2018 Life Logs, Day 79—Last Day in Puerto Rico
Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Weather: Sunny Early, Then Clouds and Rain in the PM; High 81, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

Today was my last day in Puerto Rico with Justin and family. The day started with Justin fixing a nice breakfast for everyone before heading to work. When he left, Jo did the chores and came in with 32 eggs! We realized that we have been so busy that no one had checked for eggs for the past three days. Then Jo needed to take one of the dogs to the vet and Ziggy and Coco stayed home with me. Ziggy finished writing his book about the farm while I worked with Coco on writing letters of the alphabet. Then we retraced our steps from last Friday, taking the farm photos for the book. Somehow the folder of photos taken on Friday ‘disappeared’ requiring the retake. In the afternoon, Jo returned and she planted seeds in the new deep beds she put in this weekend and Ziggy, Coco, and I continued our work on what will be the petting zoo area. We deepened and extended the trench where fencing will be buried to keep predators from digging under the fence to get in and to keep the rabbits from digging their way out.

The taxi comes at midnight to take me to the airport in Aguadilla for the trip home. The time here has passed so quickly, but it has been wonderful to visit with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and to see the improvements to the farm after Hurricane Maria. It has also been wonderful to enjoy the warm weather. If all goes as planned, I will land in Boston by 10:30 tomorrow morning and it will not be warm!

2018 Life Logs, Day 78—A Little Work, A Little Play
Date: Monday, March 19, 2018
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; Afternoon Sprinkles; High 82, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

My day was divided between work and play, with the emphasis on play. Justin stayed home this morning to work on the farm while Jo took Coco to her weekly day of school away from home. Ziggy and I worked on the book he is writing about Finca Maravilla. This is the name Justin and Jo bestowed upon this little farm when they moved here. In Spanish, ‘finca’ means farm and ‘maravilla’ means wonder. When put together, it is a little farm of wonder. And after working on the book, we went out to work on this little farm of wonder, clearing the area that is to become the new bunny petting area. We moved old feed bags, tires, pieces of wood, lots of broken glass, while avoiding two huge poisonous centipedes that seemed to follow us. Jo had the sense to kill the one stalking her, as I should have, but didn’t. We then started digging the trench to bury the rabbit wire at the bottom of the fence. This is keep bunnies from digging out and dogs from digging in. It didn’t take long for me to realize why Justin gave me a pic axe, not a shovel, to dig. The ground here is solid rock. It is a type of rock that can be broken up, but it makes digging most difficult. Now I understand why Jo has to garden on top of the soil in deep beds.

After lunch we headed to town. We all got to see the results of Justin’s late night. His new office space looks great and he is ready for full time work there. After visiting his office, we picked up Coco and headed to Aguadilla. Ziggy, Coco, and I were dropped off at a skate park, adjacent to a play area and the ice skating rink on the Aguadilla waterfront. We played for a couple of hours while Justin and Jo took care of their business. We had planned to go ice skating when Justin and Jo were free, but we found out that the rink is only open in the summer. The kids were bummed, but they adjusted quickly and the fun continued. When we left Aguadilla around 5:15 pm, we headed back to Rincon to have dinner at Cowboys. The kids love it there, but we were once again disappointed. It is currently not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. And once again, the kids adjusted to a change in plans without too much fuss. We had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant and called it a day.

Tomorrow is my last day here. I leave for the airport tomorrow night just after midnight to catch my 3 am flight to Fort Lauderdale and then on to Boston. I sent a text to Heather this afternoon and she wrote back that another snow storm is expected on Wednesday night to celebrate my arrival. Sure not looking forward to that!

