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| Red snapper |
After a morning spent organising all of
our nuts, bolts, washers and screws (what fun!) and Dylan still not
happy with the gearbox, we went for a snorkel and found an amazing
big helmet shell but it had a nu nu in it so we put it back. Sob. Not
before I took a picture of it though. We attempted to set sail for
another bay but the gearbox was still acting up and with this being a
first, we opted to go back on the mooring and try and fix the
problem.
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| Vieques waterfront |
The nearest town was Esperanza, so in
the dinghy we commenced a 2 mile wet and wild ride out to sea, around
a headland and back towards the town dock. A ride that would put
Thorpe Park to shame. Arriving rather dry considering but with every
bone in our body shaken, we leapt out of the dinghy and onto dry
land. A really small town, Esperanza has a lovely waterfront and
relaxed atmosphere. As we walked out of the dinghy dock we bumped
into a woman who had some sailing bumper sticker on her car so Dylan
inquired whether they knew a good mechanic. She referred us to her
husband who proceeded to walk us around the town trying to find a guy
who owns a boat in the bay. What a nice guy, went totally out of his
way to help us, couldn't find the person in question. We finally
hunted him down and luckily for us is a master mechanic, diagnosing
the problem as general wear and tear of the clutch plates.
Unfortunately he was too busy to fix it so we faced a 250 mile trip
to St Martin. As the crow flies its about 160 miles but we would be
heading straight into the wind, waves, tide and sea with an awful lot
of tacking involved. Sure there are other places to go but we knew
someone that could fix it there and also it is a wide easy bay to
sail into without an engine.
Talking to other cruisers about Sun Bay
where we were anchored, all without exception warned us against being
there and advised us to move to the anchorage off the main town.
Regular theft due to high unemployment on the island occurs in the
bay and just recently a boat had lost two kayaks padlocked to their
guardrails. Its a shame as Sun Bay is a pretty bay, isolated and we
were the only boat there in a mile wide inlet. Obviously those
conditions make us a prime target and the locals swim from the shore
at dark. We didn't experience anything, but being on high alert now
ruined the atmosphere so we moved.
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| The rock that marks a left turn to the grocery store |
Anchored off Esperanza with other
cruisers, we felt part of the community. Greeting the locals when we
went ashore and enjoying the local music of an evening...whether we
wanted to or not as those locals seem to party every night till 4am,
the music echoing across the bay!
We spent many hours in a bar called
Lazy Jacks, using the wifi and meeting the other cruisers, most of
which were staying in Vieques for the long term. I can see why, its a
great island with plenty to do and yet to get hit by tourism like so
many of the other Caribbean islands. One day when we were
internetting, very loud music started coming towards us. As it got
nearer and our chairs and tables started to vibrate we turned to
source the sound and found it belonged to a local in his wheelchair
with a boom box underneath his vehicle! We weren't sure whether it
was appropriate to find the situation funny so we tried to ignore the
noise and stared at the laptop. When Crazy Legs (as we came to name
him) was running low on juice for his electric wheelie and power
hungry 98db audio, his mates would run an extension cable from a lamp
pole to charge him up. He came round a few times though so we gave
each other the eye and behaved ourselves.
We were in Vieques on Independence Day
weekend. Our friend Alex was visiting her parents in mainland Puerto
rico so we jumped at the opportunity to see her and went over. Waking
at the crack of dawn (5am) we got a lift with another cruiser
catching the 6:30am ferry from Isabel Segunda to Fajardo. Hour and a
half later we were at our destination and waiting for Alex's parents
to pick us up. There was a very festive atmosphere in Fajardo ferry
terminal (day before Independence Day) although not many Puerto
Ricans celebrate their colonizers independence from Mother England. A
steel drum band was playing and loads of people milling around.
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| Tucking into a big meal |
It was a lengthy 1.15 hr car journey to
their home near Trujillo Alto fighting rush hour traffic. It was here
that we met Alex's amazing mother (Mami) we still don't know her name
as I think she was introduced as “my mother”. She is a pint sized
woman who is dwarfed by her husband's 6.4 frame. But has the biggest
personality we have ever seen. Before we had even made it to their
home, she had been on the phone asking whether we had had breakfast
and what did we want to eat. We opted for pancakes and just after
performing our introductions, were shuffled ceremoniously towards an
awaiting table laden with food. Hot coffee awaited us and a fruit
platter while Mami prepped the pancakes. The rest of the family did
not join us but stood nearby talking away. We soon got over our
awkwardness of being waited on hand and foot by Mami and tucked in!
Alex had obviously told her folks of all the stories about how we
don’t wash in fresh water often etc and as such there had been
offers of using the pool, showers even the washing machine.
