PUERTO RICO

CULEBRA

We finally left Luperon after we beefed up Acharne with a new solar panel array,  1400 watts additional free power from the old sun. This has virtually eliminated the use of our generator for charging batteries, unless we are going to spend time  in a grey cold climate (not in the program anytime soon!). Sam is working on getting the watermarker to work off the solar, we’ll see, he has bought a gigantic inverter and soon will experimenting with it.

 It was tough to say Good By to my five adoptive female dogs, which we rescued with Sabrina and her mother Veronique. There was Maggy  a super smart look like Australian dog who I used to nicknamed “walking wound” as she has practically no hair left but open sore from untreated Manje, she was so thin and scary, that I had to muster my courage to approach her.

  There was also two puppy starving/ eating by bugs who were abandoned on the road who grew up to be two beautiful dogs, there was sweety the black emaciated , very scared young girl and Shakira a bulldog mix who was pregnant.. We managed with Veronica from Wanderlust to get all those girls spayed with  local vets touring the island who donated their time to spay animals.  After we drove in a borrowed van with the dogs puking around, The spaying was done in a huge hangar in Puerto Plata. It was quite a dusty open space with little stainless rolling table and Veronique and I served as nurse helping the dogs settling down till they were knocked out with the drugs.

I loved to take  the dogs for a nice run up the hill, there was a little trail around Marina tropical, up and down and everyone came, tail waving, barking and chasing the chicken on the other side of the hill, till they would hear my whistle and run back to me.  I was usually followed very close by Maggy who kept everyone in line, she was the “she dog” and I truly admired her determination and will to survive. She fought all the time so she would be on top of everything, she was impossible at feeding time, bottom line she had starved for too long and life was a struggle and she only knew one thing : to fight with her teeth to get what she wanted. Once a while I could get her to calm down and pet her gently on her head, and she would look up to me, and for a brief moment, she would relax and let go. Maggy fought with the world but not with us, she wanted love and we try to give as much as we could. I will miss her dearly. Of course Buzz was in the mist of all that action, completely bullied by all those aggressive female, plus he was smaller than everyone else and basically was at the end of the pack, trying to keep up with the action.

I was also privileged, to get my yoga certification from Shanti a  Sri Naranda Master, who taught yoga at the defunct yacht club. We had yoga class 3 times a weeks up at the old restaurant of the yacht club.   What a way to start the day, it was amazing and we knew it !

We also met new friends and hang out with old one. Jessica and Adam on Seawolf, German and Lulu on Venus, Sabrina and wanderlust, the French gang with Lucas the boat builder. We had a memorable music party with German a professional musician from Uruguay and Lulu his super hot girlfriend who is also a  great singer.

It was also time to part with our Dominican Friends, Nino the taxi driver, Papo’s efficient service, the commandante Brian. We can only say that we will miss the unique Luperoniens.

I keep forgetting that  Life is really one day at a time because the moment you think you hold onto something good it is gone, and we  scattered ourselves away by the wheel of changes.

We left early in the morning and the weather was ultra calm, we were shooting for Ponce Puerto Rico, engine runs smoothly. Before we left we had Quentin and Julien scrapped the huge grow under the belly of Acharne and off we went. We, as usual flew, making 350 miles in a day and half. The Mona passage was a breeze and very beautiful, but ten miles from Ponce (I was mercifully next to the engine control) the prop caught something nasty, I immediately put the boat out of the gear, and yeah, it sounded like a fuck..g rope around the shaft on a lee shore. Sam was just recovering from a cracked rib ( one of his motorcycle pirouette going through fresh mud in Luperon..) and it was the first time we went offshore without the kids, a mere 22 years ago… I did not like it a bit and I thought :

 “ Sean and Patrick where are Thou !! “

Bottom line, I would have to get my aging ass down in the water, so unstead of thinking about my cellulite floating under the boat, I jumped in with a rope tied to my waist. Phew..the current was strong, and like an idiot unstead of having a rope holding me in one place, I kept swimming to keep up with the boat… The slamming of the hull was gentle and yeah, the rope was positively on the prop, luckily not tight,  but damned I could not get my breath, anyway, I tried my yoga breath and finally got it off and up back to the boat.

Bien sure… after it was all done and we were under way I felt pretty good about my performance..  let’s face it we feel lonely without the kids. I don’t understand what all those retires are talking about  “regaining their freedom, when the kids have finally left the nest”. . For us, been around kids is freedom.

Anyway we arrive in Ponce cleared with a very efficient and super friendly home land security and we kept going for another 100 miles to Culebra, where the anchor is set down and we are relaxing..

Virginie