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.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Well today started off with a bang. When we went up to get our bikes for our morning bike ride, Dale’s had been vandalized. Not bad; something little like the other 2 times, but this time it made it so that he couldn’t ride it. Mine had been messed with but nothing that can’t be readjusted. I was still able to complete my exercise but Dale stayed behind and filled out an incident report with the base police. The main problem is that the marina manager thinks that the only people who have the access when we’re not watching the bikes are the base police. Needless to say, the bikes are now housed on the boat.

What’s truly ironic is that while we were in Trinidad surrounded by petty crime pretty much on a daily occurrence, our bikes were never touched while they were locked to the fence at the end of the dock. Here, where we feel as safe as in our mother’s arms, the bikes have been messed with while they were locked right in front of the boat and outside of the marina manager’s office on 3 separate occasions. This time we can’t say that children were the culprits. At first blush, yes. Definitely the screws removed from Dale’s bike could have been done by deft little fingers. But the readjustments made to my bike had to have been made by someone taller and stronger than the little ones running around over the weekend.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today was a pretty quiet day. We visited with our neighbors although I never did catch what their names were. The children all speak excellent English without a trace of an accent, compliments of the school they attend where 50% of the teachers do not speak Spanish. Their father retired from the U.S. Navy but has a bit of an accent that his eldest daughter thinks is terrible. Their mother, a chef, doesn’t speak any English but she sends over plates of food when they’re here on the weekends, which of course, translates into any language. Last week she sent over barbequed shrimp and chicken wings. Today she sent over Caesar salad and paella. Each dish has been wonderful. I told Dale he was getting too skinny when the neighbors start sending over food every time they see us. I think next weekend I’ll send something over to them. I’m not nearly the cook she is but it’s the thought that counts, right?

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We finally heard from Gerry & Nicky. Apparently they had run into some bad weather regardless of what the forecast had been and had pulled into Samana on the eastern side of the Dominican Republic for a 12 hour rest before making a smooth transit across the Mona. They are now resting in Boqueron on the western side of Puerto Rico. At least we’re on the same island now. It will probably be the end of next week before we see them.

Although a lot of boats went out for the gorgeous weekend, its been a quiet day. We ended it by getting together with Tom & Jordan and Bill & Sharon on Wild Orchid for a couple of hours. Bill & Sharon will be heading out on Monday morning for St. Martin and wanted to say good by to everyone. Hopefully, we won’t be too far behind.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Bless his heart since he hasn’t been able to do his morning jog, Dale rode along with me on my morning bike ride, then helped me defrost and clean the refrigerator & freezer. We need to use up some of the frozen items from the bottom of the freezer before we re-provision for the trip south again. I love it when he has energy to burn.

Gerry & Nicky should have arrived in Puerto Rico today but we haven’t heard anything yet.
Tom dropped by to say that they were renting a car on Monday and would let me tag along to McDonalds for an internet connection. On Tuesday, they plan on going to Ft. Buchanan, so I may tag along on that trip as well.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Early this morning we moved the boat over to the adjoining slip so that Dale could wash and wax the port side of the boat. I replaced some of the screens that have started to disintegrate in the sun. The nylon screening material keeps out the tiny insects but it certainly can’t take the direct sun for any length of time. At some point I’m going to have to finish polishing the stainless on the starboard side but I’m hoping for a cloudy or at least a cooler day in which to do it.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Finally, the post office was open and we were told in a very abrupt manner that the address on our mail was insufficient and that it was returned. Now mind you, there is only one marina and one post office on this base, about a quarter of a mile apart on the same road but instead of placing it into the correct box, the post mistress elected to return the package because it didn’t have the post office box number on the parcel. Technically she was correct. But there are only about 6 active post boxes on base, how much effort would it have taken for her to simply put it into the right box? So much for “rain, snow, sleet or hail.” I found the situation so ridiculous that I didn’t even bother to take issue with it.

Instead, we went back to the boat where Dale contacted our mail service and told them the package was on its way back and to add the post office box number on it. I kept busy by polishing the stainless on port side.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We checked again at the post office for our missing mail. Regardless of what the sign in the window indicated when we got to the post office, they were closed. We’ll try again tomorrow.
Good news from Opailleur. We received word from Gerry & Nicky that they plan on leaving Luperon tomorrow morning and will be traveling straight to Ponce on the south side of Puerto Rico; they should arrive Friday afternoon or evening. With any kind of luck, they will be in our area by the end of next week. The weather window they had been hoping for has held and even expanded for an additional few days. They should have a great transit across the Mona.

Dale managed to dislocate the big toe on his right foot today when he tripped over part of the picnic bench he was using as a work table. It’s a lovely shade of purple tonight so he won’t be able to do his morning run for awhile.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today on my morning ride, I thought I’d start the search for our missing mail. We had asked for it to be sent to us back on the 12th of January and since last year when we were here it was mis-delivered, we thought that perhaps the same had occurred this year. I checked at the security office, the OIC’s office, and the supply office (they get most of the mail on base) but no luck. So I headed back to the boat, we rechecked with our mail forwarding service and learned that they used the US Postal service to mail it this time. Not a problem, the post office happens to be open on Monday afternoons here on base; I’ll just ride back down and check with them. Except that as of today no less, they weren’t open. The sign on the door indicated that they would be open tomorrow. Oh boy. I hope this doesn’t mean that we’ll be waiting week to week for mail now.

Later, I popped over to St. Christopher to check in with Jordan. I had volunteered to help her make canvas covers for her isinglass. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough material to do what she wanted, so that project has been put off for a while.

In the meantime, Dale continues to clean and polish isinglass and I’ve started cleaning and polishing the stainless. Dale is reading Mark Twain and I’m into Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series. I should probably start taking notes so that I can sleuth out our missing mail. So . . . Until tomorrow . . . I am observing.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

This morning Dale and I once again headed into town and finished the remainder of our errands before heading back to the boat. I try to keep a running list of what we need or what we should take care of when we do rent a car but in the evenings when we have a car, there’s always one or two more things we think of. Maybe its just an excuse to go somewhere; after all we do like to travel.

Word from Gerry & Nicky is that they are looking for another weather window to open in a couple of more days. If it doesn’t, we’re thinking of getting off the dock for awhile; we’re starting to get a film of gunk on the Palace’s bottom. With the type of bottom paint we have, it should only take a brisk ride in the open water to give her a good cleaning. That and we’re starting to set up a routine. Dale jogs every other morning. I ride my bike every morning. We both find something on the boat to polish, mend, fix, grease, clean, tidy up, or rearrange for the rest of the morning then either read or play computer games during the heat of the day. It’s not a bad life but something to keep in mind when we do finally retire. We have a habit of setting up routines after a couple of weeks and I think for us, we need more activity. When we’re moving from island to island, we don’t have time to set up routines.

In any event, we spent a quiet day. We figure that the next time we rent a car, if Gerry & Nicky are here, we’ll go visit Mac & Marie!

