2025-03-30 Salinas and on to Gilligans Island

We apologize for the lack of photos - did not do a good job this week taking photos.

Left Cayo Santiago on Monday, and motored the 5 miles into Salinas.   Found a nice spot to anchor and started working on our water maker.

We had tried to start it up in Cayo Santiago, but it would not build up pressure.  Several attempts to back flush, and Kris looked at the motor brushes briefly, but all looked good, and the motor was pulling its full amperage.

We decided it was time to take the pump apart.  Spent several hours taking it apart and cleaning, and removed some scale from the small valves and put it back together.  Kris also took apart the motor, and found a lot of what looked like burnt plastic, and found the brushes were bad.  Put it all back together, and we had a good functioning water maker again.   Kris emailed and complained again about the motor brushes, and this time they are sending us a bunch of free ones, but these brushes are lasting less than 100 hours of use, so they are worthless. 

 

New brush on the right.  Wires are undersized.  You can see the spring on the old one is not even functional anymore

Tuesday we headed into town, went out to lunch at Wendy's and got groceries.  Tuesday evening we went over for a very nice evening visiting with our friends Iris and Peter on IP.  

Wednesday was a relaxing day of nothing much, visited with a lady on a nearby catamaran whose husband had worked at Manta catamarans way back when, so that was quite the coincidence. 

Thursday had a nice sail to Gilligan's Island (Cayos de cana gorda).   Friday we went for a nice 5-mile round trip hike in the Guanica state forest, one of the world's most extensive tropical dry coastal forests.

"The Guánica State Forest is home to a number of plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world. In its 9,000 acres, there are more than 700 plant species, including a number of endangered species and 16 that only occur in the forest. It is also home to the last known natural population of Puerto Rican crested toads, which take advantage of the freshwater pools that emerge during seasonal rains. In 1981, the United Nations Biosphere Reserve recognized the Guánica State Forest's ecological importance as a home to more than 40 endangered species."

We hiked to the visitor center, and also to the Guyacan Centenario, which is a Guyacan tree that is at least 700 years old, maybe up to 1000 years.

 

Walking along the road/trail near the anchorage.  This guy was out watering plants, they are trying to get more native plants started in this area

Agave alongside the trail.  Not a tropical forest

Vine did several turns around the branch

Guyacan centenario

Trail to the Guyacan tree was steep and reddish rock

Visitor center map.  The state forest is quite large

This is one of those photos that you don't realize what you took until you get back and look at it hard.  That dot in the middle of the lower sky is a butterfly

 

Friday afternoon and all of Saturday was quite windy.  Dean did get in the water on Saturday, changed the zincs, and did a brief clean of the bottom only scum in a few small places, so very happy with the bottom paint. 

We are planning to head to Puerto Real soon, as it looks like maybe next Sunday we will start the long sail back to the states.

 

2025-03-23 Culebra, Monkey Island and Cayo Caribe

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

This fellow was enjoying the heat on the sidewalk

D's Garden had a nice selection of fruit and veg, and also we got smoothies

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.

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.

Monkeys near shore sorting through the grass in the shallows for food?

During the day, all the monkeys gathered in the shady spots

Don't know if the white one is old or albino

Charm all alone in the anchorage area at Cayo Santiago

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.

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.

The trail had a bit of overgrowth

Some nice aloe

Trail was hard to see in spots, needs maintenance

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.

2025-03-16 Another week of killing time and enjoying the weather and water

It is a bit too early to head north and back to the states for us.  We are used to a low of around 75 and a high of around 82, but with humidity feels a bit warmer than that.  Our plan is to head south along Puerto Rico, then stop in the Dominican Republic before sailing to Key West.  It is too cold in Key West to head there now, so need to go slow for a bit.

We have been enjoying the warm weather, clear water and doing a whole lot of nothing.

We left St. Thomas on Sunday after watching the tarpon around our boat in the morning and headed for Culebra.   Had though to stop in Culebrita, but a north swell changed our plans, so decided to go into Culebra.

 

Tarpon swimming around the boat

Sunrise over St. Thomas

We have been having issues with our windlass/chain/chain wheel - We spent a bit of time trying to untwist our chain, but still having issues, so had ordered a new chain wheel to pick up in Culebra at the post office.   

 Monday we got our new chain wheel and installed it.   The old one had quite a bit of wear, but not sure that it was the cause of all the issues.

