Puerto Rico to Bahamas

Puerto Rico to Dominican to Turks and Caicos to Bahamas
24 June 2008

Ok, I have to admit that nobody really told me that sailing 1,600 nautical miles or so is going to be one never-ending bliss. I made that up in my mind, it was a fiction of my naïve imagination. But as the miles and experiences accumulate, it is slowly dawning on me that there is no free paradise. Every moment of bliss has to be earned. Sometimes, Kuno and I look at each other thinking “Are we crazy?”, validating Tatiana’s sentiments all along. Other times, it truly is a paradise. We are hanging on anchor at Crooked Island in the Bahamas, waiting out some high winds, and as I look at the last 8 days and 650 nautical miles covered, nothing could demonstrate this ying and yang of our experiences better.

We have completely underestimated the time that it would take us to get through the Bahamas and spent way too much time in the Leeward Islands. By the time we were in Puerto Rico, the urgency set in and we knew we will have to make relentless progress, meaning days of continuous sailing with little or no breaks. We want to save enough time for the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas, supposedly one of the most beautiful cruising grounds. And so we set out from Puerto Rico and spent the next three nights and days sailing to Puerto Plata in Dominican Republic. We had some beautiful time on flat water with just the right amount of wind, when we could read, play cards, cook and even watch a movie underway. We also had a completely miserable stretch of big swell hitting us sideways that made both Tatiana and I seasick. Kuno seems to be immune to this discomfort, but when we finally landed in the Ocean World Marina next to Puerto Plata, all three of us were happy to be on terra firma. As a reward, we allowed ourselves some time to rest and enjoy the swimming pool and neighbouring ocean park. Tatiana and Kuno swam with dolphins, which did tricks with them and around them, and we watched a hilarious sea lion show. It is absolutely amazing how agile these animals are, defying their blobby appearance. Normally I am not too keen on animal attractions of any kind, but this place was pretty amazing, with wonderful space and facilities for the animals and we left feeling that both the dolphins and the sea lions actually had a great time performing, just like we did watching.

Given the time constraints, we decided against visiting Santo Domingo, as it is 4 hour drive away from Puerto Plata and it would have been a very tiring excursion. In some way, this part of the trip is starting to feel like a reconnaissance of places that we will want to visit in the future. Just a sampler, to tease our travel buds.

Before our night departure for Turks and Caicos, Tatiana was able to connect via Skype into her friend Abby’s birthday party and see and talk to all her friends. That was a real treat and made leaving for the long sail a little bit more bearable for her. Tatiana has by now settled into the rhythm of sailing, and is quite happy sleeping, reading and listening to her ipod while underway. We even started knitting a scarf together to keep ourselves busy.

And so the ying and yang, hardship and reward continued.

Our first stop in Turks and Caicos was on a deserted sanctuary of Big Sand Cay. We haven’t seen another sailboat underway for days and despite Sand Cay being a typical staging point for those traveling through the Caribbean, we had it completely to ourselves. It is late in the season; most cruisers are now well out of this area, either back in Florida or south in Trinidad to weather out the hurricane season. It can be eerie at times to be alone on the ocean with no land and no other boats in sight, especially at night, but I have come to trust our boat and ourselves and there is an element of excitement to it. Just a few steps up on the beach at Sand Cay we saw hundreds of birds (I think they were terns) nesting and nearly attacking us as we walked by their eggs, openly laid in shallow sand holes. Even more interesting, we followed the sand tracks of a big turtle (you can tell by the width of the track and the tail dragging imprint in the middle) and discovered the sand pit where she laid and hid her eggs. A bit later we also saw baby turtle tracks. I wish I could see the little guys running to the water after they hatch, but we will have to leave that for another time, it might take days (or weeks?) before these turtles are ready. The beach was magnificent and we spent the afternoon boogie boarding in the turquoise water. Unfortunately, Tatiana got stung by jelly fish tentacles and had a rather severe reaction to it. When her tongue started tingling and she couldn’t keep down even water, it was time to research our options of how to get her to a hospital. Not many options in the middle of nowhere – three hour sail to an uncertain possibility of a medical facility on Grand Turk or a satellite 911 phone call to Coast Guard. Luckily, the reaction slowly faded away and a few hours later only a fever and the marks from the sting remained.