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today we picked up Tom & Jordan and made our way to Micky D’s. We each took a table and hooked into the internet for the rest of the morning. The transfer of the old blog posts to the new and improved look was completed and I was able to load all of the posts for this year. I was surprised when the older posts took on the new look but I think it makes reading them a lot easier and it certainly is quicker to upload them. Hopefully down island, it will be just as quick.

Tom was grumbling from time to time as he couldn’t get his Skype to work. I knew his software was loaded properly since he had been able to use the connection at the base before the bowling alley closed so it had to be something simple. Dale was reading a book off to the side and went over to assist. He asked Tom to go back out and show him from the beginning what he was doing. Sure enough, on the very first step Dale saw the difference. Once that was changed, Tom & Jordan were happy campers talking to all of their relatives for the rest of the morning. I think Tom was a little embarrassed when the problem was identified but sometimes it just takes a second pair of eyes to see the difference.

After we were all caught up with our internet activities, we headed back to the base and passed the word to Bill & Sharon that we were all going to Lolitas for dinner since we had transportation that would carry all of us. We had a great evening and enjoyed our dinner out.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday Kyle! You know you’re getting older when you can only burn the midnight oil until 9 o’clock; we thank you and Veronica every day for making us grandparents.

What luck! Today when we picked up our rental car, they were all out of compact ones and were forced to give us a Ford Freestyle. We’d never even heard of this model before. In case you haven’t, it’s like a cross between an SUV and a minivan. Great for loading up the back end with provisions or hauling around 5 or 6 of your favorite people.

Today, we were mostly interested in finding affordable internet access. Again our luck held. One of the marina secretaries told us that McDonalds’ had internet. Sure enough! Not only did they have WiFi, it was FREE, FAST and conveniently located to power outlets!!! Wahoo, we’re cooking with gas now!

Dale and I tagged teamed the poor computer. We caught up with friends and family and updated our blogspot with a new look for the new year. Most of our cruising buddies that we left in Martinique have now made their way here and hopefully, we’ll be able to meet up with some of them again as they either pass through or head back down again.

Dale made side trips to the hardware store; Westmarine was in the same complex and WalMart was right across the street. By the time I was done, so was he. We were also lucky when we went into the grocery store we’d been shopping at lately, as it was the last day that they were open. Apparently, they have been sold to another chain and will be closed for an indefinite period of time. No signs; nothing; at least nothing that we could translate.

We hurried back to the boat and put things away and had just enough time to make appetizers for our gathering on St. Christopher with Tom & Jordan and Bill & Sharon for a night of dominos. We passed the word that McDonalds was a great find and tomorrow we’ll head back with Tom & Jordan in tow.

Sadly, today we also learned of Roger Wolfert’s death on the 6th of January. For those of you who have followed this site since its inception, you know that Roger & Elaine on DocNoMore were mentioned almost daily from November 2005, when we met them in the Exumas until June 2006, when they returned home for hurricane season. We were all eager to continue sailing together on their return to Trini in October, when Roger was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. DocNoMore was sold by November and both Roger and Elaine have been sorely missed in the cruising community since then; particularly by us. They will always hold a special place in our hearts and will be fondly remembered each time we blow the conch horn or play Mexican Train Dominos. We hope to see Elaine in the near future.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today was laundry day. The missing dryer and the inoperable one next to it were replaced with two that worked. With one washer and 2 dryers, my task was completed rather quickly.

Dale polished a couple more isinglass sections before the rain chased him back in. The wind has been rather brisk lately which leads us to believe that outside our protected harbor, things must be rather nasty. We rarely feel the effects of the wind inside so when we’re tugging at our lines and rocking back and forth, it’s got to be awful beyond its boundaries. It’s a good thing Gerry & Nicky decided to wait for another window, this is heading in their direction.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Dale is trying to keep busy so today he decided to clean and polish our isinglass. In the past this has been on my list of things to do but I certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, particularly when he’s starting to get bored with reading everyday. We have 10 sections of isinglass and he started with the 3 in front to space out the work. Also, it does take a bit of elbow grease and a little shade. When he brought each one back, if they needed their zippers re-sewn, I’d do it before they were put back up. We had a nice little assembly line going. In the meantime, I dusted, swept, mopped and shook out all of the rugs. Its amazing how dusty this boat gets so quickly.

We heard from Gerry & Nicky this afternoon. The window they had been hoping to catch, “fizzled” and the next possible one doesn’t appear until late next week. If you remember when we were caught in Luperon, its definitely best to wait for a 3 day window so you don’t get beat to death. We started out in an iffy one and ended up having to return and wait another couple of weeks. As it was, even when you do get a window, rounding the capes of Hispaniola can get a little exciting.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

While Dale continued his washing and waxing at the transom of the boat, I tried another tactic to access the internet.. This time by telephone dial up at the marina office. Still no joy. Apparently they have analogue telephone lines; I can’t win for losing but I did learn that most of the MacDonalds restaurants in Puerto Rico have internet cafés. That certainly gives me another option. Guess I better rent a car.

I tried a new appetizer recipe which was well received when we went over to Tom & Jordan’s tonight. Bill, who we met at a previous dinner on St. Christopher, brought his catamaran over from Puerto del Rey earlier and we were meeting his wife, Sharon, who had just arrived. They will be sailing the Caribbean for the winter season.

In discussing current events at dinner this evening, Tom saw where the local Pizza Hut advertised WiFi. You know, its really sad when 6 adults sit around and the most important things in their lives are where we can access the internet and what happened to the dryer in the laundry; it just disappeared.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

For our chores today, Dale washed and waxed the starboard side of the boat. I dug out my sewing machine and started re-stitching some of the enclosure pieces where the thread was disintegrating away from the zippers. Then we picked up our books and read for the remainder of the day. I’m afraid that doesn’t make for a good blog post.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

In search of exercise and new surroundings, we took the bikes out for a ride today to get off the boat. Since the bowling alley has been closed, we haven’t been doing much of that recently. We rode in the opposite direction toward what had been known as All Hands Beach.

As we rode past the current headquarters of the base, we turned right (by the post office) and rode down and out onto the old fuel pier that is now being used as a fishing pier. We reminisced about the ships that were once proudly docked there and the welcoming parties we attended in their honor. We doubled back and continued on towards the beach.

We were disappointed to see that the old enlisted club appeared to have been vandalized or least the front door had been pried off and left standing slightly ajar.

Street lights with three feet of concrete still attached to their bases were uprooted and left hanging half on/half off rusty flat bed trailers to the side of the club; abandoned I guess.
As we passed by All Hands Beach, there were some boy/cub scouts shooting off parachute rockets in the parking lot now filled with weeds and its beach littered knee deep with dead sea grass. The hidden beach where my daughter and I went barely a year ago had its road blocked off to traffic and was hardly recognizable with the growth that had already taken place. I was really disappointed as it had been the last of the beaches we had enjoyed as a family that we had been able to gain access to when we were here in February 2006. The hillside leading to the beach that had once been lush with palm trees and undergrowth was bulldozed and apparently being used as a landfill.

