24 to 31 March 2024

Cayo de Pirata, Culebra to San Juan, Puerto Rico, 18° 27′ 53″ N, 66° 5′ 57″ W, 56nm, 13 hours

We were really sad not to be able to spend more time with Oda, Onno and Jasper but, after so long spent in such remote and tiny places we were really keen to have some city time and, although it had not originally been on our itinerary, San Juan promised everything we were craving in a metropolis.

The upside was that we got to go with Babs and Rene. We hadn’t sailed in company with Momentum since Las Palmas in October last year so it was great to have our favourite buddy boat back. Unfortunately, not all was well on board. Babs was really struggling with a recurrence of the back issues that had delayed their Atlantic crossing in 2022 and Rene was solo sailing this passage. We hoped that a week’s rest in San Juan whilst we sat out some weather and access to better medical services would be everything Babs would need to recover thoroughly.

As we got closer to the capital of Puerto Rico we could make out the distinctive Capitol building, the multi-coloured houses of the old city and at the entrance, El Morro, the Spanish built fortress.

We were approaching the entrance of the huge harbour at San Juan just as the sun was going down. As Momentum started making their way into the channel we heard a call on the VHF from the US coast guard to a sailing yacht who had been anchored in the harbour. They were very firmly being told to move and then to leave the harbour. There was some toing and froing between them about trying to find space in the marina but eventually we saw the catamaran involved head out of the entrance. Really worried that we had nowhere close to go as an alternative if we suffered the same fate and steeling ourselves for sailing off somewhere into the night, we tried unsuccessfully to speak to the coast guard to confirm what the situation was and waited for word from Babs and Rene on what happened as they approached the city’s anchorage.

As the moon rose we tentatively continued into the port. Momentum had anchored without incident and, as we heard nothing from the coast guard on the radio, we continued in and anchored behind them. With a backdrop of city skyline, alongside a huge superyacht (owned by the founder of WhatsApp!) and next to an airport runway, this was going to be a very different experience after so long in the Caribbean islands.

We immediately enjoyed a very different kind of scenery in the streets of San Juan. There were some unusual architectural styles amongst the 1930s and more modern apartment blocks and there were still some reminders that we were in the Caribbean with the odd corrugated iron house in their shadow. There were also very busy road systems to navigate in which pedestrians were very far down the pecking order.

In this US territory Stefan was getting his first taste of what the States was going to be like. On our walk to Walmart we saw a Coca Cola lorry and a Wendy’s and no amount of warning prepared him for the overwhelming size of the two storey superstore when we got there. We spent nearly all morning walking around the aisles staring at the choice of products we never knew we needed nor had really missed in the last six months!

On the other end of the scale, we hadn’t seen much of everyday life in Puerto Rico. The pavements were almost entirely empty of pedestrians. We wondered where everyone was until we stumbled across a small neighbourhood corner shop. When Stefan first went in, he found lots of locals standing or sitting around drinking beer together. He asked the woman behind the till whether it was a party. No, she said, people just come together to have a drink and socialise! When we next went in we found a group of locals watching a film on the big screen. It was obviously more of a community hub than a convenience store.

This still being the Caribbean we were not surprised to find chickens in the streets again but the other non-human residents were more of a surprise. Out on a bike ride Stefan saw a pig sauntering down the road as if s/he had all the right in the world to be there. He decided not to tell me because he thought I wouldn’t believe him. He was right! That I would have to see with my own eyes! And it wasn’t long before I did, not once but twice. In a local park we found not one but two sleeping pigs and on another occasion we shared the pavement with another purposefully walking to his destination. I stopped to ask a local where they came from and he offered to sell it to me!

Another unusual resident were the manatees in the harbour and neighbouring lagoon. Signs in the marinas warned boaters to drive slowly so as not to harm these gentle giants. We didn’t spot many of these big seal like creatures except one day when we looked over into the lagoon from the bridge and could see one swim right next to an unaware paddle boarder. And we never managed to catch them on camera!

On our way to explore San Juan’s old town, we found a very Spanish feeling public park full of sculptures of political figures from Puerto Rico’s past, including its first democratically elected governor, Luis Monõz, after whom the park was named.

The Spanish theme continued with these very southern European looking buildings.

Further along Constitution Avenue, it all started looking a lot more like the USA with its gleeming white Capitol building (still under repair from the damage of Hurricane Maria). In front, on the Paseo de los Presidentes, was a curious line up of statues of former US Presidents. We struggled to recognise many of them (we need to do our homework before arriving in the States!) but there were some very obvious omissions. No Reagan, neither Bush and definitely no Trump. We wondered if they had been excluded because the Puerto Ricans weren’t too fond of them but it turned out that only Presidents who visited Puerto Rico get the honour of a statue.

And then as we got closer to Old San Juan we found a square dedicated to, yes, you guessed it, Christopher Columbus! Yep, he was here too in 1493 but the less said about him the better!

Deeper into the heart of the old town, it felt as though we had really been transported back to Europe again amongst all the alleys and balconies and squares.

We stopped for a coffee in the gorgeous Plaza de Armas with its Four Seasons fountain and wonderfully shaded cafe.

The streets of the capital of Puerto Rico are so colourful.

Even the cobblestones are bright blue, made from stone brought as ballast on Spanish ships

and its street art certainly leaves no mistake about where you are!

The art continued inside the Latin American art museum, housed in the old Army barracks

with wonderfully painted furniture by Eddie Ferraioli and beautiful, evocative textiles by Imna Arroyo.

We thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in the museum’s big, bright exhibits, part art, part ethnography.

Outside the museum, the buildings of the old town gave way to a vast green park full of tourists on their way to the fort but also lots of local families out flying kites.

Inside Castillo San Felipe del Morro, which guarded San Juan from 1539 right up to WWII, we explored the multiple levels of its defences

and enjoyed views out across the entrance to the harbour we had navigated on our way in through just a few days before.

Our time in San Juan coincided with the Easter holidays and over the weekend we found its beaches, on both the ocean side and in the lagoon, full of families relaxing and having fun together. It was easy to fall in love with this city. It had everything we love – a modern new city for all the amenities we need, a pretty old town for exploring its streets and museums and galleries for absorbing its history and culture. Spending time there made us realise we are much more city people than we thought!

But once the big weather system we had been sitting out had passed, we had to start thinking about leaving and looking for the first window to take us the 450nm across to the Bahamas. We were still on schedule for beating hurricane season but needed to press on.

Unfortunately, news from onboard Momentum was not good. Babs’ back was still very bad and she had not been able to get off the boat all week. She and Rene were going to have to stay to explore treatment options. We were sad to be having to leave them in the circumstances but also sad to be leaving Puerto Rico. It had gone straight to the top of our favourite Caribbean islands…