We waited for 2 weeks for the trade winds to subside a bit, pretty much beaching it every day. It's been fun here - driving on the wrong side of the road, eating great food - but we needed to go find some "cultcha" down in DR (as many call the Dominican Republic here).

Tuesday we sailed from the north side of Providenciales to the south side and anchored near a place called Sapodilla Bay. The sail was gorgeous, the anchorage was ok. The biggest excitement was taking Parker to a small island & getting spat at by iguanas. It was only after Parker went pee that we saw the sign forbidding all people from disturbing the lizards. Sor-ry.

Wednesday we got underway at first light to travel across the Caicos Banks. This is a very shallow sea that spans about 60 miles. It's weird to only have 9 feet of water for miles. Lots of coral heads to swerve around but the water was beautiful. As we neared the edge of the bank you could see the light blue water give way to dark blue as the ocean got much deeper. Another 20 miles and we got to a great anchorage at Big Sandy Cay (still Turks&Caicos). We anchored, got the dog ashore, swam off the boat & rested a bit. We up anchored at 8pm to do our overnight to the DR.

If our first night crossing was the worst, then this one was our best. It was a full moon, clear skies and mellow waves. It was only 1 tack the whole time & each of us managed to get at least 2 hours of sleep so it was a big success. Day dawned as we were about 15 miles from the DR & what an approach! Huge mountains (10,000 feet) appearing pretty suddenly.

We docked in a marina called Ocean World and did the whole customs/immigration thing. My Spanglish got it's first workout. Is it bad that Spanish speakers laugh every time you say something? Ha.

I attached a picture of our first anchorage in Sapodilla (at sunrise).