San Juan, Puerto Rico- December 31, 2015

Bright and early at about 7:00 we began sailing into San Juan. The view was lovely with a bright golden sunrise over the skyine of the city. San Juan is the capital and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States.

We ultimately docked at Pier #1 with the US Coast Guard Station as our neighbor. We were followed into port by Carnival’s giant ship Sunshine with its large water slide on the top deck. Not my idea of fun for sure.

San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("Rich Port City"). Puerto Rico's capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.

del Morro

Today, San Juan is Puerto Rico's most important seaport, and is the island's manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. The city has been the host of events within the sports community, including the 1979 Pan American Games, 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games, events of the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics, the Caribbean Series and the Special Olympics and MLB San Juan Series in 2010.

In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement which he called Caparra. It was named after the Province of Caceres in Spain, the birthplace of Nicolás de Ovando, then the Governor of Spain's Caribbean territories. A year later, the settlement was moved to a site then called Puerto Rico, Spanish for "rich port" or "good port", after its similar geographical features to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. In 1521, the newer settlement was given its formal name, Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista.

Sunshine's water slide

By 1746 the name for the city (Puerto Rico) had become that of the entire island, leading to the city being identified as Puerto Rico de Puerto Rico on maps of the era. On the other hand, the name for the island (San Juan Bautista) became the name for the city only after the occupation of the island by the United States.

San Juan, as a settlement of the Spanish Empire, was used by merchant and military ships traveling from Spain as the first stopover in the Americas. Because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications was built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the New World to Europe. Because of the rich cargoes, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time.

The city was witness to attacks from the English led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, in 1598. Artillery from San Juan's fort, El Morro, repelled Drake; however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. After a few months of English occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon the siege when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion and sickness.

In 1625 the city was sacked by Dutch forces led by Captain Balduino Enrico , but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The Dutch were counterattacked by Captain Juan de Amezquita and 50 members of the civilian militia on land and by the cannons of the Spanish troops in El Morro Castle. The land battle left 60 Dutch soldiers dead and Enrico with a sword wound to his neck which he received from the hands of Amezquita. The Dutch ships at sea were boarded by Puerto Ricans who defeated those aboard. After a long battle, the Spanish soldiers and volunteers of the city's militia were able to defend the city from the attack and save the island from an invasion. On October 21, Enrico set La Fortaleza and the city ablaze. Captains Amezquita and Andre Botello decided to put a stop to the destruction and led 200 men in an attack against the enemy's front and rear guard. They drove Enrico and his men from their trenches and into the ocean in their haste to reach their ships.

The British attack in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby, laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad.

Various events and circumstances, including liberalized commerce with Spain, the opening of the island to immigrants as a direct result of the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815, and the colonial revolutions, led to an expansion of San Juan and other Puerto Rican settlements in the late 18th and early 19th century.

On May 8, 1898, United States Navy ships, among them the USS Detroit, USS Indiana, USS New York, USS Amphitrite, USS Terror and USS Montgomery, commanded by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson arrived at San Juan Bay.[17][18] The USS Yale captured a Spanish freighter, the Rita in San Juan Bay, thus being the first hostile encounter between the warring sides in Puerto Rico. On May 9, Yale fought a brief battle with an auxiliary cruiser of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory. On May 10, the Yale returned to San Juan Bay, Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to open fire upon the USS Yale using an Ordoñez 15 centimeter cannon, thus becoming the first attack against the Americans in Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. For his actions, Captain Rivero-Mendez was awarded the "Cruz de la Orden de Merito Militar" (The Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class.

Old San Juan

The residents of San Juan were furious with Rivero and blamed him for the destruction caused to their city by the American bombardments. Nothing came of those accusations and Capt. Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army after the Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed.

Newer area of San Juan

On July 25, General Nelson A. Miles landed at Guánica with 3,300 soldiers in what was known as the Puerto Rican Campaign. The American troops found some resistance and engaged the Spanish and Puerto Rican troops in battle, the most notable of these the battles of Yauco and Asomante. All military actions in Puerto Rico were suspended August 13, 1898, after President William McKinley and French Ambassador Jules Cambon, acting on behalf of the Spanish government, signed an armistice. Spain ceded the island to the United States later the same year by signing the Treaty of Paris.

Camp Las Casas, located in the district of Santurce, served as the main training camp for the Puerto Rican soldiers prior to World War I and World War II; the majority of the men trained in this facility were assigned to the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" which was renamed the 65th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army by the Reorganization Act of June 4, 1920. The 65th Infantry was deactivated in 1956 and became the only unit ever to be transferred from an active Army component to the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Lieutenant Teófilo Marxuach (Retired as a Lieutenant Colonel), a native of Arroyo, Puerto Rico, fired the first shot in what is considered to be the first shot of World War I fired by the regular armed forces of the United States against any ship flying the colors of the Central Powers. Marxuach, who was a member of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" and Officer of the Day, on March 25, 1915, opened fire on the Odenwald, an armed German supply vessel, when it was trying to force its way out of San Juan's bay. The shots ordered by Lt. Marxuach were the first fired by the United States in World War I.

