Click on the above graphic image to get an enlarged view of our position reports via
http://www.shiptrak.org/We have made a lot of progress toward our goal of reaching Grenada since last leaving you in the Turks and Caicos, but let's talk more about the T&C before moving on. We had a very enjoyable stay at the South Side Marina in Providenciales thanks in no small part to the wonderful hospitality of Simon the marina manager and his wife Charlynn. They live aboard their own boat at the marina and are well tuned in to the needs of visiting cruisers. Free transportation runs in the marina truck are cheerfully provided for shopping, repairs, lunch or whatever else is needed. There is a daily marina party at 5:00PM with ever changing participation by an interesting group of cruisers, some with vast global experience, and all with good stories to exchange. Simon runs a daily cruisers net and weather briefing on the radio, and everyone is very alert to the passing of good "weather windows" since it is at least 100 miles in any direction to the next secure port. The prevailing winter winds are 15 to 25 kts out of the east which makes for very difficult eastbound cruising except for the occasional respite preceding a new frontal system.
Most of us were headed south towards the Dominican Republic and/or Puerto Rico. Both destinations involve long open water passages which can be quite rough, challenging and dangerous in the prevailing conditions. As luck would have it, we completed our long awaited alternator repair just in time to catch the next good weather window for moving on. Leaving on the mid-day high tide we took a short leg south across the Caicos Banks to French Cay and anchored there for the night, well positioned for an early start the next day if the winds moderated as forecast. We were off at dawn with the wind still blowing 20+ so we stayed behind the shelter of the reef, proceeding east toward the Fish Cays and South Caicos while waiting for the wind to let up. By mid-day the wind had eased off to the low teens so it was time to make our move south towards Luperon in the Dominican Republic. Our plan involved several options depending on weather and our own state of readiness. If the wind did not moderate, or if we did not feel up to continuing for one reason or another, our destination would be Luperon, arriving before sunrise. A second option was to continue eastward along the DR coast, putting in at Ocean World Marina in Puerto Plata or Bahia de Samana, both of which are authorized Ports of Entry in accordance with the DR's rather rigid customs and immigration procedures. Our third option was to continue on across the Mona Passage to Boqueron, Puerto Rico without stopping in the DR at all, and that is what we ended up doing.
The wind not only moderated but actually went to almost dead calm for a while letting us get some rest while underway. For the entire second day we were left with only huge northerly swells coming down from the winter storms off the east coast of the US. The swells were big enough that they looked like small hills with valleys in between. As they approached shore, the swells turned into big breaking waves over 30 ft high in places. It was an incredible sight but not at all dangerous from a distance. After 36 hours of running we were east of Bahia de Samana, the good weather continued, and we made the decision to push on 100 nautical miles across the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico without stopping in the DR. The weather opportunity was just too good. The Mona Passage has a well deserved reputation as a rough body of water due to strong currents and an irregular bottom contour but it was passably decent on the night we crossed, showing only small hints of what it was capable of.
After 50 hours and 400 nautical miles of non-stop running, we pulled into Boqueron, Puerto Rico bright and early on Monday morning. We were immediately greeted by a US Coast Guard inspection team who were polite but thorough, and they ended up giving us a clean bill of health. Customs and immigration clearance was easily obtained by telephone using the US "Local Boater" option. We anchored and got some rest before going into town for a walk around, and later dinner ashore. Boqueron is an interesting little place with a very nice public beach, narrow streets, and a number of waterfront pubs and eating places. We had a good dinner at a place called Galloway's which overlooks the water and has a school of large Tarpon which circle around looking for handouts from dinner patrons.
After two nights in Boqueron we cruised eastward down the very scenic southern coast of PR making overnight stops at picturesque Gilligan's Island, crowded but interesting Bahia Salinas, and continued on to Puerto Ferro on the island of Vieques, one of the so called Spanish Virgin Islands. Puerto Ferro is known for its luminescent water and it lived up to that reputation in fine fashion.
Our next stop was St Croix in the US Virgin Islands where we had several shipments from stateside waiting for us, and the lowest priced diesel fuel in the northern Caribbean thanks to a nearby refinery. We filled up for the first time since George Town in the Bahamas, over 800 nautical miles behind us. Both of our packages arrived on time, one of which was a new alternator custom built for us by friend Tim Schnautz in Illinois. Next morning I installed the new alternator and confirmed that it was working OK and capable of putting out 160 continuous amps at 12 volts. That meant we now had a second spare alternator onboard and that we could continue using the 12 volt inverter to power the refrigerator and freezer while underway. That capability saves a lot of wear and tear on the generator which leads to reduced maintenance costs. Alternators are a lot less expensive and much easier to repair than generators.
After checking the new alternator and refueling we took a last minute look at the weather forecast which confirmed that we were once again fortunate to have a good window for our last long overnight passage to St Martin in the Leeward Islands. We arrived at Marigot Bay at 3:00AM the next morning and dropped anchor while waiting for customs and immigration to start work at 9:00AM.
That was easily accomplished at the Fort Louis Marina where we were nestled in among a large fleet of international mega yachts. Marigot has a bustling waterfront with many stores, restaurants, and a scenic old fort perched on a hill above town. We took a long walk around town to get some exercise and take it all in. Diane's expertise in the French language once again proved to be a useful skill as she easily conversed with all of the locals.
The next morning we moved a few miles north to the very scenic and nicely protected Baie Grand-Case where we are now anchored for the second evening. The town of Grand-Case is well known for its excellent French restaurants and we have not been disappointed.