It really broke my heart to see the base dying this way. Pretty soon they’ll have to take a bush hog to run ways where jets and helicopters once landed daily. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still mowing the common areas and trimming the bushes but the longer the grounds are unused, the more the termites, vines, and weeds encroach into the area.

Although the base commander gave us permission to ride our bikes into the housing area where we once lived, we haven’t ventured in that direction. I’m not sure I’d even have the heart to now.

We returned to the Palace and picked up new books to read and later this evening we finished watching the A&E Hornblower series that Tom & Jordan loaned to us. We enjoyed each one and were actually disappointed when the story was over.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

I’ve admired Ellen MacArthur for some time now and having finished reading her autobiography today, I am more in awe than ever before. She is an amazing young athlete and competitive sailor.

While I finished my literary pursuits, Dale went up to the marina store and bought more rum. There was no limit today but I reminded him that the limits of our boat have just about been met. We do need to leave room for groceries in case we want some crackers to go with our rum.
When the rain moved in, we turned our attention back to the Hornblower series and watched a couple more of the movies; we’ve really been enjoying those.
In case you’re wondering, our modifications to the back awning were doing quite nicely in the wind and rain.

Although we haven’t heard from Gerry & Nicky, a review of the weather in their area would indicate that they might be waiting another week should the small window that might appear early next week close before they can get out or doesn’t allow enough time to even get out. If that’s the case, we’re contemplating moving on to St. Thomas to wait for them with the base closing more and more of its amenities. We’re disparately in need of an internet connection and will start looking for one that we can ride our bikes to - although it will be a very long ride.
We finished our day by meeting up with Tom & Jordan and their friends Jack & MeiLing, a naturally blonde Puerto Rico with a Chinese name (her description, not mine). We ate Tex-Mex food and played Mexican Dominoes. At the end of the evening, I had the highest score. For those of you who don’t know the game, that means I didn’t win.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We were one of the first people in line with Tom & Jordan this morning when the marina mini-mart had it’s sale. We used all of our allotted liquor purchase power; regrettably, there were no Cheetos to be found.

Once again we dug into the bag of books and movies that Tom & Jordan loaned us. I started reading Ellen MacArthur’s autobiography “Taking On The World” and am thoroughly entranced. Dale grabbed a James Paterson book we didn’t have in our collection. At night, we’ve started watching the A&E Hornblower series taken from C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books. Although I’d heard of the books, I had not heard of the movie series. They’re along the lines of the Master and Commander movie but the lead character is younger, a lot nicer and more handsome. So far, the first ones are pretty good.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We’ve heard from 2 very reliable sources that AAFES is definitely taking over the marina; possibly by the end of the week. BRAC is the official owner of the base itself and it will remain a military operation until October of this year. To add a little more confirmation to the rumor that AAFES is taking over the marina, there’s going to be a sale at the marina mini mart. Everything must go. Cash only. Limited to 6 bottles of liquor per card holder. I’m not even sure they have 6 bottles of coconut rum but if they do, they’re mine. Plus all of the Cheetos - I didn’t see any limits on the food items. Too bad I don’t have a reliable freezer; they have ice cream up there too.

Today Dale is running another grounding wire from the wind generator to another control panel. He’s emptied out the back lazarette to do so and soon enough was inside wanting me to tear the back cushions and bed out so that he could feed the wire through. Apparently, his original grounding wire was to the autopilot motor casing and he’s since thought better of the arrangement so decided to ground it to main grounding terminal. It certainly sounds like a better arrangement. In the event of a lightening strike, I sure would hate to lose the autopilot motor.

Jordan created a monster the other night when we had dinner on her boat and she suggested that we exchange books and movies while we’re here. Dale and I devour books after our chores and watch movies once the sun goes down. That bag of books and DVDs is going to keep us busy while we’re here.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Dale and I modified the back awning this morning. We had been having a problem with rain water collecting on it and causing it to mildew. I already have a rain catcher, so I didn’t need another. I borrowed part of someone else’s idea and purchased ½” PVC pipe to feed through the end hem securing it to the two sides of the back arch thus creating a taller arch. I wanted the awning arch to be high enough to allow the motion activated light to still work and for Dale to be able to walk underneath it without ducking all of the time but still out of the way of the wind generator and not cause a shadow on the solar panels. Dale added another grommet to it so that we could secure the arching portion aft and right now it’s looking pretty good. Only time will tell whether it’s a good design for wind and rain.

Our next project was to see if we could hook into another internet connection up at the office. With the base officially closed, we’ve been living in a type of limbo here. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be here with only water, electricity and laundry than a couple of miles down the road with everything else at twice the cost and half the security.

Regrettably, we were unsuccessful in our attempt to use the marina office’s internet lines. It appears that some type of guard has been placed on the internet access in the marina office as the connections there were originally designed as government work stations. Those in the bowling alley were specifically designed to be unlimited internet connections. Even using our computer, we were unable to connect, so we’ll have to collect these posts and find another way to upload them the next time we have access to a car.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We returned the rental car this morning and set about hanging the front sun awning. Dale replaced the hinges on the cooler that were broken and greased the snaps and zippers to the isinglass and screens.

Mac, Dale’s fellow physician from Roosey’s Naval Hospital, dropped by to say hi and to discuss the fate of the marina. He keeps his boat in the dry storage here. We enjoyed his visit however brief.

We ended with dinner on St. Christopher where we met Mike’s wife Monica and another Air Force retireee by the name of Bill. His boat is on the hard at Puerto del Rey but he’d like to move it over here once he gets it back in the water. The more the merrier we all agreed.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Bright and early this morning before the wind picked up, we dropped the jib and cleared the halyard that had caught yesterday. We hoisted the jib back up the roller furling, rolled it back in and headed for our rental car.

We went into town to a hardware store for some narrow PVC pipe for the back awning. Dale and I had kicked around a couple of ideas to improve our set up. We dropped by West Marine for some hardware for a broken hinge on our cooler/line locker and where I was specifically forbidden from buying any more Christmas ornaments.

When we returned to the marina, the possibility before we left, had become a strong belief that AAFES was taking over the marina; hopefully by the end of the week. However they were not taking over the bowling alley. This part was not good for those of us who need our internet connection. Until someone takes over, there is no internet, mini-mart or diesel services available. At least the power and water is still on which also means we still have laundry facilities.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

This morning the weather looked good, so we decided to climb to the top of the mast again. Dale had rigged another type of weight that would fit into the allotted spaced and found a spool of a heavier gauge of line (about the size of a clothes line, if you remember those) to use as a leader line. I donned the appropriate gear and up I went. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but part of the gear that we use is a set of headphones. It keeps the shouting to a minimum and the communication much more clear.

