheat in them. I started thinking about my menus and realized she has her work cut out. No pastas, no breads, no crackers (unless they’re made of rice); sounds like a forced Atkins’ diet to me; Dale says: not quite.

Being a glutton for punishment, I had also decided that we’d host the last night on the dock farewells. We invited Tom & Jordan, Mac & Marie and their guests, as well as Gerry & Nicky. At one point we had 11 people in our cockpit passing hors dousers around. Probably not the smartest move on my part but I really wanted to see Mac & Marie again and not impose on Tom & Jordan’s graciousness with their roomy catamaran. It might have been a bit cramped but everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. Nothing like a full day of activity.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday Geri! You know that you’re getting older . . . when the twinkle in your eyes is the sun hitting your bifocals!

The crews of Orpailleur and Gypsy Palace dedicated today as a day of sightseeing. We started off with a trip to downtown San Juan and learned that we had chosen the day of the Boy Scout Jamboree as our day in the fabled city. Boy Scouts were pouring into the city by the minute.

We were early, so we parked next to the cemetery by the El Morrow fort. On our way up the hill, Nicky and I decided that it would be prudent to head to the loo before we got to the fort when we saw the sign indicating that there were none in the fort. We found some very nice ones in the conveniently located souvenir shop. However the ladies room was in the process of being cleaned and we were directed to the men’s room across the hall. It was clean and tidy and not at all what we envisioned a men’s room to look like, except for one item; a blow dryer at waist height. Now I suppose that this could be for children or those in wheelchairs but when we turned it on, the force was enough to blow a small child to the next island. Of course there is only one thing we figured this could be used for and indeed we harassed the guys about it for several minutes upon our return. . . . . . . . . If they didn’t splash water all over the place, there would be no need for a stand up clothes dryer.

We continued with our tour of El Morrow enjoying the views and imagining what life must have been like in days of old. By mid-morning, it was obvious that this was going to be a sweltering day. After a couple of up and downs on the steep staircases, we made our way out of the fort and headed out of the city at a snail’s pace. By this time the streets were clogged with uniformed munchkins with their larger versioned leaders and guardians in complimenting colors. The main street heading out of the city was closed for the mid-day parade so we eased through cobble stoned side streets built in the 1600’s, long before today’s SUVs were thought of.

Nicky had been looking to purchase a mask that is made in Ponce and we saw several in the windows of the stores as we passed slowly through town. We considered jumping out a making a quick purchase but the guys said that as soon as we did, the traffic would clear and they would be forced to circle around to come back and pick us up. It was made clear to us that this was not to be considered. No sense of adventure, it seems.

We eventually made our way out of San Juan and followed the signs to the Bacardi Rum factory for the tour there; no I didn’t buy any rum - in fact, I volunteered to be the designated driver. This time the walking tour wasn’t turned on (probably due to all of the cruise ships in town) and we quickly made our way through the audio/visual center and back to the tasting center. Thankfully, the tastes seemed much lighter than our first encounter a year ago and my driving services weren’t required.

We headed back to the mall in Carolina and grabbed a quick bite for lunch before making our way to Sears. Nicky’s vacuum sealer had sealed its last bag and we found a newer, smarter, more expensive version to replace it. We walked with purpose and determination through out the remainder of the mall looking for the Ponce masks, just in case they might be there and quick enough so the guys had nothing to complain about but still, no joy.

Later as we passed by the souvenir stores at the El Yunque rainforest turnoff, we found just what she wanted and just as the shops were closing. I’m glad we were able to locate them as Nicky wanted to pick one up for their daughter but they had only spent the night in Ponce and did not have enough time to locate the masks there.

Another full day and one that we ended with dinner at Lolitas as we were all exhausted from the fresh air and sunshine.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday Nicky! You know that you’re getting older . . . when your back goes out more often than you do!

I think that when we started out this morning, they guys were going to move Orpailleur over to the travel lift and Nicky and I were going to go back to the base and do some laundry and possibly some shopping in town without the guys. However, I had taken our computer over to their boat to download our e-mails and while in the process of making the internet connection, the guys starting untying the lines and we all ended up moving the boat over to the travel lift for the cutlass bearing to be replaced. We had told Gerry about the great deal to be found in pulling the boat during the noon lunch break. He checked into it, made all of the arrangements and while the boat was in the sling, Dale and Gerry scraped the barnacles off the keel while the people Gerry had hired worked on replacing the cutlass bearing. Nicky and I ended up supervising from some chairs in the shade. As soon as the lunch break was over, the boat was dropped back into the water.

