2026-02-22 Arrived In Puerto Rico

Monday we went and checked out at 9:00.  Melanie and John on Shally, and Krista and Phil on Harmonium Cays also checking out with us.    

John and Melanie on Shally - dinghy dock in Cockburn Town

"Dry-dock" in Turks and Caicos

We all had anchors up at 11:00 and headed out.  Winds were SE, so headed NE to start, then winds shifted, and we headed pretty much due east with anywhere from 0 knots to 9 knots from the beam back until Tuesday night.  Lots of motor sailing.  We did turn the motors off and sail a bit Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, even had to put in a reef, but then the winds died again, so back to motor sailing.

Not bad, did 389 miles in 57 hours, so averaged 6.8 knots which was great.  We did burn through 34 gallons of diesel though, with only about 9 hours of strictly sailing.   Shally and Harmonium were able to sail more, as they are monohulls, and could sail closer to the wind and maintain a good speed.

We had some fairly calm seas most the trip

Cargo ship in front of us

Love the dolphin escorts.  We always go up on the bow to watch and wave to them

Must have been close to 25 to 30 we could see, probably more around we never saw

Land in the distance - Puerto Rico

Another dolphin escort near dusk as we got closer to land

Came into Puerto Real, Puerto Rico in the dark at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, wasn’t too bad.  Got anchored and got a nice full night's sleep, which was great.  Our friends on Shally made in about midnight. Our other friends on Harmonium did not make it in until Thursday morning early – but they could have been earlier, but did not want to do the entrance in the dark.

Thursday morning we went into the dock and filled up on fuel, $5.50 in the Bahamas and $4.04 in Puerto Rico, then re-anchored.  Went in for a nice lunch out with Harmonium and Shally.

Yummy Pizza at "9 Barrios"

From left to right - Kris, Krista and Phil (Harmonium), Melanie and John (Shally) and Dean

Friday we met Harmonium and Shally at the dinghy dock, and we went to the bus stop to catch the free bus up to Cabo Rojo.  Our timing was off, and we missed the bus, so we waited for an hour until the next one.  Great bus, nice and clean and FREE.   Driver was very nice and helpful and made sure we got to where we were going.

Waiting for the bus at the public square.  Had nice shade to wait in

Got off at the Econo grocery store, and got some groceries, then walked the short distance to the Mr. Special grocery store for more groceries.  On the way a man and his son who spoke good English stopped and talked with us.  They went into the Advance Auto with us, where we got oil, and we had a nice visit, before continuing on to Mr. Special.  After groceries, we went and had a nice lunch out at the cafeteria style café adjacent to Mr. Special.  Good food, with meat, rice and salad for $7.   We only had to wait about 1/2 hour for the bus back, and back to the boat around 3:00.  Nice day.

Walking to the first grocery store from the bus stop

Nice mural on the way

Waiting for the bus.  Nice bus stops

Saturday Dean took our comforter in to the laundry, as we won’t be needing it anymore, and Kris started on oil changes.  Both engines, and a sail drive, and changed out one alternator belt.  Done with both laundry and engine work by 1:00, so lunch break and relax time.  Good thing the engines were done and ready, because around 2:00 Dean looked up and saw we were dragging anchor.   YIKES!   Got the engines started quickly, and did not hit ground or other boats, so all good.   When we got the anchor hoisted found that it had not broken out of the ground, but took the ground with it.  Kris had to poke the muddy goop off the anchor to clean it before anchoring in a different spot with better holding.  Crisis averted, relaxed the rest of the day.

Will head further east this week

2026-02-15 Long Island to Turks and Caicos

We did not do much on Long Island.  Windy and cold.   We walked up to the Grocery Store, and had a short visit with Bob and Michelle from Our Time.   

Hillside Grocery in Long Island, looks small from outside, but pretty large inside

The dinghy dock is still not in good shape.  Really got to watch where you walk

Monday we took the boat over to Long Island Petroleum and filled up with fuel.

Wednesday we upped anchor and had a pleasant sail up to Calabash Bay at the north end of Long Island.  Still Chilly

Nice sail, but chilly

About 11:00 p.m. that evening we upped anchor and headed out for the passage to the Turks and Caicos.

Winds were light, so we mostly motor sailed, but did have some just sailing.  Apparent wind was mostly at around 60 degrees the entire trip.  Had about 12 hours of lumpy seas, but nothing too bad.  Got into Cockburn Town in the Turks and Caicos at 9 p.m. on Friday Night.  It was quite dark, but the entrance was easy, and only saw two other boats at anchor.

Saturday morning we woke to find that our friends on Shally and Harmonium were the other two boats.  We took the dink in to the "marina".  Really just a basin, and walked to the marina office/grocery store combination, where they called customs for us.  Talked to the customs lady, and arranged to meet at her office at 10:30.  A kind local offered us a ride, but we said we wanted to walk to see the town, as we had an hour to kill, so he kindly gave us directions.  Then during our walk, he drove by and made sure we were heading the right way.  Nice fellow.

Horses grazing where they wanted, on our walk though town

Donkeys were also seen

Charm at anchor

Large pier near customs

There are many of these historical markers around town, which are interesting to read

We waited outside the customs office until 10:55, when the lady showed up.   She was in a bit of a hurry, as she had a United Airlines flight coming in she had to get to.   She forgot her receipt book, so we could not pay, which was fine, and we agreed to pay up when we check out.  Kris also forgot to bring her check in papers from the Bahamas, which was fine as well, she said to just bring them when we check out.   Nice and laid back.