At first, everything went according to plan. The weight and line fitted where it needed to go and dropped without incident. Sort of. Then, just like the last time, it appeared to be dropping but not getting anywhere. This time we decided that we were going to pull it back out, measure it, then drop it again to see if we were being impatient or if it was hanging up someplace. Except that it when I started to pull it back out, suddenly it seemed to fall and Dale was able to see it and retrieve it out of the exit hole it needed to come out of. Great!! We’re cooking with gas now; the slight hang up was forgotten. He cut off the weight at his end and started pulling so that I could attach the rope that was going to be our new halyard at my end on top.

He had given me two types of tape to use to connect the two lines. One was blue masking tape the other was duck tape, just in case. Piss poor planning on my part, I overlapped about 20” of the two pieces of rope and started connecting them together without taking into consideration the fact that I was near the end of the blue masking tape. Sure enough, about half way from the end of my 20” overlap-line-tape splice, I ran out. That’s why I had duck tape, right? Have you ever tried to use duck tape at 65’ in the air?

Now mind you, I’ve got a great perch on the world that high up. I’m sandwiched among 2 lengths of standing rigging holding the mast upright on either side. The foresail roller furling cable leads forward to the bow and the topping lift to the boom leads aft to the back of the boat. I’ve been hoisted up to a point in the midst of all of these points and I’ve secured myself to the top with a safety tether that leads around the mast, over the top and back to me. I’m not going anywhere and I can work with both hands. However, I needed 2 hands to keep the tape straight, another 2 to hold the lines together and still another to use the miniature knife scissors I’d brought , since ripping it with my teeth produced unreliable results.

The first 12” section I unrolled, immediately stuck to itself before I even had a chance to cut it. The next two 6 and 9” sections had at least waited until I cut them to plaster themselves together. I was developing a rather impressive list of salty sailor phrases when Dale used his doctor voice trying to convince me to relax and not get frustrated; we had all the time in the world to finish our project. Remember the headsets; clear communication without shouting. I smiled; the shoe was on the other foot today.

Then I had the brilliant idea that I would cut a little 3” piece to connect the end of my splice together and send it down since most of my splice was already taped. That accomplished, I gave the signal and Dale started tugging, I fed the splice through the rollers on top and down it went. Sort of.

We’d fed quite a bit through when it seemed to hang up again. We came up with a system of you tug, then I’ll tug, to try to force it through. Sometimes it would clear and continue down, but at one point, it just jammed in tight. Using my body weight to try and force it back the way it had come, it finally cleared so I pulled it back up and saw what I was afraid might have happened, the section of splice not taped had doubled up on itself and formed a bow between the two pieces of splice that were taped. I was able to dig the splice out of the top of the mast and using the ace bandage approach to taping, I secured a small section of duck tape around the splice then with a couple of inches at a time, would unroll it and wrap it around the splice. It wasn’t pretty but it wasn’t going to slide up either. Back down it went.

This time when it jammed, no amount of tugging, body weight or salty sailor phrases at either end of the line would clear it. Now what?

I asked Dale if he was up for some exercise and after securing the remaining rope at the top of the mast, asked him to lower me down to the various inspection points on the mast. The rope had cleared the first point I had come to on the mast but at the second one I couldn’t tell. So I asked for additional implements of destruction; a small flashlight and a wire hanger. By way of the dangling rope, Dale sent up my requests and the biggest screwdriver I had ever seen. I used all three in fishing out what appeared to be our leader line with a huge ‘nest’ of string attached to it. Do you remember our original attempt in St. Thomas at running the halyard using a spool of string I had sent down the mast? We had wondered where all of that string had gone. Well now we know. Once I was able to clear the nest out of the tiny hole, I went about cutting it off our leader line and was finally able to fish our rope out to that point. However, whether I liked it or not, there were about 10 pieces of string I couldn’t clear out. Since there was no reasonable choice left for me, I pulled them out as much as I could, then cut them. Back up to the top I went. Dale was definitely getting his workout for the day.

This time the line moved when we pulled on it and we were able to finish leading the halyard the remaining distance to the bottom of the mast. Sort of. Now when we ran into a hang up, the nest was found at Dale’s end of the line. The other 10 lines and about twice the nest I had found came out at his end. He had just as much fun, cleaning the nest off his end as I had at mine before finally being able to lead the rope out. He was dutifully impressed with my ‘wrap’ job. I reminded him that we had put a lot of tension on that wrap job and it held through the entire ordeal. We secured the halyard on deck and once again, Dale lowered me down the length of the mast.

The only thing left to do was hoist up the jib up on the foresail roller furling and roll it in. Thankfully, this was accomplished without a hitch. Sort of. Once we had secured everything, Dale noticed that the new halyard we had just run was pinched between the halyard for the jib and the top portion of the roller furling. At the top of the mast, of course. That meant dropping the jib again to clear the line and then running the jib back up. We figured that we’d save that for tomorrow.

We took a break and while sitting in the cockpit wondered where the original weight and leader wire that it was attached to went? We still haven’t found it. I surmised that at the worst possible moment, probably in a raging storm, we’ll figure it out and where it went and we won’t like it a bit.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

As I remarked before, when we returned to Roosey, the hot water tank was waiting for us and has been sitting in our cockpit patiently until the stars and moon were properly a lined for a quick and painless replacement procedure. Today was the day we had been waiting for. We were well rested, well fed and ready to attack the task at hand. We also had a car nearby in case we needed additional pieces and parts.

Dale prepped the area by first clearing all pillows, cushions, charts and cameras from sight. We both decided that this would be a good day for me to do laundry, so I cleared all clothing, towels and rugs from the general area as well. (Having just discovered one of my hand towels covered in grease and being used as chafe gear in the dinghy, I left him with a roll of paper towels.)

The laundry room is in the building just in front of where our boat is slipped, so I opted for the back and forth between loads method of washing instead of the taking a book and camping out routine. On my first trip back to the Palace, I saw that most of the flooring and one side of the tank had been opened up. Green cooling fluids once contained somewhere within the tank had been drained and were being stored in 2 liter Diet Coke bottles around what remained of the salon floor. I positioned myself on the far side of the salon and watched silently. Soon enough I was pressed into service.

As Dale balanced the front of the tank on his toes, he drained water from the far side where the water was fed into the tank. The area where he could tip the tank with his toes and still reach to hold the vessel catching the water only allowed a plastic cup to fit. He’d pour water into the cup then dump it into a water bottle with a funnel attached. I was commissioned to dump the reclaimed water. The tank holds 11 gallons. Watching his hands shake as he very carefully, poured the water from the little plastic cup through the funnel into the 1 liter water bottle that he had balanced precisely on the very tank he was emptying, I calculated it out with my new math skills and grabbed a big bowl. The chances of the water spilling or his toes being crushed were astronomical.

He used this method to empty enough water out to where he could lift the tank and then dumped some more into the bilge. (I’m still not convinced that all of the holes in the bottom of the boat lead to the bilge that has the pump. It seemed he dumped quite a bit of water into the bilge but I never heard the bilge pump come on.) Finally, he determined that enough had been removed so that we could lift it up and out of the boat. I was directed to go top side and grab one side of the tank while he climbed the stairs holding the other side. I was directed not to tip the tank. Considering the angles involved, I just laughed. Believe it or not, we got the tank up the stairs, off the boat, onto the dock and finally onto a nearby dockbox where he could remove the remaining pieces and parts that were required to connect the new tank without any noticeable spills. This was a good time to switch the laundry.