I was surprised and delighted to see that a young woman operated the travel lift when it was time to return to the water. We all made the comment that it took 3 men to pull the boat but only 1 woman to move her back and lower her in. Once back in, we motored over to the fuel dock and topped her off before finally heading back to their slip.

With the better part of the day gone by this time, Nicky and I decided to vacuum seal her purchases from yesterday and created a little production line which had everything taken care of in fairly short order. After that we had a couple of cocktails before going up to the marina restaurant to celebrate Nicky’s birthday.

With all of the major projects completed, we only have our sight seeing left to do and then we’ll be off once again.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We picked Gerry & Nicky up this morning and after checking our e-mails via their internet connection, headed to the pottery factory that I have been wanting to visit since the early 90’s. It was another example of not knowing what to expect but once arriving, certain that what lay before me was not what I was expecting. After making the guys promise not to rush us in our perusing all of the wonderful items, we were in, out, and gone within 10 minutes.

We continued on to the town of Carolina, grabbed a bite to eat for lunch, then the guys dropped us off at Sams for re-provisioning while they went to Home Depot for their shopping. As Nicky and I walked into the vast warehouse, we had to walk past a huge flat screen TV. We both turned to each other and said that the guys would never get past that TV to find us in the back. Sure enough, when they did find us they were still talking about where to mount that big TV on the boat.

Although we had rented a large car, we stuffed it to near capacity with our purchases. We made the long drive back to our boats and called it a day; although I know that Nicky, like me, is dividing, vacuum sealing, arranging and re-arranging to make everything fit. I’m still not completely done with putting everything away but I’m finally down to cooking up all of the hamburger before dividing it, vacuum sealing and heaven only knows how I’m going to get it to fit into the freezer. I don’t know why I do this every time but there always seems to be something I can’t fit into the freezer and have to empty the whole thing out again to rearrange it one more time.

Tomorrow is Nicky’s birthday and unfortunately, the only thing we have planned thus far is Orpailleur being hauled for work on the cutlass bearing. I’ll have to figure out a good way to celebrate it besides doing laundry.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Our original intention was for Nicky and me to go shopping for a few hours while the guys checked on the cutlass bearing on Orpailleur. I took the computer along to respond to a few e-mails and by the time I was able to log into their internet connection and do my upload, they were back saying that the boat needed to be hauled to fix the problem.

Gerry had already checked on the availability of doing a quick haul and had found out that he needed some additional information from the boat manufacturer for size specifications as far as replacement parts. So once the determination was made that they did indeed need to pull the boat, it was just a matter of making a few quick rounds to confirm what was needed and when to do it.

After that, we made the normal rounds to the various chandleries for pieces and parts; a quick run to the normal WalMart, WestMarine, bank, refill on propane, a bite to eat for lunch, return to the stores that had been closed for lunch and then back to their boat to shoot the whole day. Nicky and I noted that when guys make multiple runs to stores for comparison shopping, well … that’s OK. But when we do it, its wasting time and money. We had a blast watching the two of them.

This evening as we shared dinner together, we caught up on the activities of our various children and what was going on back home. Tomorrow, Nicky and I will finally be able to go do the shopping we thought we were going to do today. The guys are going along too since we’re going in the direction of Home Depot but maybe we can figure out a way to send them off in one direction while we take our time in the pottery factory. We’ll see.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

They’re here, they’re here! I was still easing into the morning when Dale turned on the radio to listen to the Safety and Security net and then the morning weather report when we heard Orpailleur hail Gypsy Palace. You would have thought that the mattress had shot a spring I bounded up so quick. When they instructed us to turn on the VHF, we knew they were close. That only meant one thing: they had left early and sailed through the night to avoid the wind and waves.

