Maps
Arriving in Puerto Rico
This was our general route to Boqueron in Puerto Rico. At 45 hours straight, it was our longest sail to date. We planned the trip without any stops in the Dominican Republic due to problems that other boaters had been having in various harbors. It turned out to be an incredibly comfortable sail/motor. This was our first long passage. Prior to this we had sailed for 24 hours, but that was not the original plan that day. This trip was agonized over for months while we waited in Luperon for the right weather window. We had quite a bit of help, but I am not sure that it mattered. Everyone has their own experiences that was was based on the weather that they encountered, the boat they were on, and the crew they had. Serendipity is a solid boat with fairly good speed (we slowed it down with school books once we arrived in Ponce).
Our initial attempt to leave Luperon was thwarted by a warning light. Once we left the harbor we were hit with some good sized waves on the beam. During the initial rocking an engine alarm went off. Actually it was the Sail Drive alarm that indicated that water had entered between the two seals that keep the boat from sinking. The drive exits through the bottom of the hull through a 10" by 12" rectangle. Between the two seals is a sensor that checks for the presence of water and it goes off to indicate that only one seal is keeping the boat from sinking.
The next morning, back in Luperon Harbor, we had Doug check it out and we discussed our options. We all agreed that we didn't really have a choice but to continue. We can not replace the seals in the water and there are no facilities in Luperon or anywhere in the Dominican Republic that can haul us out. The closest place is back in the Turks and Caicos. The next place is in Puerto Rico. So with every bilge pump at the ready we took off. We heard the alarm a few (maybe several) times on the crossing, but never for long. Actually that was the only time that we heard it during the rest of our travels in the Caribbean.
So the rest of the trip to Puerto Rico was fairly uneventful. We had a wind shift that the other boaters did not get and we were able to sail most of the way. The middle of the Mona Passage was actually flat. We have pictures of Jillian sleeping on the trampoline where even 3 or 4' sea make it damp. Just outside of Boqueron we caught up to Katana that had left the day before. We followed them through the reefs in the early morning ours.
The only event that made the trip exciting was the fire (just smoke really) in a cockpit locker. I smelled some smoke and Rachel was able see it from the salon. I emptied the locker and found the battery/alternator cable had corroded and was smoking. It was not a good place to have a battery cable connection (sea water enters that locker). After disconnecting it we were able to continue without incident.
Travels through Puerto Rico
From Boqueron we rounded the South West corner and headed for La Paguera, a nice little town that we stayed at for a couple weeks. From there we spent a day at Gilligan's Island before ending up at Ponce. We left Serendipity in Ponce and headed back to Florida for a few weeks. After returning we stayed for another month or so before heading to Culebra in three quick hops. We stayed in Culebra and Culebrita for another couple of weeks before heading to the US Virgin Islands.