The next time I descended the stairs, the new tank was out of its box and being positioned into the space. There was a fair amount of salty dog sailor speak coaxing the tank into place but soon enough he was tinkering with various wrenches, screwdrivers and scooping up mounds of wet paper towels.

Next we had an Easter Egg Hunt for the cup of screws he had stowed away. Back when he first disassembled the settee, he dutifully saved each and every one of the screws in a little cup. When we decided to go sailing with MTNest, he secured them in a very safe place where they wouldn’t fall and where we would never be able to find them again. After much searching, they were finally located in a small cupboard I use for canned butter and packaged milk. Don’t ask; it’s just where they were.

After that, it was just a matter of replacing the floor boards, rebuilding the settee and replacing the cushions. By the time he was done with his task, I was done with mine and it only took us most of the day to accomplish them.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We picked up a car and started our errands for the week. We picked up the jib and dinghy cover from the sail loft. Dale sent off a FedEx package. We dropped by OfficeMax to replace a cardboard box with a plastic one and made the mistake of picking up a computer game. We headed to WalMart to look for a replacement bicycle pump (ours was liberated while we were gone) and Dale wanted a couple more barbeque brushes. We did a little grocery shopping to replace our fresh veggies and Diet Coke, then started looking for an optical shop to replace a broken frame on a pair of glasses of mine. After a couple of stops, we finally found one that selected a smaller set of frames and then reground the lens to fit. At least now I have a another set in case of emergency. While we were waiting for the glasses, we killed some time by going through a video rental store. They were having a sale on all of their previously seen movies, so we picked up a couple. We watched one this evening. I’m glad we didn’t pay more than a couple of bucks for it. It was so bad, I’m embarrassed to tell you the name of it.

Later I dug out the computer game and started playing. I should have known that it was a mistake to buy it. I didn’t go to bed until 1:30am; my math skills are a little better though.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

While the moon was still high in the sky, we retrieved our anchor and headed away from St. Thomas about 6:25 am. The Queen Mary II was resting just outside of the entrance to St. Thomas harbor as she appeared to be too large to negotiate the channel. Four other cruise ships were vying for position in the line up to enter in and take their place along the dock.

It was a pretty straight forward motor on our return to Puerto Rico and we called ahead to file our float plan to enter Ensenada Honda at Roosevelt Roads. We tied up and checked in with the office and learned that our hot water tank had finally arrived. We also learned that officially the bowling alley had closed on the 31st of December as had everything else, including the gym, marina mini-mart and gas station. Unofficially, they are still waiting to find out if they would open up again in a week or two. The marina itself is in a quasi-closed operation. We had paid a month in advance and had no problem in returning. However the new procedures are to report to the base security office in person to file your float plan to secure access to the marina. We spoke to Hector, the marina manager and he gave us permission to use the marina’s internet connection since we have our own computer and only need the line.

We washed off the boat, connected the electricty and water then collapsed into bed for a nap. We were both exhausted. Regardless of how uneventful the sail was, it still took the better part of the day to return and as I’ve said many times before, fresh air will kill you.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
18.20.257N
64.55.694W

Today, while the crew of MTNest went on a tour of the island, Dale and I tried to run a new spinnaker halyard. He hoisted me up the mast armed with the new halyard, a thin leader line with a lead weight, knife, scissors, masking tape, duck tape (you never know), and a wire cover (the last time he went up, he saw where one was needed). Everything went well on the trip up, except that once I made it to the top. . . the lead weight was too big to fit through the opening. The only place big enough to shove it through was where the wires were coming out at the top, an inch or two from where it needed to be threaded through. I figured I could thread the halyard itself from there then tie the two together.

Sorry to say though, the angle was wrong and no matter what I did, the lead weight and leader line would tangle with the wires part way down the mast and have to be retrieved. After about a hour and a half of dropping it in, bringing it back out, dropping it back down, bringing it back out, dark clouds started to appear coming over the mountains protecting the harbor, so we called it quits. However this time, the line wouldn’t come back out when I tried to retrieve it. Eventually, I pulled as much as I could get to out and cut the rest. You know that at some point, probably on a quiet night, that weight will finally free itself and fall to the deck and scare us half to death.
The rain started just as I was applying the wire cover and by the time I finally made it down the mast, Dale had his own wet t-shirt exhibition slip-sliding towards him.

We decided to wait until we got back to Roosey to try to do it again; next time with some other type of weight and a larger leader line that wouldn’t twirl around the wires already in place.
We caught up with Mike, Terri and the girls later and exchanged stories of how we spent our day. They had a great time exploring various beaches and telling us about a coral garden that was available at one of them while Dale and I had finished our day by exploring various sailing and pirate shops along the wharf.

We said our good-byes to them and promised to catch up again down island in a couple of months. If not, Minnesota here we come!

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
18.20.257N
64.55.694W

In spite of our 6:30 am attempt to leave Culebrita with the calmer seas, we had to collect the stern anchor. If you remember the last time we threw out a stern anchor, it took 4 dinghies to help dislodge the sucker. This time it was just us.

Once again, it wasn’t going to come out easily. When Dale told me that he was going to dig it out manually, I suggested dropping the mooring ball and using the windless to hoist it up . . . But no, he figured it was buried too deep and took a small hatchet (I don’t know, it’s just what he grabbed) and spent the next hour and a half diving down, digging, then coming up to get air. By the time he started to really show his exhaustion, he swam back to the boat to tell me that every time he dug the rope out, he’d come up for air and the wave action would bury it again. Then he got the bright idea that if we dropped the mooring ball, we’d could use the big boat to hold what he dug out from being buried again. Surprisingly enough, once I dropped the mooring ball and started to pull up on the anchor line, the anchor popped right out. He might be smarter than the average bear but he’s just as stubborn at times.

Two hours after MTNest left, we were able to follow them over to St. Thomas. The seas that we suspected would calm during the night did so while they crossed but were beginning to build again as we made our way across. Still, it wasn’t a bad crossing just a little more boisterous heading directly into it.

We met up with Mike, Terri and the girls for lunch at the Green House, a local restaurant then broke off to do our separate shopping. Dale and I headed back to Liberty Jewelers (my favorite) and the crew of MTNest headed to their favorite jeweler. I picked up a couple of pair of earrings and then turned our attention to searching out an underwater camera. Mona, at Liberty, told us of a place to check and sure enough, after doing a little comparison shopping, we ended up where she had directed us and got a good deal. I can’t wait to try it out.

We met on MTNest for appetizers later in the evening then called it a day. We were all exhausted; particularly Yogi.

