18:04.46N 67:11.38W   Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

 

We were happy to tie up at Marina Pescaderia on the west side of Puerto Rico, after our uncomfortable and exhausting trip from TCI. This small marina is owned and run by the incredibly hospitable Jose Mendez, who goes out of his way to make cruisers welcome.  We tied up and made the obligatory phone call to USA Customs up in San Juan. The very pleasant official took our details, and told us, that as it was Saturday, and Monday was a holiday, we could wait until Tuesday to report to the office in Mayaguez for paperwork. He then went on to tell us about a few nice places to visit and how Joze (marina owner) would help us with everything we needed.  How wonderful to get such a pleasant and touristcentric attitude from Customs.  During the rest of our stay in PR, we were reminded again, how very friendly and kind the people of Puerto Rico are.

 

The boat was a real mess – we needed to do some basic drying and cleaning up before we could have a good sleep. On Sunday we rented a car and headed up to the mountains to have a traditional “Lechon” Sunday lunch.  We got these enormous plates of food – with the roast pork and some very interesting “sides”.  It came with rice & peas;  yucca;  pasteles and morcilla. The pasteles are a paste of different vegetables, such as plantain, green banana, potato & pumpkin mixed with the juices from the roast pork, wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. The morcilla, is deep fried, spicy blood sausage. Lets just say that the pork was great, the sides...not so much!

 

 

We continued on our drive up the west coast, through Mayaguez to Rincon.  On the cliffs in the north there are a number of bars with good view where locals hang out. Cars are a big deal – not only older beautifully restored cars, but “pimped” Jeeps are everywhere.

 

 

On Monday we did a massive clean up of TIME2 – with high pressure, cheap water on the dock we were able to scrub off most of the encrusted salt. We also got rid of all remnants of flying fish and the bits of weed stuck in the scuppers and drains. We have been seeing a lot of Sargassum weed in the ocean – seems to be everywhere, floating in huge clumps.  We also did a grocery run, enjoying the USA prices and a better selection than we have seen in a while. Sadly we could find no avocado, as the shopkeeper told me .... in a thick Spanish accent.... “Honey, the hurricane blew the shit away”  Hurricane Maria, as category 5 hurricane hit this island 6 months ago, and cause tremendous damage. Lucky for the west coast, the hurricane passed to the right of them, which is the best place to be, if you are going to be close to one of these monsters in the Caribbean.