by Judy Handley | Apr 25, 2011 | Puerto Rico, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 182, Year Happy Easter from Vieques
Date: Sunday, April 24, 2011
Weather: Another Sunny and Beautiful Day
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico
The Easter bunny arrived here in Vieques and left eggs for us to find on the beach. What fun! We have learned that Jonah is the true chocolate lover in the bunch. Even tonight he is still opening every plastic egg he sees to check to see if there is a chocolate egg inside. Sam and Ziggy really got into the egg hunt and it was a fun time all around. We spent the morning on the beach building sand castles and searching the inner reef for hermit crabs, snails, chitons, sea urchins, small fish, and some other rather bizarre shallow water creatures. We built sandcastles, had races on the beach, and later in the day Justin did a snorkeling venture to see what is between our inner reef and the reef about 50 yards offshore. The surf outside the inner rough was rough this afternoon, but Justin managed to see a few interesting creatures. At the same time, Heather was exploring inside the inner reef and she reported that there are lots of interesting things to see without going to the outside. Tomorrow we all go to Windbird for a little sail so Jonah and Ziggy get to see how Oma and Granddad travel across the water. Sam has sailed with us in Thailand and it will be interesting to see what he remembers. In order to do this, we will be renting the car for one more day. Then after that we are walking or taking the publico. But honestly, just sitting here on the beach is great. As long as we have enough food, we will be fine. The joy of just being together is the most important thing.
by Judy Handley | Apr 24, 2011 | Puerto Rico, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 181, Year 6 All Together Now
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2011
Weather: Sunny and Beautiful
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico
What a wonderful day. Our children and their families arrived in the early afternoon. It was an emotional reunion for me. A year and a half is just too long to go without seeing children and grandchildren. But now they are here and we had a glorious day on our little beach and swimming in our natural ocean swimming pool-absolutely perfect. Sam, Jonah, and Ziggy are just as cute as they can be and due to Skype, we weren’t strangers to them. So after all of the hassles, things finally fell in place. We magically found a car to rent for a couple of days and have transported most everything we need from the boat. Tomorrow after the Easter bunny arrives, we’ll make one more trip to Windbird to get the things we forgot and then spend the entire week just chillin’ on the beach with the kids. Oma and Granddad are in heaven.
by Judy Handley | Apr 22, 2011 | Puerto Rico, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 180, Year 6 Less Than 24 Hours
Date: Friday,, April 22, 2011
Weather: Sunny with No Wind Early; Rainy Late Afternoon
Latitude: 18 05.542 N
Longitude: 065 28.460 W
Total Trip Miles: 24.44
Location: Esperanza, Vieques-Puerto Rico
By 2:30 tomorrow afternoon we will be meeting our children and grandchildren on the ferry dock in Isabel Segunda. It has been a long year and a half without seeing them and we are just so anxious to be together with them again. Unfortunately, the logistics of how to get there with all of the food and “stuff” that we will need next week are still plaguing us. We know we’ll get there, we just don’t know how yet.
We left Fajardo early this morning and got back to Esperanza around noon. We picked up the mooring that Tom on Caribbean Lady offered us when we were here on Wednesday. We went into Esperanza, checked the place where you can rent motor scooters and found out that many will be turned in tomorrow and Sunday. So if we are willing to pay $50 a day for a motor scooter, it will be available. We then went to the little museum to pick up a local map and then we went back out to the beach-front street to find a bus (publico) to Isabel Segunda. Just as we walked toward the street, a publico flew by. We tried to follow in hopes of hailing it, but it was out of town too quickly for us. Then we saw another one coming toward us. It stopped so the driver could speak with someone, so we rushed over and asked where we should wait for a publico to Isabel. He told us to jump in, and out of the way stops to pick up people who had gone to the beach for the day, we arrived at the ferry dock in Isabel. We talked to the driver, Estavon, about taking us and our baggage to the beach house tomorrow, and we “think” we can call him and he will come get us. We’ll see.
Isabel was very quiet this afternoon with the Catholic mass for Good Friday being blared into the streets. We did visit Blackbeard Sports to inquire about the possibility of renting bikes for the week and to get prices for their various dive and snorkel trips. A woman named Diane was working in the shop and she was a tremendous source of information. We got a ride back to Esperanza with a publico driver named Sharon. It was quite a coincidence that she is also the driver the house manager had contacted to meet our children. Unfortunately, she discovered that she has a prior commitment and can’t meet them. Dennis, the house manager emailed that he will find someone to meet them but that he cannot help us with our transport from Esperanza. So on goes the adventure.
by Judy Handley | Apr 22, 2011 | Puerto Rico, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 179, Year 6 Imagine . . .
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Weather: Sunny with Not Enough Wind to Sail–Again
Latitude: 18 20.175 N
Longitude: 065 37.370 W
Total Trip Miles: 25.5
Location: Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Imagine . . . being stranded on a beautiful tropical island with no place to go. Sound nice? Well, whether it sounds inviting or not, I think that is what our next week in Vieques is going to be like. We have rented a wonderful beach house with our own little beach and natural saltwater “swimming pool” formed by a barrier reef. But we have no way to get from our little piece of paradise to town because there is nothing with wheels to rent on Vieques. Easter is a very special time for the local people and they are flooding from Puerto Rico to Vieques in hordes. They have rented anything with wheels, have bought up all the fuel on the island, as well as the food.
