Caribbean – Diary – Page 25

21.05. – 28.05.2024

From the Greater Antilles to the Netherlands Antilles…

Ponce, Puerto Rico's second-largest city, welcomes us with a view of the industrial port and a wave crossing over. To stabilize us, Bernd drops another anchor and brings us closer to shore – then we're off.

A small river leads from the bay to a small fishing port – here we can tie up our dinghy with the friendly fishermen.

We take an Uber to the old town of Ponce, where there are a few colonial-style houses, a fire department museum, and a few nice restaurants.

We want to take the bus back – public transport here is regular and free – but it's not that easy to find the right bus. Helpful Puerto Ricans are immediately on hand with the words: "I speak English, can I help you?" and the chaos ensues. Although it's part of the USA, English isn't that widespread here; the locals speak Spanish, and their English is often even worse than my Spanish. But not only is the English poor; their knowledge of the local public transport system is also patchy. In the end, we still don't know which bus to take. So we decide to go out and get something to eat first.

Puerto Ricans love socializing, so you'll find bars, cafes, and restaurants everywhere—some simple, some chic, and the Puerto Rican food is impressive. However, the opening hours system doesn't quite make sense to us... they all have different opening hours, with one restaurant closing at different times throughout the day, and the posted opening hours are only a vague statement of intent...

Back at the bus station, we're immediately recognized, and their willingness to help is undiminished... After a friendly Puerto Rican consults with a bus driver, we finally get closer to a solution: our bus is parked at the back of the bus station. So we switch sides, and at the back we find the bus line with our destination—but still the wrong bus. The bus driver tells us the correct bus and tells us to tell the next bus driver that we want to get off at Villa Pesqueras—so nothing goes wrong...

We do the same on the next bus – just to be on the safe side, the security guard comes behind us to instruct the bus driver – yes, they care about their tourists here and don't want to leave anything to chance…

Equipped with a net and a double bottom, we easily reach the fishing port and our dinghy.

The next day, we head to the airport. We've rented a car for another day and want to explore Puerto Rico's caves. This time, Bernd struggles with the switchbacks, and we again don't manage to do everything we had planned—but we get a good impression of Puerto Rico's nature and caves. And we keep getting chatting with other guests—so the day flies by.

We abandon the idea of ​​sailing to the west coast and clear out in Ponce. Now we have 48 hours to leave the country.

On Saturday morning, the two of us set off on our crossing across the Caribbean Sea from the offshore island of Caja de Muertos. The weather forecast for wind speeds is quite good, but unfortunately, we're experiencing easterly winds and cross waves, so the crossing will be quite bumpy and quite strenuous for the two of us.

We are exhausted when we arrive in Kralendijk – the capital of Bonaire – on the morning of the third day of sailing and can moor our Joline at the buoy.