Passage making and storm prep

                                                          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…