A wave for everyone

Flamenco Beach

The locals say that Flamenco Beach is the second most beautiful beach in the world. This we gotta see. It had been raining nonstop for a week, so on the first nice day, we jumped at the chance to go. We dingied over to the ferry dock and flagged down a publico…this one is driven by Kiko. Kiko lived in New York City, came to Culebra to visit his family and never went back. He’s been driving his beat-up van for 40 years. He also has an affinity for Heineken. We loaded up our surfboards and snorkeling gear and headed to the beach in the van with no side door, making arrangements for Kiko to come back and get us around 5pm. There is pretty much everything you could ask for at this beach. There are numerous little huts serving frozen drinks, beer, chips, and grilled chicken skewers. There are also little campgrounds where people camp out, many, like one guy I met, for months at a time.

 



Maria pointing out the sets



Cath - the snorkling photographer

The beach is truly gorgeous. Nestled in the crook of the mountains, the crescent shaped white sandy beach looks out to the turquoise blue water, spotted with reefs, and yes, much to our delight, surf breaks! A nice left AND an awesome right. Now, Maria and Scott are the surfers, and I like to play around in the surf on my paddle board, which is affectingly known as the Whale as it is 11’4. Too big for me to carry on this trip, so instead I brought along my snorkel gear and underwater camera so I could shoot some pictures of Maria and Scotto. It was about a 10 minute paddle out to the left break, and I got to swim over some really nice reefs. The waves had kind of petered out, but man, it would be going off in right conditions. Those guys checked it out for awhile and then paddled over to the right break. I snorkeled along with them, scanning for Jaws. I was getting a bit waterlogged and decided to head back to the beach to hang out with Nancy. Maria and Scott caught a few good waves…they were waist high, and with Scott’s beer belly, it was barely enough to push him. The potential is definitely there for some great surfing though.

Cath, Bonilla and Maria on Flamenco Beach

We all hung out at the beach, sending Scott off for some food and to scope out the local talent. Along the way, he ran into a friend that we had made, Bonilla, and sent him down our way, as Scott said, all he kept saying was “Where are the girls? Where are the girls?” We shared our wine and snacks with him and around 5pm or so, trekked back to find Kiko, which we did, sitting in the shade, drinking his Heinekens. Bonilla caught a ride back with us, and about half way back, Kiko declares that we all need a beer, and pulls into his favorite local bar for a round.


We made it back to the boat, cooked up some dinner, then went back to town to meet up with Bonilla at our favorite bar (where the last time we were there Maria played guest DJ) and watched the NBA playoff games. It was another great day in paradise.

You can take us out of the states, but it is tough to get the States out of us

Another rainy day in Culebra, so Maria and i decided to take a trip over to the mainland, Fajardo, as we heard rumors of a West Marine and Walmart.  the only way to get there is by ferry, with very convenient times of 6:30am, 1pm and 5pm.  As we refuse to get up anytime before 8:00 if we don't have to, we opted for the 1pm ferry.  Off we went...loaded up our digny, get to the town of Dewy, walk to the ferry terminal, get tickets, wait in the rain until it is time to load up.  We knew we were in for a rough ride, as the 150 person ferry was already rocking and rolling just tied up to the loading dock.  We boogied up to the upper deck of the ferry so that we could get some seats under cover but still have the outside view and fresh breeze...no way did we want to be down below with the diesel fumes and puking passengers!  

The one hour ride there wasn’t so bad as we had about 5 foot following seas. Once on the other side, we got in a publico, a van which stacks as many people as possible and then drops them off at different locations. We made it to West Marine with no incident, and let me tell you, what a West Marine it was! I think they stocked the entire catalog in this store! So, we loaded up our two back packs and also picked up a new grill as ours finally rusted through. At this point, it is pouring rain outside, and we had to walk about 15 minutes, across a highway that is equivalent to the FL Turnpike, with our backpacks and this fairly large grill box. Do you remember the video game Frogger? Well, it was pretty much like that. A little ways into our walk, we spied the great American beacon…the golden arches. Yummm…greasy cheeseburgers! After we got our fix, we kept on trucking until we got to Wallyworld, looking like two drowned rats.

