Instant friends at Camuy Caves, Puerto Rico

I just love how David makes instant friends.  We normally avoid expensive tourist destinations, but in this particular case, we just had to visit the Camuy Caves in the mountains of Puerto Rico.  So we rented a car from the Marina at Puerto Real and drove several hours into the heart of the mountainous region of the island.

It is hard to get an idea of the size of Puerto Rico.  It is not a small island, but is only 35x100 miles in extent, so you can circumnavigate the island in a day.  So, I guess you would call it a medium sized island.  One odd result of that size is that everyone is within a few hours drive of home, so there are NO hotel/motels to speak of.  The only options are the resort palaces in San Juan ($$$$) or the hourly rental room, complete with "love machines".. just gotta wonder about that.

So, we paid our fees, then waited in the queue for the guided tour complete with audio players.  It didn't take David long to find just someone his size.  Instant friends.  No language barrier here, just shared fun.  We adults can learn some lessons.  Sincere friendship is a powerful force and only the most hardened could resist.



Of course there has to be one picture from the bottom of the sink hole (some 400' deep).  I am amazed at the pictures I am able to capture with the panorama mode on the smart phone.  Here is a 90 degree panorama looking straight forward to straight up.

David saves the day

Yesterday, David decided to empty his quarter berth to play "bus" transferring the entire contents of the quarter bert into the forward berth which is the admirals and captains bedroom.  Being the understanding parents we are, we did not want to interrupt the play understanding that David can clean up after himself pretty well these days.

So, when the berth was completely empty, dad decided to take the opportunity presented to open some hatches and inspect a part of the bilge we don't normally see everyday.

Its a good thing God looks after fools and children, because we are loaded with both.  What dad found sent shivers.

The connecting plate between the transmission and the drive shaft was MISSING three out of the four necessary bolts!




That one bolt was the last straw ready to break the next time we used the engine.  Thank God we found it while still at the marina in Puerto Real and not trying to round Cape Rojo without an auxiliary engine direct upwind...

WHewww..

Hati, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

We have made pretty good progress heading into the trade winds, mostly motor sailing and burning up a bit of fuel.  Once we get to the British Virgin Islands, we should be able to start sailing without the motor again.  The rattle of the diesel, while reassuring, can get OLD after awhile.

So I'd better take this one passage at a time and describe the adventures/misadventures.

Haiti to the Dominican Republic: From Ile A Vache we headed overnight for Bahia Aguillas in the Dominican Republic.  We managed to sail a few miles into the wind before we realized that wind shifts had put the wind on the nose (no matter where we are going, the wind seems to originate directly from that port on the thorny path), so we hoisted the iron jib and furled the cloth jib, relying on the main sail to stabilize the the boat quarting the waves.  Still a bit of pounding but minus the rolling.  About 8pm, just after sunset, the motor sputtered and died.  Great, must be a clogged filter.  Changed the filter but that was not the problem.  So, while the boat rolled and we drifted, I disassembled the fuel delivery system tracing all the supply and return lines for both the main engine and the generator (something I should have done earlier).  Turns out that the fuel pickup tube from the tank had clogged.  So, a bit of creative re-plumbing had the main engine running from the generator pickup tube.  At least we were back under way.

Christine fell ill with a fever the next day at Isla Beate, a small fishing village, so the next passage to Las Salinas was an overnighter single handed.  Fortunately, the normally nasty weather around Cape Beate settled down and it was uneventful.  We spent a week in Las Salinas spending time with David and Janet, our new found cruising friends from New Zealand.  We rented a car together for a couple of days and had adventures in Santo Domingo and Jarabacoa (botanical gardens, hiking and swimming in water fall pools, lots of fun).  My main business computer got water damaged here, and I am now limping along with a computer sans battery..

We picked up some fuel in Las Salinas borrowing an extra jerry can to shuttle fuel out to Gypsy Queen 11 gallons at a time.  Five trips later, with arms at least an inch longer, we had enough fuel for or next leg of our jouney to Puerto Rico where diesel can be had from fuel docks at less than $2.00 US per gallon!  Puerto Rico gets it petroleum from Venezuela unlike the rest of the US, hence the lower costs.

Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico:  Leaving Las Salinas we rounded the local cape and got hit with 30knt sustained winds on the bow for several hours.  The weather forecast called for maximum sustained winds of 15knts.  Hey, what is a 100% error between friends!  So, we pounded into those conditions for awhile stressing equipment.  List of casualties:

1: Mail sail reef cringle (torn out)
2: Solar panel support broke
3: Staysail traveler car broken
4: Main halyard broken at headboard shackle

So, thus disabled, we hobbled into Puerto Rico where we managed to repair all items.  It was the first time I had to re-thread a halyard that goes down the center of the mast.  Turns out that there is a handy/removable mast head fitting allowing access to the sheaves and the job turned out easier than I had feared.  My bosons chair and ascenders do not allow me to work easily above the mast head fitting, but we managed pretty well in the calm of Puerto Real harbor.  Looks like some new running rigging will be needed before next season.

Feeding the winged rats near the oldest cathedral in the Americas in Santo Domingo D.R.

Is it possible to carry 4 live goats on a motorcycle?  The definitive answer is YES.  Just tie their feet together and lash them to the luggage rack (only in the DR)

Water fall near Jarabaco DR, time for a little impromptu swimming!

Our route through the Windward Passage to Haiti, DR, Puerto Rico updated on share.delorm.com/fishbaugher

Ile a Vache Haiti 1

We decided to take a short detour on our way to the Dominican Republic and stopped at a protected harbor on the south coast of Haiti.  While the country is in turmoil and the presidential elections are being contested, this little island is set apart.  It is 6 miles from the mainland, but worlds apart.

Fast Passage South

Taking advantage of some unusual Northerly winds, we quickly made our way from the Exumas to Rum Cay, Mayaguana, then finally Great Inagua where we checked out of the Bahamas.  Just needed to check out, get our dispatch papers from customs then take on a little fuel.  No simple trick when you have to side tie to a bare concrete wall, have the fuel truck in the back of a pickup, then siphoned into the tanks through another filter.

This was just a morning stop, and we were back into the Northerly winds.  Normally cruisers head to the Turks and Caicos on their way to Luperon on the north coast of Hispanola, however, we decided on a different route which took us through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti with the indention of cruising the South coast of the Dominican Republic.

After reading some favorable reviews of Ile A Vache (island of the cows) on the South coast of Haiti, we decided to make a stop.

It is just magical place, like a chunk of sub sahara Africa drifted over to the Americas.

Gypsy Queen Under Sail

So, just what does Gypsy Queen look like when we are sailing.  I have posted several pictures of life aboard, but in Rock Sound, our good friends aboard RuAha took some pictures as they overtook us in their Bristol 45.  So I guess I should post at least one photo of what we look like from a distance.

Skipping WAY Fast Forward

So much has happened since our last blog post.  We made our passage to Eleuthera island, visited Spanish Wells, made our passage through the Current Cut (exciting with currents as high as 6 knts), then onto Glass Window then  Rock Sound before our passage to Georgetown.  Georgetown is a final destination south for many cruisers from the US East Coast, but just the jump off point for those headed for the Caribbean.



Nothing like a bit of Bud Light and Conch Fritters at Georgetown.  We said our goodbyes to Mason here and he jumped on a plane back to Oregon.  What a wonderful month of cruising, boat repair, and just plain good times.