Taking the opportunity of Tatiana being exhausted and sleeping, we set out on our next leg across the Caicos Bank. The banks are incredible, shallow and spanning hundreds of miles, fringed by reef and cays all around. Within a few hundred meters the ocean depth goes from more than a kilometer to just a few feet. This can create some wild currents and waves, but we are lucky, as the day is calm, and our sail unfolds uneventfully. Once on the bank, we sail in 9 - 12 feet of water for many hours, occasionally dodging coral heads and seeing every rock at the bottom. For parts of the sail I stand a watch on the bow, trying to guide Kuno through the maze without hitting anything. The color of the water is telling of the depth below, but there is very small margin of error left. Our experience from sailing in similar conditions in Belize equipped us well, but it is still unnerving, considering that our boat draws 6 feet. We are rewarded by six dolphins joining us for quite some time on the journey, crisscrossing in front and under our bow. What a magnificent sight. Ying and yang, dolphins after a tiring sail …

After a brief stop in the lee of West Caicos with a dinner and a few hours of sleep, we continue through the night to the Bahamas. In the morning we sail through another coral maze into the anchorage in Abrahams Bay on Mayaguana, clearing in with customs and immigration, furnishing the necessary stacks of forms and a payment that includes a $150 mandatory fishing license despite the fact that we don’t fish. We are an exception; most cruisers delight in fishing and catching lobsters and conch – for entertainment and cheap source of dinner, even competition among companion boats. But neither Kuno nor I have a clue about fish, which ones are good to eat and how to go about catching them. This is evidenced by our long debate of whether the fish that settled herself under our anchored boat is a barracuda (yuck) or a wahoo (yum). And let’s not forget the mess of cleaning them up on the boat. No thank you, I will take the easy way out and have my lobster and fish on shore in a restaurant. Although admittedly, now that we are in what they call the “off the beaten path Bahamas Out Islands”, such luxuries as restaurants, stores and marinas are pretty much non-existent. Supplies to these islands come in once a week on a mail boat. A mention of ice cream makes the locals laugh at us in disbelief. How naive. I guess there is a difference between us and the die-hard budget cruisers. After a few days of sailing and anchoring, we are happy to find a nice marina with all the amenities of an “on land” life. I get excited when I read in the cruising guide something like: “the ultimate destination for the free-spirited, adventure traveler seeking an authentic experience without sacrificing the pampered luxury of an exclusive resort” (this is an ad I read for a marina on Rum Cay on the way to the Exumas). Despite it being somewhat of an oxymoron, I think it describes my desired style rather well. However, reality is not that easy. We have noticed that there are many such resorts and marinas advertised, but in reality don’t exist – either they were intended but never started, started but not completed or completed and already destroyed by a hurricane. Such is the reality in the Bahamas. Big ideas, slow progress and the constant threat of mother nature.

The weather forecast calls for an increase in wind and waves and we squeeze in one more night of sailing before tucking in behind the Crooked Island for possibly a day or two to let the weather pass. The trouble with the Out Islands is that they don’t have many decent anchorages. For the same reason, many cruisers end their trip in the sheltered anchorages of Exumas a bit farther north, rather than continuing windward through these islands. We will have to see how well our current anchorage will serve us. We had trouble setting the anchor among the coral heads and Kuno has decided for the first time to put out two anchors for safety. It is gusting 30 knots and we will have to see what tomorrow brings. Regardless, all of us are quite happy to have a break, catch up on uninterrupted sleep, cook more involved meals than Ramen noodle soup that we invariably end up eating while underway and generally do nothing. Just like on a rainy Sunday in Vancouver.

PS: I am posting this from Georgetown, Great Exumas. We made it safely.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico
16 June 2008

Arriving from the US Virgin Islands to the island of Culebrita in the Spanish Virgin Islands, our first stop in Puerto Rico, we are greeted by a pod of dolphins playing in our bow wake. Tatiana watches in awe: “I knew we would see dolphins, but I did not expect them to be jumping all the way out of the water!” Although there is much to see in the Spanish Virgins, we only check out the island of Culebra, one of the few hurricane holes in this area, and then continue for the mainland of Puerto Rico. Our brief stop there also allows us to gather information from other cruisers that have sailed through the passages ahead of us. The cruising community is wonderful. I am always amazed to hear the stories of what brings people cruising. We meet retired couples, very young couples, couples that have quit their high paying jobs, families on small boats that have spent years cruising, singlehanders, people that run small business while cruising, you name it. Many of them have no particular plans and cruise with an open end both in terms of destination and time. The spirit of adventure, exploration and desire for simpler, slower and richer life is evident in everyone we talk to. It is revealing to realize how much we are constrained by what we know and feel secure in, and at the same time inspiring as well as humbling to meet all these people that have been able to break free. And none that we have met have had any regrets!

