We were heading for the busy harbor at Salinas to do city stuff. In the meantime, we broke up our sail there with an interim stop at Patillas, about 15 miles short of Salinas.
Patillas was a small town with a nice beach and a smattering of bars
The bay at Patillas is wide, but very shallow. When we arrived, we inched our way in toward the town, being encouraged by a handful of anchored boats ahead. When we finally got down to 20cm below our keels, we chickened out and dropped the anchor. Upon closer look, those other boats had clearly been unattended for a while. Begonia was the only visitor.
In the morning, we rowed ashore to have a look at the town and to walk a longish coast trail to the next village. The walk was pretty and surprisingly bug-free, considering it was half mangroves, half swamp.
We walked via a shaded and muddy trail to the beaches of Punta Viento
Back at the town, we walked way to the other end, which didn't take long at all and had an expensive, but uninspiring meal at a restaurant overlooking the bay/ After the realizing the provisions we could find weren't worth having, we headed back to the dinghy.
By then, the food kiosks at the beach were open for the day. Most of the food offerings were deep-fried empanadas in gas station-style heat lamp bins. The beer was cheap, though, so we each decided to have a Medalla, the local brew, to cool us off before the row home.
I'm kinda surprised we got what we asked for. In Puerto Rico, the music seems to be for everybody. That's nice and all for those at the other end of the beach (or in the anchorage), but going to the bar is like placing your order with the lead singer at a rock concert. It's all done with gestures.
After finishing up and dutifully depositing our cans in the bin, we were starting for the dinghy when a woman came rushing out towards us from the kitchen. She looked a bit distressed, and we were immediately concerned she thought we had tried to hoof it without paying our bill, or that we had somehow paid the wrong amount. She led us toward the counter by the cash register, gestured for us to wait, and then returned with three glasses and a big bottle of rum with vanilla floating inside. She then poured out three shots, yelled "Salut!", slapped us on the backs and said "Welcome to Puerto Rico!!" Welcome, indeed. I guess in Patillas, they can tell who's from out of town and who isn't. That was some good rum!
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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