Feb. 5 – Aguadilla, PR

By on February 6, 2023 in The Pearl
“The lower the latitude the better the attitude.” –Unknown
We’re spending our first week in Aguadilla. This picturesque oceanfront town was founded in 1775. It’s  located on Puerto Rico’s northwest shore. It’s known to have some of the best surf breaks on the Island and some of the most beautiful beaches.

Check in wasn’t until three so we started our day slowly. We found a nice little coffee shop across the street from our apartment for breakfast, then we came back and enjoyed the view again from the balcony. We decided we’d stop at a few interesting places on our way west. Our first stop was at Cueve del Indio (Indian Cave).

Cueve del Indio is an important archeological treasure. It’s full of petroglyphs, made by the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico, the Tainos. These petroglyphs pre-date Columbus’ arrival to Puerto Rico in 1493, and were probably made many centuries earlier. The cave is said to contain the largest number of petroglyphs found along the coastal zone. The day was very, very windy so walking along the ledge and on the sharp rocks was a little scary. I felt like I could be blown down at any time. The site has been used for filming movies like the Pirates of the Caribbean, Treasure Island and Perfect Getaway.

Stan looking over the edge.

You climb down into this pit to get into the cave.

There used to be a ladder that you could use to go down into the cave, but that has been removed. Now if you want to get down to the cave you have to go through this crack in the wall. We decided not to try it…too many other people around today.

The cave is opened to the water at the center of this picture.

Looking towards the Seven Arches.

Looking east toward Playita Ines (Little Agnes Beach) and Estatua de Colón (large statue of Columbus).

On our way back to the parking lot.

Our second stop was in Arecibo to spend a little time at The Bishop’s Pool. It was a great day to see the water putting on a show. Although it was hard to get a picture of the largest waves coming in.

The Arecibo Lighthouse overlooks The Bishop’s Pool.

Beach Paradise…our house for the week.

Our first night in Aquadilla…perfection.

Feb. 5 – Aguadilla, PR

By on February 6, 2023 in The Pearl
 “The lower the latitude the better the attitude.” –Unknown
We’re spending our first week in Aguadilla. This picturesque oceanfront town was founded in 1775. It’s  located on Puerto Rico’s northwest shore. It’s known to have some of the best surf breaks on the Island and some of the most beautiful beaches.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

2023 Seattle Boat Show Presentation

By on February 5, 2023 in M/V Dirona

Yesterday we gave a presentation at the Seattle Boat Show on our trip around the world. We described some of the techniques we used to make the trip more safe and comfortable for longer passages and at the dock, ranging from watch-keeping and fuel management to living on a 60Hz boat in 50Hz countries. And…

Keith’s Perspective on Punta Salinas, Isla San Francisco and Costa Baja/Le point de vue de Keith sur Punta Salinas, Isla San Francisco et Costa Baja

By on February 5, 2023 in Kosmos

I enjoyed my time at Punta Salinas. It has salt flats that used to be salt mines; they were fun to explore. We went on the salt flats, which felt like snow and ice. But there were other salt flats … Continue reading →

Feb. 4 – San Juan, PR

By on February 5, 2023 in The Pearl
Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport. – Unknown

This was our first time to fly in three years. I’m happy to say everything went smoothly. It’s nice to fly in the morning, the airport is less crowded and our plane was waiting for us. The only thing that could have gone smoother was our car rental. Oh my we won’t use Payless in San Juan again. All I can say is I’m glad we stayed close to the airport this evening. 

We spent our first night in Puerto Rico in a posh neighborhood of Carolina called Isla Verde. This award-winning beach area is popular among visitors, because it’s close to the airport and full of fancy beach resorts. Isla Verde has golden-sand shores that are framed with tall palm trees, hotels, restaurants, and shops. It might be a great place for some to spend their whole holiday, but we look forward to getting out of the city and seeing more of the real Puerto Rico.

After checking into our apartment we went for a walk on the beach. It was nice to enjoy a rum drink and pizza with our toes in the sand.
It was a little cloudy this evening, but we still enjoyed waking on the beach.

And having dinner with a view at Ocean Breeze.

The view from our balcony this evening.