Culebrita
18.19.160N
65.13.624W

The New Year dawned brightly and by 9 am, we were hoisting our anchor to make our way from Culebra to Culebrita, a smaller, uninhabited island further to the north. On our transit we stayed behind the reefs and scooted between the two islands but once we rounded to the north on the western side of Culebrita, we were bucking into a 6-8’ swell with short intervals. Very uncomfortable and not what we were expecting.

We had to be very careful making our approach to Culebrita’s bay as we needed to turn broadside to the waves and enter between two opposing reefs into shallower water. We watched as a power boat went zinging past us into a surprisingly empty harbor . We thought for sure he’d pile up on the western reef but he powered his way through without hitting a thing. If you recall our previous visit here, we watched a dinghy pulling a water skiier hit that side of the reef, ruining their whole day.

Once entered, the reefs cut the waves down considerably but a nasty swell wrapped around them and made its way inside. We and MTNest took the most protected mooring balls available and set about settling the boats and prepared to go hiking over to the north-eastern side to Culebrita’s version of ‘the baths.’ As we were sitting, Dale decided to keep the rocking to a minimum by putting out a stern anchor to keep us into the swell. In such shallow waters though, we elected to go stern to the swell, accepting the fact that we’d have a slap on our hull, instead of bow to which would position our keel in extremely shallow water. A sizable wave could have us bouncing off the bottom; not something we wanted to chance.

We waved to Mike, Terri & the girls as they headed over to ‘the baths’ while we threw out the anchor and winched ourselves into position. All the while, more and more power boats were coming in and, like us, wanted as much protection from the swell as possible. Of course, this was in the same corner as we were in. As we left the Palace to go swimming, we saw a steady line of them coming in and hoped none would snag on our anchor line as they squeezed more and more into the same space.

It takes a while to make your way through the mangrove trees that line the water and across the rocks and boulders to where the tidal pools or “baths” are. We caught up with Mike, Terri & the girls as they were leaving, so we ended up having the pools to ourselves for a couple of hours. We hadn’t taken our snorkel gear, so we didn’t get to get a good look at all of the fish that are in the nurseries but we could clearly see that the pools were protecting tiny fish and a few good sized ones.

We joined Mike, Terri & the girls for dinner and a few rounds of Mexican dominos later in the evening and agreed to leave early in the morning when the weather is usually calmest. According to our weather information, the wind and waves are not expected to subside before Friday when Ally has to catch a plane out of St. Thomas, so we might as well go ahead and leave now.

Dewey, Culebra
18.18.330N
65.17.883W

We checked with MTNest to see what their plans were for the day, then hopped into the dinghy and went in for the “cruisers breakfast” at The Dinghy Dock. It might be “famous” and written up in the cruising guides but personally, I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.

After the breakfast dishes were cleared away, we jumped back into the dinghy and went exploring. We motored into the channel leading from the anchorage to the main part of town by first passing beneath the “famous” lift bridge. As we understand the story of the bridge, Culebra was transferred to the U.S. in 1898. In 1903, Roosevelt gave control to the Navy, who decided that the town of Pueblo Viejo on Culebra and all of its inhabitants at the time needed to be closer to the water. So they moved it, lock, stock and barrel, built them a new town and changed the name to Dewey. However, there were a couple of fishermen who didn’t want to wiggle through the reefs and around the peninsula to get to town, so the military built a lift bridge for the two fishing boats. As you can see, it’s quite the construction project for two boats. As you can imagine, the boats are no longer in existence and the bridge is longer being lifted for water traffic.

We passed by a couple of restaurants on the water, a gas station and small haul out before exiting at the ferry dock in town. The harbor between Dewey and Luis Pena was like a pond, so we took the opportunity to cross over to the little island and then walk across the nature preserve to the other side.

When we were stationed here in the early 90’s, the little harbor at Luis Pena was a favorite overnight stop to drop our anchor on our way to the Virgin Islands. Now there are a couple of free mooring balls in the harbor and several more on the western side. We beached the dinghy and checked out the boat washed up on the shore. Dale suspected that it had been a towed target for the military in a previous life as it clearly had “Navy” printed on its side.

I left my leather shoes in the dinghy so when we decided to walk across the island, I scavenged for a new pair. It only took me a minute or two before we were off on another adventure. Tromping across the little island, we surprised a couple of goats and they startled us darting out of the bushes. Other than that, we saw no other signs of animal life on the island. The huge mountain of harvested conch shells that had once dominated one side of the harbor were now gone (thankfully) and only those shells that washed up on the beach were to be seen. Dale saw that the winds were starting to pick up, so we headed back the way we had come and made a slower, wetter crossing to Culebra, through the channel and back to the Palace for a quiet afternoon.

Mike, Terri and the girls told us hey where heading to Flamingo Beach for the day so we hoped they weren’t getting too wet in the passing afternoon showers. In the meantime, another catamaran behind us came by to borrow Dale’s pop rivet gun to attach their radar mount. I guess we looked well equipped as they pretty much made a bee-line towards us from their boat.
We met on MTNest for a pot luck dinner and a glass of champagne before heading into town for the New Year’s Eve festivities. We told them about channel to the other side and suggested that it was the quickest and, most likely, safest way of getting to and from the celebration.

We needn’t had worried though as the party in town was more of a family night than the wild craziness of Foxy’s we had come to expect in the islands at the end of the year. It was an enjoyable night of dancing and fireworks but the only food, drink or a place to sit was what you brought yourself to the party. It was a nice way to bring in the New Year and even the passing rain didn’t dampen the spirits.

Dewey, Culebra
18.18.330N
65.17.883W

According to plan, we got underway about 7:30 am this morning, unfurled our main sail and made our way out of the base harbor. Dolphins in the channel played along side the Palace as we passed by which we always take as a good omen for sailing. We knew that we were in for a long day of motor sailing, emphasis on the motor, since we had not gotten our jib back from the sail loft yet.

We rounded out of the harbor and headed east toward Culebra and were met head on with some pretty stiff winds of a passing shower. Behind the shower we encountered the occasional 30 kts gusts; it‘s just not a shower unless it has the stiff winds somewhere in front, in the midst of or behind it. To make the ride more comfortable, we decided to tack back and forth between Vieques and Puerto Rico to take the waves left behind the shower less stressful on us and the boat. The last time we passed Vieques, they were detonating unexploded ordinances left behind from its days as a military practice area and our cruising chute fell down. One incident was not connected to the other but the loud explosions definitely caught our attention.

We were supposed to meet up with MTNest coming out of Puerto del Rey but they got a late start and ended up falling in about an hour behind us. Although it was a long slog into the teeth of the wind and currents, it was an uneventful trip.

Our course took us close to Louis Pena which has a very small anchorage we used to drop anchor in when we were stationed here back in the early 90’s. We tacked back out again and then dropped our sail to motor around the southern end of Culebra. We followed the bouys that led the way through the protective reefs lying across the opening of Culebra’s Ensenada Honda and worked our way into the farthest anchorage near the town of Dewey. We anchored a little west of the tiny island of Cayo Pirata. According to our guide book, Cayo Pirata “was originally constructed to give shelter to pirate ships.” We figured that was a good place for us. An hour or so later, MTNest anchored behind us. We observed the rules that dictate anchoring as a spectator sport and watched as their daughter, Tonya, fell into the water trying to assist in securing the anchor bridle.

