St. John

As soon as we left the protection of the island, in Norman where we spent a relatively calm night, we were hit by very strong winds. Luckily we were going a short distance and were sailing with the wind or the ride would have been bad. We crossed to St John, the Southern coast, and hid in the protected waters of great Lameshur Bay. Very beautiful. Even more beautiful is Little Lameshur, right next to it but we did not even try it because we knew there were only 5 mooring balls.
The wind pushed the clouds away and we had a lovely afternoon. There is a good dinghy dock and dumpsters so we went ashore on a trash run and then went hiking on a mountain trail which supposedly ended in some waterfalls. We never made it because after we had climbed for an hour, and then started to go down we realized we would not be able to climb all the way back up again. Sophia would've, but not us. Two young Australian guys passed us on the way up and gave up as well, they couldn't face climbing back up again. At night it was very windy but there was no swell so we had another good night. Today is Sophia's last day so we are heading for a marina in Red Hook Bay in St. Thomas and we'll do our hiking downtown.

New Passenger for Christmas!

 We walked to the airport to pick up Sophia, and spent Christmas eve in the marina, Christmas day on Francis Bay, in St. John, the most beautiful spot on the Virgin Islands. This morning it was cloudy and windy so we went for a hike all the way to the ruins of the Annemberg Sugar Mill. The scenery is truly spectacular. Then at midday we untied from the mooring ball and sailed to West End. Very windy, gusts of 25 knots, but a very short ride. We tied to another mooring ball, did customs and immigration and had lunch at Pusser's Landing. Tomorrow the plan is to go all the way to Virgin Gorda. Hopefully the next two days will be less windy. It hasn't rained, except for a few sprinkles, but it's been cloudy. As long as the winds calm down we'll be able to go snorkelling. Faraway has been behaving itself now that Sophia is here, I don't know how long that will last though!

Splish, Splash

As I was getting into the dinghy, with my phone in my pocket - serious mistake - I slipped and fell, bottom first, into the water. I managed to scramble out of the water and into the dinghy with Juan's help, in a very undignified manner I should add. I saved my flip flops which were starting to float away  but my blackberry blinked and died, flooded in water. The only reason I was not devastated is that Sophia is arriving today and I knew I she would bring me back another one.
We are now in Crown Bay Marina, walking distance to the airport, ready to pick her up this afternoon. I will cook a paella for our Xmas eve dinner and tomorrow we take off, probably to St. John, Rendevous Bay. Since it's Xmas eve I will spare you all the breakings and fixings that go on in Faraway. But Juan, the fixer, says he'd rather be fixing in the sun than driving on the Beltway.
Merry Christmas to all and I really wish you were all here.

In St. Thomas

Only a two and a half hour ride, and we were in St. Thomas, ready to wait for Sophia. I removed the picture of the two of us because Sophia said we looked very tired. 
We are tired of all the fixings Faraway has had us doing. There is an electrical problem that we have not yet fixed. The alternator stops charging after a certain time with the motor running. Juan changed the regulator settings to allow the batteries to take more charge but we think maybe there is something going on with the solar panel and the fridge as well. Juan missed that class in school so it's really trial and error. The other problem we seem to have fixed is the cap of the strainer over the water intake. It was not sealing properly and we needed to unscrew a butterfly from the top to add a round rubber seal, but the butterfly was stuck and we could not get it to move. We tried to get a mechanic in Culebra with a vyse that would allow us to move it. But we couldn't. Finally we talked to two guys in a boat very similar to ours, but very run down (not as much as the guys though), who had been over to our boat when we anchored, and one of them had some goo that will unglue anything and a good wrench and he did it. Which of course reminded me again of what Joanna always used to say, don't judge a book by its cover (in this case it was much more than just the cover) because they saved us. As soon as we had put the cover back on the strainer, we sailed to Culebrita, and then the next day we just took off to St. Thomas. It was a really good call because we had a very smooth ride but as soon as we got into the port in Charlotte Amalie it started blowing hard. We anchored but did not go into town because we were afraid the anchor would not stand the strong gusts, at times over 25 kts. It blew through the night and the anchor is still holding so in while we will take the dinghy down and explore the town. 
The moon above is the one that got eclipsed. 