Feb. 4 – San Juan, PR

By on February 5, 2023 in The Pearl
Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport. – Unknown

This was our first time to fly in three years. I’m happy to say everything went smoothly. It’s nice to fly in the morning, the airport is less crowded and our plane was waiting for us. The only thing that could have gone smoother was our car rental. Oh my we won’t use Payless in San Juan again. All I can say is I’m glad we stayed close to the airport this evening. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

 Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose to Isla San Francisco

By on February 4, 2023 in Kosmos

Sunrise on Saturday, January 28. The island in the middle of the photo is Isla San Francisco. This morning, the wind was light and the anchorage was totally calm. Ahhhhh. We were so happy to have a break from the … Continue reading →

Puerto Rico Adventure

By on February 4, 2023 in The Pearl
“Travel makes you realize that no matter how much you know, there’s always more to learn.” — Nyssa P. Chopra
It’s been three years since we’ve taken a winter adventure…three LONG years. It seems fitting that we’re going back to Puerto Rico exactly three years after our last trip. The world seemed to come to a standstill after we returned in 2020. I hope we never have to experience such a thing in our life’s again. 

During our first visit to PR we spent 18 days circling the whole island. Checking out all the local and visitor favorite places. This time we’ll spend two weeks moving a little slower. We’re going to spend our first week at a beach house in Aguadilla, which is on the west coast. It’ll be our home base while we enjoy the local beaches and do a little hiking. The second week we’ll go inland and explore the mountainous region around Jayuya for three days and then go back to Old San Juan for three days. We truly loved our first trip to Puerto Rico and look forward to exploring the region a little more. 

Puerto Rico Adventure

By on February 4, 2023 in The Pearl
“Travel makes you realize that no matter how much you know, there’s always more to learn.” — Nyssa P. Chopra
It’s been three years since we’ve taken a winter adventure…three LONG years. It seems fitting that we’re going back to Puerto Rico exactly three years after our last trip. The world seemed to come to a standstill after we returned in 2020. I hope we never have to experience such a thing in our life’s again. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Grand Americas Part 8 – Chilean Fjords Part 2

By on February 3, 2023 in Spirit

 Sunday, January 31, 2023 – Enroute to Punta Arenas

 

We were supposed to cruise Chilean Fjords today, but the Captain announced there was a failure of one of the two gyrocompasses and he was unwilling to enter the fjord system with only one.  In addition, the satellite internet had a hardware failure, so we were without internet.  The swells were running at 3 meters, so the ride was relatively bouncy, with a lot of pitching motion the entire day.

 

Monday, February 1, 2023 – Chilean Fjords and El Brujo Glacier

 

After cruising offshore overnight, early in the morning we turned back into the Chilean Fjords, heading down Samiento Channel, the principal north/south channel in the Fjord system.  The ship then headed for El Brujo Glacier, arriving at 0830.  We stayed for about one hour and saw one calving incident as the Captain slowly rotated the ship so everyone could get a view.  Heading back away from the glacier face the ship then continued south down Samiento Channel towards our next destination, Punta Arenas, located about halfway through the Straits of Magellan.

 

El Brujo Glacier Calving

El Brujo Glacier

Shipwreck in Samiento Channel

Tuesday, February 2, 2023 – Punta Arenas

 

Punta Arenas is the largest city south of the 46th Parallel, with a population of 131,000 in the municipality.  The city is an important logistical center for lumber, oil from Tierro del Fuego, a large Duty Free center, and for support to Antarctic expeditions.  The city’s main boulevards are wide and tree lined.  Our ship did not depart until 2100, so we had plenty of time to explore and make last minute purchases we may have forgotten for the upcoming Antarctic visit.

 

The weather across the Drake Passage is predicted to be sloppy, so at the last moment the Captain announced we would divert to Ushuaia and anchor for the evening to sneak across to Antarctica in calmer weather.  Unfortunately, that will cut our time short by one day in the Antarctic Peninsula.

 

Condor Sculpture In Punta Arenas

Magellan Statue in Plaza des Armas

Typical Street scene in Punta Arenas

Wednesday, February 3, 2023  Glacier Alley and Ushuaia

 

The ship entered the north arm of Beagle Channel, known as Glacier Alley at about 0900, since at least 7 glaciers line the north side of the channel in a space of only 10 NM.  The wind was blowing and there was a lot of rain, but there were enough gaps in the squalls everyone good a good view of the glaciers.  By 1100 we had passed the last glacier and headed directly for Ushuaia, where the anchor was dropped at 1500.  The wind and rain prevented tender operation initially and we never were cleared for tender operations, so we are at anchor until we leave at 2400.  The Drake Passage is expected to be rough, so the ship has handed out sea sickness medication to everyone.

Glacier Alley
This was a tidewater glacier in 2015

Glacier Alley

Rainbow in Beagle Channel