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Photo: Chinook anchored off Culebrita in the Spanish Virgin Islands

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After five months in the hurricane season in the Dominican Republic, Chinook battled the trade winds and made passage to Puerto Rico. A short trip back to Ontario for Christmas was to be an extended one for Deborah’s teeth to be attended to, and Brian was able to host friends, recalk Chinook’s teak decks, revamp her plumbing and generally blow several month’s kitty. Andrew, Debby’s son, came to visit, and we spent time in Culebra and Culebrita. We spent a week in the U.S. Virgin Islands before setting off south to St. Martin in the Leeward Islands
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FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO PUERTO RICO
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The passage from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico was made right in the face of the trade winds. We waited a week for the trades to take a “downtick” and prepared for the passage by cleaning Chinook’s bottom and anchor chain which were now ecological zones of their own - mini reefs. As part of the preparations we took Chinook out twice to the little bay of Cambiaso, five miles east of Luperon Harbour, as “shakedown cruises” as after the five-month stay we did not want any unwanted surprises.


Given an approaching “weather window” of four days, we “staged” our departure along the north coast of the D.R. by anchoring at Cambiaso. Weighing early in the morning of December 2, we slipped out of Luperon, spent the day swimming and napping at Cambiaso, and at sunset set sail into 15 knots of trade winds, 4 – 6 feet of seas and of course, dead on the nose. As the night lee set in, the wind slackened and backed a little to the north east making an easier motor-sail, although still not really comfortable. The north coast has many resorts and condominiums along it, and was lit up all night. Early the next morning we anchored Rio San Juan, having made 60 nm. Mystic Jade, another Canadian boat, left at the same time as us but lost engine power and had to sail back to Luperon.
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Sleeping much of the day, we pulled anchor again at sunset, and motorsailed another 55 nm, and anchored in a truly beautiful remote and fjord-like bay named Escondido. A film crew was filming an episode of “Survivor” in the bay; we saw some of the “action” as a helicopter overhead kept us awake for a few hours. We would have loved to stay longer at that anchorage as it was so pretty. At midnight we picked up the anchor again and motorsailed the next 35 nm leg to Samana on the east coast. As it turned out, much of this leg was able to be sailed as a broad reach and a run.
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We spent four days at Samana, another attractive spot, and had caught up with four other sailboats who had left Luperon a day ahead of us. We happy-houred together, and celebrated American Thanksgiving with a pot-luck dinner complete with a tough, stringy, but very tasty wild turkey aboard Three Quarter Time.
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Crossing the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico would take 36 hours - two nights and a day. Just a few hours before leaving, the Harbour Authority flexed its authority and demanded we pay a fee of $105 for anchoring in the harbour. This was an unknown cost to any of the five boats who were also leaving at the same time (another weather window was open), and was a D.R. Presidential Decree enforced nowhere else in the country. After nearly five hours of “negotiating” (thank goodness for Roger of Iguazu who spoke fluent Spanish and was a mediation lawyer in his former life) we paid a token face-saving $20, received our “despatchos” and left Samana at sunset.
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It was a relatively easygoing motorsail for the next 36 hours. We put in a long leg down the east coast in the night lee of the D.R., a long tack northeast all of the next day in the daylight hours, and a long tack south east to arrive in Boqeron on the west coast of Puerto Rico at 8:30 a.m. on 28th November. The trades were light (10 – 15 knots), the seas down, but we still could only average four knots. The only excitement was when Iguazu was accosted by the a US Coast Guard vessel, which verified all their personal information. We think it was because of Roger’s French Canadian accent, and his wife Adrianna’s Argentinian accent - teach them to chitchat on the VHF! The two single handed boats, Three Quarter Time and a little wooden New Zealand built sloop, Passat, had to stop for sleep at the end of the first leg and thus were a day longer in their passage.
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Photo: Debby enjoying pinchos at La Parguera
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We were buoyed up by our arrival in Boqueron and sleep was not going to come easily. We had to check in with immigration and customs on arrival anyway, so we went to shore, eventually found a phone that worked (only half of them do in Puerto Rico), checked in with customs, and were informed we had to take a taxi to Mayaguez (the next day was OK) to clear immigration. We shared the taxi fare, and eight of us combined the clearance with a spree in a large American-style shopping mall. Boqueron was where we were to discover "pinchos " which were barbequed skewers of chicken, beef, pork or various types of fish – the Puerto Rican shishkabob. Delicious, especially the shark pinchos.

