Ken and Katie's Voyages Aboard Sand Dollar: Puerto Rico

Sand Dollar arrived on the south coast of Puerto Rico after a dark and gloomy 33 mile sail from the vacation hot-spot of Sun Bay on Vieques island. We anchored in the quiet bay at Puerto Patillas, where the thumping bass of onshore music and the wasp-buzz of water taxis was blessedly absent. The following morning, after a huge 0700 downpour gave us a much-needed boat-wash, we set sail for Bahia Salinas, 20 miles west. We had 4-5 foot following seas for the first 15 miles, and then tucked in behind the big reef via the pass at Boca de Infierno (“the Mouth of Hell”!). Once we’d passed between the foaming breakers on the reef, we had lake-smooth water for our final few miles.

We anchored near Marina de Salinas, where a dinghy dock provided easy access to fuel, water, and the little village with its handful of restaurants. One of these restaurants, “Sal Pa’ Dentro”, is owned by a SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Assn.) cruising station host, a local named Jean Lassus. He had agreed, via e-mail, to accept some boat parts we’d had shipped from the USA, and he ended up being not just a wealth of local knowledge and info, but also a friend. (And his restaurant has great food! We recommend the grouper!)

We had planned to rent a car to drive up to Old San Juan, and by the time we got around to doing that, one of our 3-year-old house batteries had decided to call it quits, and our West Marine shopping list was reaching critical mass. So Jean and his wife Anna gave us directions and printed up a map for a terrific battery store enroute to San Juan, phoned the store to be sure they had our battery in stock, arranged a discount for us, and finally threw in some tips for a special restaurant and some not-to-be-missed sights in the old city.

Thus armed, off we went one sunny morning, successfully making our intended stops, and only going in the wrong direction two or three times. (We plead “not guilty” to poor navigational skills; the fault lay in the lack of signage on the big highways.)

Missions accomplished, we checked into a little “boutique hotel” in Condado, a quaint beach resort town just east of Old San Juan. The charming hotel was conveniently located just a short walk from Jean’s recommended restaurant. After dinner and a stroll that evening, we bought a pint of rum and retired to our room to wallow in the unaccustomed decadence (for us) of A/C, TV (NCIS re-runs), and unlimited ice for our rum-and-Cokes. In the morning, following the best complimentary breakfast we’ve ever had, we drove into the old city, parked near a shady square, and wandered along the lovely and unusual blue cobblestones of the narrow streets.

La Plazuela las Monjas (Plaza of the Nuns)

Blue cobblestones and colorful facades in old San Juan

Restaurant interior, old San Juan

The main and most imposing feature of Old San Juan is El Morro, the huge fort that dominates the headland, towering over the Atlantic. Its 140-foot walls, some up to 15 feet thick, date back to 1539. In the adjacent cemetery, imposing marble angels and stone statuary stand guard over an impressive crowd of old tombs.

The lighthouse in the distance has been in operation since 1846. Old cemetery lower right.

At Parque de las Palomas (Park of the Pigeons), we waded ankle-deep in a sea of pigeons all hoping for a treat, which, from team Sand Dollar, was not forthcoming. (Sorry, guys.)

Iglesia San Francisco de Asis (church of St. Francis of Assisi), dating back to 1756, had an eerily beautiful crypt chamber under the church.

Above: interior of Iglesia San Francisco de Asis. Below: the crypt

In every guide book, the old city is billed as a must-see, and the colorful old buildings, narrow streets, blue cobbles, shady squares, and cluster of historic sites did not disappoint.

On our way home from San Juan, what DID disappoint was Arecibo, the site of the largest radio-telescope in the world. A long drive up a steep, winding, narrow mountain road ended at the gates, where a guard informed us that the site was closed for renovation. Mega-bummer, as we’d really looked forward to seeing what Lonely Planet describes as looking like a huge “extraterrestrial spaceship”.

Back in Salinas, we shared a final evening with friends Steve and Pat, who sail aboard Steve’s Panda 40 sailboat, “Oz”. We’d met Steve back in Culebra – he’s a truly colorful character who hails from Georgia, and has travelled the oceans of the world, with the adventures and stories that come with such a past. (He once had a boat literally sink from under him, a tale we’ve had yet to hear in detail.) “Oz” and her crew set sail a day later, bound for Boqueron on the west coast of PR, but our paths are sure to cross again, especially since our boats will both be berthing in the city marina in Titusville, FL.

We ourselves sailed from Salinas to Ponce, 22 miles west, dropping our hook in an anchorage near two small marinas. At the dock we met Miguel, a big-hearted local who drove us into town for some shopping and a visit to old central Ponce, with its ornate old architecture.

Building in central Ponce.

Plaza las Delicia, old Ponce.

Pretty quiet in the harbor, so our big entertainment one morning was the grounding of another cruiser. These two unfortunate fellows had run hard aground in a well-charted shoal area just outside the anchorage. They were buddy-boating with another yacht that was a mile ahead of them, and who returned to lend a hand. Despite their help, and the input and assistance of Ken and a local guy in a dinghy, it was all “no joy”. After four long hours of varied manuevers, a Sea Tow boat arrived on the scene, and with a Herculean effort, she freed the grounded vessel.

Hard aground.

From Ponce we made a short 16-mile sail to a beautiful and serene lagoon-like anchorage bordered on three sides by reefs and mangroves. A small island among the mangroves, called “Cayo Aurora” and nick-named “Gilligan’s Island”, has shady, sandy little picnic areas for day-trippers. In the clear, flat water, clumps of turtle grass wave lazily in the gentle current, and in the air the only sound is bird-song. The whole place feels miles away from the hum of civilization.

It appears that this big frigate bird is not as heavy as he looks!

We tore ourselves away after a few days and continued on to La Parguera, where small waterfront homes are nestled in the mangroves, with porches overhanging the water. It’s a popular day-trip destination for locals, and we treated ourselves to an evening ashore at a tiny seafood cafe, where the grouper was tender and succulent and the mojitos were perfect.

Local fisherman mending his nets in La Parguera.

We continued westward, and rounded the SW “corner” of Puerto Rico to anchor in the big bay at Boqueron, where we re-united with Steve and Pat. We spent a few evenings ashore with them over happy-hour beers, before saying our good-byes and harbor-hopping a few miles north: one day up to Joyuda, and then later to Mayaguez. The main attraction of the last two stops was the convenience of big supermarkets for provisioning – the last such stores we expect to see before America. We also ended up with a better wind angle and a slightly shorter distance for our passage to the Dominican Republic.