We came to Fajardo today to buy food, gasoline (for the dinghy and for a car if one should become available), to get a cell phone, and to figure out how to get internet access on Vieques. Getting the gasoline was easy. Getting the cell phone and internet was not, but we did get it. We used the new cell phone to make lots of calls to the car rental places on Vieques. We either got no answer or an answer that was no-nothing available. Our beach house is about three miles from the town of Isabel Segunda, but the house manager told us today that there is no public transportation. So we will either walk or just stay put and imagine that we are on a deserted island. We have one last possibility and that would be to anchor Windbird in the town three miles from the beach house, Isabel Segunda, and take the dinghy back and forth. The anchorage in Isabel is not recommended as it can be very rolly, but we would try it if we could find someone to watch the boat for us. But if we can’t get the dinghy through the barrier reef at the beach house, this approach doesn’t work. We’ll continue trying to figure out transportation tomorrow.
Now for today’s story. Once again we had to motor as they trade winds have disappeared completely. Early morning we dropped the mooring in Esperanza and headed the twenty-five miles to Fajardo on the main island of Puerto Rico, arriving at 10:30 am. We thought we had plenty of time to do the things on our list, but everything turned out to be MUCH more difficult than expected. We anchored behind the small island of Cayo Obispo about a mile from Fajardo’s ferry dock. The waters from Cayo Obispo to Fajardo are called Bahia de Fajardo and anchoring close to the main island in these waters is not recommended, thus we anchored across the channel off Cayo Obispo Marina. Our first adventure was trying to find a place to buy gasoline. We went into the Cayo Obispo Marina and they told us we must cross the channel and buy fuel at a marina on the main island. We did as instructed and were pleasantly surprised that both diesel and gasoline are cheaper here than anywhere we have been in the past two years. The cost for either was $4.10 a gallon. We filled four 5-gallon jerry cans and took those back to Windbird. Then we went back across the channel to check-in and shop. We found “the” dinghy dock near the Custom’s House. The structure for the pier was there, but the boards on top were mostly missing. Someone has laid a few pieces of plywood here and there, but in order to get to shore, you have to walk the plank. I was not about to do this, so Mark dropped me off on a nearly concrete pier and he went back to secure the dinghy and walk the plank to shore. It was like walking a tight rope, but he made it. Check-in was a mostly good experience but then trying to catch a local bus called a publico was not easy. We waited for almost 40 minutes before one came by. We were hoping to go to “downtown” Fajardo to get a SIM card for our phone, but the driver didn’t know what a SIM card was and didn’t know where to take us. We just kept saying downtown Fajardo, but where he took us was a strip mall area along a very busy highway. We had no map and had no idea where we were, but we saw a Sprint store and told the driver to drop us there. The young man in the Sprint store said he couldn’t help us, but he directed us to a Radio Shack about a mile up the road. So we walked along the busy highway and eventually found the mall with a Walgreens, a WalMart, a Radio Shack, and many other stores. We stopped to have lunch along the way and found an auto parts shop in which to buy a spare alternator belt. It was about 2 pm by the time we arrived and the next four hours were a bit of a nightmare. Honestly, they were more than a nightmare-BUT with a happy ending due to the kindness of a young Puerto Rican couple. I won’t go into all the details of searching and waiting and waiting and searching to find a way to have cell service here and to get internet service. In other countries, all we have had to do was take our cell phone in and get a SIM card and take our cell modem (internet connection) and get a new SIM card for that. But NOT in US territory. The T-Mobile cell phone we have had for years and have used when we return to the US to visit is no longer working. So we need to buy a new plan once we get back to the US. If we buy a plan here, we would have a Puerto Rico number and that would be long-distance for calls once we are back in the US. The cell phone we bought in Indonesia and have been able to buy a SIM card for in all countries since, but we cannot just buy a SIM card for it here. SO we had to buy a new phone that will work here and supposedly once we are back in the US. The cell modem to allow us to receive internet was even more frustrating. There was no way to buy a SIM card for our ATT modem, so we had to buy a new modem that will work here and supposedly back in the US. That cost about 130 including the service plan. The good news is that we are back on the boat and it seems to be working. So while we are isolated in our little beach house next week, we should be able to communicate with the outside world via cell phone and internet.