The route planning from here to Ft. Lauderdale takes some thought and studying of charts, as there are different options. Most cruisers take their time to sail around the south of Puerto Rico where there is a lot of anchorages, then cross the notoriously miserable Mona Passage (luckily the notoriously miserable is attributable to the opposite direction than the one we are going in) and continue along the north coast of the Dominican Republic to the last harbour of Luperon as a waypoint to the Bahamas. From there it depends on weather, draft of the boat, time and particular interests, to decide which way to go through the hundreds and hundreds of islands of the Bahamas. Given our time constraints, we opt to sail along the north of Puerto Rico but leave the Bahamas route open for now. We have slipped into the manana mode and are practicing the art of delaying decisions. Even I am getting better at that!!

Once in mainland Puerto Rico, we dock in Fajardo on the eastern coast and explore the inland tropical rainforest, El Yunque. Although small, the canopy and variety of plants is amazing. The rainforest also provides much of the drinking water for the island (what a difference from the taste of the desalinated water on most of the previous islands we visited). After many weeks of being barefoot or in flip flops, we put on our running shoes (that feel very uncomfortable) and set out on two small hikes. At home, these would be considered short walks, but here, in the heat and humidity, it is all we can do. One leads us to a magnificent view from top of a mountain to both coasts and the other to a set of waterfalls with swimming pools. Along the way, we hear the unfamiliar sounds of the rainforest, including the local tree frog (a bit of a mascot for Puerto Rico) coqui, who sounds more like a bird singing “co – qui, co – qui”. We learn that tree frogs do not drink water, rather absorb it through their skin. We also learn about the unique Puerto Rican green parrot that was close to extinction few years ago, but due to diligent efforts their numbers have climbed to several hundreds. It strikes me as interesting that one nearly extinct parrot provides employment for probably fifty people here – they need to be counted, tagged, have nests built for them etc. Unfortunately, our untrained eye sees neither one of these creatures. It doesn’t help that my two children, Tatiana and Kuno, entertain themselves by making loud animal sounds along the way, scaring the real creatures of the forest away.

Full of expectation and excitement, we then sail to old San Juan, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Spellbound, we enter the harbour under the watchful eye of the El Morro fort. I let my thoughts wander to what it must felt like in the 16th century, for pirates and explorers alike, to be entering this harbour as we are now, so many years later, with El Morro as the silent witness. It hasn’t been silent at all times. After all, until the Spanish-American war of 1898, San Juan, with its numerous forts was, with just a very few brief interludes, an unconquered city of Spanish rule, protected by cannon batteries along the still standing forts and walls of the old city. But today the town is friendly and inviting. We spend the next few days exploring its treasures. Old San Juan, with its Spanish colonial architecture of colorfully painted buildings, street side cafes, forts and museums is a true delight. Apparently the restoration project of the old town cost over 100 million dollars. It shows. We observe many buildings being renovated rather than torn down, with just the outside façade remaining. I wonder if that is a condition of being a heritage site. The result is beautiful. Unlike many of the other cruise ship ports we have visited, San Juan has a different vibe, obviously not living for and from the cruise ship business only. The larger San Juan is a modern city with about a million people.


As I flip through my Puerto Rico guide, I discover that there is the largest and most powerful telescope for radio astronomy in the world located at Arecibo in the north-central part of Puerto Rico. I also recognize it in the picture as one of the sets from the James Bond movie Golden Eye. Not to be missed, we set out exploring. The highways in Puerto Rico are wide and fast and it is easy to crisscross the country in a few hours. But driving the back roads as we have done, takes a long time. The central PR is full of what they call “hay stack” hills, limestone peaks and ridges covered in lush vegetation. In some ways it reminds us of landscapes in Asia. We spend hours driving on winding roads, admiring the countryside, as well as the neat villages along the way. Puerto Rico seems to be doing very well and we find people here extremely friendly and helpful. We end up staying overnight in a “zenish” mountain retreat with healthy food, yoga classes, simple cabins and a swimming pool. At night the forest comes alive with all sorts of strange sounds. But the night is cool and refreshing and a welcome change for us.

