Ponce, PR

April 30^th, 2010

We left the anchorage at Guilligans Island in the dark and traveled to Ponce, the 2^nd largest city in PR.  We passed S/V Sanctuary and S/V Just Imagine leaving the harbor as we were entering.   They have been a few days ahead of us since Luperon  in the DR and we have been gaining on them steadily.   Ponce is very much an industrial port.  We anchored off of the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club.   They discourage any use of their facilities by thrifty cruisers by charging $10.00 per person to tie up there or for any service including asking directions or answering questions.     There is a public boardwalk along one side of the bay with numerous food kiosks, little bars, and music.   It gets very busy in the evenings as it is a favored place for people to gather.   This particular weekend was even busier as the Yacht Club was hosting a Marlin Fishing tournament and had music and activities for the members and their families including climbing walls and inflatables for the children along with bumper cars and a mechanical bull pit.   Friday night music blared from both the boardwalk and the Yacht club both competing to be the loudest.    Many of the huge multi-million dollar fishing boats were decorated that evening with flags and lights and we found we had a front row seat for their boat parade.   The boats would circle our boat and then pull up in between us and the fuel dock in front of the judges and spin 360’s and then get as close to the dock without touching before circling our boat again and moving on.   This went on for about 2 hours…..Michael had retired before the start of the parade and so I was left to enjoy the festivities and music from the cockpit alone.     It was quite the party and continued well into the evening!

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