May 1 - 11, 2015
Arriving in Fajardo, Puerto Rico is like coming back to see a good friend. We have stayed in Sunbay Marina three times. There’s not much to do in the immediate vicinity, but it is a very safe marina with an excellent staff. A couple of things that make it unique: none of the employees are allowed to accept a tip and water and electricity are included in the daily fee. A small community of shops is a one mile walk away. The deli has excellent inexpensive sandwiches. Skipper Marine looks small, but is well stocked. The manager was chatting with Brian about how difficult it is to get 3M products shipped to him. Then he found out that Brian was the former 3M expert for 5200 and Spray Adhesive 77. At the end of that conversation Brian was awarded a ‘nice guy’ discount. Cute!!!
Arriving in Fajardo, Puerto Rico is like coming back to see a good friend. We have stayed in Sunbay Marina three times. There’s not much to do in the immediate vicinity, but it is a very safe marina with an excellent staff. A couple of things that make it unique: none of the employees are allowed to accept a tip and water and electricity are included in the daily fee. A small community of shops is a one mile walk away. The deli has excellent inexpensive sandwiches. Skipper Marine looks small, but is well stocked. The manager was chatting with Brian about how difficult it is to get 3M products shipped to him. Then he found out that Brian was the former 3M expert for 5200 and Spray Adhesive 77. At the end of that conversation Brian was awarded a ‘nice guy’ discount. Cute!!!
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| Loving our new sun/wind/privacy screen! |
Since we are in a marina, I am getting my 13K steps (almost 6 miles) a day. We have been wanting to have a screen made for the back of the cockpit, but haven’t been anyplace long enough to get it done. On one of my step outings I met Miguel who was installing a sunshade on a neighboring boat. It looked really good, so I asked him about making something for us. Although this is their peak season his wife, Sary, said she could have it done by Saturday (just three days) and she gave us a very reasonable price. Perfect!!! We are waiting for 40 knot winds in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos to calm down. Now at least we would accomplish something while we wait.
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| You can't always trust GPS. We followed this road to the top of the hill where the ruts got so deep we thought we might break an axel. We had been told that the road was steep and narrow but this was ridiculous! Surprise surprise -- Turns out there was another steep narrow road to the observatory! The second one was paved. |
The first three days that we were here we rented a car to run a few errands and see more of the island. West Marine had a new water heater waiting for us. It had been ordered on our last visit. And, if you are a regular on this post, you know we went to Costco. The Arecibo Observatory is the largest radio telescope on earth. Guess who wanted to see it? We also made another visit to Old San Juan.
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| The Arecibo Observatory The dish is 1000 feet in diameter. It was located here in 1963 because there was a huge sink hole, it was near the equator, and Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. |
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| The fort is the focal point of Old San Juan. There are actually two forts surrounded by a huge public park. Every time we have been here the wind has been blowing like crazy so there are lots of kites in the air. |
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| Time to relax with a snack in the museum's courtyard. |
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| Lots of statues throughout the neighborhoods. We liked these: penguins on a cruise and a happy world. |
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| The narrow streets of Old San Juan are steep hills. Shops, restaurants and residences line both sides of the brick streets that are made of blue glazed tiles. |
Gotta smile -- we're lovin the ride!
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