Our launching had to be rescheduled and we dealt with various setbacks, but Avventura was finally splashed a day late and we moved her around to a slip in the marina. She was much happier in the water and we could finally run the air conditioning and refrigeration. A car was rented. Grocery shopping, cleaning and polishing followed. Engine alternator and watermaker repairs were made.
Cindy discovered that friends we had made in Bequia the prior year, Fiona and Alistair Fraser, were in a marina south of us waiting for deck work to be completed. Originally from Great Britain, but now US citizens based in southern California, we had a lovely evening reconnecting with them over dinner at a fine fish restaurant in Fajardo.
On Jan. 12 we happily welcomed our first visitors of the season, son Joe and his fiance Jackie. The next day the weather and high winds dictated that we not leave the marina, so we drove back to San Juan and explored the ancient Spanish Fort El Moro and wandered around Old Town. Lots and lots and lots of walking.
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| Frigate Bird |
The next morning we returned our rental car and cast off for our trip to Culebra. The winds were still sporty – over 20 knots with gusts close to 30, and they were coming straight at us from the east. I told Joe and Jackie that this trip would likely be uncomfortable, as we had to motor into the wind and waves for 22 miles (3+ hours) before reaching the quiet waters in Bahia Honda harbor. Our trip started well but conditions and the waves gradually increased. Our guests were looking greener and greener. Seeking to reduce the roll of the boat I unfurled the mainsail and as we neared Culebra, I placed more tension on the outhaul, seeking to flatten the sail. In a big gust the clew of the sail (the lower back corner) tore with an explosive BANG and suddenly I had the excitement of a large and powerful sail flapping and snapping crazily in the high winds. Thankfully, I was able to get it rolled right up and the emergency was soon over. However, we would not be able to deploy this sail again until we could get a sailmaker to repair it. We eventually made the tiny entrance to the harbor and our guests were immediately relieved to be in flat waters. We motored up to the town of Dewey, where we found no moorings were available. We anchored, lunched and launched the dinghy. Dinner was the delicious whole fried snapper at the Dinghy Dock restaurant.
For the next day on Culebra we rented a jeep and visited some of the best beaches in the Caribbean. Joe and Jackie loved Flamingo Beach and spent much time in the surf and snorkeling the small reef.
Unfortunately, as Jackie was strolling in the surf, a wave caught her and slammed her on her heel, leaving her with quite a sprain. By late in the afternoon, her pain was mounting and we decided that she should visit a doctor. Dewey is small and the only doctor on the island is in a tiny hospital/clinic that clings to a steep hillside above the town. Cindy stayed with the kids while I rushed to return our rented Jeep on time.
With her ankle wrapped and splinted and broken bone ruled out by x-ray, Jackie was discharged and we made our way back to Avventura. Cindy served up a great dinner and Joe and Jackie shared the happy surprise that they were moving up their wedding plans from August to February.
The weather forecast and Jackie's injury dictated that we cut our stay at Culebra short, so we had a pleasant downwind motor sail under jib only back to Puerto del Rey. We enjoyed a delicious Puerto Rican dinner at the marina restaurant. The next day we drove to the El Yunque national rainforest park and enjoyed the cool of the mountains, the spectacular views and waterfalls.
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We had lunch on a nearby beach and lounged on the sand. That night we enjoyed a fabulous dinner back at the wonderful restaurant we had discovered with the Frasers, El Pasion del Fogon.
Joe and Jackie left us on January 19, and we had much work to do. Another car was rented. Laundry, grocery resupply and boat cleaning were accomplished. A top priority was the mainsail repair. The sail was removed and taken to a sailmaker in Fajardo for repair. I also replaced the engine start battery. We hired a rigger to fix a few things in the sailing rig.
We picked up our next guests, niece Kate Potter and her son James, at the San Juan airport on January 22. We cast off from Puerto del Rey for a last time and headed south to the west end of Vieques, then along the southern coast of that island to Esperanza, its largest town. Vieques is a long and sparsely inhabited island, primarily due to the fact that the US government relocated much of its population to use this beautiful place as a gunnery and bombing range. The sailing was lovely and the seas were moderate, but still a bit too much for James' stomach. We took a mooring in the open harbor at Esperanza, where I tried to help a neighboring sailboat that had run aground on a sand bar. My efforts were not successful and the rolling in the harbor was pretty bad, so we took some advice from another cruiser and motored a few miles west to the well protected bay at Puerto Ferro, where we had a lovely and very quiet evening. There were only a few boats in this anchorage and only two (us included) with people aboard.
The next morning we inflated our new kayak and James had fun exploring the bay. A dinghy trip dropped most of the crew at a trailhead from which they explored and found another beach.
We then packed up and motored back to Esperanza, where we took another mooring ball. The seas had settled somewhat, and we dinghied into town for a walk and dinner in a waterfront restaurant.
