07/25/2012, Virgin Gorda, BVI
After meeting Sue and Clay and JJ at Christmas Cove, St Thomas, (thanks for dinner Sue!) we sailed to little Harbor at Peter Island, BVI to meet Silvio and Verena. Enjoyed a nice swim off the boat with the dogs and a quiet, deep anchorage with only one other boat in the vicinity. Beautiful place!
|
Comments [0]
06/18/2012, Cane Garden Bay, BVI
Wow....Finally good enough internet access to post something! We are at anchor in Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI. Just as beautiful as I remember. Yesterday we took a tour of the island bars with a friend of Silvio and Varina's, finally saw the Bomba Shack, and Bomba himself. Quite a unique place and I can't wait to come back for the full moon party. We also met Rudy, the sharp dressed owner of Rudy's Bar, where I was a little wary of falling through the floor to rocks and sea below!
Let's see, my last post had us in Samana, DR. Since then, we have traveled to Puerto Rico. Puerto Real, Boqueron, and Ponce. Lost our dinghy between Boqueron and Ponce, had to rent a car and travel to San Juan to replace it and the motor. Boqueron was a great little town with a nice anchorage. Check the gallery for lots of pics.
Onto to Dewey, Culebra, SVI. Stayed a few days in Dewey, had laundry done, waited for a part for Blues Breaker. We decided to go to Isla Culebrita, just a short sail away. It was a Sunday, and the anchorage was pristine and very, very crowded. Not to worry, though, by late afternoon the monster power boats had all returned home and left us in peace and postcard like surroundings. We climbed the mountain to the lighthouse, well worth the hot and sticky hike. Great view from the top. Bob and I snorkeled and I was attacked by sea urchins! Visited the "Jacuzzis" with Leo. Culebrita is still my favorite anchorage, but I am looking forward to searching for a better one!
From Culebrita, we sailed to Jost Van Dyke, BVI. Anchored in Great Harbor and had dinner at Foxy's. Now at Cane Garden Bay.......laundry and boat chores today, tomorrow we plan to sail to the Indians, do some snorkeling, (try out the new waterproof camera) and just relax some more!!
|
05/23/2012, Samana
Dominican Fisherman
We have arrived at Puerto Bahia Marina and Hotel in Samana. Very beautiful here, 4 star resort, spa, restaurants, pool and games room, many inifinity pools, and only a dollar a foot per night. I'm sure the hotel is considerably more. There are also condos and villas here. Amazingly, we seem to almost have the huge place to ourselves. We were the only guests in the restaurant last night and in the breakfast room this morning. I don't know how they manage to keep up with costs with no guests.
It's beautiful here, the decor is modern with a tropical touch. Very soothing, a lot of water features. Bob and I had breakfast by ourselves, a ilttle splurge. All 5 boats in our group are here until probably here until Saturday when the weather looks good for transiting the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico, Boqueron.
The passages to get here were rolly and not my favorite times! But I have recovered and we will spend the next few days cleaning up the boat, doing laundry, cooking and relaxing at the pool with a rum drink. Leo is happy to be off the boat for walks now. Bob, of course, is always happy!
|
05/20/2012, Luperon, DR
We are finally departing Luperon with a semi-decent weather window. 15 knots of wind tonight, we plan to leave around 1700 hours. Sail through the night, then anchor a few hours and continue on.
Clearing out was an adventure in itself. First, go to the Immigration trailer and fill out some forms with information they already have, next, go to another trailer and pay for the privilege of leaving. Finally, climb a hill to Commandante's and pay yet again, and make then sign a receipt that we hand wrote. All while noticing the casually slung machine guns on many of the VERY young men! Then, they tell us they will come to the boat to search it yet again, but they never show. To top it off, everybody we know paid different amounts.....!!
So we sail for Escondido or maybe further tonight. We are looking forward to Puerto Rico, staying at a marina for a night or two (YAY AC!) cleaning the boat, getting our mail. And provisioning......I never thought I would look forward to grocery shopping! The super mercados here are equivalent to a 7-11, and we've come to terms with Parmalat, it's not too bad cold, but we need veggies and fresh meat. On the downside, no more 24 oz Presidentes for 2 bucks!
Hoping Bob will catch a fish on the way..........check the picture gallery for new additions.
Above pic is Puerta Plata as seen from the cable car up to the Jesus Monument.
|
05/17/2012, Luperon, DR
Today is our son Chris's birthday, so Happy Birthday Chris!
We arrived at Luperon harbor May 10 after a lengthy sail from Rum Cay. Stopped at Great Sand Cay in Turks and Caicos but only for a few hours, and did not go ashore. Way too pricey to clear in and out!
Luperon has been spectacular. From 27 Cascadas (waterfalls) to touring the Rum Factory to pig with the skin on, at a local roadside place. (has to be tried to be believed). For these adventures we had a wonderful guide who treated our group like family, right down to introducing us to his mother! Thanks for everything Joqui! It's been fun practicing our Spanish with the locals, and I've discovered a DR local liquor, called Mama Juana. Rum and all kinds of other spices and herbs stewed in a bottle. Yummy Rummy!
The town of Luperon is very friendly, very poor and very dirty. We had our laundry done once, about 2 loads for 7 bucks. They wash the laundry by hand and hang it on fences to dry. Not much different than we do on the boat. Wash by hand and hang on the lifelines. Hard work! We are envious of our friends with the watermaker and washer/dryer!
We were hoping to leave for Puerto Rico (270 mile sail) today, but the weather doesn't look good. Maybe tomorrow evening. So, today we will go into town to provision, get despachos (clearing out papers) and get rid of the trash.
Leo is having a grand time, except when we have to leave him on the boat! Above pic is our loose band of fellow travelers. Shane, Mike, Kristy, on Moonshine, Silvio and Verena on Blues Breaker, and us at the Waterfalls. (Bob jumped from a 40 ft cliff!)
|
05/05/2012, Rum Cay
After motoring the entire way to Long Island, Silvio and Varina took us on a LONG, adventurous dinghy ride to the northern tip of the island to see the monument built to honor the Lucayans. Little bit of a hike, but worth it. We were also able to swim a bit and of course Leo once again ate a ton of sand. He loves the water and the sand.
Set out at 0800 (see what I did there?) for Rum Cay. Finally, we were able to sail most of the 35 miles. 20 knot winds and 5 foot seas, calming to 17 and 3-4. We read that there is great snorkeling here and plan to do so today. We are anochored by Port Nelson, rolly but bearable. Leaving for Mayaguana (200 miles) tomorrow night.
|
