Puerto Rico & The Mona

After spending a “boat unit” (BOAT is an acronym for Break Out Another Thousand) we had our dinghy davit repaired and were ready to move on.  Our first leg from Puerto del Rey Marina was 55 NM to Salinas.  The next day we did the 61 NM to Boqueron.

Light house on southwest point of Puerto Rico

On our way down island in 2012 we had spent time at both Boqueron and Salinas (see archived article, Puerto Rico dated April 28, 2012).  This time we just anchored overnight.

We enjoy Puerto Rico, but we had enough.  Puerto Ricans are consistently rated as some of the happiest people in the world.  They have great weather, strong family ties and really seem to enjoy life, especially on weekends!  If Puerto Rico ever becomes a state, I question their true assimilation.  They will always be Puerto Ricans first.

Our next hop was the 145 NM through the Mona Passage (see archived posting, Mona, dated April 16, 2012).  The Puerto Rican trench north of the Mona is some of the deepest water in the world.  In the middle of the Mona is the Hourglass Shoal.  Water flowing from the trench and hitting the shoal can get quite confused.  Additionally, the Mona is the gateway to the Caribbean and thus has considerable large ship traffic.

It takes Motivator about 20 hours to do the 145 NM, so we have to make the passage at night to avoid departing or arriving in darkness.  We had a great passage!  We departed Boqueron at 2:00 PM and got to watch a whale breaching.  During the night our AIS picked up several ships including one that was 1083 feet long, but they all passed with plenty of sea room.

Puerto Bahia Marina

We arrived safely at Puerto Bahia Marina, Samana at about 10 AM.  Now it is time to enjoy the resort life (see archived posting, Samana, dated April 14, 2012). 

Spanish Virgin Islands

After spending some time in Charlotte Amalie, we motored west to Culebra which along with the island of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Mona make up the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  Culebra is one of the must stop islands in the Caribbean.  Motivator has now made three stops in Culebra always anchoring in Ensenada Honda (see archived posting, Culebra, dated April 20, 2013).

In the Virgin Passage we met a couple of cruise ships headed for Charlotte Amalie.  Our AIS was indicating that the first one was turning which was not apparent visually.  A call to the ship verified that both would be turning and that if we held our course and speed we would be clear.

Both passed with plenty of water to spare.

After a couple of peaceful days in Culebra, it was time to move on to Puerto Rico and Puerto del Rey Marina near Fajardo.  Puerto del Rey is one of the largest marinas we have visited.  They offer 24 hour golf cart service to and from your boat, but we prefer to get a little exercise and have been using our bicycles.

Strongarm Electric Winch

As you might have notice in one of the previous photos we were towing our dinghy rather than lifting it to its cradle on the sundeck.  That is because the electric winch in the lifting crane gave up lifting our dinghy (now called El Gordito), but more on that in a subsequent posting.

Old San Juan

Due to a shipping snafu, the new electric winch is coming by slow boat from Nebraska.  So we will do some sightseeing and other boat projects while we wait.

Bacardi

The “Cathedral of Rum”

Originating in Cuba, Bacardi Rum expanded to Puerto Rico in 1936 building a distillery in San Juan.  Later the distillery was relocated to its present site in Catano, Puerto Rico, outside of San Juan, and facilities in Cuba were nationalized by the Castro regime.

Visitors’ Center and Tasting Pavilion

We visited the home of “the king of rums” with our friends Chris and Michele who were guests on Motivator while we were in Puerto Rico.

On the Bacardi tour, Michele was wearing a T-shirt that is a testament to my docking abilities.

As close as we got to actual production facilities

From its humble beginnings in Cuba in 1862 with fruit bats in the rafters (hence the bat for their logo), the Bacardi family has owned the company for the past seven generations.  It now employees 6,000 people with sales in more than 150 countries.  Company sales in the US for 2007 were $5.5 billion.  

Rivers Rum Distillery in Grenada

So now, I think it is safe to say we have visited the distillery with the largest (Bacardi) and the one with the smallest production (Rivers Rum).  I think the cases in the foreground are Rivers Rum’s production for the week or maybe for the month.

Photographs only in foyer and outside

But unlike Rivers Rum that let us see the down and dirty of rum making (see: posting November 19, 2012), Bacardi was very protective of proprietary information and would not allow photographs of even their crude mockups of production facilities.

Inscription: “Thank You 2013”

Bacardi did however, have a very nice gift shop with reasonably priced souvenirs, bar supplies, and product.  Before returning the US, our guests presented us with this limited production of blended rums that have been aged an average of 12 years or more.  We are saving it for a special occasion and hope that the inscription means that they will visit us again in 2014.

Castillo de San Cristóbal

Built by Spain to protect against land based attacks, Castillo de San Cristóbal originally wrapped around the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Beginning about 1539, several different fortifications were constructed on the hill known as San Cristóbal on the east side of the harbor entrance.  The fort as we see it today was completed in 1783 and covered about 27 acres.

In 1897 after the English and Dutch interlopers were ejected from the island, about a third of the fortification was demolished to allow for the expansion of San Juan. 