The next day dawned bright and calmer. James kayaked and we took the dinghy to nearby Sunbay beach, a huge curve of near-perfect sand ringed by palm trees. This is a municipal park and a few folks were camping in tents. There were open-air showers just off the beach. At one point a family was at the showers behind us, washing the seawater off, when a herd of horses came out of the nearby brush and sort of pushed the family out of the shower area. The horses were enjoying drinking and playing in the fresh water showers. The proprietor of a nearby beach snack bar got very angry and dove at the horses with a big tree branch, yelling and shooing them away. He explained that he had to pay the water bill and the horses would use a ton of it if allowed!
That night, after another good restaurant dinner, Kate, James and Cindy went on a nighttime kayak tour of the nearby bioluminscent bay. This was a perfectly protected bay that provided a nursery for many types of fish and every time we dipped our oars in the water they left a stream of light made by phosphorescent marine organisms. Absolutely beautiful! Afterwards we had a late and somewhat wet dinghy ride back to Avventura, only to discover that a big sport fishing boat had taken the ball next to us and, in spite of our yelling, they continued to blast incredibly loud music until around 4 AM. Our sleep was not very comfortable that night.
We were glad to leave the next morning for an easy sail downwind in moderate seas to the Palmas del Mar Marina on the SE coast of the main island of Puerto Rico, near Humacao. This is a more developed and more expensive marina in a gated residential community. We were again struck by the fact that there seemed to be few tourists in the marinas and few in all of Puerto Rico, presumably because the earthquakes and aftershocks had scared them away. There we met our friends Alistair and Fiona again and enjoyed the beautiful pool, where we could get bar service. Ah, the cruising life is occasionally mighty nice! Alistair and Fiona drove us to dinner that night at a nearby open-air fish restaurant and we enjoyed a long evening of great conversation.
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| Captain Rob enjoying Palmas Del Mar pool |
The next morning we departed early for our longest trip with Kate and James. The seas were flat and winds were low, so this was a 6 hour motor around to the marina at Salinas on the S coast of Puerto Rico. The marina was small and cozy, with a small pool and a nice outdoor restaurant for dinner.
he final day of our travel for this leg of our journey brought us to Ponce, the largest city on the southern coast, where we took a slip at the venerable Ponce Yacht Club. The club goes back 90+ years and is primarily occupied by locals, but they have a few slips for transient cruisers. When we arrived, the nearby earthquakes had damaged docks and left the place a bit sadder than normal. Some of the facilities were closed, but the pool was nice and the showers were clean.
The next day we rented a car and toured a bit of Ponce. The famed art museum remained closed pending earthquake repairs. We drove to the old town, where the cathedral was also closed, but we walked around, saw the sights and reviewed some of the residential earthquake damage. The old firehouse was still in good condition with its whimsical paint job. Again, we seemed to be the only tourists in town, kind of a spooky position to be in.
The next day Kate and James had arranged a ride to return to San Juan for their flight home so we bid them a fond farewell. We got reprovisioned and Rob got a haircut. We also met some new cruising friends, the Kolbs, just down the dock from us. Sunday night was the Superbowl, and with Kansas City playing, I HAD to find a good place to see the game. First we tried a nearby Mexican restaurant, but they seemed to be completely uninterested in the Superbowl. NOT INTERESTED IN THE SUPERBOWL? So we found a venue at a beachfront casino where the game was being projected on a large outdoor screen. We enjoyed the first half of the game there and then went back to the marina where our friends were watching the game on the snack bar's TV. We enjoyed the most excellent final quarter and the KC win in this intimate venue. As much as we hate Kansas winters we did feel a pang of regret at not being in Kansas City for this exciting event!
Our final guest, Rob's sister Sarah, arrived in Ponce the evening of Feb 3. We enjoyed more sightseeing in and around Ponce, including visits to a rural coffee plantation, a hilltop historic mansion and a Japanese Garden.
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| Sarah in front of the Fox Hotel |
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| One of many Warhol style paintings of famous people |
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| In front of the Castillo Seralles, a Rum Baron's Mansion |
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| View from el Castillo |
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| Hacienda Buena Vista Coffee Plantation |
That evening we were invited to an impromptu cocktail hour with the Kolbs and an English cruising couple that had just completed a circumnavigation of the globe! You meet some very interesting people while cruising.
Next day we departed Ponce for a two day trip around to Puerto Real on the W coast. Our weather was good with wind at our back, but the sea was lumpy and uncomfortable. On the passage we were joined by frolicking dolphins for a few minutes, always a treat, plus a big sea turtle. Four hours later we pulled into the anchorage at La Parguera, beat up and tired. Despite a long search, we did not find any open moorings so we found a quiet little island to anchor behind and we enjoyed a fine meal and a restful night on the water.
For our final day of cruising in Puerto Rico we got the boat ready for an early departure, but our anchor windlass jammed and I had quite a sweaty time partially dismantling it to free the chain. Once we were finally underway, I immediately noticed that our bilge pump was running far too frequently. I handed the helm over to Cindy and checked the engine compartment – TROUBLE! Seawater was gushing into the bilge from the prop shaft seal. The pump was just keeping up, but obviously something had to be done quickly. Cell phone calls were made and we found a local boat mechanic who could come out and take a look. We anchored temporarily just off the channel and waited for our savior.