On January 2, 1947, the people of San Juan elected Felisa Rincón de Gautier  (1897–1994) as their mayor. Thus, she became the first woman to be elected as the mayor of a capital city in any of The Americas. During the Cold War era, she ordered the establishment of the island's first Civil Defense system under the directorship of Colonel Gilberto José Marxuach. Rincón de Gautier served as mayor until January 2, 1969.

On October 30, 1950, San Juan was the scene of the San Juan Uprising, one of many uprisings which occurred in various towns and cities in Puerto Rico, by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against the governments of Puerto Rico and the United States. Among the uprising's main objective was to attack "La Fortaleza" (the Governors mansion) and the United States Federal Court House Building in Old San Juan. In accordance to the planned uprising in San Juan, a group of nationalists were supposed to attack simultaneously the gubernatorial mansion La Fortaleza, where Puerto Rican governor Luis Muñoz Marín resided, and the United States Federal Court House which is located close to an area called "La Marina" in Old San Juan. The La Fortaleza battle, which ensued between the nationalists and the police lasted 15 minutes, and ended when four of the five attackers were killed.

The main central part of the city is characterized by narrow streets made of blue cobblestone and picturesque colonial buildings, some of which date back to the 16th and 17th century. Sections of the old city are surrounded by massive walls and several defensive structures and notable forts. These include the 16th-century Fort San Felipe del Morro and the 17th-century Fort San Cristóbal, both part of San Juan National Historic Site, and the 16th-century El Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as La Fortaleza, which serves as the governor's mansion.

 The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (construction began in the 1520s) is also located in Old San Juan, and contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer and settlement founder Juan Ponce de León.

Our balcony was quite pleasant – great view, nice breeze, colorful buildings and lots of history surrounding us. Great way to spend the last day of 2015.

At Sea- December 30

Looking left

Looking right

Last evening as we sailed away from Port Elizabeth on the island of Bequia  in the chain of islands called the Grenadines we saw a spectacular sunset while the ship slowly and carefully did the reverse of the maneuvers we did in the morning. Ultimately the ship was across the mouth of the entrance to the harbor. Looking to the left we could see the sunset with the golden sky and to the right we could see the green and rocky tip of the island with a marker for a popular reef. We slowly moved back and forth for about an hour as the sun went down. Whole thing started at about 5:00 and was completed a bit after 6:00 and we were off sailing toward San Juan.

Naturally we sat on the balcony and watched it all. Tried to get a shot that showed the sunset reflected in the panel behind Jim but didn’t quite make it look right. Nevertheless the sunset was terrific.

As we were beginning to sail the captain came on the speaker and talked a little about this island. 

The most interesting thing he said was the large number of sailing ships in the harbor were there because they had together sailed across the Atlantic from the Mediterranean to spend the  winter sailing in the Caribbean. In the spring they do the reverse. He said he had done that once and it was 21 LONG days of sailing to cross the Atlantic in ships that size. Didn’t sound like the kind of adventure we’d like.

Captain Dag also talked about the whale killing permitted in Bequia. Apparently the whole community is involved as the permitted number of whales- 2 for the community- are harpooned. The whale meat is then divided according to the rank and prestige of each person in the town so that, naturally, the more important people get more meat. Guess life is similar everywhere!

Ate dinner with Maureen and Grace last evening. Had a good time of conversation and tasty food. We ended our time after dinner in the Oceans Bar enjoying the music and then headed for bed.

We are at sea today and the morning greeted us with a little rain storm and then a rainbow- holding the promise of another wonderful day of cruising.

Port Elizabeth, St. Vincents and Grenadines

Princess Ship Leaving Bridgetown

Oceania's Riveria leaves

Leaving the port of Bridgetown was an interesting experience. First the Princess ship behind us moved into the channel and sailed away. Then a tug boat used a line to tug the stern of Oceania’s Riveria away from the dock, into the channel and then it slowly and carefully backed out and ultimately turned around and sailed away. Next went the Celebrity Summit backing out. The port area was left with just us and we moved out and also back down into the basin and turned around.  We tend to think modern day ships don't really need the help of a tug boat but we certainly saw how each one did for this exit. Slow and careful was the name of the game!

Last evening we had a delightful dinner with Marie and David from outside Boston, Grace from Boston and Maureen from Toronto. We ate together a couple nights ago and David invited us to join together to celebrate Marie’s birthday. We had a good meal and even better conversation with lots of laughter.

This morning- December 29^th- we sailed into Port Elizabeth on the island of Bequia, which is part of the St, Vincent and Grenadines island chain. It was a strange sail-in. I was up about 6:45AM and could see a tall green hill dotted with a few houses. Then there was a terrible noise- still not sure what that was. We backed up, swung around to an open sea view and came around again. We did this at least four times getting a different angle on the hill and the bay. Finally we anchored. The whole process took almost 1 ½ hours to complete.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles Island arc, in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean. The country is also known as St. Vincent.