A hasty call to Jessica got us a rental car and a couple of hours later, we caught Orpailleur’s lines as Gerry & Nicky pulled into Puerto del Rey. It was so good to see them again. We spent a short time catching up, walked with them up to the office to check in and then left to give them some time to catch a few hours of sleep before returning to pick them up for a Mexican dinner at Lolitas.

Between times, Dale took me to McDonalds so that I could down load our e-mails, check our financial status and upload our blog posts. I seem to get sucked into a black hole when I’m on the computer because Dale said that I was typing away for almost 4 hours. It hardly seemed like one.

Anyway, they’re here, they want to check a few things on the boat, do a little sight seeing, re-provision and then take off for the next leg of our adventure.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We received two e-mails from Gerry & Nicky today; the most important was that they were looking to make a straight transit here from Salinas starting tomorrow morning. That should put them in this area on Wednesday sometime.

We dropped by St. Christopher and told Tom & Jordan the news. I had promised them that I would make a cover for their isinglass before we left, so I went over to measure the area and discuss how she wanted to attach the cover. She has the canvas, I have the sewing machine and thread, but after thinking about it for a while, I hope she has some large grommets to run the line through like she wants.

About mid-morning we finally received our wayward mail. It took us a couple of hours to go through, organize and respond to. Most matters I’ve made arrangements to do on-line. One issue I haven’t been able to take care of on-line is something I’ve been addressing since we left Jacksonville. It involves an x-ray, the doctor who ordered the x-ray, the facility who took the x-ray and the insurance that covered the x-ray.

The whole thing started when the insurance carrier wanted a statement from the doctor reflecting why the x-ray was necessary and bounced the bill back to the x-ray facility, who sent a copy of the rejection to me. I made my first series of telephone calls to all of the parties because none of them can conduct business of this type via e-mail, or among themselves. The insurance company doesn’t like talking with me, the doctor’s office says they can’t deal directly with the insurance regarding the x-ray facility’s bill and the x-ray facility says that they’ve sent everything they have in their files but they can’t get paid. I call all 3 from various parts of the world to pay mediator. The doctor says fine; the x-ray facility says they’ll resubmit; the insurance company says they’ll pay. But 6 months later, it pops back up and I have to make the series of calls again to find out what the problem is this time. In each instance, I remind all parties that I’m out of the country and only receive my mail about once every 6 weeks. I’m told by all parties that there’s no problem and that everything will be taken care of but 6 months later, I’ll get another notice that it wasn’t.

One problem that came to light was that the doctor’s office was trying to send me all of the information so that I could forward it back to the various parties but they didn’t have my current address updated in their computer system. They did have it in their physical file but I was actually told in my last call to them that they couldn’t update the change in my address on the computer unless I physically came into the office. These are intelligent people; I‘ve met them. They freely admit they have the correct address in correspondence from me regarding this issue in their hard file. Now I ask you, what difference does it make to the computer whether I’m standing in front of someone, calling them on the telephone or mailing them the correct address? It still has to be entered by a human.

At this point, the doctor’s office as agreed to fax the statement to the x-ray facility and they have agreed to resubmit the invoice to the insurance company. The insurance company says that’s all they’re waiting for. I’m going to call again before we leave Puerto Rico while I still have good telephone service just to be sure.

Dale reminded me that this was a prime example of why we felt the need to take our sabbatical in the first place.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W


The Great Thong Theory and Shoe Search. You may recall from yesterday, Dale’s footwear walked off without him. So today we conducted a less than scientific experiment to see if the remaining flipflop sank or swam to see if we were going to swim or search. While I photographed the trials, Dale tied a string to the surviving twin then kicked it off to see what would happen. We both witnessed the results: it floated like a toy boat bobbing in a bathtub. Guess that means we search.


We lowered the dink, mounted the outboard and African Queen putt, putted to the closest windward shore of the harbor to begin our perimeter search; keeping in mind that we might find Australian footprints of shoenappers instead. Within 20 feet of our starting point, we were poling our way around mangrove roots with the boat hook, with me on the bow, butt in the air leaning way over, peering beneath the bushes as best I could. We found an assortment of buckets, tires, crates and ropes of every imaginable color. We also found several fenders; one really, really big one that I wanted to strap to the boat to keep it from sinking but Dale said I was delusional. It was as big as the dink, so I think he just didn’t want to drag it back against the wind.

