05/18/2008
Dirk and Thomas leave Puerto Plata, back to Canada to a cold spring. We leave Ocean World Marina after a day of doing chores on the boat. It is dusk and we get out of the harbour for some smooth motoring through the night. Going straight east into the trade winds demands some... patience, nerves, enthusiam,or plain stupedity...There is no way about it, just motor up whenever it is the calmest, usually at night. We make it to the eastern tip og the island by morning. Our plan was to go to San Juan, on the north coast but after a few hours of pounding we change course for the west side of the island. We could of stop at Samana, on the Dominican coast but the authorities are so intense in that country that we decided to skip it. First you have to see the commandante of the port, the navy guy, the immigration guy, the agriculture guy, the drug inforcement guy and then anybody else that is trying to get a few bucks from you. It gets expensive! Hasta Luego DR! Welcome to Puerto Rico, United States of America. We arrive in Mayaguez by lunch time on May 19, we were escorted by a pod of dolphins on the way in, which was nice since we had not seen many dolphins since Florida. We anchored in the bay in this industrial center. We dinghied over to immigration and customs. It was all done and cleared in no time, no hassles. DR reminded me a bit of Mexico, lots of paper to fill up, which I think just ends up in someone trash can at the end of the day. Here in America, your whole life story is on a computer screen in front of the agent who asks you what you were doing in the States in 1999? I am not quite sure which is best but at least, we got to clear a lot faster and cheaper. We decided to moved on to Boqueron about 8 miles south of Mayaguez. Boqueron is a small resort town, that is quite busy on the weekend with university students, unfortunately our timing was not so good arriving on Monday. Being in the off season, the town is quasi shout down with only a few boutiques and tacos vendors open. We went to eat at Galaways, a small restaurant right on the water. There the Tarpons (45-50lbs.fish similar to salmon in shape) swim in the shallows by the dock. The kids are fascinated.
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05/16/2008
When we first came into the Dominican Republic, we saw dolphins entering the harbour of Luperon which is on the north coast. We had to raise the yellow Q flag to signal that we had to clear customs. The "commandante" of the port came and visited our boat. Dad went to the immigration with our passports. It was soooo HOT that we were in great need of an ice cream shop. Walking down the street of Luperon, we met Jackie, looking at making money, she offered to guide us to the ice cream shop. Thomas having such long hair, she also offered to cut our hair. She took us to her house to cut our hair. It was a good lesson in empathy. Jackie's house was a two room cabin in the back alley. Her and 4 sons lived there. The yard was occupied by pigs, goats and chickens. She charges us 1000 pesos for 3 haircuts which were pretty bad cuts and also expensive for them (30$), but we gladly paid her. She offered to do our laundry or anything else to make somemoney to support her family. Dominican Republic is poor and I feel pretty lucky that I am from a country like Canada.
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We arrive early morning at Atwood Harbour, Crooked Islands. We spend the day surfing behind the dinghy. The kids had a great time! They all stood up and Dirk tried hanging ten but only made 8 or so before the big splash! We were the only people in the bay but a couple on Mercury II, a Hatteras 65'. The hired captain and his wife were bringing the boat back to Florida. We traded them a wweather report for a better chart of the Turks and Caicos.
We had a long sail ahead to the Turks and Caicos and then to Dominican Republic, so it was all R&R...
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05/08/2008
We left early morning for Rum Cay. The sailing was good for a while but then, we had to turn the motors on as we had to head straight into the wind. We stopped at Rum Cay for a snorkel. It was a bit dodgie navigating into Flamingo bay avoiding lots of corals heads. The snorkeling was not super though Simi and I saw a big turtle. We had dinner there and continued south towards the Crooked Islands for an overnight sail.
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05/06/2008
After a couple of days in Georgetown, we left early morning for Long Island. Sailing on the east side in Exuma sound, we decide to try our luck at fishing. We were told that fishing in the shallow waters of the Bahama bank, you only catch Barracudas which retain a high mercury content. We bought some ballyhoo for bait, which cost almost as much as the fish fillets, but... not the same is it! After a long day of sailing almost as we arrive at Calabash we finally got lucky with a mahi-mahi, dorado or dolphin fish as they call it here in the Bahamas. As John was cleaning the fish, I decided that we may as well continue fishing with the other rod, lucky again. This time, it was a big one. 45 lbs dolphin fish. Sushi that night! It was delicious. We spend 2 nights there. At Calabash bay there is a resort that is round by Oak Bay Marine from Victoria. It is quite beautiful, and anybody wanted to get away to a honeymoon type place should check it out...
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05/03/2008
We walked around Staniel Cay, made it to Pink Pearl Grocery for some Rum and ice cream for the boys. The locals were entertaining at the dock feeding the sharks and rays the leftover from their conchs cleaning. The boys named all the sharks in the bay. We left in the afternoon and went to anchor by Sandy Cay for some kite flying and a great soccer game. We then continued south to spend the night at Black Point. We left the next day, a great day of sailing, we tried our luck at fishing, and ended up feeding them instead of catching them. We anchored at Oven Rock off Farmer's Cay and explore the shore, went for a walk across the island to check out the east side of the island. The seas were still rough but the weather was forecast to ease off the next day.
The morning was calm and we took advantage to go through the narrow passage to the east side. We sailed down to Georgetown.
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