in my intro post (Newbee from the Caribbean (Puerto Rico), the Box and Knot for Shore asked for pics of my home port and the “local talent”….i quote “NO EXCUSES....WE INSIST ON SPME PICS FROM YOUR HOME PORT HERE BUDDY....FISHING PICS AND SOME "LOCAL SCENERY".....YOIU DO KNOW WHAT I MEAN BY "LOCAL" SCENERY RIGHT? ”.
Well I know it’s been quite a while now, but figured that better late than sorry.
Hopefully the fishing pics will be posted in a couple of weeks.
Here is the home port
The world class marina (Puerto del Rey)
"Puerto del Rey" means "king's port" in Spanish and demonstrates owner and developer Daniel Shelley's plan to build a marina with strong linkage to Puerto Rico's colonial heritage. Now the Caribbean's newest, largest full-service marina, Puerto Del Rey is a major boating gateway to the Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles. Completed in 1988, this "king's port" in 1995 was operating at near its capacity of 700 slips on concrete fixed piers and 450 covered dry racks for smaller boats three-high, with extra spaces along piers and at anchor for transient boats.
On an ocean-exposed beach pounded by storm waves from the east, Shelley first constructed an offshore graded stone rubble mound, 1,600 feet long. With 3-ton armor stones, the solid breakwater sits in water 20 feet deep and rises to 11 feet above mean high water at its top. The breakwater runs north to south, parallel to the beach, and was originally connected to the land with another 1,600-foot stone rubble mound jetty-in a shape somewhat like the letter L-which also protected the southeast exposure. The structures met their first major test when Hurricane Hugo's eye passed directly over a half-full Puerto del Rey in 1989. Hugo extensively damaged other marinas on eastern Puerto Rico before moving on to damage the U.S. mainland. However, Shelley's massive breakwater and reinforced concrete piers successfully survived with no structural damage, only 5% of the boats sunk, and moderate damage to others-a testament to Shelley's insistence on major protection and the design of Moffatt & Nichol Engineers.
About 80% of Puerto del Rey's customers are Puerto Rican residents who make the marina their home port. It is also a destination marina and a stop-off for transients from other ports and countries. Open year-round, the marina's busiest boating season is from October through April. Only 30 of the 1,150 boats are used as liveaboard residences. Boats range in size from 30 feet up to 150-foot yachts.
In addition to slips and rack storage, Puerto del Rey Marina offers a wide and unique mix of other services-unusual in the Caribbean. For boat care, there is a full-service boatyard that moves boats with a combination of a 60-ton hydraulic trailer, a 77-ton travel lift, and three marina forklift trucks. Maintenance services include painting and repairs to hulls, fiberglass, and engines. A fuel dock with pumpout is available at the harbormaster's pier, near the marina's south entrance, which also houses the U.S. Customs Service Office. One separate section of the marina is available for commercial fishing boat use and a ferry to St. Thomas. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is using a building for its Regional Fisheries Office and has its own dock for its small research vessels. There are no other marinas within a radius of 2 miles, and there is a combined fleet of nearly 2,000 recreational boats in the Fajardo area.
For boaters' comfort, extra-wide fixed (nonfloating) piers accommodate a large number of people walking and motorized carts driven by marina staff who ferry people to and from parking lots to their boat slips as far 1,200 feet seaward. Excellent restrooms and showers are available to all boaters and guests, as are a laundry, four restaurants, vending machines, a used boat brokerage, a ship's store, a car rental agency, an open air plaza, a children's playground, a heliport, and condo apartments with some available for rent. The Puerto del Rey Yacht Club helps to organize boating events and educational programs.
"First-class" is inadequate to describe this marina, which is more "world-class" in its design, construction, amenities, services, and management. But this is just the beginning of a much larger full-service resort and coastal land development project planned. Interestingly, Shelley decided to build the marina first as the cornerstone to the rest of the project. Just as the first Spanish settlers always built settlements at the harbor, so here establishing the port was of primary importance.
Ohh!, and the talent. Here is link to a local newspaper that has a weekly section for the “local talent” it is called “el bombom” which means “HARD CANDY”…go figure. http://www.primerahora.com/XStatic/p...dexbombon.aspx
thanks for the kind words guys....i forgot to mention that when you follow the link...to your right there is a "2007" and many links below....each of these links represent a month of year 2007.....on each month there are many more "SCENERY" pics for you to enjoy!
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