When it got deep enough, Dale would switch from the boat hook/pole method of propulsion to rowing backwards (supposedly so he could see where he was going). We frightened a manta ray and saw a couple of good sized fish. Right about the time I started to worry that the Coast Guard guys would see us and chase us away, I saw it. It’s bright yellow Corona letters glistening in the water. It had made its way past the main perimeter and was making its way to an interior cove created by the mangrove trees themselves. We forced the dink through the narrow opening and extended the boat hook to its full length to reach the escapee taking refuge on a small island tree in the middle of the cove.

Once retrieved, we turned around and tried to make our way back out against the wind. At this point, I had one oar and Dale had the boat hook. We worked against each other most of the way out but still managed to break free. Once we cleared the majority of the roots, Dale took over the rowing (backwards, of course) and continued our journey towards deeper water by way of the wind forcing us sideways. Somehow we managed to get ourselves into deeper water so that we could lower the outboard and power our way back to the Palace with the fugitive safely tucked beneath a couple of small fenders that somehow found their way into the dink.

Back on board, his flipflops reunited, Dale was a happy camper when he made his way to the showers with his favorite footwear. He keeps telling me how hard it is to find a really comfortable pair of shoes. I wonder what the hospital will think of his new fashion statements: a pony tail, flipflops and lets not forget about that little earring!

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Dale decided today that he would make some adjustments to my bicycle. But when he took the bike off the boat, he somehow managed to kick one of his Corona flipflops into the drink without noticing. That or the wind blew it off; or one of the dude brothers saw them and decided that it would be really cool to throw one away. You know the two dudes. They usually show up when something strange happens. The stories to the police or docs in hospital ERs start with something like . . . "I was minding my own business when these two dudes walked up . . . (and did something strange) and that's why I'm here."

Well, that's what happened to Dale. One of his favorite flipflops went missing and it wasn't his fault. In any event, we were on our way over to Tom & Jordan's to play Mexican Train dominos when the lack of footwear became obvious. Now giving some thought to the matter, I think that its a matter of a reciprocal ‘napping. We have Gerry & Nicky's anchor, they’ve pinched Dale's flipflop. The last message we had from them was 3 days ago saying they were in Salinas. Maybe they've made it here and snuck in under cloudy skies to abscond with Dale's flipflop. Just in case it wasn’t them, we’ll drop the dink tomorrow and search the mangroves to check to see if it shows up there.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

It was so quiet today it was spooky. I gathered up what laundry we had and washed it but after that, we just read and played computer games. In the afternoon, we broke out the bikes and headed towards All Hands Beach exploring. We rode down towards the water treatment plant, then down a dirt path towards a pier that overlooked the old Navy SEAL base, before heading back to the road that leads towards the beach. We didn't get very far past the beach when I saw a short coconut tree with several branches of good sized coconuts within arms reach. Well, Dale's arm at least. He was able to grab one branch that had about 8 coconuts on it and bring it down for me. I managed to balance the branch on my handlebars and started making the ride back.

Now I'm sure that you, like Dale, are wondering what in the world I'm going to do with all of my over grown seeds. Well, plant them of course! If you set a coconut off to the side and ignore it, it'll sprout a tree. That was my plan until I got about half way back to the boat and realized that I could set my coconuts off to the side and ignore them all I wanted but with the boat rocking all of the time, I don't know if my plan will work. In any event, I have 8 attempts. If nothing else, I have 8 bug free coconuts to eat at my leisure.

P.S: Geri and Betty Rae, we thought of you two in the Bahamas with your coconuts Unfortunately, my shirt wasn’t big enough to carry all 8 of them.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Feeling much better today, Dale made a quick trip in to WestMarine to pick up the anchor we had ordered for Gerry & Nicky (we never have heard how they lost their other one - can’t wait for that story). He dropped off the car to Jessica, who dropped him and the anchor back at the boat. Then we set to writing the perfect ransom note:

• wE haVe yOuR aNchOR. If yOu eVeR waNt to See it, dON't dO anytHiNg StuPid. dO NOt cONtact the autHoRitieS: NO pOlice, NO fbi, NO tOw bOat US. yOu will receiVe fuRtheR inStRuctiOnS at a LateR date.