The Arecibo observatory is a scientist’s dream, but I find the whole thing a bit beyond my understanding. By receiving radio pulses from stars and gas clouds from our and other galaxies in the stationary 305 m diameter reflector, scientists can study phenomena as close as 3 km above us to probing objects 10 billion light years away. Apparently they can receive radio waves that date back to the Big Bang, 14 billion years ago. The exhibits are fascinating, loaded with information, but with my limited knowledge, I find them hard to understand and relate to anything practical. But that must be my mechanical engineering background – I like to see and touch, none of this ancient radio wave stuff. Kuno, on the other hand, is soaking it in and Tatiana has fun with some of the hands on exhibits. While we are at the observatory, a lightning storm starts, giving the whole scene a bit of a surreal feel. Our visit ends with a bit of a shopping spree in the gift shop, where they have all sorts of interesting scientist kits for kids. In a brilliant plot, Tatiana points to the electricity making kit to get me to buy her something (after all, she knows the way to my heart). But knowing better where her interests really lie, we end up with several chemistry kits – after she promises that she will do all of it on the shore, not in the boat.

We also attempt to visit the Rio Camuy caves nearby, where both tourists and serious spelunkers can explore a network of limestone caves, but are told that there was an accident in January and the caves won’t be open to public for several months. Too bad, we were looking forward to descending into a cool cave. It is now 36 degrees and humid.

Puerto Rico, what a beautiful island! In the past, it merely represented a flight layover on our way to other Caribbean destinations. How mistaken were we to keep bypassing this place, so rich with history, nature and charm. Even now, after spending a week here, there is still so much to be explored. As we leave San Juan at night for our long sail to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, the dark El Morro watching us depart, Kuno and I agree that one day we will be back.

US Virgin Islands

US Virgin Islands

6 June 2008

We are on a hunt for Esmeralda; a macaw parrot that is. Inspired by a live one in a resort that we visited in St. John, Kuno and Tatiana are determined to get a wooden copy of Esmeralda to hang from our porch at home. Not a little one, oh no, we are talking a two footer, painted in bright colors. It seems entirely impossible for someone who prides herself on being stylish like me to actually agree for them to buy one. But here we are, in a store in St. Croix, trying to buy Esmeralda that is hanging on a swing from the ceiling. To my relief, the storekeeper says that it is for decoration only, not for sale. Her little grandson, about five years old, then looks with big angelic eyes at Kuno and says very seriously: “It is not for sale. It is attached to the wall. Don’t you know that when things are attached to the wall they are not for sale?” While Tatiana stomps indignantly from the store, Kuno and I are killing ourselves laughing. And I, for one, am thinking, phew, maybe they will forget about Esmeralda in a few days.

We are in the US Virgin Islands. The distance between the British and US Virgin Islands is only a few miles, but for us it feels like entering a different world. After two months of cruising in the heart of the Caribbean, exposed to different foods, attitudes, languages and quality of service, coming to the US side feels in some ways like coming home. Disturbing as a reminder of the excessiveness of the North American lifestyle, but let me tell you, clean washrooms and a well stocked grocery store are a real treat. We first land on St. John Island and the bay where we anchor reminds us of being in Desolation Sound. Enclosed from almost all sides by different islands, the evening anchorage is calm and peaceful. It even starts to drizzle for a while to complete the feeling of being home. St. John, dotted by ruins of past sugar plantations, is now a national park, back in its natural state. The Rockefeller family, who’s presence is noted all over the Virgin Islands, owned and donated large portion of the island for preservation. We swim with huge turtles and sting rays, and snorkel on a reef just off the beach that has some of the most amazing colors and creatures that I have ever seen. he intricacy and detail of the coral reef is amazing. Thousands of tiny fish swim in an ever changing pattern and Tatiana spends the longest time swimming with them and watching them switch their pattern and direction on a flick of her hand or fin, in perfect harmony as if following some invisible conductor.

