When we last reported in, we were heading around the DR for the Turks and Caicos amid lightning storms, squalls - and long stretches of absolutely no wind. While I like calm seas, it was even too dead for me.....Luckily, the next night out at sea brought the following - one of the most beautiful sunsets I have yet seen in the Caribbean, which lit up the skies and the seas with the most beautiful red, orange, yellow and pink colours and then a large pod of dolphins found our boat and played in its bow wave for about 20 minutes. There was one dolphin in particular (with a pink belly) that loved showing off, leaping high out of the water while we cheered it on !

We arrived at the Mouchoir Passage in the early morning hours on Thursday and set our sights on crossing the northern part of the island to arrive at Turtle's Cove Marina in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, however, the wind that we did have in the early morning subsequently died and we were bucking against a rather mean current, which kept us travelling sometimes as slow as 5.5 knots (despite motoring at 17-18 RPMs and periodically putting our sails out). We had decided against going west through the Caicos Bank given its shallows, the day's cloudiness and we didnt trust our electronic chart for the area.

We quickly realized given our slower than expected speed that we were not going to reach our destination in Provo until after sunset, if we were lucky. And, the Turks and Caicos is really not the kind of place you want to be sailing at night, given its shallows, reefs and rocks (and many unsurveyed areas). For the first time on our trip, I was actually hoping for a few squalls so we could get a little more wind (and pick up speed). When the winds would pick up, we could get our speed up to 8 knots. So we did debate stopping and potentially anchoring near Big Sandy Key for the night, with the Turks and Caicos islands having such natural beauty and the bluest water we have yet seen such that you can see the bottom even at 40+ feet!!

Yet, in the end, we decided to go for it - with the forecast for squally activity and general swells which would make these anchorages very uncomfortable. So our voyage around the east, then north side of the T&C islands largely consisted of John and I constantly watching the speedometer (as well as our depth reader), our time to destination on our electronic map as well as taking out both the main and genoa when we had a little wind (then taking them in again when the wind died or, at one point, was right on our nose). I think we took out and then rolled in our sails a total of 10 times on the last leg of our trip. The islands of the Turks and Caicos are really lovely, although the northern shore is a little tricky, between its coral/rocky areas (yet easy to spot given the rolling surf over these areas) and the current. Its worth noting that our electronic map of the north coast was not entirely accurate - at one point when we were steering around a marked reef, depths should have been 30 feet but we saw depths as little as 10 feet ! Rather nervewracking...We also were hit with with a few major squalls in the region - where the winds would clock 30 knots, with torrential rains.

By 4.30PM, it was pretty clear that we were cutting it very fine and would reach the channel into Turtle Cove at sunset (7.30PM). We didnt feel comfortable about trying to navigate into the channel at night and trying to find our way to the marina (through the cove). So I called the marina with our predicament, and to ask their advice/knowledge on the channel as well as the anchoring area that was just outside the channel. In the worst case scenario, we could potentially drop anchor for the night just outside the channel (in a noted anchorage) and then head in early in the AM. When I first called in, the manager of the marina answered - she seemed really annoyed that we would dare be late and ask to come into the marina after they closed (at 6PM) and also noted that the marina wouldnt recommend coming in through the channel after dark. Yet she did inform us that she could potentially find someone to wait for us as well as call customs if we did decide we wanted to come in. Luckily a much friendlier gentleman from the marina called back and said the marina owner "Boots" would actually come out in his motor boat to Sellers Cut (even at our expected arrival time of 7.30PM) and lead us through the channel and into the marina - they would put us on the fuel dock until the morning so we didnt need to find our way into a slip in the dark. I was even informed that they were "double checking" the buoys for us, to ensure they were in their correct locations (appreciated but a little unerving...) We made it to Sellers Cut at 7.45PM (20 minutes after sunset although we still had decent light) and sure enough - there was a motorboat flashing its spotlight at us and then radioed us on Channel 16. And so our leading boat had us follow them slowly through the channel while George (the co-captain) radioed directions to us (regarding what side of the channel to hug, our impending turns etc) - and then they led us right up to the fuel dock where they helped us tie up and also called customs for us. Given the channel was not well represented by our electronic map, and given the limited light, there is absolutely no way that we could have safely made it into the marina ourselves....I have to say, I was so impressed - and I dont know many marinas that would go out of their way to provide the same level of service. In our gratitude we gave the captain a large bottle of Pussers Rum.....

It is worth noting that in the T&C, the customs officers come to you ! You dont need to go to the office (at least in this location), you place a call and the customs officer will show up at your location for you - so at 8.30PM, the customs officer drove into the marina to check us in. He was also a very friendly fellow, with a great attitude and didnt give us any grief about our boat or the fact that he had to come out well after office hours. The charge, as well, was minimal (as we are staying in the T&C for less than a week, thereafter you will need to pay cruising charges), at $21 with no overtime charge. By this time, I was so impressed with the T&C that John and I decided to put our feet up for a few days to relax - and will celebrate our first wedding anniversary here (this Sunday, May 30th).

Although Turtle's Cove marina is not well represented by the drawings on their website (and there are really no showers/washing facilities etc here), this is one of the prettier marinas we have been to in the the Caribbean, with alot of room to manoeuver our boat and alot of very good local amenities, including a local beach, a dive shop and many good restaurants and bars (try the Tiki Restaurant or the Shark Sports Bar for happy hour). The staff are also happy to guide you personally in and out of the channel leading to the marina, given how tricky it is (and the buoys are not always reliable - or lit). Diesel is available here but be prepared to pay over $1 more per gallon versus Puerto Rico prices.

Next planned stop will be Georgetown, Bahamas, leaving on Monday. Only about 2 weeks behind schedule at this point......