01/30/12
19 54.00 N 70 57.00 W
We left the Abraham's Bay, on the island of Mayaguana, Bahamas early on the Saturday Jan 28th and crossed our fingers for a reasonable wind direction once we got out from the lee of the island - 6 hours away - as we had already tried to make this passage a few days earlier and had to turn back because of strong winds on the nose. We were hedging our bets this time by crossing our legs, fingers and eyes !!
The Dominican Republic covers an area of 18,703 square miles and occupies the eastern portion of Hispaniola – the second largest island of the Antilles. It shares the island with Haiti – the two neighbours have very little in common. The DR has approximately 8 million people, Haiti (the poorest country in the hemisphere) in their third of the island has 8 million. The two countries have a bitter rivalry. The DR has the most rugged and complicated terrain on any of the Caribbean Islands. It has 4 major mountain chains enclosing three large valleys running roughly east-west. The Principal mountain system, the Cordillera Central runs across the middle of the country from northern Haiti almost to Santo Domingo. It has more than 20 mountains with heights greater than 6,500 ft. Haiti allowed their forests to be cut down leaving barren poor soil, the DR protected its forests partly by selling propane (gas) at very low prices.
The seas were rough, square waves beginning at around 5ft then gradually rising to 8ft, the main concern was these horrible waves were seconds apart - as we were careening down one side of a wave the second was bashing into the bow of the boat which disappeared into the deep sea, salt water raced along the deck bouncing off the dodger while the bow slowly made its way back to the surface before diving yet again. I can't describe the noises as White Rose groaned and creaked - I couldn't stay below when it was my time to nap because the noise was too loud and scary - the boat felt airborne at times and I held my breath waiting for the inevitable crash - sometimes it would come, other times we would slide down the wave and up the next without pounding - I forgot to mention that most of this was in the black of night so we could not see what was happening around us nor prepare for the next wave - just simply hang on. I probably don't need to mention that Don was stupid (or hungry) enough to brave the galley and heat up a stew I had already prepared - if it had been up to me it would have been crackers or corn chips.
We had to slow down during the night as we did not want to enter the Dominican Republic harbour of Luperon in the dark, we did enter around 7am on Monday Jan 30th and were horrified to see masts and boats everywhere - it appeared crowded from our position. We were greeted by Papo, the unofficial welcome party to Luperon and guide extraordinaire - in fact Papo has a finger in every pie and offers services far and wide, he motioned for us to follow him in his skiff and we were guided through the shallows and in between the anchored boats to the front of the lot - I usually prefer the rear end - away from other boats. Papo obviously knew of an opening where we would fit - we dropped anchor and soon found out that our windlass was not working - oh well it was reportedly good holding in soft mud here so no problems - right !!! the wind came up almost before our anchor was down and blew around 20 knots in the protected hurricane hole - our anchor dragged and we had a fun time with Don steering White Rose on limited scope trying not the hit the other boats as we are all crowded in a very tight anchorage - he did an amazing job - we did not hit anyone. I pulled the anchor up by hand (not quite as macho as it sounds as Don would bring the boat forward to take the tension off the chain) once up we went back to our original spot and tried to re-anchor - if everyone else was holding tight so surely we can - we never drag !!!! As Murphy is still aboard it goes without saying that we did drag again - a young very handsome (drop dead gorgeous) looking young fella came across in his dinghy, climbed aboard and took the muddy chain out of my hands and began pulling - I am not sure if it was to help protect his catamaran which just happened to be the closest boat to us or to help boaters in distress - anyway I was between his legs feeding the chain into the chain lock via the windlass to ensure it would not get away from us - I was too busy and worried to be embarrassed that my loose top was now floating down around my belly button. The young man (and for a lady of my era that means he is in his 20's) did not speak English and my Spanish is extremely limited but we worked well together with smiles and hand signals. After the failed second attempt and retrieving the anchor yet again our young man left us with lots of "muchos gracias" from us. We moved closer to the entrance much to the delight of the boats Don had miraculously avoided, the water was not so muddy and we were hoping for a higher sand content. Don dropped anchor yet again - so sure were we of success this