Cousin Sharen!!

So, I lied to you....you thought I was all done with sharing the Caribbean stories for the season...not even close!

I must first describe, in full and loving detail, our visit with cousin Sharen...then later (next blog) you get to hear of Shawn and Yasmeen...and then much later, there's much to tell of our sail to St. Croix and the visit with Jan, Mandy, and Merryn. 

Yes, I can hear all of the grand sighs beginning now.

Just remember that, despite the various blogs I've written, it's not always fun and games in the islands...sometimes we do need to sleep. And there's always the challenges of cleaning up the dive gear after we use it. Not to mention all of the hiking to various lookouts...that's not in everybody's "fun index", either.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the unending chore of restocking the rum. Yep...it's not a real easy life, but someone needs to take one for the team, occasionally.

Like most visitors to our boat, the guests, like Sharen
get to relieve us of our duties for a time. See...everyone
needs a break from the work every so often.  

This leaves me to do the tasks that I must do...
like testing the standing rigging for stability and attachments.
Sharen is learning a lot about boat maintenance!

Like with most of the visitors, Sharen joined us in a whirlwind tour of the BVI, with stops in Soper's Hole for customs (yep, that special place we all enjoy) Norman Island (where pirates hang out) North Sound of Virgin Gorda (where other pirates and various strange folk reside)

We always try to get people to join us on a hike
to the top of Norman Island...it is really a great view!

The staff at Saba Rock treat the visitors to a tarpon
feeding frenzy at about 5pm each day. It's their version
of catfish noodling.

There's quite a nice setting on the north side of Saba Rock
that overlooks the ocean and reefs.

Ahhh, below is one of our best places in the North Sound we like to visit....The Bitter End Yacht Club...a place most of us probably can't afford to stay at. That always leaves us with the need to put on our pirate hats and enjoy the place anyway!

All I wanted to do was dip Sharen down for great photo op,
but she wasn't having any of it. I guess she's used to the
Shelton family pranks.

Now, this is what pirates do best...use the facilities of the
resort. At least we brought our own towels. For some reason,
the cabana boys never stopped by, so we had to get the drinks ourselves.
Like I said...it's not always fun and games!

It just so happened to be St. Patty's day when we visited Michael Bean's "Happy ARRR" at Leverick Bay. Since Sharen is more than a bit Irish, she thought the "spirit" of the Irish needed to be well-represented.

No, our table didn't win the conch-blowing contest,
probably due to the free-flowing cocktails messing with
our good technique.

We sure loved having you visit us, Sharen!!!!

Another late addition...

After our stay at Coffin Island, we headed to Ponce, PR for a visit to the town and see the upcoming Carnival...PR's largest. Our group included Herb and Karen, from Aaranda.

I recommend a visit to Ponce for the scenery as well as the architecture...but not necessarily for the Carnival. The parade was nice, but our expectations were of a somewhat more elaborate affair...like what you'd see during Mardi Gras (anywhere). The 2014 Ponce Carnival featured a few costumed folks, some HS marching bands, a couple of carnival floats and a lot of youth groups (ages 8 and under) in uniforms. There were a number of booths set up around the center of the square, offering a host of souvenirs and food items...the usual things you see at most small town festivals. There were supposed to be a variety of bands playing, but we chose to leave before most of them played.

We discovered that the town square was near the final destination of the parade-goers and the bottle neck of the entries seemed to be right where we were standing. So we were able to check out each group of kids and the various bands in full detail...for up to 10 minutes at a time. All in all, it was a nice community parade. We stopped at a really nice sidewalk café for lunch and walked around the square to see all of the booths and vendors. Karen and Karen picked up some nice jewelry, of course, while Herb and I looked for a place to get dessert.

A 1969 Chevelle!!!Yes I know it's a Malibu and it is
not a Chevelle SS, 400hp 396 V8 Big Block, 12 bolt main, with 4
speed manual transmission and positraction rear end...
but it still fits at the top of the best-car-ever-made category
and worthy of any parade!

Traveling buddies, Herb and Karen

The stage area, near the end of the parade route

I'm not sure if this is a good or bad creature.
The Bride of Chucky was riding in the car in the background...
maybe this wasn't meant to be a feel-good parade after all.

