Aug
4 2014
Greetings,
The trip from
St Thomas was some of the best cruising we’ve had in quite a while. It wasn’t
perfectly calm but, the swell was 1-3 feet, from the port stern quarter and, overall,
it was pretty pleasant.
We did have a small issue early in
the voyage. When Capt. Johne went down to do the first engine and bilge check
an hour out, he discovered that the starboard shaft seal was leaking badly and
had almost filled the forward bilge. He pumped the bilge out and then we
brought the engines back to idle. He killed the starboard engine and I put the
port one in neutral so we’d be dead in the water and the starboard shaft would
not be turning. Then, the Capt. spent the next half hour adjusting and
tightening the seal in a very hot engine room, with the boat bobbing like a
cork in the three foot swell. It wasn’t the worst job he’s had to do underway
but it’s still not fun to have to work under those conditions. I’m glad I have
him to take care of these things. His sacrifices are appreciated.
With that taken care of, the rest
of the trip was uneventful. Kokomo Kat had left a few hours before us and we
caught up with her about 0500 and both pulled into the anchorage at Ponce,
Puerto Rico at around 0900.
We got the anchors set in the bay
just off the marina. Sharon and Johne went ashore to get checked in and then we
spent the rest of that day watching the marina prep for TS Bertha’s arrival. They
have really good concrete piers here and it was fascinating to me to watch them
take all the boats from their secure slips and move them out to much less
secure anchoring. Quickly the anchorage filled up with the boats that had been
in the marina and our biggest concern as the storm passed by (aside from
watching our own position to make sure we didn’t drag) was watching the other
boats around us to make sure none of them were dragging or, in one case,
breaking an old mooring.
In the end we only saw winds to 33
kts. and a couple of rain bands that were just enough to help rinse the salt
off. The only boats that drug were on the far west side of the anchorage and
the sea tow boat took care of them.
Sunday we went into town but, between
the storm and it being Sunday (I don’t know which was more of a factor) almost
everything was closed. We did see the old fire house and have ice cream at King’s
(world famous according to everything I’ve read on Ponce).
Tomorrow we’re planning to move on.
We’ll go a couple of bays farther west and spend a few days exploring there. After
that we’ll move on to Bahia Fosforescente to try to get a night snorkel/dive
with the bio-luminescents.
Several people ask about my health
since I didn’t mention it in the last update. I’ve just gotten my latest blood
work results back and my thyroid hormone levels are still (three and a half
months now) in the normal range. My eye is still wonky. I don’t expect that to
change without more intervention and this is not the time or place for that. So,
at this point, I’m just continuing to live life compensating for a wonky eye.
On to the next adventure…
