Sailing the Spanish Virgin Islands, No Motor, No Problem....

Fajardo, Puerto Rico (cir. 1993)

Sailing my AMF 21' back to the marina after yet another blissful day of sailing and with a view of Condominios Dos Marinas in sight...

Once in the cove, I'd turn the boat back into the prevailing offshore winds, bring down the jib, secure it with bungee cords and then bring the mainsail halfway down the mast.

I'd then rest the end of the boom on a cockpit seat cushion and while standing, I'd grab the sheet with one hand and pull on it just tight enough to catch the wind.

And with the boat having just enough forward momentum and steerage, I'd turn the tiller hard on over and gently glide the boat into the slip.

Once inside the slip I'd make a mad dash fore to drop the mainsail the rest of the way down and grab on to my dock lines to avoid crashing into the pier and any neighboring boats.

No motor, no problem...

And I've said it before and I'll say it again... the so-called Cruising Lifestyle may indeed be a tad overrated.

Day-sailing on the other hand can most certainly be a much more enjoyable experience for after you've had your fill of sailing for the day, you can later go home. Yep, dat be my perspective...

Well heck, what's not to like about sailing on a clear, bright beautiful day? And now that I think about it, sailing the east coast of Puerto Rico was indeed a memorable experience that I will always cherish.



Marina Puerto Chico, Fajardo Puerto Rico




Hotel El Conquistador, Fajardo Puerto Rico




View of Isla Palominos off in the distance.




Marina Puerto Chico, Fajardo Puerto Rico





Isla Vieques on the distant horizon...




Marina Puerto Del Rey, Bahia Demajagua, Puerto Rico




One of a number of small keys commonly referred to as "Las Islas Cucarachas", by local fishermen presumably for their resemblance to said critters when seen from a distance.



Me sipping on a glass of apple-pine juice and not a Rum & Coke as some wags would suggest... and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. **hick-up**







Bahia de los Pescadores, Las Croabas Puerto Rico

Piddling about Bahia Honda Before Setting Sail for Key West in the Morning...

My evening at the Bahia Honda State Park concluded with me gingerly walking about barefoot for reasons previously explained and with me taking in the sights. That quaint little Park was a delight as far as parks go and even had me somehow wishing that I'd had someone along to share in the experience.

The Park is somewhat renowned as a safe haven for butterflies of all things and I can assure you that there were quite a few butterflies fluttering about. Also scattered about that park were a number of placards all with a brief historical narrative of the place. I took my time reading these for lack of anything else to do at that moment but was nevertheless pleased that I had for some odd reason.

So after later snapping a few pictures with my cell phone camera, I headed on back to my dinghy and rowed on back to my boat. And with the sun just starting to set, I saw little reason not to pull out my conch shell from down below, climb back up on deck and then blow the hell out of it.

...especially since I hadn't blown that thing in a while and because I'm on a boat and that's what's expected of boaters and because I didn't have anything better to do at that particular moment.

So yeah man.. that was me blowing the hell out out of my conch shell for three long, loud blasts which undoubtedly could be heard all the way down to the Saddlebunch Keys and on up to Key Largo.

I'm sure that I put on quite a show for all those German tourists settling in for the evening out in the Park camp grounds. I'm also pretty sure that I gave them something to talk about with their friends and family once they get on back home.

I can hear it now... "Oh wow... our vacation was a delight... we even saw this guy sail his boat right underneath the old Flaggler Railroad Bridge and later blow a conch shell as the sun was setting... it was a most amazing spectacle"!

Then yet again, we're talking about easily-annoyed German tourists here and for all I know they may have even been contemplating reporting my ass to the Park Rangers for making a little noise. For sure it would have likely been that previously mentioned German tourist... the one with his big gut spilling out on over the top of his Speedos.



Oh gasp! What the heck was I thinking?
Me aboard my AMF 21, wearing Speedos which I have long since censored.
Isla Palominos, Puerto Rico

Living Aboard and Bored Out of My Mind...

Me thinks that the "Cruising Lifestyle" may perhaps be a tad overrated... Days of doing little more than piddling around the boat will turn into weeks and before you know it weeks of not having done much more than idling about will then turn into months and soon enough you've burned a year doing little more than contemplating an exit strategy off the boat.

Day-Sailing on the other hand is fun! What's not to like about taking the boat out for a day sail while sipping on cold beer and returning to the docks later in the day to tie the boat off, shower down, and head on home for some A/C, cooked food and a few ballgames on the TV.

And it's certainly not unusual for single live-aboard cruisers to start losing their mind after awhile. The mind starts to play tricks on you and you find yourself sticking out your tongue for no apparent reason. I'm hoping that this doesn't ever happen to me.













Me sailing my AMF 21 back in the day... East coast of Puerto Rico.