By the time we had cell service and had made phone calls to Vieques to try and find a vehicle which doesn’t exist, it was almost 5:30 pm. I panicked when I realized the time. We still hadn’t decided on a cell modem for internet and we had not done the food shopping. In addition, we had no idea of how to get back to the dinghy. Mark headed to Radio Shack to buy the Sprint cell modem and I went to WalMart to buy food as fast as humanly possible. This WalMart had no fresh food and no meat, just packaged goods, but I got what I could quickly and just as I was in cue to check-out, Mark arrived said he had found a ride back to the dinghy. He had asked the guy in the Radio Shack how we could get back and another man in line behind Mark yelled to another guy in the store and like magic, we had a ride. Mark practically ran to find me in WalMart to give me the good news. Sundown was approaching and we really had no idea how to get back to the dinghy. I certainly didn’t want Mark “walking the plank” in the dark. But with the help of the young couple who brought us back–Gabriele and Dolly–we actually made it back before sundown. Gabriele is a rigger and Dolly also works on boats. Someday they hope to sail around the world and we wish them the best. We have had some very frustrating experiences since arriving in Vieques yesterday, but meeting people like Gabriele and Dolly reassure us that all is well in the world. It is truly hard to express how thankful we are that no matter where we have landed in the world, we have always found people like Gabriele and Dolly. But late this afternoon when they seemed to magically appear, we were more grateful than we have ever been. Gabriele and Dolly, thank you, thank you, thank you.
by Judy Handley | Apr 20, 2011 | Puerto Rico, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 178, Year 6 Arrival in Vieques
Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Weather: Sunny with Not Enough Wind to Sail
Latitude: 18 05.660 N
Longitude: 065 28.431 W
Total Trip Miles: 138
Location: Esperanza, Vieques, Puerto Rico
What an “interesting” arrival we had in Vieques this morning. We have traveled around the world and been to many interesting places, but our arrival here was the strangest we have encountered. I’ll say one thing-this place has character (and characters). We arrived at 10:40 am. We had tried to call the Vieques Yacht Club that we had read about in our newly published and VERY expensive Puerto Rico cruising guide that says that the yacht club has 15 moorings in Esperanza, but no one answered our call. Finally, another sailboat responded saying the yacht club is just a work in progress, that we would probably get no answer, and that the moorings are not yet a reality. We followed the directions of the boat that called us and tried to anchor just west of the little village of Esperanza. But the anchor did not hold. The bottom here is sand covered in sea grass and sea grass is notoriously difficult to anchor in. The first try didn’t work so we just floated around while Mark reattached our alternator which had broken loose during the long motor trip from St. Martin. We then looked around for a possible mooring. We saw what looked like a mooring ball we had lunch and we headed out to the island to see what he could find. A dinghy beat us there and the driver started yelling something in Spanish. Another sailboat glided past us and took that mooring, but the guy in the dinghy kept yelling at us in Spanish-laced English. What we understood was that all moorings are private and that we must anchor. We later found out that the young man in the dinghy was Hector. More about Hector later. We tried again to anchor and still no luck. So I stayed on the boat and Mark went to shore to see what he could find out. He met Michael and Eva at the Bili Restaurant whose fame is their wonderful vegetarian dishes.. They explained that the young man who was yelling at us was Hector, the very unofficial master of the harbor. They gave Mark a couple of alternatives for different anchorages and a possible mooring. They also told Mark that he would have to go to Fajardo to get a SIM card for his cell phone. Bummer.
When Mark returned with this news we discussed our options-not many and none acceptable. So Mark went out in the dinghy to talk to the other four boats here on moorings. Only one was “home” and this was David, our second “interesting” local encounter. David explained that he is an ex-marine, has lived on the island for 33 years, and is known as the The Dolphin because he can swim better than anyone else on the island. He is definitely a local character. He told us that Hector is known as The Shark and that together they unofficially patrol the harbor. Unfortunately theft here is rampant.
We did move Windbird to the only available mooring that David says is open for the next three weeks. It is very shallow and right off the town beach, but for tonight we are attached and fine. David explained that if we leave the boat here while staying in the beach house, he will sleep in the cockpit a few nights letting thieves know that they need to stay away. But he warned that anything not screwed down might be stolen. At this point I was starting to think that this place is like what we expected but did not find in Madagascar.
Later in the afternoon, the owner of the Caribbean Lady stopped by. His name is Tom and he immediately called Customs when he learned we hadn’t checked in. When he got them on the phone he handed it to Mark saying “Customs wants to talk to you.” The Custom’s officer took all sorts of information, but in the end he said we needed to go to Fajarto on the main island or to the airport here to finalize check-in. Evidently we need some sort of sticker, a US requirement. It was so nice of Tom to let us use his phone and to then offer further advice. He explained that the descendants of Taino Indians from the main island of Puerto Rico are here in Vieques to celebrate the Easter Week. The culmination will happen here on the beach in Esperanza on Friday night and then the party begins. This is all fine except that the visitors have rented all available vehicles and have used up all of the island’s fuel reserve. Even if there were cars available to rent, right now there is no fuel. So Tom suggested we motor over to Fajarto tomorrow to check in, buy fuel (we’ll fill extra jerry jugs to use as possible trading items (fuel in exchange for a taxi ride), get water, and return here either tomorrow night or Friday morning.
So off we go in again in the morning. It is about 25 miles from here to Fajarto and with the check-in and shopping time built into the middle, we’re not sure we’ll make it all the way back here by tomorrow evening. But we can probably make the west end of the island and then return here on Friday morning.
