Tuesday, May 2, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Ray took us to the dinghy dock at 8 o'clock. Caught a publico to Cabo Rojo right away, but had a sort of strange experience in Cabo Rojo. The waiting publico was a comfortable Lincoln. There was one other passenger besides us, and soon another came along. The driver collected in advance but didn't leave. He said he was waiting for one more. We waited and waited. It was hot and sweaty. Eventually a fifth passenger arrived. The car was full, so we thought the driver would leave right away. Instead, he waited for one more! I don't know where he thought he was going to put another passenger. We were all getting more and more irritated. I was about to suggest we each chip in an additional 35 cents to get him to go, but just then another driver came along and offered to take us. The first driver had to give everyone back their money, so instead of making $8.75, he made nothing. That's sure dumb. He won't stay in business long that way. We had to go to the terminal in downtown Mayaguez, so we finally got to see more of that city, which is the third largest in Puerto Rico. To get to Salinas, we had to go to Ponce, which is just a few miles west of Salinas. There was an empty publico waiting to go to Ponce. The driver told us he'd been waiting since six o'clock that morning, and we were his first customers! It was then after ten, so it didn't look too promising for getting three more. The fare to Ponce is $5 a person. The driver offered to leave immediately if we'd pay $25. He said he'd bring us back for $10, since he had to return anyway. We rather reluctantly agreed. It was a lot of money, but we never would have gotten to Ponce otherwise. We gave up completely on going to Salinas, since it would be noon by the time we got to Ponce. The driver spoke fairly good English. He had lived in New York for twenty years. It seems as if nearly everyone in Puerto Rico has lived in New York for twenty years. He told us there are no young publico drivers now that nearly everyone owns a car. All the drivers are old men supplementing their Social Security income. So when they die off, I guess there won't be any more publicos. We doubled back towards Cabo Rojo and then got on the main highway that went past San German, Sabana Grande, and Yauco. The driver went in to Guayanilla to deliver a package and then continued to Ponce. He let us off at the zocalo (town square) and told us how to get to the terminal, where he'd meet us at two o'clock. It was after twelve, so we ate lunch at Burger King and then strolled around. Saw the famous old firehouse that's painted with wide red and black stripes. It's been turned into a museum, which is open Wednesday through Monday! That's the story of our life. But at least the front was all open, so we could see the old fire engines. Took a couple of pictures and then strolled some more. There was a cathedral in the zocalo and some large fountains. A few blocks away, we saw a plaque dedicated to the people who died in the "Massacre of 1937". As best as I could make out, peaceful, unarmed protesters had been fired on by the militia under orders from the gringo governor. Several people had been killed and others wounded. I wish I knew more about the history of Puerto Rico. Next time I'm at a library, I'll look it up. We also saw a time capsule that's supposed to be opened in 2092 and some statues. We would have liked to ride around on a sightseeing bus, but there wasn't time. Some boaters who had been at Boqueron saw us and called to us by name. That was a surprise. Stopped at Walgreen's and bought a few things. Also got a couple of strawberry popsicles, which we ate on our way to the terminal. We walked several blocks without finding it. I decided we'd have to return to the zocalo, get reoriented, and try again. We turned down a side street and lo!, there was the terminal. What a pleasant surprise. The building covered an entire block and contained hundreds of publicos. We asked several people where to catch the publico to Mayaguez. Both Roy and I remembered it as being maroon. The interior was maroon, and we hadn't paid attention to the outside, so when someone pointed to a white car, we said that wasn't it. Fortunately, the driver showed up and recognized us. The white car was the right one, so we got in and took right off. For an extra dollar each, the driver dropped us off at Mayaguez Mall, which saved a lot of time. It was about 3:30 by then, so we bought some fruit at the supermarket and caught the four-o'clock publico to Cabo Rojo. We were back in Boqueron by quarter to five. Bought a dozen eggs. Met Ray and Janie at the dinghy dock and were soon back on the boat. This morning, we had noticed a bunch of white splotches on our port curtain. Looked like white paint or paste, but we hadn't been using any white paint or paste. Roy thought it looked like drippings from a wax candle. He thought maybe it had gotten on there when it was on Janie's boat, but I reminded him that the splotches hadn't been there when they brought the curtains back. A couple of hours later, Roy suddenly realized what had happened. Two nights ago, we had been eating supper with the engine running to recharge the battery. The vibration had jiggled the mayonnaise right off the edge, and it splashed all over the place. Roy thought he had cleaned it all up, but he hadn't noticed the splotches on the curtain, which was snapped up out of the way. Now that it's had two days to dry and harden, it will be fun to clean off.