Salinas to Boca de Infierno to Puerto Patillas

We're on the move again and enjoying the south coast of Puerto Rico. We left the Salinas harbor on Sunday late afternoon following some strange weather. There was a "microburst" of heavy wind through the anchorage. Michael saw it coming after watching a tree on shore get stripped of all it's leaves in the heavy circulating wind. It caused a large catamaran anchored near us to drag anchor and every boat in the anchorage was facing a different direction after it passed. It was strange. After the weather settled it was still very overcast but calmer and we made our way through the mangroves and reefs to anchor off Boca de Infierno. Sounds like a scary kind of place(direct translation: Mouth of Hell) - but we snuggled up near a mangrove island and it was a very pleasant night - though warm after the wind totally died.

The south coast of Puerto Rico can be rough due to the heavy trades (easterly winds) and swells. The secret is to take advantage of the islands topography The mountains push the trades away from shore as the sun goes down - so night sailing or beating the morning warm-up is the way to go. We only had about 18 miles to go from Boca de Infierno to Puerto Patillas so we decided an early morning start would help is beat the easterlies. We couldn't leave in the dark because of the reefs near Infierno. We had the anchor up at 0615 and a very pleasant trip.

As we arrived in this old fishing village with pretty palm lined beaches, Michael spotted a large manatee. We were anchored before 0930 for breakfast. The wind started just as we anchored and has been steadily growing. We'll enjoy a day here and if the weather cooperates we'll take off again tomorrow before daybreak to again take advantage of the lull in the winds and head to "monkey island." It's another 20 plus miles as we'll turn the corner and be on the east side of Puerto Rico.