After viewing the Sea wolf Jean drops us back at the Marina, where we've arranged to have a look at a Tayana 37. This will be our first opportunity to get on board the yacht that has been pinned to our wall in England for the last five years. We find Jane aboard, she's in her 80s', her husband isn't there and she wasn't expecting us till mid-afternoon. The boats in such a mess, she says, we say we'll grab a bite to eat and come back in a while and not to worry. We get back about an hour later and her husband Dick is now back and they invite us on board. This is a beautiful boat, a boat they took delivery of,new, in 1984 and are now having to sell as their sail buy time has come.
This has been their home for 20 years, and it has that feel about it. They have lovingly looked after their boat and it shows. If we had the money to buy her, then I'm sure we would but at $65000 she is beyond our budget. We just had to get on board one of these fine vessels though to see if what we had dreamt about all these years was true, that this would be our dream boat, the ideal size for us, and one that would sail anywhere and we could feel good about.
Jane and Dick are a lovely couple and they chatted away freely extoling the beauty of their baby. And suddenly it was 3.30pm, and we had to get back on the road if we were going to make it back to the car rental office by closing time of 5pm.
The drive back was tense with the clock ticking down the minutes and a distinct lack of signs telling us how far we still had to go to Mayaguez. "Was that 55 miles to go or 55km" I said. The speed limit signs said 55mph so are the signs in miles or km. I start to ignore the speed limit and stay glued to a van that's dodging in and out of lanes heading in our direction keeping a sharp eye out for police. It's all 110% concentration but as ten to five ticks by we hit the outskirts of Mayaguez and phone the office to tell them where we are. It's rush hour in the city and we begin to crawl, it's five to five.
We pull into the Enterprise yard with two minutes to spare, and the heavens open.
We made it!
A taxi arrives to take us back to the Caribbean Fantasy waiting at the ferry port where we check in and get on board, dump our stuff and have a shower. Then it's out on deck for cold Presidente and a cigarette.
We stay there watching the sun setting over Puerto Rico, and polish off a couple of bottles of wine. We talk endlessly about those two boats, and buy both of them, before falling into our bunks at about half nine.
We rise at about 5.30 and watch the dawn break as we glide towards Santo Domingo with even less people on board than the outward voyage. Mind you this passenger list has a bit more cinematic qualities about it. We've got a chapter of Hells angels and an order of nuns aboard. The Nuns are all kitted out in white from head to toe. Two are on deck for sunrise and one of the Hells angels is there to bring them a couple of chairs for them to sit in, I thought that was a quaint juxtaposing of angels.
We anticipated all sorts of difficult issues arising when we hit customs at Santo Domingo but we glide through with just lots of bienvenidos, have a nice stay, and we're back where we started 24 hours ago.
Back on the Metro luxury bus and by 4pm we're home at Orilla Del Mar.
That was some adventure.
This has been their home for 20 years, and it has that feel about it. They have lovingly looked after their boat and it shows. If we had the money to buy her, then I'm sure we would but at $65000 she is beyond our budget. We just had to get on board one of these fine vessels though to see if what we had dreamt about all these years was true, that this would be our dream boat, the ideal size for us, and one that would sail anywhere and we could feel good about.
Jane and Dick are a lovely couple and they chatted away freely extoling the beauty of their baby. And suddenly it was 3.30pm, and we had to get back on the road if we were going to make it back to the car rental office by closing time of 5pm.
The drive back was tense with the clock ticking down the minutes and a distinct lack of signs telling us how far we still had to go to Mayaguez. "Was that 55 miles to go or 55km" I said. The speed limit signs said 55mph so are the signs in miles or km. I start to ignore the speed limit and stay glued to a van that's dodging in and out of lanes heading in our direction keeping a sharp eye out for police. It's all 110% concentration but as ten to five ticks by we hit the outskirts of Mayaguez and phone the office to tell them where we are. It's rush hour in the city and we begin to crawl, it's five to five.
We pull into the Enterprise yard with two minutes to spare, and the heavens open.
We made it!
A taxi arrives to take us back to the Caribbean Fantasy waiting at the ferry port where we check in and get on board, dump our stuff and have a shower. Then it's out on deck for cold Presidente and a cigarette.
We stay there watching the sun setting over Puerto Rico, and polish off a couple of bottles of wine. We talk endlessly about those two boats, and buy both of them, before falling into our bunks at about half nine.
We rise at about 5.30 and watch the dawn break as we glide towards Santo Domingo with even less people on board than the outward voyage. Mind you this passenger list has a bit more cinematic qualities about it. We've got a chapter of Hells angels and an order of nuns aboard. The Nuns are all kitted out in white from head to toe. Two are on deck for sunrise and one of the Hells angels is there to bring them a couple of chairs for them to sit in, I thought that was a quaint juxtaposing of angels.
We anticipated all sorts of difficult issues arising when we hit customs at Santo Domingo but we glide through with just lots of bienvenidos, have a nice stay, and we're back where we started 24 hours ago.
Back on the Metro luxury bus and by 4pm we're home at Orilla Del Mar.
That was some adventure.
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