After spending a few leisurely days in Bahia Fosforsente it was time to weigh anchor. We were wanting to start moving farther East along the Southern shores of Puerto Rico. We also had winds that would allow us to sail. The tradewinds in the Caribbean normally blow from East to West. There was a low-pressure system moving North of the island which was turning the winds. They started blowing from Northeast then North. It wouldn’t be a beam reach but we would be able to sail most of the 59 nautical miles to our next anchorage. We had picked out Cayo Puerca for a night or two. This would be another tiny mangrove anchorage that we could sail to in a day.
Early in the morning Lisa and I woke up and broke the silence of the tranquil bay with the rumble of our diesel engines. Soon the clanging of our anchor chain rounding our gypsy signaled it was time to start making our way to new places. The winds were light in the protected bay as we motored out and over the reefs. We made our way a few miles offshore turned into the wind and raised the sails. It would be a slow day making around 5 knots under sail. We were trying to keep as Easterly a course as possible while still keeping the sails from flogging. The winds never changed very far North. This caused us to start pointing more South than we intended. After several hours of sailing off course, we doused the sails and fired up the diesel engines. They would drive us the last couple of hours into our new anchorage.
We slipped into another calm peaceful mangrove hole with a thick muddy bottom. The sun was just setting as we took stock of our new anchorage. There wasn’t much around. No good beaches to tender to and no wildlife to speak of yet, except the mosquitoes. There were plenty of mosquitos. Since we arrived at dusk the bugs were out in force and were feasting on us before we had time to secure all the screens and get inside. We secured the boat as soon as we could and settled down for a nice cup of tea for the night.
We spent the next morning planning how to get to our new anchorage. After spending a few days in a tranquil mangrove forest at our last spot we wanted something different. We decided to make the hop to the island of Vieques.
Check back next time when Unwritten Timeline leaves the main island of Puerto Rico for the first time in 7 months.
Early in the morning Lisa and I woke up and broke the silence of the tranquil bay with the rumble of our diesel engines. Soon the clanging of our anchor chain rounding our gypsy signaled it was time to start making our way to new places. The winds were light in the protected bay as we motored out and over the reefs. We made our way a few miles offshore turned into the wind and raised the sails. It would be a slow day making around 5 knots under sail. We were trying to keep as Easterly a course as possible while still keeping the sails from flogging. The winds never changed very far North. This caused us to start pointing more South than we intended. After several hours of sailing off course, we doused the sails and fired up the diesel engines. They would drive us the last couple of hours into our new anchorage.
We slipped into another calm peaceful mangrove hole with a thick muddy bottom. The sun was just setting as we took stock of our new anchorage. There wasn’t much around. No good beaches to tender to and no wildlife to speak of yet, except the mosquitoes. There were plenty of mosquitos. Since we arrived at dusk the bugs were out in force and were feasting on us before we had time to secure all the screens and get inside. We secured the boat as soon as we could and settled down for a nice cup of tea for the night.
We spent the next morning planning how to get to our new anchorage. After spending a few days in a tranquil mangrove forest at our last spot we wanted something different. We decided to make the hop to the island of Vieques.
Check back next time when Unwritten Timeline leaves the main island of Puerto Rico for the first time in 7 months.
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