It was a misty morning as we left Luperon.
So far this trip, we have not had the usual "prevailing conditions" (Eastern trades) and therefore we have not been able to travel as our guide book "The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South" suggests. He suggests hugging the coast in the night lee of a mountainous shore. We have experienced no night lee (a lee from wind and sea at the margin of sea and land. Created by thermal effects caused by the land cooling faster than the sea. Significantly abetted by orographic effects on mountainous coasts).
We bi-passed the town of Samana and continued directly to the anchorage in the Los Haitises National Park which is on the south east end of Samana Bay. "Vanilla" and "Osprey" headed towards town. It took us another few hours of travel but it was absolutely gorgeous and we were alone. We wrapped up the boat and fell asleep.
Steve will write about our experiences while at Los Haitises National Park and I will type it in when finished. I believe this to be our best anchorage since leaving Georgian Bay.
Please check out our photo gallery: Dominican Republic - Los Haitises National Park

Los Haitises National Park is a national park located on the remote northeast coast of the Dominican Republic. It is a protected virgin forest with little road access. Haitis (singular) means highland or mountain range in the Taíno language, although the elevation of the park's hills ranges from 30-40 metres (98-130 ft). There is a multitude of caverns created by water erosion. Native Americans adorned these caverns with pictographs and petroglyphs. The culture or cultures which created these artworks remain unidentified, some of them possibly predating the Taínos.
Despite advanced deforestation, the precipitation is still considerable, ranging from 1,900-2,000 millimetres (75-79 in) annually. The park is near the top rank in both annual total rainfall and annual number of rainy days among sites in the Dominican Republic.