First stop on the way home - Puerto Rico

Even though we are heading home there are a lot of stops on the way and it will take a month or two. We might as well enjoy ourselves!                                                              

We stopped in Salinas, Puerto Rico after leaving Dominica. Life is slow and easy in Salinas, a small town on the southern coast. On the sidewalk outside a restaurant someone had a basketfull of sugar cane they were selling by the piece. In the restaurants you can pick your crab for dinner. There water is nice for swimming and several small beach cafes are on the main street. We also went to the city of Ponce for the day and enjoyed the architecture and the shops. On one historic building this poor girl is stuck holding up a column for all time.

Puerto Rico has good shopping so we loaded up for the trip home through the Bahamas. If you have ever wondered how we shop this is Al with the dinghy loaded to the top with groceries. After getting everything up on the boat from the dinghy we find places to put it all away down below. Food and supplies are stored in every nook and cranny of the boat.                                We were amazed by the mangrove trees at the marina in Salinas. The mangroves had the longest roots we have ever seen. 

We left Puerto Rico but had to come right back to Boqueron on the west coast. A couple of things just plain wore out on the boat and Puerto Rico is a great place to get supplies. We drove to San Juan twice to get parts so we had a tour of the whole island! We stayed at a nice marina in Boqueron. Our first night there a group of people on the dock included us in their weekly dock party. That lifted our spirits after having to turn the boat around. The Puerto Rican people are some of the friendliest we have met on the whole trip. They love to gather in groups, chat and have a good time.  

If you have to be stuck some where Boqueron is not a bad choice. It's a favorite beach of the Puerto Ricans and the whole town is hopping on the weekends. Their specialty is local oysters and clams sold on the street from these carts. Al said thery were really good.

We visited the cliffs of Cabo Rojo on the south west corner of Puerto Rico. There were some other people there, too having a good time and enjoying the wind.

We got every thing taken care of in a week and sailed to the Bahamas. We will continue to post on our way home. It's a bitter sweet time for us. A journey's end of also part of the adventure. 

Thanks to everyone for following our blog. The trip is not over yet!

Frances and Al