2018 Life Logs, Day 77—A Little of This and That
Date: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High 82, Low 70 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

This day was filled with a little of this and that. The electricity came back on, but still no water which makes life not so easy. After Hurricane Maria, Heather and Jed sent a collapsible rain barrel and that gets filled every time the water is on as a reserve for the animals. That makes life a little easier. But still doing things like washing dishes is much more time intensive than it is with running water. And not getting to take showers after working hard in this hot weather is no fun. But life goes on and all is well. Jo got up early and finished distributing the heavy bags of organic gardening soil we got yesterday at Home Depot to the new gardening beds. So she got her hard work in early. Justin spent part of the morning making a computer desk for his new office and then we all went to town. Ziggy, Coco, and Jo went to the Farmer’s Market on the plaza while Justin and I delivered things to his office. I needed to go there to use the internet to send yesterday’s log, so I did that while we put the desk together. In doing that, he realized he needed more items from Home Depot, so he called Jo and she was fine with hanging out at the plaza with the kids and then going to the 413 Café for lunch while Justin and I made a quick run to Mayaguez to Home Depot. The café was so crowded, making service slower than usual, that Justin and I were back before the food was delivered to the table. We had a nice lunch together, walked to the park so the kids could play for a bit, and then headed home. Jo had some work to do, so I hung out with Ziggy and Coco while Justin went back to continue putting the office together. We played soccer, rode scooters, played badminton, and finished off with a game of Uno ending just in time for dinner. I was hesitant about riding the scooter, but Coco insisted I try and I decided that riding a scooter is easier than playing badminton. Justin came home long enough for dinner and bedtime stories and is now back in town finishing the office project. Because that took more of the day than anticipated, he is going to take off tomorrow morning and work on the rabbit fencing project and tomorrow afternoon we all go to Aguadilla. Justin and Jo have a business appointment and I am going to take Z & C to the beach while they are in their meeting. Then we are going ice skating. Rather, they are going ice skating while I watch. The kids wanted to do something fun while I am here and ice skating is their definition of fun!

2018 Life Logs, Day 76—Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Date: Saturday, March 17, 2018
Weather: Most Sunny; High 85, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

The green we focused on today was building new gardens here on the farm. There are always projects to do on a small farm, but six months after Hurricane Maria, there are still so many aftermath projects left to be done. Before Maria, Justin and Jo had didn’t really garden extensively, but since the hurricane, they have been trying to raise most of their greens, tomatoes, and eggplant. So we spent a good deal of the day doing the things necessary to start a few new beds.

The day actually began with Ziggy making breakfast. All my himself, he made pancakes and scrambled eggs while Justin and Jo were doing chores and I was washing dishes. That didn’t last the chores this morning was mucking out the goat pen, so breakfast was a bit delayed. But after a leisurely breakfast, we all spent some time just doing this and that and when it got really hot outside we decided to drive to Mayaguez to go to Home Depot. Justin and Jo had discussed how they would spend the Home Depot gift certificate sent to them from the third and fourth graders at East Falmouth Elementary School and they were anxious to go get the supplies for the projects. We came home with 16 bags of organic gardening soil, a hoe, a pitchfork, solar lights to line the lower driveway, and rabbit fencing to make a secure petting zoo area so the kids who attend Soul Food Friday can get up close and personal with the rabbits and baby goats. And once home, we all got to work making the new garden beds happen. I helped Justin as he used the chainsaw to cut lengths of downed trees that Jo could use to outline her deep beds. He cut, I stacked wood to be burned, and we carried and rolled logs down the hill to the garden. By the time we finished, it was time to get ready for dinner and a second movie night. Because Oma is here and has really wanted to see Moana, that was the choice for tonight. Ziggy bet Justin yesterday that he would not watch Moana for a third time, but he took his bet back today. Coco and I really enjoyed the movie and Ziggy was glued to the screen for the whole time. Afterwards, we watched the Dancing Across the Pacific video that Mark and I made and then danced and read our way to bed.

2018 Life Logs, Day 75—Soul Food Friday and More
Date: Friday, March 16, 2018
Weather: Most Sunny; High 85, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