Interestingly the pancakes made for us had a melted cheese slice on
top and whipped cream. Added to this was a helping of maple syrup. A
interesting concoction, not necessarily Puerto Rican but rather
Mami's recipe. A large lunch meal awaited us, so we did not stuff
ourselves with too much.
We were taken on a tour of the house
(which is lovely) and almost stereotypical of an American house.
Alex's Mami speaks little English, where as the rest of the family
speaks good English. As such all conversations were via Alex who
interpreted for us. We were shown how to make the perfect Pina
Colada's and whilst sipping away on them and eating more snacks of
salmon and meats, Alex mother was insistent that I learn how to cook
rice for Dylan. I was led into the kitchen whilst Alex and Dylan sat
outside catching up. With limited English Mami proceeded to teach me
not only the finer points of rice making in a rice maker, but taught
me a whole bunch of Spanish words too. I walked away with a rice
maker of my own to cook for Dylan. Not sure I agree with waiting on
Dylan hand and foot but hey, he can get a treat every so often.
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| Add caption |
A typical Puerto Rican dish, usually
made at Christmas is pastelles. They take a full day to make and the
process involves, grating and peeling loads of veg, cooking meat,
blending the ingredients, putting dollops into plantain leaves and
boiling them. They are an acquired taste so there was great concern
that we may not like them. Needless to say we sat down to lunch and
tucked into the Puerto Rican spread of rice & peas (pigeon peas),
fried plantain (both ripe and green), roast pork and don't forget the
pastelles! We were to just try a single pastelle and if we liked it
we could have one each. I tried it and loved them, although not the
same ingredients, they reminded me of the mince and potato dish that
Dad makes back home. Dylan tries them and makes a big show of almost
throwing up. The expression of horror on Mami's face was priceless.
Big joke all round.
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| Add caption |
Completely stuffed with food and
confronted with a huge cake, we rolled off the chair, declined
dessert and sat in front of the tv, fighting the overwhelming desire
to go for a nap. Their back garden looks out over the town as well as
the rainforest of El Yunque...it also has a swimming pool which we
took full advantage of. From the pool, I went to have a hot shower.
Wow it was wonderful and as I stepped out of the bathroom, Alex's
mami was waiting for me to blowdry my hair. Such pampering! She lead
me to her bathroom where she had already laid out the blowdryer, a
stool and a brush. Tutting at the state of my sun and salt ruined
hair, she proceeded to blow dry my hair straight. Having not done
this since December it was heaven. Back downstairs we tucked into a
slice of cake and then accepted a doggy bag full of pulled pork,
cake, 2 more pastelles, bags of sweets and a rice maker. Wow!!
Alex's Papi drove us back to the ferry
and we jumped on the 8pm return. Very tired by this time we arrived
in Vieques looking for a publico to take us back to the boat but
there were none around. Dylan enquired with a police man how to get
back and he said he would take us! We had our first ride in a police
car whilst the 2 officers in front talked away in Spanish as if we
weren't there, ignoring the radio traffic coming form their lapels.
What a fantastic day.
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| 375 year old ceiba tree |
On our last day in Vieques we went
ashore to Lazy Jacks to check the weather for the next couple of days
and then enquired how to get to the airport to clear out. Barman
referred us to 'Jug' (who knows if that is his real name...) who took
us there and back for $30. A fair ride away Jug got chatting about
the island, knowledgable guy as he had lived there for 20 years.
Customs at the airport was the quickest yet. We caught the officer
just as she was about to leave and she doesn't normally work in
Vieques so didn't know where any of the papers were. So she grabbed a
form, filled our name and boat name, stamped it and told us to fill
in the rest. We were in and out in about 3 mins. Much to Jug's
amazement as he had never known anything like it and opted to go for
gas 15 mins away. Whilst we waited for Jug to return we saw a bar in
the middle of the car park that we went to get a drink at. Very odd,
run by a Louisiana hick he only sold Louisiana beer and his other 2
customers also came from the same place. American country music
blasted out of the stereo, the guys looked like Harley Davidson fans
with long thin hair, leather jackets worn in 90F heat and bandanas.
All going on whilst wild horses were strolling about the car park,
nibbling at the grassy verges. Surreal! On the way back to the boat,
Jug stopped off at a 375 year old Ceiba tree. Most impressive, the
buttress roots alone were a good 3 x the height of me.
Although we planned to go to St Croix
and Saba, we are going to skip these islands in favour of heading
straight to St Martin to sort out our gearbox problem. A 2 /3 day
trip, this will be our longest yet at sea without stopping overnight.
Eeeek!
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