DAY 89 – February 16th 2013 – Dominican Republic – 19 49.677N:070 43.805W
Up anchor and depart this lovely island known as having the bluest and clearest of waters in the Turks and Caicos. Head out into the ocean and the sea was exactly as predicted, actually quite nice, I felt recharged and ready to take it on again. As the sun set I even mentioned to Doug that it would nice to have a glass of wine but no, it is our rule not to drink while at sea. The evening wore on and the sea got a little bigger, by midnight I was on watch and we were going so fast that I woke Doug as the sea was getting more bouncy. I could see Kathrian in front and off to our starboard I could see Misty and behind them Spindrift, a very comforting feeling travelling with others and seeing their lights so close by. The wind was supposed to die down which it did but the sea was still quite angry, from the prior days of wind. Doug slowed us down a knot and we felt more comfortable, my turn to go below and have a nap. Just as I was getting comfortable (this trip was not as bad as any before, we were taking the rollers really well, no crashing into waves and boat juddering as in the past) I woke up as the engine powered down, oh no, we thought that was all over with. Out comes the sail and on we go, changed course a bit as the wind shifted, Doug eventually started her up again and once again had to stay up as he could negotiate the waves and wind better than I.
DAY 90 – February 17th 2013 – Ocean World
At dawn I was lying down with Pinot who at last had settled and I did not want to move her but wanted to see where we were so I came out of the cabin and in the very far distance could see the mountains of the Dominican Republic, what a great sight. As we approached the sun came up and the mountains got greener and the swells flattened and became longer a very pleasant ride with the occasional huge swell that had me hanging on to my seat. I tried to call Oceanworld Marina but they did not answer so just headed on in, someone guided us to a slip and there we were here at last, another country under our belt. About an hour later the immigration, customs and Navy came by to check us in. They were so nice, all the stories you hear were not true in our case. Doug even said we had Pinot on board but did not have a visa and they said it was OK and wanted to see her to say hello, of course she did her usual flirting and all was good. It was still early so I got all our laundry that got wet on the crossing to Sand Cay and ran off to get it started as they were closing at noon. A super guy who ran the Laundromat did all the laundry for us while we went and had some food. What a great place, Doug went off to sleep and I joined Donna and Jack at the pool.
“Party in the house tonight” Donna and I went to a party at the pool and “oh my” was it an experience. Doug had woken up and walked us there; he then went to the bar and chatted to locals for the evening while we watched the world go by, amazing outfits on the performers, young people with such energy and enthusiasm. A truly amazing night and slept well, happy to be here at last, only about another 400 miles to go to Puerto Rico.
DAY 91 – February 18th 2013 – Ocean World
We wanted to check out Luperon by car, but before that we toured around Puerto Plata, what a wild place, scooters and motor bikes everywhere some with 3 to 4 people on board. Then on to Sousua, Doug and I had been to Sousua by Catamaran a few years ago, it was as nice as I remembered, we enjoyed a big fish platter right on the beach and then drove to Luperon. We were so glad that we had not sailed there, it was the most uninviting anchorage I had ever seen, the water was muddy, lots of boats sunk and overall a very sad place. But we wanted to see it anyway, got back to our lovely Oceanworld and had a very nice dinner at the Italian Restaurant just outside the marina.
DAY 92 – February 19th 2013 – Ocean World
A good day to catch up on work, I have had a well-deserved rest for a week and we decided that we will stay put today. Doug worked on the fuel filters again and eventually I turned off the computer at 15.30 and joined Donna at the pool, weather overcast but hot.