We got some provisions, hit the clearance clothes racks for some dry clothes and realized we only had about an hour to make it back to the ferry terminal, some 20 minutes away. No worries, plenty of time, after all, the nice lady at West Marine had given us 5 different cab drivers’ numbers. So, I walked up to customer service, asked them to dial up a cab and thought I’d be on our way. No answer from any of the drivers. Oh boy. Okay, well, there are a few other stores in this strip mall, so we left, (wearing our fancy new duds), and went to Radio Shack, they are kind of geeky after all and may come up with something. Well, they did try, searching the internet for a precious 10 minutes, and after making a few calls, came up with nothing. It is now 6:30, and I was starting to have visions of trying to find a hotel in downtown Fajardo. Just about at the panic point, Maria says to me, “see that guy over there getting in his car…go ask him if he’ll give us a ride”. Forgetting for a second that I’m off the boat and really don’t have to do EVERYTHING the captain says, I trot over to the green SUV that the gentlemen just got in and was starting to back up, and knock on his window. “Um, I’m having a bit of a problem”, I say to the surprised face, “I’m trying to make it to the ferry dock but can’t get a cab and it leaves in 15 minutes, can you give us a ride?”

“Si claro, no problemo” he replies. I wave Maria and her shopping cart of crap over and we loaded up the back of his truck and hopped in. We were chit chatting with him and we noticed that on his lap were some papers and a bag of the local favorite herb. What do you do for a living, I ask. I’m a lawyer, he replies! Anyway, the very mellow lawyer drops us off at the ferry terminal, we get on, secure our seats at the top, and prepare ourselves for the 1.5 hour beating we are about to undertake, as we could see that the seas had built up a bit. The ferry charged full throttle into the seas, sounding as if it was going to break apart with every hit of the waves. Spray was coming over the top of the metal awning in sheets and passengers were heaving up their dinner all around the rails. What a journey!

Another quick catch-up

Sand Sculputre in Ponce

Fountain in Ponce



We left Ponce, PR about a week ago and had an overnight sail to Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands. The Spanish Virgins are still in Puerto Rico, so why they don’t call it the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands, I don’t know, but one thing I do know, is that the locals don’t like it! Anyway, there was basically no wind, and what little wind there was, it was right on the nose. We did have a nice big swell, however, and it was right on the beam. Now, I’m not sure why they are still using water boarding, because honestly, being on a rolly sailboat with no wind to stabilize you, for hours upon hours upon hours, seems like torture to me. But, we made it, and dinner stayed in everyone’s stomachs, so it was a good passage! We got to Punta Arenas on Vieques at daybreak, anchored up and had a good day hanging off the local beach, called Green Beach. Vieques is very green and lush, almost like a mini rain forest. We left the next morning and sailed over to Culebra, anchoring off of the main town, Dewy. The weather was pretty bad, as it rained non-stop for a week. We managed to entertain ourselves though, with internet cafes, a trip to Fajardo and hanging out at the local bar / restaurants.
One night we went to a really cool local place, Mamacitas. With the name Mamacitas, you know it’s gotta be fun! This night, the local bongo band was playing. One thing I have learned about Puerto Ricans is they love music, love to dance and love to party! The bongo players were unbelievably awesome, there really is no way to describe it. There were plenty of people dancing too, and let me tell you, it almost made you blush watching it! I’m not sure how they can move their hips so fast! There was one guy in particular that was dancing the entire time. He was wearing a grey wife beater tank top, jean shorts, black high tops, and he was going off. Even the locals just sat there and watched him in awe.

Culebra wasn’t all fun and partying though. As many of you know, Maria and I sailed around the world on the tall ship Picton Castle. Well, the PC is going to be in Jost Van Dyke, BVIs on Friday and we are going to sail over to see them, and also to check out the wooden boat regatta that is held at Foxys. Now, you know the Captain of the PC is going to scrutinize our boat, so we spent some time making her look all pretty…we repainted the black hull, the white topsides, and the beige deck. We also cleaned her inside and out. So, now she is one snazzy looking sailboat!