Its 150 sq mile territory consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines, which are a chain of smaller islands stretching south from Saint Vincent Island to Grenada. Most of Saint Vincent lies within the Hurricane Belt.

To the north of Saint Vincent lies Saint Lucia, to the east Barbados. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a densely populated country with approximately 102,000 inhabitants.

Saint Vincent has a French and British colonial history and is now part of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, CARICOM, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The first Europeans to occupy St. Vincent were the French. Following a series of wars and peace treaties, the islands were eventually ceded to the British. While the English were the first to lay claim to St. Vincent in 1627, the French centered on the island of Martinique. French settlers were the first European settlers on the island when they established their first colony at Barrouallie on the Leeward side of St. Vincent in 1719. The French settlers cultivated coffee, tobacco, indigo, corn, and sugar on plantations worked by African slaves.

St. Vincent was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris (1763), after which friction between the British and the Caribs led to the First Carib War. The island was restored to French rule in 1779 and regained by the British under the Treaty of Versailles (1783). Between 1795 and 1796, with French support from Martinique, the Black Caribs, led by their chief, Joseph Chatoyer, fought a series of battles against the British. Their uprising was eventually put down, resulting in almost 5,000 Black Caribs being exiled to the tiny island of Baliceaux off the coast of Bequia.

Conflict between the British and the black Caribs continued until 1796, when General Abercrombie crushed a revolt fomented by the French radical Victor Hugues. The British deported more than 5,000 black Caribs to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.

Like the French before them, the British also used African slaves to work plantations of sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton and cocoa.

The La Soufriere volcano erupted in 1812.

Slavery was abolished in Saint Vincent (as well as in the other British colonies) in 1834, and an apprenticeship period followed which ended in 1838. After its end, labor shortages on the plantations resulted, and this was initially addressed by the immigration of indentured servants. In the late 1840s many Portuguese immigrants arrived from Madeira and between 1861 and 1888 shiploads of East Indian laborers arrived. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the start of the 20th century.

In 1902, La Soufrière volcano erupted again, killing 2,000 people. Much farmland was damaged, and the economy deteriorated.

From 1763 until its independence in 1979, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines passed through various stages of colonial status under the British. A representative assembly was authorized in 1776, Crown Colony government was installed in 1877, a legislative council was created in 1925, and universal adult suffrage was granted in 1951.

During the period of its control of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the British made several unsuccessful attempts to affiliate the island with other Windward Islands. This would have simplified Britain's control over the region through a unified administration. In the 1960s, several regional islands under British control, including Saint Vincent, also made an independent attempt to unify. The unification was to be called the West Indies Federation and was driven by a desire to gain freedom from British rule. The attempt collapsed in 1962.

Saint Vincent was granted "associate statehood" status by Britain on 27 October 1969. This gave Saint Vincent complete control over its internal affairs but was short of full independence. On 27 October 1979, following a referendum under Milton Cato, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence.

In April 1979, La Soufrière erupted again. Although no one was killed, thousands were evacuated, and again there was extensive agricultural damage. In 1980 and 1987, hurricanes damaged many banana and coconut plantations. Hurricane seasons were also very active in 1998 and 1999, with Hurricane Lenny in 1999 causing extensive damage to the west coast of the island.

On 25 November 2009, voters were asked to approve a new constitution in a referendum. The new constitution proposed to make the country a republic and replacing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state with a non-executive President. A two-thirds majority was required, and it was defeated by 29,019 votes (55.64 per cent) to 22,493 (43.13 per cent).

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, bearing the title Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Queen does not reside in the islands and is represented in the country by the Governor General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, currently Sir Frederick Ballantyne.

The office of Governor General has mostly ceremonial functions including the opening of the islands' House of Assembly and the appointment of various government officials. Control of the government rests with the elected Prime Minister and his or her cabinet.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines maintains close ties to the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and cooperates with regional political and economic organizations such as the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and CARICOM. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

Saint Vincent has no formal armed forces, although the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force includes a Special Service Unit as well as a militia that has a supporting role on the island.

Agriculture, dominated by banana production, is the most important sector of this lower-middle-income economy. The services sector, based mostly on a growing tourist industry, is also important. The continuing dependence on a single crop represents the biggest obstacle to the islands' development as tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of bananas in many years.

There is a small manufacturing sector and a small offshore financial sector whose particularly restrictive secrecy laws have caused some international concern. In addition, the natives of Bequia are permitted to hunt up to four humpback whales per year under IWC subsistence quotas.

We are being tendered today and both of us are likely to just stay aboard and read and watch the world go by. Maybe we’ll make a New Year’s Resolution or two….but I really doubt it!