We haven't figured out what our demands will be. I'm working on that now.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Jessica, the owner/operator of the Avis car rental agency that we frequent, picked us up at 8am this morning. Her 2 year old daughter came along for the ride so I got my baby fix for a few minutes. Like me, her daughter needs to ease into the morning but by the time we actually made it out to the front gate to where the rental agency is located, she was smiling and having a good time. Once the papers were signed, we were off to find the dentist’s office in Humacao.

We had the directions that the receptionist had given us but couldn’t figure out whether she knew we by passed the first toll booth on the highway leading to Humacao or not. Since we had plenty of time, we checked out the remaining directions and through analytical deduction concluded that she did indeed know what she was talking about and if we followed her directions explicitly, we would have found the office on the first try. However, being our usual skeptical selves, we first had to check out the wrong exit first, in both directions, just to be sure.

The dentist’s office was one of those ‘first come, first served’ services, so Dale checked in and then came back to the car to keep me company for the first hour. When he finally was able to be seen, he and the dentist talked about sailing and travels and where they had gone to medical school, etc. The long and short of it was that once the x-ray was developed and read, Dale needed a root canal.

One of the great things about traveling with a doctor is that he brought a few antibiotics with him and had already started a regimen before seeking counsel. Because of this, there was no need to wait for the antibiotics to take effect for surgery, so the dentist called and spoke with an endodontist, who agreed to do the root canal a few hours later. Find that in the U.S!

We had just enough time to grab some lunch before searching out the next office. I teased Dale that it would be his last meal for some time so he’d better make the best of it. He chose the nearby Pizza Hut. So much for the last meal theory.

We found the next office without any drama but when I took off to kill some time, I found myself going back and forth on Route 30 looking for the Route 53 exit. I could not find it anywhere. About an hour later I found a sign for Farjardo and figured that if I could find something familiar, I could at least find my way back to Dale. It worked, thanks to our earlier forays back and forth along the main street in Humacao. As luck would have it, I found myself on the main road through Humacao coming up behind Sams. I took the opportunity presented and picked up a basic computer at Sam’s to use as a spare and then made my way back to Dale.

I had just parked when he came outside. Talk about timing. I told him of the problems I had encountered and we started our way back. We began along the same highway but Dale saw a sign in the bushes reflecting a subdivision in the right direction. We took the exit and ended up where we needed to be. At least I wasn’t crazy. There was no sign with the highway number. It was one of those ‘you can’t get there from here’ and you just needed to know where you were going, in order to take the right exit.

We made a quick stop at the local McDonalds to upload some of my blog posts before making our way back to the base. I hadn’t driven a car in several months and enjoyed the day out. So far, even though he has a droopy smile, Dale says he feels better already.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Beggars can’t be choosers, so we accepted Mr. Toad’s wild ride to Ft. Buchanan with grace and humility to do some shopping at the base at the opposite end of the island taking the new highway from Carolina that by passes to the south of San Juan proper. We were hoping to take advantage of the sale on computers but were unable to find anything basic to use as a back up to the one we carry to the various internet cafés down island. So we did the next best thing. Shopped for anything else that might catch our eye and would fit on the boat. That left us to the few hard to find items I keep on my running list. I found the rib roast I wanted for Easter Sunday as well as the pimentos, crumbled feta cheese, radishes, and sliced black olives I always keep an eye out for. So while Tom & Jordan did major provisioning, Dale and I ate ice cream and people watched.

We had a good time on our trek across the island in spite of the growing concern that Dale has a sore tooth. He’s been taking antibiotics hoping that it would go away but since it hasn’t, he finally broke down and asked for the name of Tom’s dentist in Humacao. We’ve rented a car for tomorrow and will seek out professional advice.

When we got back to the boat, there was a message from Gerry & Nicky. They’re in Ponce now and should be here by the end of the week. After a couple of days of sight seeing, then re-provisioning, we’ll be off to the Virgin Islands to pick up their guests coming in from England; who, if I understand this correctly want to be dropped off in Trinidad. Sounds like a quick trip over the next couple of months. I know the boat can handle it, I hope we can.