JUST HAD TO...............................

Just had to include a few more memorable photos taken in the last two years of our gentle cruise 'Down Island'...........................Difficult to choose which ones to post, as there are so many .................But hard to beat, are the swimming pigs, that came right up to the dinghy looking for food, or the full whale skeleton on the beach at Exuma National Marine Park .........................Or the Bahamian fisherman cleaning his conch shells.................... Or the incredible cleavaged granite boulders at 'The Baths' in Virgin Gorda in the BVIs.................



And if you look closely enough, there is so much natural beauty everywhere, like this magnificent passion flower and the various colours of frangipani................ Sunsets to die for..........And you may even catch the camouflaged "Queen", emerging from the tropical island forest...............



We could go on and on...........................but here is the agricultural side of PUERTO RICO, with its beautiful climate and healthy soils on the coastal fringes .................



NOW THESE ARE MANGOES ............. HUGE, JUICE-DRIPPING MANGOES



With no shortage of rainfall (at least at the moment), bananas grow in plantations, mangoes grow in plantations, papayas grow in plantations, and they all flourish ................. The mangoes alone occupied 3000 acres and John & Marianne King, from the yacht "PURA VIDA" back in Florida supply these workers with specialised pickers, a unique 'cut and glove' tool cleverly designed and engineered by John himself.............. The things some sailors do to build up the "cruising kitty" .............Fruit stalls are everywhere............This one has plantains (cooking bananas) in the fore-ground ................

These colourful palm seeds though not edible, show the whole spectrum of growth on the one tree, and the ripe red ones eventually fall to the ground.......

And those beautiful red-coloured flowering plants (photo below) turned out to be a seed trial plot for the agricultural technicians who came to inspect by van (many vans).............. and the beautiful 'red flowers' turned out to be red plastic bags, to prevent the birds eating the seeds............. Oh well,...........Caught again...........



That coastal strip of land ends gently at the Caribbean Sea with barely discernible waves......................... And hap-hazard coconut palms straddle the gravelly beach front................



We met "Andres', a super guy, who has a house right on the water's-edge in SALINAS ................ And hanging on the wall, was this sculptured piece of "ART", made from the remains of a washed-up coconut palm-tree base, roots and all ................ And then Andres presented me with a 'look-alike' cap, in memory of the occasion ......... Puerto Rico hospitality at its best ............

And this is what 'ROAD TOWN' harbour looked like after Hurricane EARL gave the BVIs a side-swipe three weeks ago, and not even a full-on hit ................ What a mess to clean up ................ So glad we made a run to SALINAS and the mangroves when Hurricane EARL went by ............... Right now there is an 'embryo' of a tropical depression sitting right over the top of us .............. And dumping tons of water before moving NE, where it will likely strengthen into a ...... 'you-know-what'................ For the moment, while it remains un-named, it is referred to "INVEST 97" ........Don't put any money into it................Invest stands for 'investigation'..............