Ziggy had an early morning dentist appointment, so he and Jo headed for Mayaguez about the time I got up. Coco slept in, so Justin and I had a little quiet time together. He had some of his dad’s ashes that we were planning to get to Vieques at some point to scatter in the water there, but recently when Jo’s dog Lulu died, they buried her and put a section of a very large fallen tree over the grave and scattered Granddad’s ashes there. It is a quiet, meditative place and it is nice to know that part of Mark is here to enjoy the serenity. Coco was still asleep when Justin left for work, so I did a little kitchen clean-up in preparation for Soul Food Friday. This begins at 12:30 every Friday when other home-schooled kids show up for an afternoon of experiences and socialization. Today’s activity was dyeing clothing and pieces of cloth with a homemade dye made from avocado seeds. I was anticipating a green color, but it is pink. While waiting for Jo and Ziggy to return, when Coco got up we read, played card games, worked math puzzles, and practiced handwriting. I didn’t look at the clock, but thought it was nearing the time for Soul Food Friday to begin. About that time, Justin came home with the news that Ziggy had to have a tooth extracted and that he was going to get things ready for the afternoon. He put Coco and I to work cleaning up the living room and getting the dining room table ready while he fried arepas (corn cakes) for the kids to eat. Then we realized the water was off again, so Justin drove to the spring to get enough water for the afternoon while I got the experience of frying the arepas. The first kids arrived with Jo and Ziggy. I met the first arrivals and then I left with Justin as I needed to take a big load of clothes to the laundromat and do shopping for dinner and the weekend. Just doing those two things took 5 hours because I had to drive to stores in far reaching directions in order to get what we needed. It is just like living on the Cape. I can get most things at the local grocery stores, but sometimes I have to drive to either Whole Foods or Hyannis to get special things. I picked Justin up at 5:30 and we picked up a movie for Friday movie night. It was James and the Giant Peach which we enjoyed while eating gluten-free pizza. Tomorrow is going to be a work day on the farm with a trip to Home Depot to pick up some needed tools and garden soil. We are all looking forward to a day at home, minus the Mayaguez trip, and working together to increase garden space.

2018 Life Logs, Day 74—Gilligan’s Island
Date: Thursday, March 15, 2018
Weather: Most Sunny; High 90, Low 70 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

Today we traveled for about two hours to meet up with Sam and Dawn on Windbird anchored between the town of Guanica and Gilligan’s Island on the south coast. On the way there, we drove through the city of Mayaguez and a few smaller towns. Then, suddenly, we were out in the countryside with mountains in view. It was green and beautiful and Ziggy said it reminded him of West Virginia. I had to agree and I was so happy that he has had the opportunity to experience the hill country of West Virginia and made that comparison. I’ll get back to our fun time on Gilligan’s Island, but first I’ll go through the morning activities leading up to that.

Jo left early to drive to Aguada to get routine mammogram results that she was going to deliver to her doctor in Mayaguez. They don’t send results to your doctor here. They make you pick up the results and pay for another appointment with the doctor to hand them to him. While she was gone, Justin continued working on the pool. Because there has been no running water and the pool level is down, he hasn’t been able to run the pump and lots of algae has grown. But this morning both electricity and water were on, so he filled the pool, cleaned out the leaves, and got things ready to run the pool pump all day while we were going to be gone. This is an above ground pool that someone gave them that now serves multiple purposes around here. It came to the property just a short time before Hurricane Maria and had proven to be a key to happy survival. After the storm when there was no running water, the pool water reserve was used to flush toilets and wash dishes. And it is still used for that as the water comes and goes constantly. It also serves as a way to cool off when there is no electricity for fans and no water for taking showers. And the fact that it didn’t blow away during the hurricane makes it a survivor, so keeping it clean is important to everyone here. Once Jo returned, we headed to Mayaguez to deliver her mammogram results. She was supposed to stay for an appointment, but since the results were normal, she decided to just leave the results. While she went to the doctor’s office, Justin, Coco, Ziggy, and I walked to a coffee shop to get drinks for everyone. When we met back up with Jo we learned that the receptionist would not take the results, so Jo is going to have to make another appointment. We made another stop to look for office furniture for Justin’s new office, and then we were off to Gilligan’s Island for the rest of the afternoon.