Rainbow over Vieques

We had to say goodbye to two of our crew members…Maria’s mom and dad, Nancy and Harold, had to go back home after sailing with us from Florida. They have been a huge help on the trip. I have to now be part of the anchor crew with Scott, and we have only eaten one meal since they left!
Not to make you jealous or anything, but as I am writing this, we are making our way from Culebra to the BVIs, before we head to St Thomas in the USVIs to pick up some friends. The sun is shiny, there is a nice steady breeze, the water is an inky blue, there are lush mountains in the background, the autopilot is on and Scotto is trying to catch us some lunch. Life is good.

When are you going to come sailing with us?





Bongo Band Jammin'



Karoake is alive and well in Puerto Rico

Tonight I find myself sitting on a plastic lawn chair with half of my butt cheek falling through in the open-air bar/cafeteria/banquet hall at the yacht and fishing club in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Enjoying a cold Medulla Light, the local beer, and a grilled jamon and queso (all for under $5, I must add for the sake of my fellow cheapskate blow boaters), I am also a very lucky lady to have stumbled on karaoke night.

Now, let me say, that the acoustics here have nothing on Radio City Music Hall...tiled floor along with tiled ceilings are an amazing combination with 15 somewhat drunk Puerto Ricians belting out the lyrics to the likes of Madonna's "Like a Birgin" and the Eagles "Otel Calefornia" at the top of their lungs. The best though, is when one of the popular local songs come up, and a great cheer comes from those singing as well as from the 7 or so of us that are watching, and it seems as though the singers must be eating the microphone as the words are so loud and the music so soft, and a perfect salsa is performed by the impromptu back-up dancers. I'm sure that the free tequila shots that are given out at the bar have nothing to do with this magical scene.
Meatloaf's "I would do anything for love" is on now...it doesn't get much better than this. Life is good in Ponce, PR.

Wait a minute, it just got better, much better. Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer"! This 80's girl may never leave!

Luperon - Adventures to the big city

Where to start...

"Gringos Welcome" Sign

Ahh, yes, the next day in Luperon. Well, from the looks of everyone and the moans and groans it was a great night out in Luperon. And I say this because my father, Harold, who hasn’t touched a drink in 30 something years was right beside the rest of us, shielding his weary eyes from the sun, in the morning light of the DR. The best advice I can give you all is don’t be afraid to look like a fool trying to get your point across with a language you can’t speak. A gesture speaks a thousand words. As you all know, we started our night at JR’s with Scott’s great tuna catch, which was a big hit. You could just say “We had them at sushi! “

One of the DR's favorite past times

We started the night sharing movies and music that we had on our hard drive with Manny, our Dominican friend who grew up in Boston. Ya, I know, the Boston accent is already something to talk about, but mixed with a little Dominican is a whole different tub of butter. We did get some great music out of it, which is definitely the international language. The first local insight is that it is cheaper to buy a whole bottle of rum then just keep getting rum and cokes. MMM, you see where this is going now. So, after the movies and music were copied and dinner was finished, I started to wonder where Dad may be. Mom said that last she saw him, he was walking up the street with a cigar in hand, and not to worry, just another burst of mid-life crisis.

HAROLD’S INPUT:
“The mid life crisis was passed mucho year-o ago. Now it is the on-going reality that all that was said of life in the ‘70s is true. After trying to listen to five different conversations and decipher the inane music on the satellite tv, I departed with cigar in mouth seeking culture other than American bar head- games and worn out stories of times no longer relevant. Sure enough I found it on the village green, in the center of which was a bandstand, clustered with local music makers - a real, live band that actually played Latin music! People got up and danced the Samba and Meringue, and danced till the sweat dropped from their brows. Young, old, even teens with hip hair doos. Such fever - I was so impressed and excited I called out with joy, “come on guys lets join in…they will love it!” So we did and most everyone got a great laugh at Nancy and I attempting to emulate the locals, who had all the moves, and I had none. At least Nancy was smooth. Me? I was somewhat like Ellen on the Jerry Seinfeld show.

Our Taxi to the Big City

Harold and Danny

So, when you arrive in Luperon, make sure it is on a weekend so you can catch the great orchestra of local folks and local music. As for the cigars, well, be cautious buying them. I was told the bigger the better.