Chris and Michele, our friends from the Washington, DC area joined on this excursion.  Chris, a military history buff, was able to provide insight on many of things we were seeing.

At various points the fortified walls have guerites or sentry boxes.  Legend has it that soldiers randomly disappeared from various guerites, but especially from “The Devil’s Guertie.”  Chris’s theory is that the soldiers would climb on the wall to relieve themselves and get blown off falling to their deaths on rocks and sea below, otherwise known by boaters as “the half-mast syndrome.”

Prison Graffiti

Captured sailors drew pictures of their ships on the walls of the fort’s dungeons.

Executing drawings must have been difficult because light was barely pumped to the prisoners.

Flags of the United States, Puerto Rico and the Spanish Empire

On May 10, 1898, Castillo San Cristóbal's cannon batteries fired on the USS Yale thus marking Puerto Rico’s entry into the Spanish-American War.  Six months later Puerto Rico became a US territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris.

Castillo San Cristóbal was still an active military base in 1942 when World War II began.  Concrete pillboxes and an underground bunker control system were added to the fort’s defenses.

In 1961 the US Army abandoned the forts of Old San Jaun, and they entered the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service.  In 1983 the San Juan National Historic Site was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

El Yunque Rainforest

El Yunque visitors’ center

Having friends visit got us away from boat jobs and out seeing the sights in Puerto Rico.  Located in northeastern Puerto Rico, El Yunque forest is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System. 

 View from the visitors’ center

With over 200 inches of rainfall per year, the forest is home to lush foliage.

There are also numerous waterfalls in the forest.

Yokahu Tower

The best view of the forest is from Yokahu Tower.

Michele at the top

Constructed in 1939, the tower provides an unobstructed view of El Toro, the highest mountain peak in the forest at 3,494 feet above sea level.

Because Puerto Rico is south of the Tropic of Cancer, it has a tropical climate with no distinct wet or dry season and the length of daylight remains fairly constant throughout the year.  These factors create an environment that allows over 200 species of trees and plants, 23 of which are found nowhere else, to thrive in the forest.  It is also home to the critically endangered Puerto Rican Amazon.

Our visit to El Yunque included a hike to this waterfall that has pools of reportedly very cold water.  After what seemed like a fairly ambitious hike, we were surprised to see that many people at the falls.  Of course, most were younger than us.

Culebra

Flamenco Beach

Situated east of Puerto Rico, Culebra and the surrounding small islands encompass over 7,000 acres.   From 1936 to 1975 the U.S. Navy used about 2000 acres for bombing practice.  Culebra was lucky unlike its sister island Vieques where the bombing continued until 2003.   Culebra has had time to develop some character.

Ensenada Honda

The 2,000 permanent residents of Culebra are regularly visited by vacationing Puerto Ricans from the main island.  

Consequently, Culebra has some really good eateries that are reasonably priced.  Heather’s has great New York style pizza, while Zoco’s Tacos has interesting Mexican style food.

Most of the cruisers initially head for the Dinghy Dock Restaurant for obvious reasons.  The Dinghy Dock is under new management and recently underwent an upgrade.

Mamacita’s is another option, and is accessible via bicycle, golf cart, or…

…by water off the canal.

Mamacita’s has probably banned us.

Because Pollie could not follow the rules.

For light provisioning, Culebra has two stores.

For some reason, of the two, this store seemed more popular.  It must be the ambiance. 

At first glance, Culebra appears to be the island that zoning and code enforcement forgot.

Even the U.S. Post Office seemed rampant with code violations.

The Culebra Library is an example of form following function.  The breezeway between the two single-wides was well used.

The local gas station was another case where form follows function.   On a small island, one must be able to service both vehicles and dinghies.

But, on closer examination, Culebra exudes a certain charm.

Architectural details are everywhere; one must just look past many of the less fortunate structures.

For some reason, Pollie was enamored by this “urban” home across the street from the ferry dock.

The Hotel Kokomo is a couple of doors down from the Pollie’s find.

On the back side of the “Pollie’s house” elaborate stairs have been constructed making one wonder if the owner had planned some commercial use for the structure.  Again, zoning does not seem to be an issue.

Culebra Eco School

Some of the newer public works on the island were very interesting.  This school with hurricane construction utilized the trade winds for cooling and a large solar array for energy.

While other locales have “the bridge to nowhere,” Culebra boasts the lift bridge that does not lift.  When constructed, at what had to be considerable cost, the bridge was to service two fishing boats.  The boats have left Culebra and now large water service pipes span the opening making the bridge unusable. 

We have visited Culebra twice.  Once on our own and then we took our friends Chris and Michele over when they visited us in Puerto Rico. 

 Culebra Museum, closed on Wednesday

After two visits, Pollie stated that Culebra is a 3 to 4 day island.  After 3 to 4 days you probably have done all there is to do.  

Lively Barracuda with Large Teeth

But, getting to these small islands is half the fun.  Above Chris and I are removing a lure from a barracuda before releasing.