After making sure that both boats were secure in their holding, we took the dinghies into town. We tied up at the town dock where power boats from Puerto Rico were already setting up their barbeques and wonderful salsa rhythms were setting the pace for the walk through town.

In all of the time we spent in this area, neither Dale nor I had ever visited the town of Dewey. Mike had stopped here on his way back to Puerto Rico from Trinidad, so he took the lead and showed us around town. Of course, with 4 women, we had to visit each and every shop and grocery store available. For a small town, I thought they were very well provisioned. In fact, I found a few simple items here that I hadn’t been able to locate on much larger islands further south. They even had a great selection of meats at one of the grocery stores; including a fully dressed carcass of a pig in a grocery cart that I hoped would be on the menu New Year’s Eve.

We walked up and down all of the major streets in town and visited all of the stores in about 2 hours. We returned to the boats early so that the MTNest crew could attend Mass in town. Dale and I kept a quiet evening but looked forward to tomorrow morning when we’ll partake of the famous “Cruiser Breakfast” at an appropriately named restaurant called “The Dinghy Dock”.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

It’s been raining most of today but since the bowling alley was opened until 9pm, I camped out in front of my computer and tried to get as much as I possibly could done before Dale came by to drag me back to the boat. It was achingly slow, but I’m proud to say that I’m caught up on my e-mails, all of our bills have been reviewed and paid, our investments checked, and all of the blogs that could be posted, were in fact uploaded.

Dale spent the day taking down the Christmas lights and preparing to unplug our umbilical cords to Roosey and sail to Culebra tomorrow. He also made sure that since the last word was that the base would be closing on the 31st, we would be allowed back in to retrieve our various cords, lines, hoses, and bicycles before considering leaving them behind (As tenants of the marina, we are supposed to be given 30 days notice to vacate in the event the marina is closed. To date, no such notice has been given to anyone.) Hector, the marina manager, confirmed with the base Officer In Charge and we’re set to go (and return). If our hot water tank arrives while we’re gone, they’ll hang on to it for us.

One good note; when we bumped into the base OIC, he told us that his orders were extended for another 18 months and that now AAFES (Army Air Force Exchange System, I think) as well as the Army, is interested in taking over the marina. That’s certainly an indication that the Navy is prepared to stay as administrators for that additional amount of time and that there is still a speck of hope that the marina will remain a military operation. In addition to that, rumor has it that the local affiliation of St. Lukes Hospital was taking applications for nurses, technicians, etc to reopen the dental clinic here on base as a Veterans Clinic. I suggested that Dale put in his application if they offer housing on base as an incentive; I know which house I want this time! Not very big but a great view!!

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today was a day of running errands. We invited Tom & Jordan to go along with us as we were making our customary runs to West Marine and the grocery store.

There was a nice after-Christmas sale going on at West Marine where I picked up a couple of Christmas ornaments and a pair of shorts for Dale. I told Dale all of my purchases were free after the 20% discount was deducted from his purchases. Jordan knew exactly what I was saying but both Dale and Tom decided that I was using some type of foreign mathematics as a purchasing tactic that every woman learned in a class they weren’t privy to.

After our errands, we dropped Tom & Jordan off at their boat then headed out again to Puerto del Rey, the next marina to the east, to see if Mike & Terri of MTNest had returned from the States. We walked down the dock and started waving exuberantly at the dark haired woman sunning on the trampoline. We rounded the corner to discover that we were in fact waving to Terri’s daughter, Tonya. Tonya and Ally, her friend from college, were visiting for a couple of weeks. They all had arrived late last night. Mike & Terri were out re-provisioning and they anticipated leaving for a visit of the Spanish Virgins on Saturday. They promised to let Mike & Terri know that we had dropped by.

While in the middle of preparing dinner later this evening, we received a hail on the radio from Mike inviting us to join them at Lolitas for a night of Mexican food and catching up. Naturally, I finished up and then stored it all away since I wanted to visit with friends we hadn’t seen in almost a year.

We had a marvelous time and of course, reminisced about our times with Roger & Elaine. It’s hard to believe that the last time that we saw Mike & Terri was about this same time last year. We had met in Luperon and had spend our time in the Dominican Republic with them, crossed the Mona Passage together to Puerto Rico, toured the western and southern coast of Puerto Rico with them and then said our good-byes in Virgin Gorda last February when they continued on with DocNoMore to St. Martin and we headed back to Puerto Rico to meet our daughter Michelle and, . . . Hey wait a minute . . . We were waiting for Gerry & Nicky a year ago too!!!
Anyway, we had a great time and learned that they were going to Culebra for the New Year celebration, then on to St. Thomas. Ally was returning home out of St. Thomas and Tonya was staying another couple of weeks before leaving the same way. They invited us to join them for as long as we could.

We decided that we would join them for the New Year festivities and go as far as St. Thomas but that we needed to be back in Puerto Rico by Friday as we had to pick up our jib and dinghy cover from the sail loft. We coordinated our plans and hope to meet up with them on Saturday morning on the way to Culebra.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

It rained off and on today but between raindrops I did laundry and “assisted” Dale in splicing an eye in a double braided rope. I say “assisted” only in reference to the fact that we had two sets of directions on how to complete the task. Mine had more pictures but lacked some key steps. Dale’s set of instructions were more detailed but practically written in Greek; sometimes you just need a little visual aid to figure out what is being conveyed. Between the two sets of information, multiple readings, a couple pair of scissors, several ‘fids’ (giant metal needles), a cleat on the dock and our combined body weights to ‘bury the splice’, we figured it out and now have a very nice little eye spliced into the new spinnaker halyard which holds the snap shackle. Pretty dang professional looking, I might add.

Now we only have to run it down the mast.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday April ! We hope you took some time off to spend with family and enjoyed the holidays.

We received an e-mail from Gerry & Nicky today that they have left Georgetown only to discover that the vibration they were tracking down in their genset was due to a broken frame supporting it. They hope to have it welded in the Turks & Cacos.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

We spent a quiet day together starting with a big sausage and egg breakfast and the rest of the day talking with our children, grandchildren, parents and siblings on the sat phone with only a few dropped calls. It was wonderful to hear all of their voices again.

In the afternoon, I made an apple crisp dessert to take with us to Mac & Marie’s when we joined them along with Mac’s sister Clare and her two daughters, Christie & Janine, and their neighbors, Martin & Sara. Our group ranged from ages 18 - 80 and we discussed everything from pivotal points in our lives to the goals we hoped to achieve in our lifetimes. Mac & Marie prepared a standing rib roast dinner with all of the fixings and ended with bananas flambé ala mode. Impressive and they didn’t even know that it was my favorite!! I enjoyed the dynamic mix of people and all of the tasty dishes.

