We moved over to Culebra town, anchorage to get some groceries on Monday. Culebra has a market area that used to have the best stuff, but it was only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon, so we just hung out on the boat Monday, until a couple in a dinghy came by to introduce themselves.
John and Sharon on Sundog had met our friends on Breathe and followed their blog, so recognized our boat from them. We had a short chat, then went over to their boat later that evening for a good visit.
Tuesday, John and Sharon went with us into the market, but it was closed. Kris was keen to practice Spanish so asked a local man, and at the same time Dean spoke with an ex-pat and found it was no longer in operation. We decided to walk the 3 miles round trip to D's Garden, that was supposed to have good fruits and veggies. They did, and also a nice greenhouse for plants, and many herbs as well. They also have a small café with sandwiches and smoothies and such
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| This fellow was enjoying the heat on the sidewalk |
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| D's Garden had a nice selection of fruit and veg, and also we got smoothies |
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| D's Garden, nice area to sit and enjoy our smoothie |
We stocked up on some fruits and veggies. Being it was Tuesday, John and Sharon decided to join us for Zaco's Taco's. We picked up food, and came back to Charm to spend an enjoyable evening of eating and visiting.
Wednesday we parted ways, and Sundog headed east as there were NW winds, and we headed southwest to Monkey Island.
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| Quite a few windmills on the west side of Puerto Rico near Cayo Santiago |
Cayo Santiago (Monkey Island), is an uninhabited island off of mainland Puerto Rico. In 1938 409 Rhesus monkeys were brought to the island for medical research. A full history is here: We watched staff of the Caribbean Primate Research Center come out and feed the monkeys, as well as check on water supply. A boat would drop off about 5 to 12 people every morning, and pick them up in the afternoon. We did a dinghy tour around the island, as the island is closed to the public we did not go ashore, nor did we want to.
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| Monkeys near shore sorting through the grass in the shallows for food? |
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| During the day, all the monkeys gathered in the shady spots |
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| Don't know if the white one is old or albino |
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| Charm all alone in the anchorage area at Cayo Santiago |
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| Sunrise over Cayo Santiago |
After a couple of days at Cayo Santiago, we had a nice sail on Friday over to Cayo Caribe on the south of Puerto Rico.
Kris had seen a hiking trail on the small island, so it seemed like a good spot to spend a day or so. Saturday, Kris worked in the morning on cleaning the chain locker and moving some of the chain, as we are pretty sure now that the chain jumping the wheel issue is due to back up in the chain locker. Dean took the boom vang off to check it out, as on the sail over it had a very irritating squeak going on.
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| We cleaned it, and lubed the spring a bit, so hopefully no more squeak. |
In the afternoon, we headed over to the trails on the island. There was a nice dock to tie to, and one other local boat was there, but they were just enjoying being out on the boat, and the dock was easier than anchoring.
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| The trail had a bit of overgrowth |
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| Some nice aloe |
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| Trail was hard to see in spots, needs maintenance |
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| Mangroves and large shallow bar protect the area from the ocean |
The south coast of Puerto Rico is mostly mangrove, so the water is cloudy and greener, so done snorkeling for a while.
Today is laundry day. We are out of fruit now, so most likely will head into Salinas tomorrow for a grocery trip.
Looks like a fairly relaxing week! I'm not a fan of monkey's so agree that not going ashore is the right move!
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