We arrived at the Copamarina Hotel at 2 pm. This is where Sam had arranged to pick us up. He was there and after a short Coco meltdown about getting in the dinghy, we were off. It was actually very funny. She first refused to walk down the dock to the dinghy, but finally she arrived at the dinghy announcing that she and Jo were going to walk around to a waterfront restaurant where there is a ferry you can take out to the island. And at the same time that she was saying this, she was hopping into the dinghy. It is all about being five. There is absolutely no logic, but things work out. We waved at Dawn on Windbird as we went passed and told her Sam would be back for her. He delivered us to the dock at Gilligan’s Island and then went back for Dawn and Piper. We snorkeled in the mangroves along the shore where there was not much to see. But just being in the water was fantastic. When we had exhausted snorkeling possibilities in that location, we walked across the tiny island to the ‘river’ that runs between Gilligan’s and the next little island. The wind was blowing and the water felt cold to Jo, so she stayed behind while the rest of us fought the strong current to snorkel the length of the ‘river’ to the ocean on the other end. Dawn did this while helping Piper Dog along and for the hardest bits, Justin did it with Ziggy and Coco on his back. There were a couple of times when I didn’t think I would make it, but I persisted. At least there were mangrove roots to hold on to in order to get a rest from the fighting the current. The fast ride back with the swiftly moving current was the reward. It was so much fun that when we got back, Justin asked me to hang out with Ziggy and Coco while he went to convince Jo to walk to the ocean side of the island and then float back with him in the current. Eventually we all reunited, took time to climb trees and jump into the water, and then we were back to the dock. The kids wanted to visit Windbird one last time, so we made a quick stop. We convinced Sam and Dawn to go to shore to have dinner with us, so we then headed for the little outdoor restaurant that the Gilligan’s Island ferry calls home. It was a simple dinner costing $5 each, but that was the perfect topping to a beautiful afternoon on the water. On the dinghy ride back to the fancy hotel, Sam let Ziggy drive the dinghy. We did a few exciting circles while Ziggy figured out how to drive a dinghy and finally reached the dock at the hotel with Sam giving Ziggy a little help. I think Ziggy really enjoyed that adventure.

We made a couple of stops on the way home. We went to Toys‘r Us with the goal of getting Ziggy a soccer ball, but we ended up getting that for Ziggy and a new stuffed bunny with floppy ears for Coco which she immediately named Fifi. Next, we stopped at Office Depot to check out more office furniture for Justin’s new office. After looking at what is available, he’ll make his decision and the go back to get the things he wants.

It was a glorious day. Thank you again, Dawn and Sam. It is so magical to still be able to sail on Windbird and bring the family along for day adventures. It was late when we got home, but the kids still had story time. One of my favorite things here is going to sleep with the gentle sound of the coqui, the tiny frog endemic to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. They are named for the sound they make (co-key) with the emphasis on the ‘key’. It is so pleasant. What is not so pleasant is the very early morning call of the rooster, like 5 am. I wake to the sound of the rooster, much, much too early, but I just put a pillow over my head and try to sleep on. So goes life on the farm.

2018 Life Logs, Day 73–Touring Finca Maravilla with Z&C
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2018
Weather: Most Sunny; High 89, Low 71 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

When Sam and Dawn were here, Ziggy and Coco walked us around the property. But Ziggy wanted to do a more in-depth tour and today was the day. We decided to turn it into a home school book writing experience. My job was to take the photographs that Ziggy directed and then when we finished the tour his job was to write about the photographs. We started that process, but we took 81 photographs and Ziggy after an hour or so of writing, Ziggy decided that was enough for today. We will have to continue over the weekend as tomorrow we go down south to meet Windbird. I got a SPOT report from Windbird this afternoon showing that they made it to Gilligan’s Island today. We will drive to the small town of Guanica and Sam will pick us up in the dinghy. Gilligan’s’ Island is part of the Guanica Biosphere Reserve and it is the perfect place to go snorkeling and swimming. Jo has a morning appointment in Mayaguez, so we will all drive to Mayaguez and when she is finished, we will head to Guanica. And on Friday morning before kids come for Soul Food Friday, we will continue working on our book project.

