Vieques to Puerto del Rey
Swaraj 2022
Angus Handasyde Dick
Mon 17 Jul 2023 14:15
Winds coming from the south allowed us to visit the main town of Vieques Isabella Secunda on the north coast . A beautiful small town with lovely colonial style houses , amazingly friendly people enjoying the local high schools volley ball tournament. The town was alive with young people enjoying a beautiful evening.
The only disadvantage of being on Vieques at full moon time is a visit to the bioluminescence bay was not a runner . However on the west corner is a beautiful deserted well sheltered bay just around from Pt Arenas with great snorkelling among the turtles ,rays and the wonderful selection of reef fish . Although the island is small distances on foot felt enormous in the sweltering heat. An assault on the hills behind the anchorage had to be done . Why didn’t we take the bikes ashore ?
Time ticking and the Russells due any minute we made our way to Puerto del Rey on the main island of Puerto Rico . How could one not enjoy Puerto Rico, the people are so open and amusing. Life lived at such a peaceful pace . Sadly further investigations revealed an incredibly corrupt government that the US support when things get really bad but mainly ignore as long as it stays out of the news . As one American observed you must realise you’re in a 3rd world country with a veneer of development.
Hiring a car was a bonus , firstly to try and get Angus some help with his back , the marina office being so helpful and organising him an appointment with a “friend “ at the hospital in Humacao. Inevitably we arrived too late and found ourselves negotiating with the out of hours watch man . My Spanish can be helpful he found us a doctor but not the correct one so decided to quit and returned home . Perhaps the back will get better soon !! Further enquiry revealed that the friend was consultant of 20 years standing specialising in backs.
The water maker had developed a tiny drip on one of the low pressure fittings . Talk with the makers resulted in them sending parts to the marine . Excitement they were there , opening the packet with great anticipation, quickly followed by disappointment. Yup you guessed it they were the wrong bits . Following lots more chat with the makers they assured us we could pick up the joint in any plumbing shop. Well finding all the plumbing shops in the region at least gave us a project , but to no avail . At least the weep wasn’t getting any worse !
The car also allowed us to embark on a bit of a road trip taking in the wonderful historic town of St Juan and the El Yunkie national park . Our time in St Juan included Mothering Sunday. Most museums were shut but there was a service in the cathedral were all the mothers were presented with a rose and small bracelet. What to do with the rose? Greetings in the street that day were mother day wishes , so it wasn’t long before I found another mother to pass my rose too . She appeared delighted !
We walked around town taking in the great colonial architecture ,the wonderful ancient circumference wall , littered with enormous iguanas. Before making our way back to the boat via the El Yunkie national park . To swim in a mountain lake hike to a couple of peaks and enjoy the wilderness. Amazing.
Sent from my iPad