After checking in, she gave us a ride back to the dinghy dock - which was only 1/2 mile -  but still-nice lady.

Waiting in the shade on the wall near customs

Dean caught a cold from Derek when he visited, so not really up to doing much on land.   Back on the boat Kris quickly modified a flag for the Turks and Caicos and hoisted our courtesy flag.   

Had the red and white done 12 years ago, but added the yellow symbol.  Still missing elements, but close enough for the 3 days here.

Dean went to the top of the mast as our wind instrument was winking off and on.  It was a bit loose in the socket, so got that tightened and hopefully that solves that issue.

Today the winds are strong, so a boat day, and Kris is not feeling that great now.   The anchorage is lumpy, so we moved a bit to find a calmer spot.    We will head out tomorrow for hopefully Puerto Rico.

2026-02-08 A cold week - but great company

Our son Derek and his girlfriend Emma flew in on Sunday the 1st of February.   It was very windy, but the anchorage we were in at February Point was still pretty flat, so we were happy. 

We saw gusts up to 32, but others in less protected areas saw 45 knots.

Derek and Emma were both pretty tired after the overnight flight, so it was a quick shower, dinner, and they were both in bed by 6:00 p.m.    It was a cold night, and we woke up Monday to very cold temperatures.

59 degrees in February is fine for the states, but not here in the Bahamas

Monday we went to town, walked around town a bit, so Derek could see what had changed since 2014, when he was last in Georgetown.  Not much really different.   Had a nice lunch out, and then back to the boat to relax.

Looking towards Stocking Island from Georgetown docks.

Lunch out at Island Boy, you can tell by the jackets that it is still chilly out.

Tuesday morning the winds were back to the NE, and lighter, so we moved over to Monument anchorage.  Hiked to the top of the hill to see the view from the monument, and then over to the ocean beach side to walk in the sand, and look for shells.   

Hiking up to the Monument

Derek and Emma on ocean side beach on Stocking Island

Dean chillin while we did some shelling.

Wednesday the weather was chilly, but we went down to Chat and Chill beach for Derek to see if he still remembered it, and then lunch out at the Snappy Turtle.

Derek and Emma at signpost at Chat N Chill beach

Emma trying to tempt the ray to come closer

Chat N Chill

Thursday we moved the boat down to Redshanks, as another front was coming through.  Passed by a large motor yacht.  Weird looking, like the entire back was an afterthought.

Large yacht 

Funky looking from the side - kind of like backward mullet, all the fun in the front, and all work in the back

We had a mooring ball reserved at Redshanks, and it was nice and calm there.  We took the dinghy out for a quick sight see, and saw some large starfish, a couple of rays and a couple of turtles.  Still not very warm, so snorkeling not something we wanted to do.

Some very large starfish in the Redshanks area

Saw a couple rays

Friday was sunnier, but windy and cold, so ended up as another boat day.

Saturday we moved the boat near to town and the dinghy dock, and took Derek and Emma in around noon for the flight out.   We had a great visit with them.  Bummed the weather for the week was very windy and cold, so playing in the water was out.

After Derek and Emma left, we looked at the weather, as it is still our plan to head to the eastern Caribbean this year.   It looked like our best window to head to Long Island, which would be our staging point for further east, was now, so we upped anchor and headed out.   We motor sailed to charge the batteries and make water on the trip.  Got in late around 8:00, but we can now relax for a few days with east winds, but still not that warm.

2026-01-31 Another week in Georgetown

Another week in Georgetown.  Dean played competitive volleyball most days.  Kris worked on refinishing the wood.  

The wood is taking some time.  The wipe on high gloss polyurethane we put on in 2020 is coming off in strips.  Sanding doesn't get it all, and actually using a razor blade to scrape it off gets most of it, then following with a high grit sanding is getting it to the point new finish can be applied.   Just takes time and is slow-going.    

You can see the scrapings of the old finish on the floor

Shelves empty and sanded and ready to put on poly.  Lots of wood

Monday we went over to our friends boat Shally.  Melanie and John hosted a nice evening inviting us, and Krista and Phil off of Harmonium.   Shally and Harmonium are planning on heading to the eastern Caribbean like us, so it was great to spend time with them.  In addition, Melanie and John made one of the best vegetarian meals Kris has ever had.  They have a hobby of foraging for native plants when they travel, and had some sea purslane in the salad, which was a first for us, but it was quite tasty.  Also, tried sprouted coconut for the first time.  Forgot to take photos.  

Wednesday afternoon we had a Manta gathering at the picnic tables at Chat N Chill.  We had a great time visiting with everyone.

Tyler and Tya from Dream Sheet, Michelle and Bob from Our Time, Toby from Jandals, Michael and Anita from Three Score, Carey and Dave from Jandals, Dean and Kris from Charm

We had a bit of drama to watch later in the day, as the mail boat was trying to get into the harbor, and ran aground.  There is a narrow spot in the channel near where we anchored, and unfortunately some boats had anchored in the channel.  The mail boat was trying to avoid them and ran aground.  They got off, but several boats had to move to give them room.   Some boats were braver (if that is the term some would use) than we would be, and did not move.

A front is heading in, so on Friday we moved over to February Point to get protection from the upcoming winds.   Jandals is here, and a Manta power cat as well.  It is a well protected area, only accessible at high tide. 

Jandals in the anchorage with a beautiful rainbow behind

Derek and his girlfriend Emma arrive today for a week with us, so really looking forward to that.