Our teenaged guide, Danny, arrived the next morning promptly at 8am to ferry us into the big city. Most of the drive was spent watching the countryside flash by with cows, horses, and goats. There were also many, many people on scooters or motorbikes, balancing large things on their shoulders, or three people crammed on one scooter speeding along the mountain road dodging on-coming traffic. What a ride.”

My Dad is sure right about that, and I have had many of a gua gua ride in the local van. But, I can’t remember ever going 70 mph down a mountainside that twists and turns with only the horn to inform anyone or anything that we were coming around the corner! Heck, even if there was something, there in no way would we be able to stop. So, with Cath white knuckled and fear in her eyes, we shot through the mountainside, finally the big city showed to be more crazy then the ride, but we did learn the three essential horns: hello, go head, and move it -I’m coming.



First Big Supermarket since Florida



 

The local hardware store rivaled any in the States, as did the grocery store. I don’t think they have seen provisioning like that ever! After the DR and Puerto Rico, it all gets expensive, so we try to stock up on the goodies. With our great guide, Danny, we were able to find most everything.

Dad made Danny’s day by getting him a basketball. His eyes were as big as saucers when Dad gave it to him. After that, “Jefe” was the man. Danny looked at Dad as “boss man” so, “Jefe” has now stuck.
After we did all of our provisioning, we prepared for the theme park ride home, especially Cath. I told her next time to bring the Valium!

Main Street in Luperon

After meeting up with Scotto back in Luperon, who had his own fun getting a tooth pulled at the local dentist, it was time for some food. Every one swapped their stories of the day, sitting at the sidewalk table, eating a nice hot pizza, and we weren’t the only ones who thought pizza was a good idea. Once again, us Gringos got suckered by two kids on their horses, as they rode right up to our table and asked for a piece. I don’t know who was more surprised, us by having horses at eye level, or the kids when we actually gave them a piece! And then they asked for another! Which of course we gave them, after all they did ride up in style. One thing we are learning on this trip… asking never hurts.



Three words you want to see... "Good Cold Beer"



So, ending our night with some very happy kids, we made our way back to Jo-Jo
(our nickname for Joana).

The next day we cleared the boat out with the General, which unfortunately for Scott, meant one less bottle of rum! We aren’t in Kansas anymore…

The Sun is up and the crew is ready…off we go to Puerto Rico!

Tuna for breakfast lunch and dinner

Well, here we are in Luperon, sitting at a bar/cafe called JR and getting the down low from a local named Manny, drinking a bottle of rum, all the coca-cola, ice and lime that you want for $6.   Life is good!





Swimming Pigs at Staniel Cay

  Here is a quick re-cap of our adventures thus far. We left Cape Canaveral about 3 weeks ago, made it to the Exumas in the Bahamas until we got weathered in for about a week...luckily it was at Staniel Cay, a great place that had wild pigs on a nearby island that swam out to your digny as you tossed them old food, a nice yacht club with happy hours and conch fritters and great beaches all around. We happened to run into our friends that had been in Cape Canaveral,Hannah and Paddy on their sailboat Rita T at Staniel and we had a ton of fun with them over the week. We had them and their friends, Dave and Mary, over for cocktails on our boat and then Hannah and Paddy had about 11 of us over to their boat for cocktails. Oh yeah, we did some paddle boarding, fishing and exploring in between rum parties!





Joana at Anchor - West Plana Cay

 We left Staniel Cay about a week and a half ago and had a nice sail to West Plana Cays, where again, we had to pull in for 3 days and wait for weather. West Plana is a tiny little island out in the middle of nowhere that had the most pristine beaches, a blue hole in the interior and lots of reefs. Niko especially liked the island, as there were tons of goats which she chased, cornered and then barked at for hours. That was especially fun when she did this when Maria took her in for the last time, about 20 minutes before we were leaving, and Niko took off, no one could find her, and Maria, Scott and myself had to battle the spiny trees and the heat in the interior of the island as we searched for her. Needless to say, we left 3 hours late! Anyway, we had a great 3 days...lots of snorkeling, surfing and hanging out. Scott caught us a huge strawberry grouper for dinner (I did catch the bait fish that was sacrificed for the grouper...Scotto is now having fun calling me the Master Baiter...) anyway, we also found a bunch of conch and made a great conch salad. We did see a few lobster, but we couldn't get them.