Quick update

Downtown Culebra was as ugly as we remembered. It has a very protected bay where we anchored, not too well. Too close to a small boat on a mooring ball but nothing happened. Yesterday at one we left for Culebrita which was as beautiful as we remembered. The first thing we saw as we caught the mooring balls were the turtles. We had a lovely afternoon and evening but a horrible night because it rained and blew and we rocked and rolled. So bright and early we brought the dinghy up on board, got ready and here we are headed for St. Thomas at 6. 5 knots with the jib out and the engine purring. Photos and details of all the hassles will follow. There was no phone signal in Culebrita but as soon as we cleared it we are up and running again.
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We are sailing!!

Finally we started cruising. The last boat project was done yesterday. Juan's birthday present, a new boiler. He sweated and cursed in all languages but made it work. The boiler is under the kitchen sink and the space there is really cramped. In the midst of the installation Manuel and Asuncion came to visit, friends of joel's. They are such nice people that they tamed Juan's frustration with the boiler and put him in a good mood!
In the evening we received yet another couple, Helena and Dan. She is an interpreter who just moved from Brazil and he is pilot in the San Juan harbor. Really interesting. He is the one who parks the megamonsters that come into the harbor. A very nice couple and we had a great time.
This morning, the forecast having come true, we filled up the water tank, topped up the fuel, said goodbye to Justo and Claudia, our Uruguayans friends and arranged to meet up with Sugar Plum in St. John. And now we are actually sailing at 6kts towards Culebra. Can't wait to get in the water!! (Sophia here we come!!)
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Bye bye marina Puerto del Rey

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Countdown

Tomorrow Culebra. At least we hope so. Not that we are uncomfortable here, on the contrary, we'll miss the comfort of having water and electricity and cable and all the comforts of a nice marina (at a very good price). But we are ready to start cruising. As I look at the picture I posted I can't but think that all the pictures I have posted of Juan show him working, mine - I am eating!
Juan is sorry it's not his birthday anymore. He loved to have everybody call and write and send messages on Facebook including all his nieces and nephews. I made empanadas and we had the best, best, best Amarone Valpolicella at our friend's boat. I would only drink that wine from now on if I could afford it! For dessert Juan's favorite Puerto Rican cream filled pastries. I think if it were for the pastries he would move to Puerto Rico today!

WeWe think

Happy birthday for Juan!

In reality we started celebrating yesterday. Just putting Far Away back in the water was cause enough for celebration. We could not take that muddy yard any longer. For dinner we met some Uruguayan sailors we met here who have a very nice big boat, and went to a nice restaurant and had a great meal. Today we got up really early and went shopping at the supermarket to provision for the next two to three months. Anything we find after this will be much more expensive. We tried not to exagerate but managed to fill to carts. The worst was putting them away but everything fit, somehow.
Apparently Sunday  the weather will have improved and we will be able to leave. We are ready!!

Desperately getting ready!

Hopefully by 2:00pm we will have finished the bottom paint and leave this mud pool behind! Three hours to go.

Rain and mud and many, many noseeums, but surely feelums

Faraway came out of the water and it was full of barnacles. They said they would haul us at two but by the time we were done it was five, so we just showered and went out to dinner with some Uruguayan friends who have their boat here. At night it poured and it rained on and off today so it was muddy and wet. Juan managed to sand the bottom and put primer where the paint wore off with the scraping and sanding. In spite of the difficulty of working in the mud, if all goes well (and it never does) we could be launching Faraway tomorrow afternoon. I am dying to be in the water again, the nearest bathroom in this yard is over a mile away so the conditions are dire. Creativity is really our middle name in that department. Juan still has a few things he needs to do but he says he can do them in the water. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed. I am done with this yard!

