Eastward HO!

Let's bounce back in time for a bit!

It is time to be making tracks to the east. Our insurance company considers hurricane season to begin July 1 in the northern hemisphere. Of course, we can see tropical development anytime now, as anyone who has lived on the Eastern Seaboard knows. In fact, this time last year we had already been hiding from tropical storms. That is to say, we need to be below 12 degrees N latitude by July 1.

Great! Let's head east. The challenge is the tradewinds. I don't know about you, but I never really thought about the realities of the tradewinds when I was learning about them in school. As a sailor, I think about them a lot...a lot, a lot!! There is a reason why areas of the Caribbean are called the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands. The tradewinds consistently blow from the east this time of year. Which way are we going? EAST! That means we are continually trying to move upwind...in a sailboat. That means we are doing a lot of motoring upwind. That also means that we are pushing into waves also coming from the east. This doesn't make for comfortable sailing (that is sailor speak for "I feel queasy a lot"). Regardless, we must keep pushing eastward.

When I first started writing this blog post we were in Puerto Rico and staying at a marina in Puerto Real, a nice rural town on the western coast. While there, we managed to explore a little of the western side of the island. However, there is still so much more to see, and what we know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that we want to return to explore even more. Puerto Rico is a beautiful island with a huge variety of ecological regions. There are expansive mangrove islands, tropical dry forests, cloud forests, and numerous others. The coastline is gorgeous. The highlands make a beautiful backdrop to our day sails as we motor past (we motor because we are heading east into the tradewinds). Mountainous terrains have always captured my imagination. I always want to know what is on the other side. What animals are hiding there? What flowers? What are the stories of the people there?

The marina where we stayed had cars available for rent. YES! We quickly got a car for two days so that we could explore the island, and run a few errands. On the first day, we went up into the highlands. We had looked at the map and had a loose idea of where we were heading, but we were mostly just out to find new places, and hopefully new birds. What we found was a lot of beautiful countryside that is sparsely populated. There were lots of gorgeous vistas and luscious forests. As we made our way up in elevation temperatures dropped and precipitation increased. Man, I love rainforests! However, the roads were narrow and very twisty. There were times when it felt as though we were about to drive off a cliff as we made a turn because the turn was tight and steep. It was a little stressful, but SO worth it.

On another day, we went out to explore a nearby preserve with our friends on SV Magistra. It was a hot day, but the views were worth it. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed for renovations, but the area around it provided ample opportunity for exploration. We walked several miles, and the footing was a bit precarious, but a good time was had by all...most of the time. There were some falls and scrapes along the way, but hopefully, that is all a distant memory now.

However, we were feeling the pressure of time and only stayed on the western side of the island for a few more days. From there we began our march eastward again. We followed the advice of those who have traveled the "Thorny Path" many times before us. We would try to lift anchor right at sunrise and be in our next anchorage before mid-morning. We were fortunate weatherwise during this time. The seas were mostly calm and the winds weren't especially strong. We found several beautiful bays along the way, but we didn't get to really get to know the area as well as we would have hoped. We are planning on heading back to Puerto Rico early next year. In fact, I think that is as far west as we will go next season.

Next up, the USVIs.