time (the fact that we anchored behind a huge heavy looking steel boat who was holding tight gave us hope) that the Captain let out 150 feet of chain - I was horrified as I had just pulled up 100 feet twice (with help) and was quickly losing strength, anyway we dragged yet again - the owner of the steel boat came across and told us that the bottom had at least 2ft of very loose sticky mud that will not hold an anchor and what you have to do is gently place your anchor, lay out twice as much scope as usual and let it sit for 2 days to sink down to the more solid mud then retrieve chain until you are happy with your position and the amount out - that was impossible in the winds unless someone wanted to stay at the helm with the motor running slowly keeping the boat into the wind so no pressure was put on the anchor - we pulled anchor yet again and went to the outer bay at the entrance where we anchored in sand and have not moved since - we are the only boat out here, it is lovely, quiet, a little roll now and then but certainly not unpleasant - a long dinghy trip into the dock but that's ok. Don fixed the windlass within a few hours of anchoring - a wire inside a locker had been rubbing and worn through - of course he found that after hours of pulling cabins, lockers and the windlass apart - are you all sure you don't want to take Murphy off our hands just for a short while - I promise we will accept him back with loving arms when you are tired of him :-)
All the information I have on this part of the world says the climate is "near perfect year round" I wonder where they get their information from, since we arrived we have found the weather consistent - very calm early morning until around 10am then torrential rain for many hours then gusty strong winds for the afternoon. We did all the clearance formalities and a quick walk around town - it reminded me of Mexico and Central American countries with the obvious poverty but happy smiling generous people. The main road is paved and there are footpaths but motor cycles parked on the footpaths which means we have to walk on the roads - plastic bottles, cans and papers are strewn everywhere, the dogs are the saddest - extremely skinny, mostly females that show signs of recent litters, and many with rear joint problems most likely distemper - so sad. Their pitiful eyes begging for help, without expectation.
We met a lady named Kat who has owned her own 44ft sail boat and been sailing for 30 years - she and more recent husband have purchased a property here on the waterfront and hope to turn it into a small marina - we have found similar stories in Central America - actually almost everywhere we have visited in the less affluent countries. Visitors choose to live in these countries because their dollar goes further - they simply cannot afford to live at home in the same comfort. So many American citizens come to these countries to make use of their inexpensive medical/dental treatments - so sad that citizens of a country cannot afford decent medical at home - as a foreigner I wanted to visit a doctor whilst in Portsmouth, the first 3 doctors surgery's I phoned refused to see me at all as I did not have insurance - I explained that I was prepared to pay fees up front but no they were not having any part of me - I was advised to go to a large clinic where I could see one of the residents (not a full doctor) for $65 for 6 minutes - even to give some history meant double that time - then if my medical complaint was too difficult for the resident I would be referred to a "real" doctor who charges more again - I knew that is where I was heading as in the real world of litigation for medical negligence no junior doctor would take on my case. Blood tests etc. were in the hundreds - prescriptions extremely expensive also - no wonder their citizens take advantage of the poorer countries. Needless to say I treated myself.
We really enjoyed our anchorage - not far from the maddening crowd but we have our own beach and peace and quiet - that was until the Commandante arrived and insisted that we anchor in the inner harbour with the other boats - he claims the outer anchorage is only a staging area for boats departing and is not safe - what a lot of bull !! The anchorage is clearly marked on all charts and if we are going to depart you would not pull anchor and move a few hundred yards just to re-anchor before you left - anyway we had no choice but to abide with his request - he insisted on taking our original boat registration documentation to ensure we complied - that will teach us for not giving him a sizable "gift" on our arrival !! We did try to explain our problems with dragging anchor, a yacht on one of Papo's moorings dragged two days ago and ended up in the fishing fleet area - this area is a tiny piece of dilapidated dock with rusty half sunk boats with dirty laundry hanging around - anyway the Commandante tried to fine the errant yacht $1,500 for dragging - Don explained that to the Commandante and that we did not want to hit other boats but he just smiled and insisted.