Jo and Coco went into town this morning to get the mail and they brought home a surprise. The third and fourth graders at Jonah and Ollie’s elementary school took up a collection for Jonah’s cousins, Ziggy and Coco, after Hurricane Maria. The Home Depot and Amazon gift certificates arrived today with the sweetest card (designed by Jonah) with signatures from all the students. There are still so many projects to be done and their contribution was much appreciated. Then we got another surprise. Just before I left for town this afternoon, the water came on. Ziggy immediately started filling the water buckets for the animals, but unfortunately it didn’t stay on long enough to get the pool filled. We use the pool water for flushing the toilets and washing the dishes, so the water level is slowly going down. This after was a school afternoon for Z & C and students were arriving here for lesson with Jo, so I headed to the café in town that has free internet to book a flight home and catch up on correspondence. Unfortunately, by the time I got to town, the electricity was out and the café was closed. About that time, Justin called to say the electricity was out at his office, so he was heading to a nearly bakery that also free internet. So I spent the afternoon there. My AT&T phone signal is just gone today, so I called Heather on Skype to see how she is doing. Other than a tall jack pine in the backyard that seems to be leaning further towards the back neighbor’s property than it was before the storm and the fact that Sam went sledding today and went right into a pond head first, all is well there. Let’s just hope that tree doesn’t fall and Sam doesn’t sled into any more ponds! My next door neighbor checked in with me today to let me know that other than no electricity, no internet, and no running water, things are fine at my apartment. Good time to be away. But back to things here, the electricity is back on tonight and the water came back an hour or so ago. The running water is much harder to do without than the electricity in my opinion, so I hope it is back on for good.

2018 Life Logs, Day 72—Gozalandia (Las Cataratas) Waterfalls
Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Weather: Most Sunny; High 85, Low 70 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Rincon, PR

In last night’s log I stated that now that I am in Puerto Rico, I would be posting my logs using my AT&T phone hotspot. But that did not end up to be the case. I have a signal here at Justin’s, but for some reason, I cannot get online. My phone says I am connected, but I am not. So sending logs will be a spotty affair. If Justin is around with his phone, I can use his hotspot, but otherwise I have to wait until I go into town. But that is a small inconvenience in comparison to what I would be going through at home with the latest storm. I didn’t know about it until today when I started receiving messages from Eversource (electric service) giving me numbers to call if I had wind or snow damage. I thought the storm this weekend was the last of the winter storms, but I was most definitely wrong about that. I got a text from Heather telling me that Falmouth got walloped with this winter storm. There was no school today and none tomorrow and that the top of one of the pine trees in the front yard fell down, as well as other large branches. The Keefe’s next door have a tree that fell on their house. And the other next door neighbor also has a tree down. So, I am supposing the combination of wind and heavy snow was the cause of the damage. I feel guilty being here in sunny Puerto Rico with daytime temperatures in the 80’s F. So I’ll gladly deal with the internet and no water issues here as a trade-off.

Sam, Dawn, Ziggy, Coco, and I headed to the Gozalandia Waterfalls this morning. Justin got up at 5:30 am to head to Mayaguez to get an air conditioner for the office he is renting starting today. He had that installed, had arranged for someone to put a new tire on the van with the flat tire, and was back home by 7:30. Then Jo took him to work and then dealt with the flat tire issue. So she didn’t get to come with us to the waterfalls. It takes about an hour to get to waterfalls, but it took us a little longer as we stopped at The Fresh Mart to get sandwiches made for our lunch. Usually they have gluten-free bread for the sandwiches, but today they did not. But I found a package of frozen gluten-free English muffins in the freezer and they used those to make the sandwiches for Ziggy, Coco, and myself. I choose not to eat gluten products, but Ziggy and Coco really can’t. Once we reached the waterfalls, we ate our picnic lunch and then did the hike up the mountain to the highest fall. Ziggy loves climbing high and jumping into the water, so today without his mom or dad, Sam did a great job of doing everything with him. They dove off cliffs, dove off rope swings, and swam into the underwater cave together while Dawn and I hung out with Coco and Piper. Ziggy did lure me into the water to swim over to the falls and back and Coco and I found sunny spots and sat on the rocks. We were not nearly as adventuresome as the guys, but we all enjoyed the day. After numerous rope swing jumps, we walked back down the trail to the lower falls. Here there is a rope to help you climb to the lower ledge, an underwater cave to explore, and a big climb to the top ledge if you want to jump in from there. Sam took that challenge, but even Ziggy agrees he is not quite ready for that. Sam was doing the driving today and he got Ziggy, Coco, and I home by 3:30. Then he and Dawn drove the rental car back to Mayaguez and got an Uber ride back to Boqueron. They are planning to leave Boqueron at 3:30 am to sail around the southwest point of Puerto Rico before the winds pipe up. On Thursday, all of us here are planning on driving down to meet up with them for a day of snorkeling and water adventures. Then they will continue their trek eastward along the southern coast.

