News 9

Shortly after sunrise we raise our anchor in Tortola, destination Puerto Rico. On our way we pass the islands St. Thomas and St. John, belonging to the US Virgins, and we even pass a rocky place called Hans Lollick wondering where that name might come from. Late in the afternoon we drop the hook in Culebra, one of the outposts of Puerto Rico. We are on Uncle Sams territory now, which means bureaucracy is down on us. Rule nr. one: after arriving in US territory you immedeately have to call customs and immigration. We try very hard but after the third phone booth out of order we give up, after all it's sunday evening and tomorrow is another day. The next morning we walk to the official customs office in the airport where the officer on duty hits us with a long sermon on having trodded on American territory illegally and his right to impose a 5,000$ fine on us, which of course he didn't. Culebra, little island with beautiful anchorages and friendly people, lots of freaky expatriats.

• 14.02. Towards mainland Puerto Rico, anchor down behind Isleta (Fajardo).
• 16.02.-18.02. Isla Palominos, caribbean dream with lots of good snorkeling.
• 18.02.-22.02. Puerto del Rey marina for laundry and shopping.
• 23.02. Puerto Patillas, a cool spot behind the reef just for us.
• 24.02. Puerto Salinas, hurricane hole in the midst of mangroves. A lot of yachts anchored here survived hurricane George unharmed while the village houses were devastated.
• 05.03. Salinas to Ponce, second largest city on the island, lots of history, culture and shopping malls.
• 07.03. -08.03. Guanica, what an anchorage. The course of time seems to have stopped a hundred years ago in this enchanted place. We were the only boat here mainly because there is a power cable crossing the entrance the clearance of which shown in the charts differs from 50 to 150 ft. We can assure you, it's 150 ft.
• 08.03.-12.03. Boqueron, our favourite spot in Puerto Rico, a wide well protected bay with lots of room for your privacy. Lots of beach and palm trees, the town a sort of Latin Key West.
• 12.03. Round the corner to Mayagüez, (port of entry), for customs and immigration clearance. With a freshening westerly making the bay uncomfortable and a lee shore we decide to leave before sunset heading for the Dominican Republic