 

Old on left, new on right

 Of course in Culebra, had to get Zacos Tacos for dinner.   We take the food back to the boat, as Zacos had a lot of little biting flies that caused itchy ankles.  Always like the artwork in side Zacos

 

Zaco's Tacos

Back on the boat for a delicious dinner.  Dean even got a Zaco's tacos T-shirt this time

Wednesday we headed out to Bahia Almodover, as we enjoy the quiet and the view.  On the way we tried to untwist our chain, but only had 40' of water to dump it in, so not successful.  It was so calm in Almodover that we worked on untwisting the chain as it went out, which seemed to work better - so hope that helps. 

Dean went for a quick snorkel around the area, and saw some more tarpon, and barracuda, but had a small fish that fell in love with him, and followed him around the entire time - right up against his face for the most part.  Pretty sure it is a juvenile yellow jack

 

Caranx bartholomaei (yellow jack)

Thursday we took the dinghy over to Culebrita, as the water was flat and virtually no wind.  Had a nice hike up to the lighthouse, and then over to the main anchorage area.

Nice trail to the top of the hill

 

 

The lighthouse was well-built at one point.  Nice mix of brick and stone

Fancy floors for a lighthouse

Old lighthouse on Culebrita

Dean even spotted this spiny rat on the walk

 

 

Watch out for unexploded ordinance

Playa Tortuga on Culebrita

 

Friday there was virtually no wind, so Kris went for a nice kayak and was able to kayak over the shallow reef that protects the bay.   Lots of dead coral, but a few signs of life coming back.

Clear calm water, almost as good as snorkeling

Nice reef structure, but mostly dead but some hints of returning life

 

Healthy grass, coral and feather duster protected by the reef

Friday was Pi day - and of course it was fitting that we had Pizza Pi for dinner.

Saturday, lots of locals came in to enjoy the bay, and the evening was lit up with all the underwater lights.

 

 

Today we will just chill and move back to Culebra to get some groceries tomorrow.

2025-03-09 More hikes on St. John, and over to St. Thomas

Our friends on Neil and Jenny on Lorikeet came into St. John, so we went on another hike up the Maria Hope trail with them.

Kris, Dean, Neil and Jenny

 

The next day we moved over to Cinnamon Bay, and hiked a new trail with Lorikeet around the Danish Sugar factory ruins - which was very interesting and had a fair number of informational signs.

Extensive ruins, nice paths and informational signs

                                             

Impressive rock work in the chimney

Puerto Rican crested anole (I think)

   
After the short educational hike, we headed up American Hill to the Great House ruins.   Fun hike with good views. 

Nicely maintained trail, lots of work making these stairs

House ruins on top of the hill

View of Francis bay and the island of Tortola from the top of the hill

Tuesday we set sail for St. Thomas, as it was the only day with winds for a while, and our refrigerator was looking pretty bare.  

In St. Thomas, it was a five cruise ship day on Wednesday - which meant long waits for buses, so we opted to do only shopping we could walk to.   Went to town and got groceries at the Pueblo market close to the dinghy dock, and then when we left the grocery store, it was dumping rain.  We hung out under the eaves for a while until the rain went to a drizzle, then started back. It started raining harder, so we ducked into Wendy's and shared a chocolate frosty until the rain stopped.

If you look close, you can see the rain pouring off the gutter

 

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

One small and two large cruise ships

                                                
Wednesday night was rough, with a very lumpy anchorage all night.  Thursday was only a one cruise ship day, so we took the bus to the large grocery store in Titu Park mall, and then back to Cost U Less for more stuff.  We were back on the boat by 11:00, upped anchor and motored over to the anchorage on the west side by the airport to get out of the lumpy seas.  It worked, even though a swell was coming in, we were facing it so no issues. We went for a nice snorkel in the afternoon, just exploring the shore near the boat.  Our dream of a calm night was not to be as after dark, we turned sideways into the swell and had a very lumpy night again.  Oh well, a nice nap on Friday, followed by a nice snorkel and pizza for dinner made everything better.

Kris cleaned the waterline and props on Friday, and Dean enjoyed a nice swim as well.  The water is very clear here, with a sandy bottom.  Quite a few turtles and rays in the bay.    

Sunday Kris went for a kayak, as winds were light, and Dean went for another swim.   All in all, a very relaxing week with not a lot going on.

Found a lot of small brain corals during the snorkel, close to 20 of them in a small area

Trying out a selfie on the Kayak trip

Motor of large powerboat stuck on rocks in the water, the rest of the boat is on shore.

We will be here a couple more days, then head over to Culebra