 

We left West Plana with a northeast wind until full sail, and not one hour after we left, we got a hit on one of the two fishing line we had put out off the bumkin (or as Scott, forever the sportfisherman calls it, the Pit). So, Scott grabs that line, and yells to me to reel in the other line...which we quickly realized also had a fish on. I felt the weight on the line and am no dummy, so I quickly passed the rod off to Maria and I took over the helm. Maria had little trouble getting the fish to the boat, and to our delight, it was a 50 lb yellow fin tuna! AWESOME - sushi! Meanwhile, Scott is fighting what we think is a marlin...until he finally gets it in an hour later (after a shark tried to get it but didn't) and holy cow, it is a HUGE yellow fin tuna...Maria and Scott could barley bring it over the rails and onto the boat - we estimate it to be about 130 lbs! I'll send pics at some point. So, now we have 180 lbs of tuna on board and no way we can eat it all. There are about 4 boats on the horizon and we radio them all to see if they want to do a mid-sea handoff of the tuna (really, we would have put a trashbag full of air tied around the tuna and dropped it in the ocean for them to come by and grab with a hook), but the seas were running 4ish feet and no one wanted to try it. So, needless to say, we have been eating tuna for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!



Sunset at sea sailing from West Plana to Luperon

We had a great sail from West Plana to Luperon, DR. They were calling for light winds and 4-6 foot seas, but instead we saw NE winds 17-20 with 3-maybe 4 foot seas. We were cruising about 5-6 knots and only put the engine on in order to go a little faster so that we could make it into the DR b/f customs and immigration closed.  So, we got into Luperon, dropped anchor, and then Scott and I were sent in to clear in because between the two of us, we may be able to come up with one sentence in spanish, and by the way, his accent is no better than mine. So, we found the "government compound", which is a concrete building with a series of 10x10 rooms that are falling apart, a desk from the 1960s and maybe 1-2 chairs. First we went to immigration. There we showed our boat papers and passports and paid $50 to clear in the boat and $10 per person. Then he told us we had to go see the harbor master next door, where we showed our boat papers and passports and paid $10 to enter the harbor and $10 per person tourist fee. Then they told us we had to go next door to see the dept of agriculture, where we had to show our boat papers and passports and pay $10, for , well, not really sure what for. By the way, all of the communication is taking place in Spanglish and hand signals and smiles, but obviously, not big enough smiles. Then we had to go up the hill to see the Captain of the Navy. Well, we showed up at the wrong time, as he and his officer-in-training were sitting outside the official building, on a hill, on a picnic table, overlooking cows, and the Captain was reading something from a piece of paper, and his officer in training was taking dictation. They welcomed us and motioned for us to sit down. Which we did, for about 2 hours and the Captain continued to dictate an official report regarding a fellow that was having problems with another man, the other guy apparently entered his house and the owner pulled out a 38 and shot him dead. Lovely. Once one hand written report was re-written, very, very slowly, to an official handwritten report, we were escorted inside the building, where it took an additional 2 hours for the officer to fill out 4 lines on a clearance form. Then, we had two representatives of the Navy come out to our boat to inspect it (ie walk around and say "muy grande" (very big)). And thus, the clearing in process was complete.

Of course, after such an experience, we had to go ashore and discover you can get 32oz beers for $1 and a meal of rice, beans, chicken and plantains for $2. All the locals are super friendly and helpful. We have managed to drop off laundry to get done for us, lined up a van, driver and 15 year old tour guide of Santiago for provisioning and exploring on Monday, and Scott sold the rest of the Tuna to a restaurant owner for $50 plus our bar tabs! Not too shabby. I could stay here for awhile, but our friends Frank and Dustin are meeting us in the USVI on May 25 so that we can meet up with the Picton Castle in Jost Van Dyke, BVIs on May 27. That is going to be crazy!
Well, these are our adventures thus far...many more to come! Check out facebook page as well (Sail Joana)