We moved the following morning and our anchor held tight - one other boat that came in the same time as us dragged 3 times before they got a hold so we didn't feel so bad after that. There are many different anchors on the market and some are good for sand, some mud- ours is not good in mud.
We had a visit today from an Australian couple on a boat here in the harbour. It was great to hear the accent and talk about familiar places. Jodie from "Blue Pelican" told me about the wonderful dentist she had found in the town - the lady speaks English and is "no nonsense" - she rarely takes X-rays as she usually can tell by the state of the original filling whether it needs replacing - Jodie had 5 fillings with white amalgam and it cost her less than $100 - no wonder people come to these countries for their health requirements - and yes she did get a numbing injection. Jodie said the entire procedure was completed in an hour or so and the injection wore off quickly without the swollen face and spastic speech for hours afterwards - she was very happy. I am going to try this dentist - I do have the normal fear of dentists - I wonder why most people are so reluctant to visit a dentist - I can remember fillings when I was young, they were made without any anaesthetic - I was required to put my hand up when it all became too painful - my hand would go up very quickly and stay up the entire procedure with thrusting for emphasis - naturally no notice was taken of my distress.
We are quickly becoming a member of the community - there is some activity going on every night - movies, card games, sports games on a big screen, dinners etc. - Don and I haven't been to any yet as I am such a boring person after 5pm ie. ready for bed !! It takes a supreme effort to get me out and about at night. There are two places I really want to visit before we leave - one is a series of 27 waterfalls close by - you are guided up the falls to either 7, 12 or 25 falls then jump, slide or bungy down - Jodie and husband went a few days ago and said it was amazing - they launched themselves off cliffs like lemmings - they did 12 falls which takes about 1 hour to climb up and 2 hours to come down. Jodie and Steve were quite cold by the end - those that did all 25 falls were freezing so maybe we will do the 12. We would also like to visit Puerta Plata which again is nearby - there is a very old Forte and a cable car ride up a mountain with spectacular views - also the place to re-provision the boat.
After checking the weather files and listening to our "weather guru" on the HF SSB radio we decided that the approaching "weather window" to make a dash for Puerto Rico could not be passed up - the Mona Passage runs between the islands of Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and is notorious for bad seas - it was reportedly going to be a "mill pond" for several days - the first reasonable crossing since before Christmas. We booked a trip to the waterfalls for the next day and prepared to leave Luperon the day after - no dentist for me (I think I am relieved).
The waterfalls were great fun - the taxi was a beat up old van - the back door did not close and allowed fumes to permeate throughout the cab - the middle seat was not bolted down and jumped up and down with each bump in the road as did the windows which did not close - rust and bubble gum held the sides together - I don't want to know what was the original cause of the stains on the rotten fabric on the seats. When we arrived at the falls we were given a life jacket and helmet - these are reasonably new safety precautions after a few deaths by drowning. We walked for 20 mins Dominican time (equivalent to 1.5hrs USA time) then entered the water - the rest was all smiles and laughs - we jumped off ledges 35ft high into clear mountain water, launched ourselves down narrow rock "water slides", got bumped and bashed and loved every minute - it was so nice to be in clean fresh water after Luperon - Bob even brought a cake of soap with him and offered to hire it out :-).
The passage from the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands is called "The Thorny Path" as boats have to bash their way into the easterly trade winds that blow consistently at 25 knots - very difficult and uncomfortable - most boaters follow Bruce Van Sant's "bible" ("The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South or the Thornless Path”). Bruce gives details on passages taken at night when the trades are less and hiding during the day when they pick back up - the stops are few and far between along this coast. Five boats were ready to leave that night but the Commandate would not allow anyone to leave after 5pm (too early as the trades were still blowing a gale outside the entrance) nor before 6am. To ensure no one left during the night (he claims it is too dangerous because of Haitian pirates and fishing nets across the harbour entrance) the Comandante refused to issue the "despachio" until the morning - after he had inspected the 5 boats (ours being the last) we finally left at 8.30am - a far cry from 6am to avoid the trades. We made our way along the coast, sail/motoring most nights and resting during the day. We crossed the Mona Passage and the "mill pond" was correct - totally unbelievable for this area, how lucky were we !!!!
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