Chris Parker the weather guru for the Caribbean wrote in his e-mail yesterday morning that the expected moderation in the trade winds did not fully come through and that his advice was not to plan or make any sails or crossings to the Dominican Republic or east along the coast line of the DR until at least next week Thursday, January 17, 2013. But we left Luperon yesterday morning at 6.00 AM, an hour before sunrise for a 13 miles sail east to Ocean World Marina.
Sailing conditions on the north coast of The Dominican Republic is based on the trade winds strength and directions. At the same time there is a strong current from east to west along the coast. The typical trade wind is from 15 to 20 kn. from the south/east. But other weather factors can influence this and the wind can go up to 25 to 30 kn. and any direction from east/north/east. But the large Caribbean islands have an enormous amount on influence on the trade wind and can make them completely or close to completely disappear up to 30 miles of the coast. This effect starts in the evening and can last to the next morning. The island, with its mountains loses its heath developed during the day faster than the sea. This creates a land breeze the together with the wind that comes down from the mountains pushes the trade wind on the coast. So the best time to sail this coast line is at night or early in the morning,
We stayed for one week in Luperon and planned to use this beautiful protected bay to leave Island Girl and make some land trips across the island. However, we came to the conclusion that this would not work out because of problems to keep our batteries full during the night when the trade wind dies down and the fact that the bay water is too muddy for the water maker and the water supply is non-potable water. So we obtained a “Despacho” from the “Navy Commandante” to leave Luperon and sail to Ocean World Marina. After a weather delay of one day we took yesterday morning the chance and left.
In preparation we changed 2 days ago from an anchorage to a mooring buoy. The Luperon bay is very muddy with thick blue clay and when you pull out your anchor you have to thoroughly clean the chain to prevent that all the mud gets in the anchor hole and the bilge. With 100 ft. of anchor rode that is a long process that you don’t want to do early in the morning in the dark. So we waited yesterday morning until we had sufficient daylight to circle around all the other boats in the bay. Most of the boats do not use an anchor light and subsequently this was a challenge. We made it safely out of the bay and into the ocean, but as soon we came in the ocean we encountered a big squall with up to 45 kn. wind and the waves seemed to tower over us. The good thing was that it lasted only for about 15 minutes and although the rest of the trip was very rough with 25 to 30 kn. wind on the nose we made it in less to 3.5 hours and arrived at 10.00 AM in the marina.
The marina is protected from the ocean by a sea wall and Island Girl is in a slip just next to the sea wall and there is a constant water vapor on the boat from the waves slamming against the sea wall. The noise from the waves braking on the sea wall sounds like thunder. Next to the marina is a water park and Adventure Park, a casino with Las Vegas style shows (see www.oceanworldmarina.com). The marina is on the west side of the bay and the remainder of the bay has many resort hotels, bars, shops and restaurants along the beach. One of the bars looks like Nikki Beach in Miami Beach. Close to the marina is Puerto Plata the second oldest city in the new world with Fort San Felipe, the oldest European Fort in the new world. From Puerto Plata you can take a cable car ride to Isabel de Torres Mountain with a large statue of Christ on the top. We will stay in this marina for some time so we can visit Santo Domingo and Santiago and our first ‘stop’ will be Puerto Plata.
Luperon was fun and we had a great time in the bay and in town. People start to recognize you when you walk around and everybody is extremely friendly. On Sunday afternoon we went to a dance hall and although Dorothy did not want to dance, we had a great time watching. Dorothy was so impressed with the dance moves of the ladies that she felt that we would make fools of ourselves, forgetting that I spent many years in Latin America. As mentioned before, we have the time of our lives and hope to continue to enjoy our trip.