Fajardo, Puerto Rico

On February 2, 2016 we pulled anchor in Salinas and traveled 57 miles to Fajardo, Puerto Rico.  Our destination was Puerto Del Ray Marina, the largest marina in the Caribbean to have Silent Dream pulled out of the water for a new bottom paint job and a few other maintenance items.  Puerto Del Ray is one of the best marinas we have seen with every service and amenity a cruiser needs including golf cart rides to your slip.  We decided to see more of Puerto Rico while we were in Fajardo so we rented a car and off we went sightseeing. 

El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest System.  There are many plants, trees and animals that are found nowhere else in the world and has mountains reaching 3,000 feet.

Old San Juan is the oldest settlement in Puerto Rico and was historically protected by Fort El Morro.  The city is characterized by its narrow, blue cobblestone streets, and flat roofed brick and stone buildings which date back to the 16th and 17th century.  There are many beautiful beaches all around the island.

Ponce, on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, is the second largest city in Puerto Rico with a red and black striped fire station, the first on the island built in 1882, Ponce History Museum, Fountain of the Lions, and the Ponce Art Museum.  We enjoyed Pinchos (meat on a stick), barbecued on the street corner, and quite good.

Silent Dream was hauled out and given a new bottom paint job as most of her paint vanished with the numerous bottom scrapings to remove the vegetation and living things that attach themselves constantly.  She has a harder paint that should last a few years, we hope!  Our next destination is St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.