We're halfway along the south coast of PR now in the second largest city of Ponce. It dates back to colonial times and has an air of faded glory about, despite the government's program me of rejuvination. Probably the most notable feature of the city is the old fire station, a wooden building dating from 1843 that is painted in the city colours of red and black. Red represents fire and black the ashes. Back in the early days of the station, the firemen didn't receive any pay and so they were all awarded wooden homes, also painted red and black. Some 150+ years on, the descendants of these original firefighters are still entitled to live there rent-free.
Tomorrow morning we'll continue our journey west along the south coast, hopefully rounding the SW corner and ending up in Boqueron. From there we'll check out on Saturday and start the four day passage to the Bahamas. It will be strange to make a long passage again after 3 months of island hopping but the weather forecast is looking good so we should have a decent crossing. We're very excited about visiting the Bahamas - everyone we talk to says they are spectacular. Let's hope so!