Unfortunately, the mechanic said that he did not have the tools to fix our problem and that the boat would likely have to be hauled out of the water to be repaired. He strongly suggested that we reverse course back to Ponce, the nearest facility where the boat could be hauled. With heavy hearts, we headed east, straight into the wind and waves. I had to stop again soon to pull and push on the prop shaft seals to reduce the amount of water coming in, but eventually managed to make enough progress on that to at least temporarily get rid of our problem.
The trip back was truly stinky – rough seas, wet in the cockpit, and slow. The 4-5 foot seas often slowed us to below 5 knots, so it felt like we were crawling back. Sarah was a champ and did not complain, but I am pretty sure she was close to being seasick for at least a part of that trip. 5+ hours later we were back in our slip at the Ponce Yacht Club, defeated by our machine and by the sea. The next morning we found a very good boat mechanic who came on board and fixed our shaft seal with a set of hex wrenches in about 15 minutes. Oh, if I only had known about that guy the day before! We could have kept to our schedule and enjoyed the W end of the island at Puerto Real. But now Sarah was short on time, so she arranged for her friend to pick her up in Ponce and we said our goodbyes.
Our original plan for our departure from Puerto Rico was for Cindy to fly to Florida to see friends while Rob and a hired captain would sail Avventura from the west end of the island to Nassau in the Bahamas, about a 5 day trip. Frankly , Rob was fed up with the mechanical problems and the rough sailing. Now Joe and Jackie's wedding plans were taking shape for Feb. 29., so a new plan was made to bring in a full crew who would sail Avventura from Ponce to Ft. Lauderdale. The plan to cruise the Bahamas was abandoned.
Before we left the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, however, we wanted to see the west end we had planned to visit by boat. Instead we drove across and spent a lovely day and night at a beach resort in Rincon. This half of the island seemed more prosperous, at least from the road. Surfing is supposed to be excellent in this area but the seas were calm so we missed our opportunity to hang ten!
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| Our very light dessert at the Rincon Beach Resort |
We rerturned to Ponce where we in spent our last few days lollygagging at the pool and preparing the boat for passage. We experienced one aftershock while docked in the marina – complete with pilings in the water waving around and the concrete docks loudly popping. Cindy flew to Florida on Feb 12, I picked up our delivery crew at the San Juan airport and the next morning for the first time since we bought her, Avventura left the docks without me on board. It was a bittersweet moment for me to see her sail away. I returned to San Juan and flew to Florida the next day.
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| Delivery Crew leaving PR |
As it turned out, I regretted not going on that final trip. After a rough trip around Puerto Rico and across the Mona Channel, the seas flattened N of Hispaniola and the crew had a lovely and fast trip up the N coast of Cuba through the Old Bahamas Channel. In the early morning hours five days later they delivered Avventura to the slip we had rented on a back canal in Ft. Lauderdale. We met them the later that morning and spent a frenzied day getting her cleaned up, our crew fed and delivered to the airport. We took a house rental for a week and set about cleaning out Avventura and readying her for sale. We moved many cruising items out to a nearby self storage unit to await our possible purchase of a trawler for the next phase of our nautical adventures.
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| Good bye to our beautiful Avventura |
We left Florida in late February to return home for Joe and Jackie's wedding on Feb 29. We thought we might possibly return for some more winter vacation time in Florida after the wedding, but the rapid onset of the Covid pandemic in March nixed those dreams The Corona virus also defeated our dream of a quick sale of our Hylas 49. But the market slowly improved over the summer and Avventura was finally sold on September 2.
Rob's final word: We had a great adventure with Avventura and part of me is quite sad to see her sold and to realize that she will no longer be a part of our life. Cruising is many things – planning, provisioning, helming, docking, anchoring, watching for risks, maintaining the boat, managing our relationship in stressful situations, meeting interesting people, and digging into life in places and cultures quite different than our home. For the most part I think I am a better person when cruising – more physically fit, more excited and stimulated by daily life, lighter in weight and spirit, more open to other people and more in love. At the same time we miss our home and loved ones when abroad for months and it is a tiring and physically challenging life.
Cindy's final word: Cruising was Rob's dream and while I like sailing and I love the Caribbean I was fearful about the risks and rigors of this lifestyle. Avventura is one gorgeous girl, however, and I loved living on her most of the time. She felt very safe and solid and we were happy to share her with so many friends and family over the past 5 years. We saw some beautiful places and had so much fun with our guests and new friends we met along the way! We learned that we could manage many different challenges together and I think I got better at rolling with whatever happened, despite my "planner" personality. I'm happy we had the experiences we did and that Rob will not have to regret never having lived his dream. After sailing on the ocean, the new dream to cruise interior US waterways on a trawler seems very manageable!
And Rob gets the last word:
We are proud and happy that we managed our cruising years and lived our dream, but now is the time to move on to our next dream, which involves a different type of cruising here in North America.
Avventura's Interior
Here are pics of our sailing home September 2015 - February 2020
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| Guest V-berth |
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| Guest Head |
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| Master Head |
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| Master cabin |
