Captain's Log Page 20

Tideline Yacht Sales
17 Lockwood Drive
Charleston, SC 29401

PHONE: 843.813.3711
FAX: 866.467.8840
Email: glen@tidelineyachtsales.com

      Although it too has a well protected sound we decided not to anchor in there. Depth was an issue, and we opted for the anchorage near the ferry terminal. Fortunately the ferry did not run at night, and slowed down sufficiently when coming in so that it did not disturb us.

Because our boat was not US flagged, we could not call customs and tell them we had arrived. We had to present ourselves to the office and fill out the necessary paperwork. Since there was not much to do there, we decided only to spend a couple of days and then move on to San Juan.

Arriving in San Juan one is greeted by a castle on the right. We had managed to confirm that the only anchorage was all the way up the San Juan River, just in front of the yacht club. We dropped anchor and went to the yacht club to find out where we could clear in. They gave us vague directions, in Spanish, and we decided to go by water to avoid the congested roads.

After going down the river for a while it was obvious there were no facilities for cruisers to tie up, and we eventually found a dock, at the local Coast Guard base. We tied up, and were given directions to the front gate. After walking across the base we came to the gate, and explained to the guard what we were looking for. He looked like he was about to lose his job! The commander of the base was contacted, and after our explaining what we were trying to achieve he instructed the guard to allow us through, and pointed us in the right direction. The office we needed was around the corner from the base. This was obviously before 9/11, as had this occurred today we would probably have been arrested!

San Juan is a large, bustling city that overwhelmed us. We came to the conclusion that we had become used to living in small communities, and this was all too much for us. After a couple of days of relaxing, and watching the weather, we decided to take the weather window and head north.

We picked up the sails and headed out to sea. After about 4 hours of motorsailing the wind dropped completely, and we were flogging the sails. We furled the genoa, and left the main up to stabilize the boat.

Our goal had been to go directly to Charleston, SC, which we anticipated would take no more than 8 days. After 3 days of motoring, with no end in sight, we decided to stop off and take a break. The Turks and Caicos was the obvious choice.

I plotted our course accordingly, and headed toward the closest island in the group, Grand Turk. Grand Turk is the capital of the Turks and Caicos, and is not particularly well-developed. We approached from the windward side of the island, and arrived within sight at 2 in the morning. Because it is relatively shallow, and can be treacherous, we decided to heave-to and come in during daylight hours. I set a GPS, Radar and depth alarm and went to sleep. continue to page 21 >>