Home Away From Home.

We’re back in our old stomping ground…Marina Pescaderia in the cute little fishing village of Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo!

Coming back was seriously just like coming home. You know, kinda like when you drive all the way home to your parents’ house during random breaks from college and bring a car full of dirty laundry with you? Same thing here. Lol. We stockpiled what felt like at least 20 loads of dirts mcgirts since leaving St. Thomas, full well knowing that we would once again be able to take advantage of the really great $1 machines here at the marina.

Of course, it hasn’t been all about laundry though.

We pulled into the marina after our easy trip from Parguera, which was a wee bit different than our 300-mile slog all the way from the Dominican Republic that brought us to Puerto Real the first the around. When we arrived last week, there were plenty of hellos and hugs from friendly locals on the streets of town, tail wags and licks from the sweet marina dogs, and more than a few free Medallias handed out from all of our old friends at the marina! Quite the homecoming, if I do say so myself!

This little welcome party definitely cemented my belief that sticking around Puerto Rico for hurricane season this past summer was one of the best decisions we made! (You can find some of my most favorite Puerto Real posts here, here, and here.) This quaint little fishing town really became part of us, and us part of it. So, needless to say, we were thrilled to stop here and reacquaint ourselves for a few days while we reprovisioned our pantry, refilled our propane tanks, and now while we wait for the perfect weather window to make the hefty leap from Puerto Rico all the way to the Bahamas.

And, of course, we couldn’t stop in Puerto Real without visiting a few of our favorites. Like, hello, the most amazing donuts ever from Mercado’s Bakery right down the road from Marina Pescaderia. You seriously cannot visit Puerto Real without enjoying one (or several) of this bakery’s delectable donas (that’s donuts in Spanish my friends). There’s also Claucamis Pizzeria right here in town that’s fantastic! And the house burgers at the marina restaurant are downright awesome!

We’ve also checked off a decent list of to-do’s and boat chores while tucked in our cozy slip. Laundry for one. A little random work on the boat. A bath for Oliver. Some battery maintenance. And we also borrowed a car from the marina and drove ourselves over to the propane facility (about 15 minutes away near Boqueron– take Route 307, km 5.8ish for anyone looking to find it) and then over to Ponce to hit up the Walmart Supermercado for a massive pre-Bahamas provisioning trip. We are hoping our current stash of goods will mostly get us through the islands of the Bahamas without needing much more of anything!

While we’ve been hanging here for the past few days, we made a few new friends too!

Our dock slip neighbors might be the funniest and friendliest family of five that moved their entire bunch all the way from ALASKA!!! Kodiak, Alaska! Now, that’s one helluva lifestyle change! We were more than happy to partake in their fun boat renaming ceremony the other day here at the marina! And have thoroughly enjoyed reading their blog after exchanging boat cards with this great fam. PS –  This old post, a letter written from the perspective of their adopted Puerto Rican sato (street dog) Maya (who they found at Kmart in Mayaguez, PR), seriously made my week. Read it. You’re welcome. :)))

Back to Puerto Real. It really is pretty darn great here.

We unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it and the insane timing) also sprang a leak in our diesel fuel tank right after we rolled into town. I know, just what we needed. Ugh. But Puerto Rico freaking rocks for helpfulness and inexpensive boat work. We have since removed, cleaned, and fixed our tank and she is running like new! …More on that fun little surprise project in a later post.

Otherwise, we’ve just been soaking up our time in this charming town, knowing that it will most likely be a long long time before we see Puerto Real in person again. If you ever find yourself cruising the coast of Puerto Rico, this is a place you definitely want to stop.

Some of the sunsets we’ve seen lately while sitting pretty in Puerto Real have been out of this world!!!

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