Family onboard in Puerto Rico

Matt’s parents have never seen our boat – except in pictures. This makes us extra excited to finally have them onboard here in Puerto Rico. We enjoy a couple days at the dock touring the main island, then take out to explore the Spanish Virgin Islands and spend some time below water. There is no shortage of excitement or marine animal visits during their stay!

Rain, rain go away

Why is it that rain starts as soon as you finish cleaning the outside of a boat? Without fail. If an area is struggling through drought, just have everyone start cleaning boats – rain is sure to fall soon.

We have everything *just right* for when Matt’s parents show up at the dock here in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. This is their first time seeing the boat, so we want to make a good impression. We find it important to start off with really high notes, so when you describe to guests about manually pumping water into/out of the toilet and not flushing toilet paper, it doesn’t seem so bad. Of course, the rain starts just minutes before they are scheduled to arrive. Oh, well.

After they arrive, we do the usual greetings and tours, before realizing it’s getting quite late. Domino’s pizza to the rescue! Modern conveniences are seriously the best. We also lug in the new washer they brought us to replace our broken one. Laundry has been tough on us recently.

When waking up the next morning, we are disappointed to see that it’s still raining, and the forecast is calling for scattered rain the next few days. We plan to head over to the El Yunque Rain Forest for the day, since it’s always raining there anyways! Monster and I end up backing out of those plans though as I’m not feeling the best and sitting in a car driving up winding roads doesn’t seem like the best option. Matt and his parents set out though, while Monster and I snuggle on the couch.

The rain makes everything in the rain forest pretty muddy, so instead of doing real hiking, the group decides to enjoy a driving tour and short walks to see some of the sites! Check out the great photos below.

After visiting the rain forest, the group heads over to the nearby cafe to enjoy a snack and glass of wine. The restaurant is set just outside the rain forest, providing lots of lush green plants and pretty garden views. The highlight though, is the white napkin that expands from a small pill to something full-size and usable when sprinkled with water. It’s like a blooming flower, and was definitely a big hit.

I’m feeling a bit better upon their return to the boat, so I head over with everyone to the restaurant at the marina next door. It is set up on a small hill overlooking the water and all the docked boats. Being night time with everything lit up, it’s very pretty and ambient. We all order different dishes and an appetizer to share. The wine is good, the food great, and the company even better!

Visiting Old San Juan

We aren’t going to let another day of rain get us down! We pack up the umbrellas and drive north to Old San Juan. A visit to Puerto Rico wouldn’t be complete without coming here. Our first stop is the historical Castillo del Morro. Tim and Gerri are a bit (or a lot) more of history buffs than I am, so I’m happy to sit this one out with Monster as dogs aren’t allowed inside the castle. We wander around the outside grounds for a bit before seeking shelter from the pouring rain. Eventually, the rain subsides and we head back out to the streets in search of a cute cafe to wait for everyone else. After rambling a few blocks we find the perfect spot – outside, but covered, and easy to locate.

The castle and grounds are very impressive! I wrote a bit about the history of this location in a prior post, though a quick Google search could provide much more. Here are just a few of the great photos taken during their tour.

Light rain is continuing on and off, but nothing too uncomfortable. After I reunite with everyone, we decide to take in the colorful, vibrant streets while doing a mini self-guided bar crawl. Our first stop is a rustic place, filled with a few tables playing chess and checkers. It doesn’t serve food, which is important since that means Monster was allowed to come inside and escape the rain with us! We order one round and swap stories for a bit before deciding to head on towards the next spot.

The last time Matt and I visited earlier in the year, we found a really cute rooftop wine & tapas bar. We want to take his parents, so we head in that direction. Fortunately, it’s not raining when we arrive, so we go ahead and sit out on the rooftop, partaking in the daily special of mojitos (of all flavors!). Next, we try to stop at a restaurant downstairs (in the same building) because it looks super cute with private tables on small balconies. Sadly, they are having a private event, so we have to continue on.

Setting sail to Vieques

The next morning, we finally take the boat off the dock (that is the whole point after all) and set sail towards Vieques. Initially the water is protected and smooth, making for enjoyable travels. We put up the head sail to do some motor sailing. As we round Vieques, though, and head straight east, we are fighting into the waves and wind, making for less than pleasant movement onboard. Matt’s parents do great, and nobody (except me, of course) gets even the smallest bit seasick.

Eventually, we pull into our temporary anchorage outside of Mosquito Bay, the large bio-luminescent bay. We enjoy dinner onboard as the sun begins to set, and then get ready to head into the bay at dark. We launch the dinghy and tie one paddle board off its stern to take into the bay. After getting everyone loaded in, we set off on the short ride into the bay, where we will have to switch over to man power only (i.e. paddling). Shortly before the mouth (entrance), tragedy strikes – our prop is tangled in a fishing net. Of course, we don’t have a knife with us. We should probably add that to the collection of items permanently stored in the dinghy.

I shine the spotlight while Matt works on untangling our poor prop. Monster scares Tim and Gerri as she expertly navigates around and on top of all parts of the dinghy. I remind them she’s wearing a cute flashing light on her collar, so we can quickly locate and fish her out if she falls in. After 10 minutes or so, Matt is able to successfully free our prop and restart the engine. Everyone seems to think that is enough excitement for the night, though, so we go ahead and return to the boat. Matt and I already made the mistake of staying overnight here once. This time, we are going to motor over to a nearby protected bay in order to have a peaceful night sleep.

