[Again, we are late, very late with our blog. And we did some mess also. We will try to catch up now by going quickly backwards with the blog entries we did not publish yet…
We visited Isla Caja de Muertos on the 7th of May (!) – just before our sail to Curacao – the blog entry we published before this one…]
As always, we make our plans but the winds and the weather is what rules our life on the water. We have a flight back to Europe in three weeks from Curacao – about 4 days sail south across the caribbean sea. We would have loved staying here in Puerto Rico but there is a very good weather window opening in 3 days that will allow us a relatively comfortable sail down to the ABC islands. And for us, whenever a window is present we take advantage of it even if it is ahead of our schedule. So we head out of Salinas towards Ponce (this time downwind!) to do the clearance out of Puerto Rico. On the way to Ponce lies a small island known as ‘coffin island’ because it resembles a coffin from far away. No one lives on the island except for a couple of rangers and hundreds of turtles that use the shores of the island for laying their eggs.
Just before we reached the island we caught a huge Cero fish which we will share with High Five, the Belgian boat we met in Salinas and sailed with us to this small island. During the day plenty of tourist come to the island with the ferry from Ponce but as the evening arrives we have the island only to ourselves. On shore we meet two young and very nice rangers. They stay on the island for two weeks helping and instructing visitors but their main function is to protect and watch the turtles which call Caja de Muertos their hatching home. At night they go to the shore and look for turtles, Virginie asks if we can join. They agree happily but without the kids – it will be too noisy and threatening for the turtles. So after a Cero on the bbq with High Five Virginie and Pascale go ashore for a women’s night with rangers and turtles. Unfortunately, the turtles did not show up for the date.
The next day we climb the island’s only hill where a lighthouse and beautiful view point awaits. The path goes through a forest of cactus trees. This little island is a real gem and we could have stayed here for another week easily but the weather dictates…
The following day we head to Ponce, only 5 miles away. We fill water, diesel, do the clearance out, raise our sails and head south, across the caribbean sea, to Curacao.