The next hop against the trades along the south coast was to La Parguera, and Sea Dreamer, Iguazu and Chinook set off after a week in Boqueron. Again, another “stage” and an early morning departure when the island night lee quietens the trades. The south coast of Puerto Rico can be one of the most difficult passages in the Caribbean, and it is prudently done in small hops at night or in the wee hours to avoid a rough journey.
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Photo: Old San Juan
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La Parguera was to be the place we would leave Chinook for our Christmas visit to Ontario. Ken and Andrea, living aboard Tough Life making a living as artists, looked after her for us during our absence. Sea Dreamer and Iguazu, our companion boats and long-time friends from the Dominican Republic left headed east. Hopefully we would catch up with them “down island”.
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Before we flew out of San Juan Airport we took a day to see Old San Juan, including a visit to the 500 year old fortress guarding the harbour entrance. Old San Juan is a “don’t miss” if you are ever in Puerto Rico, with its narrow cobbled streets, and quaint Spanish style houses. It was very reminiscent of Old Quebec City.
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Photo: Rubadubdub 3 men in a tub: Lto R, Paul, Ron and Brian
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Seeing our families at Christmas was super, as usual. Brian stayed two weeks and Debby planned to stay one more week for dental appointments. During that week, Brian’s two good Kiwi mates, Ron and Paul, returned with him to Chinook and helped sail her another 60 nm east along the south coast (in hops) to Gilligan’s Island (not the one of the television series), Ponce, and Salinas. When Paul returned to Canada, Ron’s wife, Peggy arrived, and the four of us had planned to sail further. Unfortunately, Debby’s dental work was much more extensive than expected. Peggy, Ron and Brian just had to enjoy Salinas without her, so we spent a few days in an anchorage 10 nm east of Salinas just “chilling out” – or in Peg’s case, warming up from the coldest Ontario winter for a long time.
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Our initial impressions of Puerto Rico were to change (favourably) as we stayed longer. It is very American, but with a Spanish flavour. Generally, the people are not as poor as those in most Caribbean countries as Puerto Rico is heavily subsidized by the USA. Much of the population has lived and worked in the US for a period, setting up financially to return to the slower pace of life. The noise factor is marked: dogs bark continually, roosters crow incessantly, all cars have loud booming sound systems, school children seem to scream, every third house plays loud stereo music, and vendors with trucks announce their wares from loudspeakers on the cab tops…. It is a beautiful country, with semi desert areas on the south coast and tropical rainforested areas in the mountains; all this surrounded by the clear warm waters of the Caribbean and a great climate.
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Photo: Chinook at Salinas
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While Debby reclined in the dental chair in the cold Ontario winter, Brian took the opportunity to begin work on the teak decks, tracking down the troublesome leaks (which eventually turned out to be through the jib track bolts) and recalking the seams – a major project we had begun in Luperon. Other projects completed were: revamping the plumbing system (we now have pressure water, and can dump directly overboard (still with the holding tank option). A new cockpit table and captain’s seat were designed and constructed by Brian with Joey’s Woodwork Shop supplying the teak and milling services. Salinas was an ideal place to complete these jobs, with a well-stocked marine store, a woodworking shop and a sailmaker located just out of the marina gates. When Debby finally returned, she took out the old hand-cranked singer and sewed cockpit cushion covers and weather cloths. Chinook is becoming more and more our home, and we enjoy living aboard her immensely more and more as time goes on.
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Between all this “work” (no such word on a sailboat – it’s all play) we took some side trips and soaked in a natural hot thermal pool in Coamo with Callipygia, and hiked El Yunque (The Jungle – the Caribbean Rainforest) – a real highlight. We met many other cruisers who will remain friends including Glen and Ulrike on Bird of Passage, and Tony and Kim, New Zealanders on Navine. Bill and Pat on Callipygia had caught up with us in Salinas after their transmission woes in Luperon extended their stay by months.
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Brian was able to resume a running schedule and in late February ran in what was billed as “The World”s Best 10K”. With over 7000 participants (who all brought their family to watch the race) it certainly was an “event” - a huge Puerto Rican party complete with loud live music, food stands, and helicopters with television crews. It was exceptionally well organized, and the World’s Women’s 10K record was broken that day. (Brian came in 2848th with a net time of 57:04 minutes.) In the photo that´s him under the D in blue.
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On March 19, we left Salinas on an overnight run in light winds to Culebra, 80 nautical miles northeast. Arriving early the next morning we anchored in the protected Ensenada Honda (Spanish for “deep bay”). Our friends from Luperon, Joe and Michele on Peregrine, were also there with guests. Sleep came easily – always does after an overnight passage - and later we explored the (small – and only) town of Dewey. We took the $2.25 ferry across to Fajardo on the mainland the next day to inquire about the status of a new dinghy we had ordered and to provision.
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Debby’s son, Andrew, arrived for a week’s stay on March 30th. While we waited for him we cruised the beautiful nearby island of Culebrita, anchoring in solitude for two nights on the south coast, and taking a mooring in a protected bay on the north. Sea turtles, white sand, sun heated hot pools and snorkeling on coral reefs enhanced the three days. Culebra is one of the few places on earth that the leatherback turtle nesting population is on the increase. Andy enjoyed his time on the boat immensely. He had not been aboard Chinook before, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate to allow us to sail much. It was his first time snorkeling, and we snorkeled some of the best reefs we had ever been to.
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Photo: Andy snorkeling - a first time for everything
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THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

