2017 Life Logs, Day 49: Crash Boat Beach Day
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2017
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; Daytime 80’s, Nighttime 70’s F
Location: At Home with JJZ&C, Finca Maravilla, Aguada, PR

Today was a family beach day. We had discussed various locations and this morning it was decided we would go to Playa Crash Boat or Crash Boat Beach just a few miles to the north in Aguadilla.01-crash-boat-beach It is a very popular beach, especially on the weekends. So it was a bit crowded, but it had a little of everything for everyone.12-miss-coco-in-mamas-hat Thus, a great choice. There are a number of concrete docks that extend out into the water and make a great platform for anyone wanting to jump or dive.11-caught-in-mid-air And the piers that extend down into the water make for good snorkeling. The beach itself is nice and in the right conditions, it is a good place for surfing. Many of the beaches here have a coral shelf right at the shore line which makes negotiating your way out into the water a bit difficult. Crash Boat is all sand which is great, but the waves do tend to crash right at the shoreline, so you have to wait for a quiet time to get further out into the water to avoid the crashing waves. But those crashing waves are not the reason for the name. There are various stories about how the name came about. One obvious reason for the name is the huge boat skeleton that lies half on the beach and half in the water just south of the main part of the beach.19-crashing-waves-over-crashed-boat The other story is that during World War II the docks were built to accommodate the Air Force Crash Rescue Boats Squadron that rescued bombers that didn’t make the Ramey Air Force Base runway and the ‘crash’ part of the squadron name stuck. One thing is for sure. The huge concrete docks were built to accommodate fishing boats, but Mother Nature had a better use. The piers allowed the local currents to transfer a huge amount of sand to the area making it very shallow and impossible to dock a boat . . . but perfect the jumping into the water and snorkeling and diving.09-ziggy-takes-anothe-big-leap Thank you, Mother Nature.

We all had a great afternoon playing in the water. All except Justin. He has his post-surgery appointment on Tuesday but was given strict orders not to go in the water until then. He is still struggling with a low level of pain but he hung in there today as an observer. And he spent a little time repairing Ziggy’s surfboard.02-justin-doing-repairs-on-ziggys-surfboard Jo and Ziggy did a lot of jumping off the docks and Coco did a lot of climbing up and down the ladder to join them while Justin and I watched that activity. Justin, Ziggy, Coco, and I walked down to see the crashed boat and the kids climbed the cliffs and in and out of the little caves and tunnels above the crashed boat. It was definitely a fun day.17-walking-to-see-crashed-boat20-cave-hide-out

Tonight was supposed to be a home movie night. I was excited because I was going to get to see Moana. But before I could get dinner ready, Coco was falling asleep on the sofa. It was then we discovered that she had a temperature. For two days she has been telling me she has a cough, but it was not really noticeable. I have been fighting off a cold for two days, and at the same time that Coco crashed tonight, so did I. I’m hoping that both of us will wake in the morning feeling just fine, but my drippy nose tells me otherwise.