The Trip
10 December 2013 | Puerto Plata to Cap Cana
Diana
The trip!
Chris Parker said to go Sunday Dec. 1-Wed. Dec. 4th. So Alan flew back in on Saturday. We spent Sunday getting everything ready. We saw the Luperon bunch sailing by so we knew the next day would be the best day to go as they always go when it's still rough.
OK, I have to admit that I had really been having an issue with anxiety over all the upcoming night sailing. I had decided to stay at Ocean World until Stew and Alan arrived in Boqueron, then fly in to Mayaguez to meet them. However, Monday morning the weather looked so.... perfect, and I just couldn't take missing out on the adventure; so I decided to go as well.
We decided to just go all the way to Boqueron even though the weather window looked a little tight. The lee effect from Puerto Rico was extending clear out to Mona Island, so we should make it easy.
We headed out Monday morning, oh and did I mention this was the first time off the dock since our arrival last April? We had said all our goodbyes, even little red dog (pequeña perra roja) had come down to see us off. What a beautiful day and we were finally on our way....all 2 miles of it. What! The transmission is slipping! Are you kidding me?! We spent $4000 and a month in Ft Pierce to fix that just a year ago!
So we got back to the slip, and Big Eddy (the assistant dock manager) had a mechanic called "Monkey" there in minutes; I'm just going to give the quickie version of the next 7 or 8 hours. As I "relaxed" up at the pool in the shade, I received several texts. The first said that it was the clutch (out of adjustment), then motor (fuel problem), then the valve tappets, needs parts, not going anywhere....Go rent the apartment for the night as the boat is trashed...
They did one sea trial and made the determination that it was the motor not transmission. Then they did whatever, and on their way out again for another trial, it quit. Stew did a great Captain Ron 'dead-stick landing' and coasted up to the end of one of the big docks.
I am now in the rented room, and can see them leaving again after thinking we were completely doomed. Next I get an email that saying that they are back in the slip and 'good to go'. OMG!
After squaring the boat away, dragging a bag of canned ravioli, rum, wine etc. back to the room, taking showers, and consuming a few 'tasty beverages', we got some sleep.
Again we headed out the next morning before 8am and had the best day ever! We were flying at an average of 6.7 knots! We enjoyed a classic sunset, and were passing Samana Bay by midnight. The we started seeing some lightning all around. So we sent an InReach (Sat Phone) text to Sarah (who could work for Chris Parker) and she kept sending us the updates on the storms. We stayed mostly dry till after daylight, but then started getting some light rain. Sarah said that there was huge storm activity down by Punta Cana and that we needed to get in there ASAP.
As we began the Southwest turn down the coast to Punta Cana, we could see what looked like a huge landmass crossing the Mona in front of us. OK NOT going on to Boqueron! Stew steered us in closer to shore, and he and Alan bravely went through the side of the weather mass. It got just dicey enough (25-30kts and heavy rain) for Alan to get a real taste of some real weather:)
We were heading for Cap Cana Marina arriving about noon. Stew had some trouble finding the entrance to the correct marina, as another one called Punta Cana Marina has markers next to the ones for entry into Cap Cana. Anyway, the dock Master at Cap Cana saw we were missing the buoys and did a great job directing us in and putting us in a slip.
What a crazy place! Huge condos that were built to just have a slip with them (dock-o-miniums) so the "marina" is not really set up for transients (no showers, laundry etc). We were just glad to be somewhere safe.
Stew and Alan got the dinghy off the deck and went flying around. We ate a fantastic meal at the Italian restaurant, and perfect cheeseburgers the next day at the beach bar....all too generously paid for by out mate, Alan. We have never had so much fun as we did with Alan those few days. We could not have made the trip without him, and were sincerely sad to take him to the airport on Sat. Dec 7th. I think we might have spoiled him with a taste of our crazy life too.
NOTE: the motor was getting louder the last few hours. Stew found that one of the rocker adjustment screws was badly worn, so he ordered a set of 8 new ones. Everything else seemed to hold up well. The weather doesn't' look good for quite a while so we are going to rent a car and take the new highway to La Romana. It is a huge land-development project here and is absolutely breathtaking! Beach after beach, and we can dinghy around to many different restaurants.
Punta Cana is a tourist town that looks like you are in the states. Just north of there is the San Juan Shopping Center that even has an Ikea and a cinema!
Of course financially we are busted, but hopefully we can anchor out in PR for a few months to catch up...did somebody mention Christmas?