I hoping to spend tomorrow morning with Ziggy and Coco writing about some of the adventures we have had this week. Then tomorrow afternoon while they have a school activity and Jo has a teaching session here at Finca Maravilla, I am going to head into town to the café with internet and catch up on what is happening in the world. And I’m hoping to be able to post some photos.

2018 Life Logs, Day 71—Rincon Beach Tour
Date: Monday, March 12, 2018
Weather: Delightful; High 82, Low 74 degrees F
Location: At Home with Justin and Jo in Rincon, Puerto Rico

Sure wish I could be posting photos for you to see, and maybe at some point I will find a place with internet to do that. But for now you have to contented with my written pictures. I am using my phone to send logs now that I am in Puerto Rico with a US phone system, but I don’t have enough data to send pictures.

Today was another sunny day in Puerto Rico filled with fun. Sam, Dawn, Piper, Ashley, and I went ashore this morning and got our ride to Mayaguez with Eddie. Eddie was a bit shocked to see that we had a dog with us, but he adjusted quickly. We drove to Mayaguez and the rental car at Hertz was ready for us when we arrived. We were then off for Rincon. Our first stop was at a laundromat. While the clothes were washing, I walked next door to the supermarket and bought food for lunch. Sam went in the opposite direction to a bakery and came back with coffee that tasted sooooo good. Then we were off to Justin and Jo’s. Coco was not home today as it was her first day of school since Maria. She is only going on Mondays but the report at the end of the day today was glowing. Ziggy and Coco are being home schooled, so Ziggy was at home and he gave us a tour of Finca Maravilla. It is different after the hurricane, but the green is back and life here is good. There is no water at the moment, but the solar is working great and the grid is back on, so there is power. There is no internet and no indication when or if there will be. Jo prepared a great lunch and then Sam, Dawn, Piper, Ziggy, and I took off for a tour of Rincon beaches. We didn’t hit every beach in Rincon, but we came mighty close visiting Sandy Beach, Domes Beach, the Punta Higuera Lighthouse and Maria Beach, Steps Beach, and the beach in downtown Rincon.

Domes Beach is named for the nuclear power plant that was built, run, and decommissioned, all in the mid- to late 1960’s. The waves here and around the point at Maria Beach are favorites for the hordes of surfers who visit Rincon. Today they were getting ready for the 2018 Corona Pro Surf Contest to be held here over the weekend. We walked along the beach and up the hill to the Punta Higuera Lighthouse and then traveled on to Steps Beach. Just as Domes Beach is named for a physical structure, so is Steps. I’m not sure when the steps landed here on the beach, but they are great for photo opportunities. And one of Ziggy’s favorite climbing trees is at Steps, so he and Sam enjoyed the climb. We ended our tour on the beach downtown.
We went there so we could take freshwater showers at the end of the day. Thankfully there is water downtown, just not up in the hills where Justin lives.

Sam and Dawn decided to spend the night in Rincon so we can continue our tour tomorrow, so we spent some time finding them a place to stay that would allow Piper to stay with them. This ended up to be a place close to Justin’s new office space he is renting in Rincon to avoid the drive to Mayaguez every day. So after securing their room for the night, we picked Justin up and headed to the Pool Bar. This is an open air sushi bar with a swimming pool and an opportunity to meet the little coqui endemic to Puerto Rico.Jo and Coco joined us and we had a great evening. I headed home with Justin and family while Sam, Dawn, and Piper took the rental car to their hotel for the night. Tomorrow we will head into the mountains to the waterfalls. Justin has to work, but Ziggy and Coco, and maybe Jo, will join us. The plan is that at the end of the day, Sam and Dawn will return to the boat in Boqueron so they can sail around the southern coast of Puerto Rico in the very early hours of Wednesday morning. I will stay here at Finca Maravilla and on Thursday we are hoping to drive to La Paguera on the southern coast for an afternoon of fun on Windbird. To be continued.