We said our goodbyes and took our time driving home admiring the holiday lights along the way. It wasn’t until we had turned into the entrance to the base that I realized that I had forgotten my purse which contained my military dependent ID card. It had the potential for being an awkward situation but the guard at the gate waved us by after checking Dale’s ID. Winding our way through the base to the marina we discussed calling and driving back in the morning. As we pulled into the marina parking lot, Dale reached into his pocket and we remembered something else I had dropped into my purse; the keys to the boat.

Being resourceful and smart enough to stay out of my husband’s way for the next few minutes, I hurried aboard the Palace and started checking the larger hatches to see if we may have left them unlocked to accommodate the Christmas lights we had strung. Sure enough, one was left unlocked and I climbed down through it and tried to locate the spare key. I stuffed a flashlight and every key I could find though a small hatch in the cockpit to Dale even though I knew none of them were the right one. Eventually, he gave up and climbed down through another hatch that I opened from inside. He finally located the spare key, crawled back out and we were able to unlock the companionway.

A quick call to the MacDonald’s confirmed that they had found the missing purse and would drop it off to us in the morning on their way to the airport. Boy do I feel ditsy! I’ve gotten out of the habit of carrying a purse resorting to a backpack to keep my hands free in the dinghy and now forget to bring it along when we’re traveling in a car. I guess I was having a senior moment since I don’t exactly qualify for having blonde moments. And that comment, my friends, will get me e-mails from both of my daughters in a heart beat!

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Christmas Sunday. Deep in the closet we found a dress and suit to wear. We had previously scoped out a Baptist church not too far from the front gate of the base whose sign indicated services were in English. We were not disappointed.

We pulled into the driveway and greeted a man who welcomed us in and showed us around. He turned out to be the parish preacher; previously of the U.S. Marines. Most of the parishioners were retired military so we fit right in, in spite of Dale’s growing ponytail. It was a fairly small congregation and I’m sure we were greeted and shook hands with every last one of them. They were all very kind and we were invited to join them while we’re here. I’d like to try except that it’s a bit of a bike ride when we give up the car. The minister had a different slant on the holiday season and freely admitted that it ‘gets him in trouble’ but he did a good job in explaining his position, so I understood what he was trying to convey. I’m curious about his other convictions and would like to hear him again.

We returned to the boat and Dale hid out in the back stateroom while I took over the galley and salon to prepare our big meal. Turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potato and green bean casseroles. I prepared my yeast rolls too but when the turkey and sweet potato casserole didn’t finish cooking on time, I opted to leave them for leftovers.

We joined Tom, Jordan and Harry (their Pomeranian) on their boat for the big feast. Harry was decked out in red velvet and tiny gold bells. The rest of us, having changed from our Sunday best, wore the shorts and shirts with the least amount of holes in them. We had a wonderful evening and I learned that Jordan’s family is from Arkansas too. We left early enough for Tom & Jordan to get ready to attend evening Mass and we spent the remainder of the evening watching “The Polar Express” that they had lent to us. It was a cute little movie and one I had not seen before.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

We have a car, so that means shopping! Dale was none too excited about heading out on the weekend before Christmas so I gave him a hard time about being a Scrooge and dragged him along anyway. Mostly we were out for grocery shopping but we found a Radio Shack that had the plugs that allow our American 110 plugs to be used in the European 210 sockets at the internet cafes on some of the islands south of here. Usually I can get by with WiFi but its always nice to have an electrical backup in case it’s a slow connection.

When we got back to the boat, we dropped by St. Christopher and got together with Tom & Jordan to discuss sharing our Christmas turkey with them. (You remember that one don’t you? The one we tracked down last October in Trinidad for Thanksgiving but ended up not using. Well, its been residing quite nicely in a compartment in our ice maker ever since.) We determined that Sunday evening would be best and divided up the menu. It will be very similar to our Thanksgiving feast but for four instead of 6.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

While I pedaled up to the bowling alley on my daily routine, Dale went and picked up a rental car for the week. When he got back he spotted Gordan & Marie MacDonald preparing to launch their boat for a day on the water with some relatives from out of town. Dale and “Mac” had served together at the hospital here at Roosey and Marie and I had belonged to the Wives Club together. If you remember, we had anchored literally out their back door when we first arrived in Puerto Rico back in February.

As luck would have it, they were returning just as I was getting back from extended hours on the computer and we were able to chat and catch up for a bit. They invited us to join them for Christmas dinner at their home in Palmas del Mar on Monday, so we’re looking forward to continuing our catching up then.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

You know, my days have definitely developed into a pattern. I ride up to the bowling alley about 9 or 9:30 in the morning and stay there working on the computer until they close at 1:30pm after the lunch crowd has left or when they clean up and I finally take the hint about 2pm.

Today the base police had their Christmas party there and things were pretty loud. Dominos, pool balls and crashing bowling pins to the beat of Christmas music in Spanish (with a little salsa thrown in for good measure). It was a nice change and good to see people on the base again.
Then I pedal back to the boat and either read if its sunny or take a nap if its raining. It’s a tough life, I know.

Today Dale was taking his little yellow multimeter to various lengths of the copper strip we put down for the SSB radio. He wanted me to help him lift up the bed and check where we a laid it beneath it. He said that it was to make sure we had continuity the entire length and that it hadn’t broken anywhere. I don’t know. I think he’s making work for himself. Still, he keeps the boat in tip top condition, so if poking little prods along the copper strip helps, I’ll lend a hand.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

The knock on the hull early this morning was Tom telling us that he didn’t trust the car to make it all the way to San Juan so our trip to the exchange at Ft. Buchanan is off. Rats! I was really looking forward to the day out and about.

So I changed my plans and rode up to the bowling alley to continue trying to upload my posts to the internet while Dale stayed behind to try and track down stray electrical currents. Apparently our zinks are deteriorating quicker than he thinks is proper and he wants to make sure all of the 110 connections are properly grounded. Tom dropped by later and told him that when he dropped off some work to be done at the aluminum shop, our outboard motor hoist had been repaired and was waiting for pick up. He and Dale doubled back and by the time they got there, Tom’s repair had been completed too. Wow! Talk about service.

While waiting for my photos to upload into the blogspot (which is why it takes so long), I was able to ‘chat’ with Gerry & Nicky via Skype today. They are still in Georgetown and anticipate leaving on Saturday if the weather holds. They’ve been having a tough time with the weather lately and Nicky sounded anxious to find better sailing and swimming conditions. I remember the feeling and tried to assure her that once they made it this far south, things would improve tremendously.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dale dug out our bicycles and pumped up the tires so that we could ride up to the bowling alley to upload these posts to the blogspot. I had forgotten how slow the internet connection was here but its FREE!! So I won’t complain too much.

Tom (off St. Christopher) was already there trying out his new Skype software. He told us that a neighbor of his on their dock offered the use of their car while they are in the States for the holidays. He and Jordan want to make a trip over to the exchange at Ft. Buchanan tomorrow and invited us to go along. Wonderful, another day of shopping!