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Vieques

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Fw: Bye bye Salinas

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Hello Salinas

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Easterly bound

In the end we did not haul the boat in Ponce. We had everything arranged with the contractor but when we talked to the marina it was an endless rigmarole! We had to get permission from I don't know how many people and the price which the contractor said included Everything, did not include the haul and launch. We did not have enough time to argue so we just left Faraway in the slip.
Juan was very worried about leaving the power and battery charger on but if we left the fridge on we did not have much choice. After some debate we left everything on and left.
We returned from Santo Domingo on an earlier flight. We had rented a car which we had left at the aiport in San Juan. By the time we got to Ponce it was 7:30 pm. Instead of eating somewhere we stopped at a supermarket and bought a few things. Great call! Because the fridge had turned itself off and everything inside had to be chucked. After a few panicky moments (OMG! No fridge! What do we do) we turned it on and it started! We think it must be the tempereture knob.
Yesterday morning we drove to Boqueron to meet Elise and Christ. We stopped at a bakery on the way and bought warm and delicius bread and an assortment of pastries. To juan's delight they were fresh and scrumptious. After catching up with the Hitters for a while we took them to the supermarket and then said gooddbye. We are sure we will meet up again! (We stopped again at the bakery and juan bought three more boxes of pastries)
We discovered that Enterprise rent a car is not open on Sundays so rather than resign ourselves to another night of Very Loud music (5 competing bands!!!) Juan managed to drop the car at the airport. We refuelled and set off. A lovely morning, very calm seas and a mild breeze - on our nose of course!
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Ponce, for a few days

Good night in Boquerón, quite a few boats anchored there which we did not see but were lucky enough to anchor away from. The morning was beautiful and we took off to Ponce. Most of the time a great ride, in the afternoon the wind picked up, on our nose and it made our ride even slower, but we arrived in Ponce at around 4:30. We had called ahead to ask for slip availability but the channels did not connect and nobody could tell us where to go. After going around the basin a few times, we tied to a T-dock and stayed there. The best thing was clearing US Customs. The last time we were here, the marina called and they came to the boat. But this time we had the Custom's decal, so we spoke to them on the phone, gave them all our information and they gave us a number. With that we were able to hoist the PR flag and don't need to do anything else. Perfect.
We moved the boat this morning to a slip and have rented a car. But they have a lift and a yard and Juan is talking to the contractor right now to have the work done right here, so that when we return on Friday night from Santo Domingo, it will be ready. Last year my Xmas present were the winches, this year the bottom paint and new cutlass bearings, not a big improvement!

Well, maybe harrowing was an exageration! But long yes, too long!

At 7 am eight guys and a young girl boarded Faraway to clear it to leave the country. Since the guy from the marina was also there, the only one who dared charge us something was the army guy (20dollars) and the only one who did something useful was the girl: she stamped our passports.
It was raining so we had to wait until it stopped and did not leave until 8:30. The first three hours were torture. The DR did not want us to leave and kept embracing us and pushing us back with big waves and strong winds and squalls. But we dug our heels and went on. Actually I dug my bottom in the little hole in front os the companionwayn behind the wheel so I would not be thrown about while Juan valiantly braved on. Of course I had to warn him not to dream of start fiddling and checking and opening the engine because there was no way I was getting out from my trench!
But after the last squall passed we finally got the weather we had been promised; light winds and long six foot rollers. We had decided to cross South of the Mona so as soon as we were on the lee of the islands it flattened completely, we hoisted the sails (we had the jib out but we furled it and then opened it again) and sailed on. As we turned the corner of the Mona we could see PR in the distance! But the NE wind we had been promised became SE, on our nose.
The greatest problem we had with Faraway was speed. We were dragging it. I guess the bottom must be really bad! So a trip that should have taken ten hours took fifteen! By the time we dropped the anchor in Boqueron it was past midnight.
When we were approaching Boqueron we noticed the batteries were not charging, so this morning Juan tightened the alternator belt and checked the connections and we are again charging. The one casualty os the crossing was our VHF. I went down to rest my back at one point in the afternoon and he must have kicked it as he leaned to fiddle with the sails. He never saw it go!
We have a gourgeous day, a nice breeze, on our nose of course and if all goes well we should be in Ponce by 3.
PS: the engine purrs after Juan's Cuban mechanic fixed it but it still leaks oil and/or transmission fluid. He is not sure.
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To Ponce!

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Puerto Rico

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La mona y la monita

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We made it!

We are anchored in the Bay of Boqueron after a long long long harrowing day. More news tomorrow.
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Tomorrow, apparently, maybe, who knows...

If the weather holds and the forecasts continue to show green flags, tomorrow morning we leave for Puerto Rico. We have already told the marina so that immigration and customs will be here early to clear us. The plan is to do an overnight and arrive in Fajardo on Monday. But like all best laid plans, only tomorrow, and the day after will tell.
Juan is flying back in today from Puerto Rico where he already made all the arrangements for getting Faraway out of the water so that we can clean its bottom. Loreto will be proud