I thought this was a happy kind of costume...but I'm not so
sure, now

We toured one of the older homes in the area, and there were
a lot of really neat features, but I found the
stand-alone shower pretty cool: side sprays, overhead spray
each with their own controls...and pre-1940.
...our "modern culture" seems to always imply that we know
so much more than those of the past. It just goes to show
that we're not so smart after all!

We needed to head back to St. Thomas and pick up cousin Sharen for a visit with us, so we said our goodbyes to Herb and Karen and slogged our way eastward. Our next stop was a return to Bahia de Jobos, then on to Patillas, PR. (where we saw a manatee in the water under our dinghy) and then to Culebra. Each stop was just for the night, then we were off again. There were some long days of sailing/motoring to windward, but the weather was great and the waves were small... less than 3'. It took us 4 days to sail from Ponce to Water Island for our provisioning.

On our way with a 6am Sunrise at Bahia de Jobos.
A nice send-off for our rip back to the USVI

  

Back on Duty

Man, it's been a long time since I've blogged our adventure. Much has happened, both in the islands as well as after our return to the US. I think I/we will be best served if I give you the "Reader's Digest" version and bring it all back to our current status.

Our Culebran and Monkey Island trip was a prelude to sailing over to and then along the southern coast of Puerto Rico. We met up with our good friends, Herb and Karen in "Aaranda" (Beneteau 361 like ours) at Palmas Del Mar marina to prepare for our buddy-sail with them...we needed to get provisions and do laundry. By the way...how many of you have ever taken your dirty laundry to Walmart to get it cleaned? The Laundromat was inside the store where you would normally see the hairdresser. The lady weighed our bag by lifting it off the counter to estimate the weight/cost. She said it would be done about 9pm, so we headed into the store for our groceries and supplies and then back to the boat to store it all. It was a first for us, also....$9.00 and 3 hours later, the clothes were washed/folded and waiting for our return. Talk about service!


The rental car story was a little interesting...the lady gave us the keys and two complimentary drink cards at the local tiki hut beach bar! We still aren't sure if we were meant to drink our free libations before or after our excursion in the car. Oh, I was just reminded to share with you something wonderful and exciting...just like 4 years ago, we discovered that my driver's license was expired again! Yeah!!! This meant that Karen had to do All of the driving in Puerto Rico...AGAIN!!! Man, I just love being chauffeured with a chance to gawk around.

Our 1st two places we wanted to share with you are Bahia de Jobos (Jobos Bay) and the town of Salinas.




I just love these stylish hats. They convey to people
that we are real Caribbean turistas!

You could easily get lost in the many turns these
mangrove channels make. I tied bright yellow flagging
on the mangrove branches to find our way back out.

We kept the dinghy speed low so as to not
spook the manatees...it worked...we didn't
see any!

No, I didn't tie yellow ribbons on the mangrove tree branches. We spent time here, both on our trip west and then on the return trip back eastward.
Salinas is a small town located along the southern shore of Puerto Rico. We did get to see a manatee here, while entering the anchorage. It swam up and grabbed a quick breath and then re-submerged before we could get a photo. From a distance, it reminded me of a big, grey slug.

A monument to the fishermen of Salinas

This is what happens to boats when their owners stop paying
slip fees...they are removed from the slip, pulled to shore and
beached. I don't know how long it's been here, but the mangroves
appear to have taken over residence.

Just foolin' around

Salinas harbor is a very nice anchorage, if you can avoid all
of the moorings.

We enjoyed some very nice nights in Salinas, as the water was almost flat-calm the entire time we spent there. We left Salinas for Isla de Caja de Muertos (the Spanish way to say Coffin Island)

From a distance, Isla Muertos does look a little like a body
laying down, thus "Coffin Island".

Here's the greeting we got...a nice little snake, just waiting
for a tasty morsel...or a hand to bite.

I found a little snow to lay down in next to some plants
that looked like worms...

Actually, they are just cactus and a cloudy sky...sillly!
There's probably never been snow on this island.

The old lighthouse, circa late-1800's, built by the Spanish

Looking up the lighthouse stairway

Looking down...

The whole island is set up as a park with covered
pavilions, trails, a nice dock and even a large composting
toilet. We definitely recommend a visit, especially if you want
to wander inside the lighthouse...it's getting pretty rickety inside.