Craving a day of luxury on land after a few days on anchor, we get crafty and join a timeshare presentation at the prestigious St. John Westin in exchange for the use of their facilities and a voucher for both lunch and dinner in the resort (did I mention that cruisers are a really cheap lot?). And no, despite their well orchestrated efforts, we do not get sucked into purchasing a timeshare, although some of their properties around the world are amazing.

From St. John we hop over to the town of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, the most developed and touristy of the three USVIs. We anchor just a little bit away from the cruise ship pier and every morning wake up to the view of yet another giant (or two). In high season, it would be more like four or five. It is actually quite funny how the town lives in the rhythm of the cruise ships. On days when there is no ship in port, the streets are dead and most stores are closed. On days when a cruise ship is in port, the town is hopping until five o’clock when the ship departs and then the quiet descends again. While a grocery store is nowhere to be seen, there is upwards of 50 jewelry stores in a row, servicing the cruise ships. How they can survive is inconceivable to me despite the low prices and tax free status. To do my part of supporting the local merchants, I too set out on a shopping spree. After two months, several of my items are broken and so I replace my prized Maui Jim polarized sunglasses (that got broken while we were crash landing our dinghy in Barbuda) as well as my camera (that got destroyed during a dinghy crash landing in St. Martin). The watch and the evening dress that also end up in the shopping bag…. well that just sort of happened, I can't blame those on the dinghy. And for Tatiana, two heavy bags of books!!

To mix things up a bit, instead of sailing to St. Croix, the third USVI, we hop on a seaplane and spend two days there as proper tourists, staying at a mosquito infested hotel and speed sightseeing in a rental car. St. Croix is wonderful – relaxed, friendly, full of artists and beautiful historical buildings. The east end of the island is deserty while the west end is lush and contains a tropical rainforest. In the rainforest, hanging air roots from the canopy above the road hit our windshield and gracefully swing by as we drive through them. We spend a long time exploring the Frederickvaern Fort in the main town of Christiansted, the deep turquoise ocean creating a perfect backdrop to its yellow walls. Like most of the town, the Government House is a beautifully restored building from the 18th century. While there, Tatiana takes the opportunity to get sworn in as the new governor, promptly followed by a dance performance in the splendid ballroom.

A bit of an anomaly in the Caribbean, the USVIs were for the longest time owned by Denmark and purchased by the US for strategic reasons only at the onset of the First World War. St. Croix, unlike most other islands, also has a solid economical support in the form of Hovensa – supposedly the largest oil refinery in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite Tatiana’s heavy objections (who could blame her for having two geeky parents), we drive across the island in hopes of a tour of the facility, but find it out of reach behind several layers of barbed wire and no stopping signs. I sneak a few pictures, but feel like any minute I could go to jail if caught. The size of the facility is impressive, yet it seems to blend into the island without destroying its beauty and charm. Instead of the oil refinery tour, we then opt for the much more accessible Cruzan Rum Distillery tour. Tatiana walks around with her nose pinched, as fermenting sugar cane smell permeates the air. It surprises us that the fermentation only takes 24 hours. The process is quite simple, but obviously there are many tricks along the way to get the right product. To great annoyance of the remainder of our tour group, who just want to get to the rum tasting at the end, we ask many questions and often get lost behind some barrel or drum, exploring yet another set of intriguing pipes… Tatiana is embarrassed and now definitely wants a different set of parents. Things don’t improve too much from her point of view when we drag her to the botanical gardens in the lunch time heat, but once we find some interesting specimens that we have never seen before, like the Cannonball tree and the Sausage tree, things start looking up. We have to make a concession though and eliminate the planned sugar plantation tour – apparently she had seen enough of those to last her a lifetime. I have to agree. At lunch Kuno and I browse through the real estate magazines dreaming of what life would be like if… Oh wait, we are living the dream!

Unfortunately, time is no longer on our side and when we return to Charlotte Amalie, it is time to move. We finish a few last chores and leave for the Spanish Virgin Islands in Puerto Rico. We have sailed about 400 miles so far and have about 1200 more to go to reach Ft. Lauderdale. And we are more than halfway through our four months. The math is not adding up favourably. The wind and current will likely be cooperating in this direction, but the stretches between islands and ports are longer and the Bahamas are full of reefs. The forecast of above normal hurricane activity is in the back of my mind as we are planning the route north. The leisurely days of doing nothing will be replaced by deliberate progress toward home now... Puerto Rico, Dominican, Bahamas, Florida.