Sailing up the south coast of Puerto Rico 

On Sunday we left the Marina at Puerto Real after paying for our slip and filling up with fuel. We finally got away around 8:30am and that’s a little bit late. Our next stop was to be a small town on the south coast called La Parguera. As we started out the wind started to pick up and I knew we were too late to get around the south west corner of the island. After sailing only 9 miles we had to wait until morning, it was too windy and the waves were going to be too big.  So Monday morning up at 4am to get around the point. I wasn’t happy about the wind; it was blowing harder than usual all night. We started on our way and the only thing we could use for direction was the light house on the point. There was no moon and it was a little cloudy and it was very dark. Our goal was to get to Gilligan’s Island 20 miles away and that would normally take 4 hours. Rounding the point the waves felt like they were about 3 to 5 feet and the odd 6 footer and the wind was slowly getting stronger. As the sun came up around 5:30am I knew we were not going to get to where we wanted to go. So we had to stop after sailing 11 miles to La Parguera.

 Tuesday morning at 6am we left Le Parguera for Gilligan’s Island 11 miles away. I had awoken during the night and notice that there was no wind so I thought we might have a good day on the water. Leaving the anchorage the winds were around 10 knots and we were going to find out how big the waves were when we got out passed the reefs.  At around 7am the winds were up to 15 knots and the waves were 5 to 6 feet. At around 8am the wind was up to 20 knots and the waves were getting bigger. We finally arrived at Gilligan’s Island around 9am with the wind at 25knots. (Gilligan’s Island see SHIT below).

Gilligan’s Island

Gilligan’s Island

 Wednesday the winds and seas were too high again so we waited another day. Looking at the forecast it looks like we will get away on Thursday morning so we will prepared the boat for leaving then.

Thursday it was up at 5am and on our way at 5:30am. The wind and waves were down, wind 10 to 15 knots and waves 2 to 4 feet. That’s a little bit more comfortable than Tuesday. We arrived in Ponce at 10am 15 miles away and it is very hot here, about 90f and very humid. So now we have to take down our sail to have it repaired and hopefully we will get a chance to look around Puerto Rico. There’s still a lot to do on the boat and get it ready for the Virgin Islands. Last time I did maintenance was in Turks and Caicos so it’s time again.

A lot of the clouds that move across the Island start here as you can see in the mountains

Here's a buddy boat Wind Machine

Mauna Kea on the dock in Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club

Laurie went right to work after we arrived

 

 

 

And now once again it's time for;

So Here's Interesting Tidbits SHIT for short

Gilligan's Island

This island was named after a women Cayo Aurora. Who at age 40 escaped her miserable life. She was mistreated at her work at La Ballena Farm. She swam to the island and made a Robinson Crusoe house and lived off the sea to a very old age. Locals used this island for pig roasts and called it Gilligan's Island which was named after the 1970's show. The island looked just like the Gilligan's Island and one of the fisherman looked just like the actor on the show. It is now a state park and is run by state rangers. It gets very crowded on weekends because of its blue lagoons and white sand beaches. There is a local who loves to talk to the tourists and tell stories about the history of this island. His name is Sr. Fernando Ortiz Matos who sits outside the San Jacinto  Restaurant waiting for people to share his stories with. 

 

Holy SHIT....There really is a Gilligan's Island