MAY 2012
PUERTO RICO
We see in the new month at Isla De Vieques an island to the south of Culebra. We stay a few nights anchored in Bahia Salina Del Sur and off Puerto Real Esperenza.
Next stop is Salinas on the main island of Puerto Rico in another safe haven anchorage this time protected by mangroves.
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| Mangrovel Salinas |
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| Salinas pleasantly peaceful |
We have chosen this spot for the security it offers as we want to leave the boat and hire rental cars for daytripping around the area including a return trip to visit Old San Juan in particular the oldest European settlement in the Americas. We ultimately visit San Juan on 3 separate occasions from Salinas as we are using this as the last stop to purchase boat gear and computer kit at reasonable US mainland prices. Not to mention food and our first experience of the mammoth 24 hour Super Walmarts where you can buy everything at reasonable prices from pharmaceuticals to footwear and frozen foods but admittedly not helicopters or Boeings.
Kindlegarten -Yep we have joined the Kindle generation buying E Book readers from the Best Buy Computermarket in San Juan. B has the Kindle Touch and P the Kindle Fire and we are in awe at the opportunities to download a huge range of free books and pay books. The ability to connect via 3G and WiFi anywhere there is a signal makes access simple and the opportunities to download everything from newspapers to magazines makes these devices invaluable for our current lifestyle.
No Tablet Today - With super sharp stateside pricing on offer we looked long and hard at the tablet computer offerings but concluded they are more suited to people wanting to play games and social network which is not our profile. The Apple product range are the hot sellers for sure and for good reason, they operate as per specification without fail and do what they say they will do but the Apple locked in regime makes the Android platform products the end winners in our opinion. So we concluded waiting another year will see the market options more clearly defined and the best Android hardware players filter to the fore.
True GPS - The real decider for us is which hardware has open access GPS capability to operate electronic chartography without network connectivity. Our interest is in the ability to place a suitable tablet in a “tough box” and give it a power feed so that can be used as a backup to the ships core navigation system.
None of the tablet manufacturers clearly specify GPS functionality options and capability we think in part because the Telcos are the major sellers of tablets on discounted time usage plans and they want users to believe they must have a system connection to utilize the GPS capability when in fact many of the tablets can be switched to operate independently. We did not find one seller who knew what the hell we were on about so we have given up until we get home.
PUERTO RICO TO PANAMA
Yep hard miles ahead particularly at night and during a week with no moonlight. Funny how the brain and body adapt but its not a pleasant experience forcing yourself to wake and get up after 2 hours sleep for another 2 hour trick on the wheel eyes popping out of the cranium looking into the black. We reassure ourselves that this glitch is a walk in the park compared with our friends Roy and Liz on SY Evelyn who had to hand steer 4000miles from the Galapagos to Tahiti last year.
For the final 100 miles we were relieved by light winds and flat seas allowing the autopilot to half hold course and we decided on a small detour 70 miles to port to treat ourselves to a break in the San Blas Islands where we anchored for four days in clear shallow warm waters off idyllic tropical islands Cayos Coco Bandero and Cayo Holande swimming and snorkeling without a care in the world. The local Indians in dugout canoes were our only interlopers bar a few other cruisers in the distance.
30 May – Musketelle is officially measured by the Canal Authority for charging purposes to transit the 35 mile long canal which comes out at $750 but with ancillary, immigration and cruising permit, line and handlers charges, security and agents fees the total cost balloons to USD$2,000. P reflects that it only cost $180 with no ancillary costs for Lion NZ, but that was 17 years ago and hey Uncle Sam ran the show then.
31 May - Last day of the month we receive email from agent confirming our transit day is 11 June!! The explanation for the delay is there is a backlog of yachts wishing to transit and they only process 2 or 3 per day. We are contemplating how we utilise that waiting time……resolve autopilot problem, clean tropical growth off bottom, solve a starting battery problem, up the mast to throughly check the standing rigging, change anodes, change engine oils, stock up with fresh produce. Yes we have enough to go on with.
But if we are lucky we may find a few days to head back around to the San Blas Islands to refresh the body and soul before the big push across the Pacific.
