We rented a car in Salinas, on the south coast, and zipped up over the mountains to San Juan just an hour away on the north. We had fond memories of some good times spent here with friends the last time we passed through over ten years ago, and were eager to see if it would still hold up.
Our cheap Jamaican replacement batteries for the boat wouldn’t hold a 12v charge, even through the night, so it was time to replace them with some proper batteries. When we first took off on this boat we bought cheapo flooded batteries from West Marine, not really expecting much out of them. We put in two 8D flooded batteries for about $900 total, which alongside a normal car battery that was already in the boat’s third battery box, we did just fine for over two years. About $35/mo for the life of the batteries. I’ll take that.
This time we upgraded to AGM batteries, and also replaced the car battery with a 3rd 8D. Total $2400. So now we’ve got a 735ah battery bank, and I won’t have to top off the batteries with water every month any more. I know these days a lot of people are putting in Lithium batteries, but I can’t justify the expense, and doubt I could source them here anyway.
Batteries loaded in the trunk we headed into Old San Juan and kicked things off with lunch at a rooftop restaurant. I had an awesome mofongo. The day was off to a great start.
Castillo de San Cristóbal. It’s kind of fascinating to read about the Spanish-American War, which to my memory at least, was glossed over or completely excluded from high-school American history class. The fighting from these forts didn’t last long, and soon enough Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Phillipines went from Spanish rule to American rule.
The fort was a great place to spend a couple hours exploring and enjoying the views. It’s incredibly well preserved too, being a U.S. National Park and World Heritage Site.
Old San Juan itself is beautiful. It’s exactly the kind of town we like—similar to our recent visit to Santo Domingo—vibrant, colorful, and occasionally crumbling.
My kids shamed me for only slipping five dollars through the slot when I clearly had a twenty in my hand. I volunteered that they could give some of their money, but like most kids they are more willing to part with dad’s money than their own. A voice inside called out thank you, though.
That night at home Lowe decided he was going to work out the next morning. Ouest liked the idea and quickly scribbled out a workout routine for him, beginning at 7 a.m. sharp. Remarkably, the next morning when we pointed out that it was seven, they both popped up and headed outside.
With that done, we headed back to San Juan.
Around the castles in San Juan is a huge green park, perfect for spending an afternoon like this.
On the Monday after our San Juan excursions, Puerto Rico would go on lockdown. We had moved from the anchorage to the marina on Sunday morning in order to be able to load our new batteries. By Monday evening the marina could no longer accept new boats. The lockdown means no movement. Unless we are walking to get food, we’re supposed to remain onboard. Police boats patrol the bay every day, and there is nobody out.
Plans for this cruising season have come to a screeching halt. Borders everywhere have closed. We feel fortunate to be where we are, with ready access to food, the ability to work from home, and everything else we could possibly need onboard. It’s a shame, of course, that we can’t continue on to the Virgin Islands (Spanish, US, and British), and further south, as we had planned to be right now, but there are certainly worse things in life. We hope all our friends are doing well.
Watching a coronavirus news conference.
The only things missing from the grocery store shelves here in Puerto Rico are Clorox wipes. Other than that, they have so far avoided the insanity of toilet paper hoarding, and aisles remain fully stocked.
12 Comments on “San Juan Color”
I don’t mean to pry or seem like I’m trying to get something for nothing but I am curious & since you mentioned it in your blog I wanted to ask if I’m correct in that your investors lost not a penny in this recent cooties related crash? In fact it seems some profited? If so you beat our financial advisors & all the various advisors of our many friends who lost money, an intriguing feat for sure……
Lovely pics as always & missing those yummy mofongos! Be glad you get to stay at the marina-we were just evicted from our camping here in California! Crazy times. Stay safe & sane.
Along the way we made a couple small trades and we initiated a small position two days ago. Our trading account is off ~3% since the February market highs while the Dow is down ~36%. And yes, our Basecamp group did tremendously well trading put options during that time.
Bummer about getting the boot from the campground. Hope you’ve got somewhere else you can get to okay. Stay healthy.
This is a terrific set of photographs you are both very talented.
Doug
Thanks, Doug. We both really enjoy it – we nearly fight over who gets to carry the camera around town.
Glad you guys are all safe and sound. The pics of PR are amazing. I’ve never been. Also, the teak on your boat looks so beautiful! Is this what you had done in Guatemala? I’m looking at a boat that needs a lot of bright work help and was considering taking it out of the USA for the work. I can’t remember where you did yours.
Ugh teak work. We had a bit done when we bought her in Florida – holy cow, expensive! Then we got it done last season in Guatemala – wow so cheap and done wonderfully. If we had to return to Guatemala again – we would have the inside done as well. Right now, today, we are working on doing a few layers of varnish to keep it in good shape. Three years owning this boat, and we have never touched up the varnish ourselves.
Howdy!
Thanks for all your stuff–I love following! Question: Briefly describe your internet service, cost, etc. You probably have in the past but thank you if you will. Be Safe! Tommy
Howdy Tommy, with regards to internet we have Google Fi that works good as a hotspot for the family and for arrival in new countries. Then once we are settled in to a new country, we get a local sim card and plan for our overage after Google Fi throttles back. You can read a bit more here: https://wandererfinancial.com/google-fi-for-digital-nomads/
Be healthy!
Glad you guys are in a good spot to be hunkered down in these crazy times! Beautiful pictures as always!
Thanks, Bill. You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Of course we would love to keep on our cruising season – we’ve done so good this season! And with hurricane season on our minds and weather and mileage and borders closed — and if we even should think about going as this virus is going to be around for awhile. So many plans and talks of what to do.
Crazy times indeed. Stay home and healthy!
i’ve been wondering when we might see the dreaded C word in your posts, secretly hoping that wherever you were, you would remain free to wander. instead, welcome to the lockdown club. hang in there, wanderers.
We are thankful Puerto Rico has been proactive in the virus lockdown. They are out in force to keep everyone home and making good decisions for the mass population and knowing that their hospitals would not be able to handle an outbreak. We will see what happens after the May extension is lifted? or extended? or…
Thanks for the club welcome! Stay healthy!