Fun in the sun on Culebrita

Our next stop is Culebrita! I’ve been so excited to visit this little, uninhabited island. As we are pulling up to it, the clear turquoise waters definitely don’t disappoint. We locate our intended anchorage for the day/night and notice there is a lot of reef – which is great since we want to snorkel, but not so great for anchoring. After circling a few times, Matt and I decide on a sand patch to aim for. On the first attempt we fall on the backside of it, so we immediately pick-up and try again to land at the front part. This allows our anchor time to dig into the sand and also more room for anchor chain to lie in the sand.

Fortunately, the anchor sets easily and we feel pleased with our spot. It’s so gorgeous here! After some lunch, we all get into our snorkel gear and hop in. Matt’s parents have snorkeled a few times, but aren’t really fond of it, so we’re hoping to show them why we love it so much. The coral here is nice – not the best – but it’s right under and around the boat which is amazing. No need to load everything in the dinghy or try to pull yourself back into the dinghy after snorkeling – like we normally have to.

Everyone really enjoys the snorkeling and we spot numerous varieties of fun fish! We even spot a couple reef squid which are one of my personal favorites. Matt and I swim off further for a bit, checking out the whole reef area, spotting some turtles and large barracuda as well. After a while, we decide now is the perfect time to unbox the underwater scooters we treated ourselves to for Christmas! Let me say – they are ridiculously fun to use. We even get Gerri to try one out for a bit!

The next morning, Monster and I set off on the paddle board towards shore. She enjoys running around the beach and showing off her swimming skills to some cooing fans. Upon our return, Gerri decides to join us on the second paddle board for a while.

After lunch, we make our way around to the popular bay where we pick up a mooring ball. Technically they are day use only moorings, but we (and others) plan to stay overnight. The beach here is absolutely gorgeous and so inviting! We launch the dinghy and head in to enjoy it.

Off the far side of the beach is a path that leads to some tide pools. The “path” isn’t really marked, but we get some direction from others on the beach. Shortly into our walk, we spot a small eel in the shallows! It’s quite a difficult walk due to the rocks and boulders, so Tim and Gerri decide to just enjoy more time on the beach. Matt and I continue on (carrying Monster) until we find the pools. They are as advertised, and definitely worth the quick visit!

Paradise at Culebra

We depart Culebrita and head towards our final stop of the trip – Culebra. After agonizing over Active Captain reviews to pick the best spot – mostly based on the reef underwater – we settle on Carlos Rosarion Beach. There are a half dozen mooring balls or so; although intended for dive boats, general consensus is these are okay to use overnight. We pick up a mooring and quickly hop in the water. The reef here is definitely better than our previous spot off Culebrita, so Matt and I are pretty excited.

Gerri decides to join us for a nice snorkel where we spot large schools of blue tangs, lobster, a turtle, and a large conch. After she is settled back onboard, Matt and I decide to take out with the underwater scooters for some more fun. We travel the full length of the mooring field, enjoying reef the entire time. The scooters are better to use in short bursts, so we love using them for 20-30 seconds at a time to dive down a few feet and sweep along the top of the coral. During our time underwater, we even spot an eagle ray – so amazing!

After returning to the boat to a cranky dog (who apparently thought we swam off too far), I hop on the paddle board to take her to shore. The water is perfectly flat at this moment, allowing me to see all the coral and fish underneath while paddling to shore. The beach is pretty small, but Monster is appeased at least. As we are paddling back to the boat, Matt is on top of the bimini looking off in the distance. Apparently dolphins were spotted just off our boat a few minutes ago! I can’t believe I missed them.

As the sun begins to set, we all grab a sun-downer and settle in on deck. To our delight, the dolphins return! There are a handful of them just slowly swimming among the boats in the mooring field. Everyone is on deck marveling at them, wishing them to come just a bit closer! This is what paradise is made of.

Once the sun fully goes down, we use our fancy color changing underwater lights to impress Tim and Gerri (and the other moored boats). Shortly after turning the lights on, we begin to see some action below the boat. Our initial thought is tarpon. However, under closer inspection we see that it’s actually several remoras. Normally you see these guys attached to larger sharks, turtles, or rays. Sometimes, we will get a stray remora hanging onto the bottom of our boat – presumably waiting for the next larger animal to come by. This time there are at least a dozen or more, which seems crazy! They will apparently eat just about anything, so we have fun feeding them some turkey while they provide a show.

Whale tales

In the morning, the time comes to head back to Fajardo in order to drop Matt’s parents off and refuel for our journey to the BVI. About half way back, I’m surprised to spot a whale tail coming out of the water! I excitedly yell to the others to come see. Matt and Gerri are fortunate enough to spot a couple more breaches. Tim is downstairs when it happens and doesn’t make it up on deck before the whale decides it has had enough of all the powerboats zooming by it. We continue to watch for another 20+ minutes, but see no other signs of whales. Still exciting!

We pull up to the same marina we departed earlier in the week and look for a spot to tie up on the fuel dock. It’s pretty small, though, so instead we head into our old slip where we can also get diesel. This gives us some extra time to disembark quests and say goodbyes. We don’t dilly dally, though, as Matt and I have about a 6 hour sail over to Brewer’s Bay, St Thomas yet to make today.

Farewell until next time! Check out the underwater video compilation below.