ANCHORING 102 in BOQUERÓN, PR

 



The anchorage is near town in the far distance.

Eight days ago, we sailed into the expansive bay at Boquerón on Puerto Rico's western coast for the first time.  From a distance there appeared to be about a dozen vessels settled there mainly near the town dock.  We anchored away from the pack to avoid the excessively loud music typically played on Friday through Sunday nights. The first few days in Boquerón were busy with going ashore to familiarize ourselves with the area, meeting fellow cruisers, and ultimately enjoying sundowners on board Exit Strategy with a couple. After all the excitement of another new adventure, we slept well those first few nights.


Each weekend in Boquerón brings out tables full of fresh clams and oysters for the merry makers.

  

When Monday rolled around, it was quite another story. The winds became quite light and all the boats reacted by slowly revolving 180° one way and then 180° or more in the other direction.  It seemed comical until Dan noticed that our boat was getting somewhat closer to another vessel.

Of course, an experienced cruiser's first reaction in just such a circumstance is to say, "That boat must be dragging."  That said, the Captain and I sat in the cockpit and studied the situation.  It didn't take long for us to conclude -bright students that we are- that OUR BOAT was dragging!  Dan fired up the engine and I weighed anchor to find better holding. It took two tries, but we felt that it was once again well set.

[FOOTNOTE: We routinely snorkel over our anchor to ensure that it is securely set. However, the bay at Boquerón is very silty, so this was not done. In waters like this, you can get an idea of how the anchor is set by observing the chain or feeling it to determine if it is solid, which it was.  We've also learned that the bottom here is soft mud covered in dense sea grass,  making it challenging to penetrate.]


The streets come alive on weekend con turistas y locales.

On Tuesday the light winds and 'boat dancng' continued and by mid day we found ES drifting again.  So the routine commenced for reanchoring and we decided to drop it at the back of the pack.  This time we set our anchor alarm which went off in the middle of the night after 8 hours. Dan checked the conditions on deck and found it to be flat calm, so he reset the alarm.  The bay was still flat calm in the morning, but it soon began to blow 20+ knots and ES was off and running!

That was Wednesday morning.  We reset the hook in another part of the bay AND the anchor alarm again and all has been well on board the good ship Exit Strategy for the last 72 hours. I think we got it right this time.

The captain purchased an over-sized Delta anchor like this about 5 years ago that has served us well.