2018 Life Logs, Day 70—Mayaguez to Boqueron, PR
Date: Sunday, March 11, 2018
Weather: Sunny, Hot, and, WINDY; High 86, Low 74 degrees F
Latitude: 18.02097
Longitude: -67.17624
Location: At Anchor off Boqueron, Puerto Rico

We had a wonderful, wild sail from Mayaguez south to Boqueron this morning. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco drove down to sail with us. Sam went in to pick them up in the dinghy, but Miss Coco had backed out of yesterday’s promise to ride in the dinghy to Windbird. So, Justin stripped down to his underwear and invited Coco to swim out to the boat with him. She took the challenge, but after a short swim she decided that riding in the dinghy was a better option. So Coco and Justin hitched a ride with Sam who delivered them, with Jo and Ziggy, to the boat. We then headed south to Boquerón. The advice for sailing in this area of the world is to get started before dawn and arrive at your destination by 8 am. We started our trek at 8 am, when things were still calm, but as the sun warmed the land, the winds quickly picked up and we had quite a windy sail. The head winds built from 4 to 8 to 12 to 15 to 18 to 22 to 25 to 28 and finally to 30 knots. This was not predicted, so we were sailing with a full main and headsail. We first reefed the headsail, then furled it. But Sam left the mainsail up full. There were times when Coco would pop up from the main cabin telling us things were “slanted down there.” It wasn’t a complaint as she was having a great time, but just a comment on things. At one point, the adults in the cockpit were talking about going to lunch once we arrived in Boqueron, but Jo pointed out that Coco really wanted to have tuna salad onboard Windbird just like Ziggy did the day before. Obviously Coco was down below listening to everything we were saying, so once again she popped her head up to ask, “Did I hear someone say ‘tuna’?” That child doesn’t miss a thing. And I was really proud of both Ziggy and Coco as they never panicked no matter how “slanted” things got. Thankfully the seas were fairly calm and they were able to spend some of the time just sitting on the foredeck with either mommy or daddy and enjoying the ride. Their was a bit of spray, but not enough to dampen a good time. When we turned to go into the anchorage at Boqueron, we were headed directly into 25 knots of wind, so we furled the main and motored slowly in against the wind. We anchored near a friend of Sam and Dawn’s, a boat named Le Mischief, captained by an Aussie named Steve. They came over to say hello and then we headed to shore to get lunch and find a ride for Justin and crew back to Mayaguez to where they left their van. In the meantime, another cruising friend of Sam and Dawn’s sent a text. It was Leslie from Texas Two Step. The boat is in the Bahamas, but she flew to PR in a helicopter with her husband who is doing power line work. Aguadilla, which is not close to Boqueron, has been their homebase in Puerto Rico. But she was free for the afternoon and decided to drive down to say hello. Since we had struck out on getting a taxi back to Mayaguez, she offered to take Justin and family back to Mayaguez on her way back to Aguadilla. However, she was not leaving right away, so Justin and Jo were going to have to wait. They were okay with that even though Ziggy and Coco were getting tired, but about the time we thought we had things settled, a man named Eddie showed up at the restaurant where we were having lunch and asked Justin is he needed a ride somewhere. Not sure how that happened, but it was perfect. And then Sam and I asked Eddie if he would take us to a car rental in Mayaguez in the morning. He was glad to oblige, so our travel issues were solved as well. It was like magic. So Justin, Jo, and kids left with Eddie and Sam, Dawn, Leslie, and I continued to sit in the restaurant to visit. After Leslie left, Sam, Dawn, and I enjoyed the lively waterfront scene in Boqueron. The bars were full and people overflowing into the streets. Music was playing everywhere, so we joined the party by having a couple of drinks before heading back to Windbird. When we did finally get in the dinghy to go home, we decided to go visit with the folks on Le Mischief, Steve’s wife is back in mainland US visiting with family and he has had two young crew members onboard helping him out. We found out in our conversations, that one of them, Ashley, was headed to Hertz in Mayaguez tomorrow morning. That is the same place where we had made a reservation for a rental car. She had no idea how she was going to get there, so we invited her to join us at 8 am for a ride with Eddie. We talked and talked and finally around 9 pm we headed back to Windbird. When we got there, we realized we hadn’t had dinner, so we decided on a quick-to-fix salami, pepperoni, and cheese plate and continued to talk on into the night. Doesn’t take long for an old cruiser to fall back into the cruising life style.