Great Seafood, Puerto Real, Puerto Rico   25-28^th November 18

It is nice to chill out here in Puerto Rico after our long sail from the Bahamas. We had planned on making landfall in the British Virgin Islands but weather dictated this was not going to be an option. We felt the best course of action was to head towards Puerto Rico and the Mona Passage. 

We arrived in Puerto Rico in the early hours of the morning and dropped anchor for the night  in Aguadillo on the east coast in the Mona passage.  Our intention was to go ashore and refuel in the morning  but as we wouldn’t have been able to land the dinghy because of the surf we upped anchor and made our way down inside the Tourmaline Reef down to Puerto Real.

Aguadillo beach early morning:  A benign looking beach but quick to suffer from Atlantic swells

Note the severe hurricane damage

Following a lovely sail in glorious conditions we entered Puerto Real and expected to anchor alongside a boatyard but to our surprise there was an unexpected new marina.  This was really welcomed by all as we could have a shower, do all the laundry and re-provision without deploying the dinghy.  Although a great relief it was a bit worrying as our new Garmin Chart (installed 2018) failed to show any change which makes us wonder what other navigational changes have taken place which have not been updated!  Never trust a chart in the Caribbean!

A cute sign to show us how far we are away from our dream destinations

Shacks and sublime seafood restaurants line the water’s edge at Puerto Real

Puerto Real has a lovely marina and we have been made very welcome by all.  There is not a lot to do here but there are some sublime fish restaurants and bars.  All very Caribbean which is why we are sailing here.

Puerto Real Marina

Haigri in her berth at Puerto Real

It is really hot here but the verdant greenery hints of heavy rain!

Yesterday we hired a car and went into Mayaguez to have a shop around our favourite store – Wal-Mart – a hugely stressful experience but effective for re-provisioning.  Following storing all provisions we then spent a relaxing evening in the local bar and restaurant where the offerings of whole red snapper, lobster in plantain and shrimp spaghetti were relished.  Plus, of course, the obligatory gin and tonics.

Boqueron is a vibrant and colourful town characterised by its graphic art!

A colourful bar in Boqueron

Today another trip out in the car down to Boqueron.  This was a lovely town but unfortunately a bit early in the day as everything was shut so a quick and unfruitful trip to Ponce and then back to Puerto Real.  Unfortunately, Puerto Rico is not blessed with good roads, maps or road signs so we became hopelessly lost on our way to Ponce.  As we have found all Puerto Ricans we have met to be hugely warm and welcoming it was no surprise that the local police were also very accommodating.  Following explaining in convoluted English/Spanish that we were lost the local police officer kindly escorted us to the right road so that we could continue our journey to Ponce.  We then returned to base by a less circuitous route and spent a long and pleasant afternoon in a local restaurant.

Our Police Escort

Bouqueron Bay

Tomorrow, although again a weather forecast of no wind, we are setting sail for Grenada.  This is about 500 miles away so hopefully a 5/6 day journey depending on weather.

Bye bye Puerto Rico; Hello Grenada!