On April 12 we left Culebra for the 20 n.m.crossing to St. Thomas Island in the U.S. Virgins. Winds were light but the seas were up, making the passage rough. Enduring only five hours of such seas is becoming less of a task. We had planned to spend only a short time in the Virgin Islands and more in the French Islands further south. We felt that time was running out before we had to be out of the hurricane belt and with only two months left of cruising had to be selective in where we stopped.
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After picking up a mooring in Druif Bay on Water Island near Don and Nori on Sea Dreamer we had a pleasant reunion with them. We moved to Charlotte Amalie the next day and anchored in that big, busy, rolly harbour with the cruise ships, ferries and seaplanes coming and going. Shades of Nassau!
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Photo: Sunset overlooking Charlotte Amilie
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The Budget Marine store held our new dinghy we had ordered, an eight foot Walker Bay that rows and sails well when the outboard is not on it. We picked up a sailing kit with that and managed to get $25 for the old tired leaky inflatable. That night we partied on Saviona with six other couples we had met in Luperon - after a few drinks in a restaurant overlooking the harbour.
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We had planned to visit the British Virgin Islands on route to St. Martin, but a weather disturbance just north of us effectively put paid to that with high winds, numerous rain showers and thunderstorms. Waiting out the weather made us unfortunately miss the B.V.I.’s as we were anxious to head south.

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MOMENTS TENSE AND COMMON SENSE
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The second night we were back in Druif Bay a line of thunderstorms hit around 9:00 p.m. A boat anchored a little ahead of us dragged its anchor and passed within 20 feet of us – much too close for comfort. Debby rushed out with the air horn to alert the anchorage and the unsuspecting crew in the dragging boat. Brian shouted to the skipper to start his engine and maintain a healthy distance from us, got soaked to the skin, and froze in less than five minutes. For another two hours the rain pelted down and the winds gusted 35 – 40 knots, keeping us awake most of the night to check the proximity of the boat that had dragged. Morning was calm.
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We have gathered quite a bit of experience anchoring and have learned that much of the technique is plain common sense. But we are amazed at the number of boats who do not seem to have regard for the simplest rules. Putting out enough rode (chain and/or line) so that the scope is an absolute minimum of 5:1 is paramount (we prefer 10:1). When squeezing into a crowded anchorage, scope is the first thing to be disregarded, and the most likely to cause problems when the winds pick up. A good “tug” with the engine to ensure your vessel is truly hooked is important. We shake out heads at the efforts of some who simply drop the hook, back up a little, and break out the beer. Scary enough that we would rather move than remain anchored near those types. We have now been in three situations where boats have dragged by us in wind and rain (always at night), and have discovered the second set of anchoring techniques is “avoidance” - of the “stop and plop” crews.
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Next Blog: "Down Island" the Windwards and Leewards

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Photo: the Luperon Crowd in St. Thomas