I am writing to you from Isle Caja de Muertos aka Coffin Island….but let’s face it, the Spanish version sounds much cooler. It is an island located about an hour and half from Ponce so we thought we’d make the jump and spend a couple of nights. It is a beautiful location! The origin of the name is unclear but the two top choices are that a pirate buried his beloved on the island and the second is that the island is shaped like a coffin. I know which story I prefer!
Until Friday, the week had been a pretty uneventful one with just running errands and doing some boat projects. We went to San Juan to go to the West Marine store and spent far too much money. Instead of eating at one of the million American restaurants in San Juan, we headed up a mountain to what the locals call the Lechonera Trail. Hmmm, what does mean? Lechonera Trail obviously means really yummy barbeque! We had a huge plate of delicious ribs and shredded pork and left very fat and happy. I voted that I could never be a vegan because gnawing on those rib bones was just a piece of heaven. Then came Friday. Before I tackle Friday, let me take you on a journey back a few years. Whenever someone decides they want to live on a sailboat, the first recommendation is to take a sailing course through the American Sailing Association. So, wanting to be smart sailors, we signed up to take the ASA 101 class in Fajardo, PR back in 2018. The ASA class taught us a lot of lessons such as ropes are called lines and sheets, all the names of the boat parts and sections, how to raise and lower a sail and how to read wind directions. All important information but is it really the information that should be covered in the very first course? No. We are going with the introduction of a new prerequisite course called Dumbass 101. In Dumbass 101, you would learn lessons such as what to do if someone falls off of the boat, how do you get unstuck when you run aground, how to keep from getting your foot caught in ropes, how to keep from dropping all of your electronic devices in the water. Those seem like important points to know prior to pulling up sails but hey, what do we know? On Friday, we decided to take Houdinghy over to a small island that was about a mile across the bay from the marina. We went early in the morning to avoid high winds and planned on being back in time to avoid the crazy late morning waves. The ride over was an easy one and as we chugged closer, we noticed that there were a couple of mooring balls close to the shore. Why would there be mooring balls when one could just pull the dinghy up on the beach. Dumbass 101 lesson one: if there are mooring balls present, use them….otherwise there would be no mooring balls. Since we had not taken Dumbass 101, we ignored the mooring balls and pulled the dinghy up to the shore. Our dinghy is a hard shell dinghy (vs a rubber one) so it is difficult to pull out of the water. Bill jumped out of the dinghy and we pulled it as far as we could but soon realized that we were not going to get it completely out of the water. That’s okay! We will just use our tiny dinghy anchor. Bill tied on the anchor and buried it well into the sand. Then, we set off exploring the little island and the lighthouse. We were gone for about 20 minutes when we rounded the corner to find the dinghy flooded with water and waves crashing over the side. The anchor was nowhere to be found. We tried pulling the dinghy further up onto the beach but now it was at least 100 pounds heavier with the water in it so we knew that was not going to happen. Bill pulled the plug out of the dinghy to try and drain some of the water but it was so full, that did not work. He decided that he could use the small bilge pump that we had in the dinghy to begin to get some of the water out of the dinghy. However, for each pump, the next wave would just crash over the side and refill the boat. He finally came up with the plan to take the water logged dinghy out to the mooring ball and then pump out the water since that would stop the wave issue. One small problem, we could not find the dinghy plug. It had been swept away in the chaos and had obviously joined the anchor in Davy Jones locker. Bill, being inspired by McGuyver, shoved his shirt into the hole to slow the flow of water. Next, Bill pulled the motor off the dinghy to lighten the weight and we dragged it out to the mooring and tied it off. Bill then began using the bilge pump to drain the water and I began bailing with a container. Slowly but surely, we managed to get the majority of the water out of the dinghy. Then, we had to carry our bag and the motor over our heads from the beach out to the dinghy. The most exciting part was dragging our 55 year old bodies out of the water and back into the dinghy without a ladder…other lesson in Dumbass 101….always bring the ladder. With a lot of pushing and pulling, we both managed to plop back in the dinghy and make our way back over to Galt. Now, don’t you think that learning a basic mooring ball lesson in Dumbass 101 would have been more beneficial than knowing that a rope is called a line? Once back on Galt, we found out through every ache and pain in our bodies how hard we had been working but we had a good laugh about the situation. The good thing is that once we make a mistake, we usually do learn from it and try to avoid a repeat! On Saturday morning, we packed up and set sail for Muertos. Well, not actually sailing because we had to take down our mizzen and give it to the sailmaker so he could get us a new sail. It will take about a month so we’ll just have the main sail for awhile….see how much I learned in ASA 101 about the names of boat parts? So useful. On the way to Muertos, we had been following two smaller sailboats that had left port just ahead of us. We were about 1.5 miles away from Muertos when we passed one of the boats and they began to wave at us for assistance. Bill turned Galt in their direction so we could see what they needed. Their engine had died and their mast “almost came off” so they were dead in the water. We had never towed anyone before….Lesson number 2 needed in Dumbass 101…..but we grabbed their line and they followed along like a little puppy. We all made it to Muertos intact and we were glad that we could help. Muertos has been a beautiful place for our weekend visit. During the day, all of the locals and tourists arrive for a huge party so the people watching has been fun. Then, by 4pm, everyone leaves except the boaters and we have a quiet paradise all to ourselves. This morning, we decided to hike up to the lighthouse and on that walk, I discovered why the island is named Coffin Island….every plant on the island is obviously designed to kill you! Cacti and thorn bushes and prickly bushes everywhere. Luckily, our friends that had done the hike the week before us had warned us to wear pants. They had not been so fortunate and ended up with Puerto Rican poison ivy….they obviously did not take Dumbass 101 either! Tomorrow we are heading out to Salinas, PR to see what it has to offer. Here’s to hoping that your week is a warm one, your power bill does not land you in debtor’s jail and that you do not have any need for Dumbass 101! PS: I caught a fish! A Bluerunner which is edible! Yay!!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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