In Search of Mythical Creatures

Puerto Rico's southern coast, seen from the safety of a wide channel

Next morning, we left Sun Bay escorted on our way by a small pod of dolphin.  We had a cloudy day but a beautiful, easy sail to Salinas, Puerto Rico.  We came onto the bank through the Boca de Infierno (don’t they have such eloquent names?), wondered about people walking over some of the surrounding reefs, and made our way through a barrier reef/island and mangrove swamp protected channel to an anchorage off Cayo Mata.  

A very calm and pleasant anchorage off Salinas. 
Manatees did not grace us with their presence this time...

These waters are mangrove fringed, murky and shallow.  Dotted with character boats (some are wrecks and it’s a miracle they still float), we squeezed in trying not to have WJ3’s bottom hanging too far into the channel, busy with local boats and jet skis.  We had hoped to catch sight of the elusive manatees (dugongs), with the Cap’n noticing maybe, a nose, a whisker and a splash as it quickly took cover.  No singing, so it couldn’t have been a selkie.  No wonder it fled really, as we looped round and round the bay like loonies, trying to release the main.  Yep, stuck in the mast, yet again.  Isn’t sailing such fun?  “At least,” said our trusty Cap’n, “I’m getting fitter.”  Great… 

Sunset & Cayo Mata behind WJ3

On a mission to keep moving, our next stop was Guánica, a pleasant anchorage we found on our way down last year.  A family, on their way home form a day at the beach, came over and invited us to their New Year’s celebrations.  The father worked part of the year in the Med, delivering newly constructed sailboats to new owners.  It was a lovely gesture from a fellow yachtsman, and certainly confirmed Puerto Rico as the friendliest Caribbean Island we had visited.  Midnight arrived, as did the New Year, and this tiny community exploded in a firework frenzy, all done locally at their own expense, with readily available fireworks.  No, nanny state stuff, just good old common sense, and parental guidance.

Rusting skeletons, like a Mad Max stage setting,
dot the mangrove foreshore in Guanica

(Selkies are mythical sea creatures that can transform into women by shedding their seal skin.  They are also said to have beautiful singing voices according to Scottish & Irish folklore. So perhaps it's a tad too warm for them here in Puerto Rico.)