We were up early, breakfast finished, laundry hung to dry, and into the water
for a swim/snorkel before lunch. The ladies from the Rum Cay church put on
an Easter luncheon by the beach. We went over and had a little snack then
walked around town a bit. Tonight was going to be a night of celebration,
one year since I quit smoking, however it has been postponed until tomorrow
night. We had stopped in at Kay’s Restaurant to see if they would be
serving dinner and she asked if we could celebrate tomorrow instead. No
problem, we’re on island time.
There are 4 boats anchored off Rum Cay now. Three of us are heading south and the other is on it’s way north. We’ve met the couples on the two other southbound boats and discussed travelling together. Right now we’re just all waiting together.
It rained a little in the morning, which helped to wash off some of the salt
crystals from the deck. The weather cleared up by lunchtime when Moira and
Ernie on Tiree pulled into the anchorage.
Kaj and Marla from Apsara and Bob and Marta from Sirena had decided to join Rick and I in our little celebration at Kay’s Restaurant for dinner. I mentioned this to Tiree and they joined in as well.
After a swim in the afternoon we showered and got ready to go to shore.
Deloris (owner of Kay’s Restaurant), had another party of 8 coming for dinner so
she put on a buffet for everyone. Both groups joined together and had a
lovely
evening. We met Kathy and Bill who were originally from Detroit but
had sailed down here five years ago on their Bayfield 40 and fell in love with
the island. They sold their boat, built a house and have lived here ever
since. Rick and I have been invited to their house tomorrow evening for
Kathy’s birthday. She’s making pizza.
It was another Rock and Roll night. Sirena called in the morning to postpone snorkeling until 11 am due to lack of sleep on their boat. We needed a little nap as well.
The two dinghies headed over to a reef at Cotton Point for some snorkeling however the waves were still quite large and kept swamping our snorkel tubes. We gave up and decided to return to the boats to throw together a shore lunch and meet back on the beach for an afternoon of solid ground.
It was nice being able to stand without having to hold onto something. We didn’t return to the boat until 4:30 at which time I called Kathy and Bill to say we wouldn’t make it to the birthday party. We were both tired plus the waves and the reefs in darkness are tricky to maneuver even in a dinghy.
A new boat arrived in the anchorage, Twowowie. Heather and Bob who are from Calgary stopped by for a visit and it would appear that we now have 4 boats that will travel together to Mayaguana.
The waves died down and we had a great sleep until 3:30am at which time the skies opened up and provided a great boat wash. Tiree called early in the morning to say good-bye, they were heading out to Long Island. Rick and Bob made a few dinghy trips into the marina with jerry cans to fill up the fuel tanks. All boats met in town after lunch and another downpour. We walked over to watch a new Batelco tower being erected then sat in Kay’s Bar to discuss weather. The guys all agreed to have a conference call at 8:15pm to review the most recent weather faxes. Meanwhile the dinghy is in the davits and everything ready for an early departure.
Anchors were hoisted and everyone was on their way to Mayaguana by 8am.
Mayaguana is the last and most southerly island in the Bahamas. It was
going to be a long trip so I decided to fish during the day to pass the time.
I was in the process of attaching a bungee cord to the fishing line on my Cuban
Yo-Yo and I felt a tug. It was a beautiful dolphin fish or mahi mahi (not
flipper), about 3 feet long. This is the first really good fish that I’ve
caught so once we got it into the boat and it started flapping around
everywhere, I wasn’t too sure what to do with it. Rick was trying to hold
it with the gaff and stun it with a hammer. Meanwhile I had read that if
you pour a little liquor into the gills it would stun them. I ran below
and got a bottle of vodka and was literally showering the fish with Rick’s booze
when he noticed what I was doing. He quickly panicked and said not to use
the vodka but to get the vermouth instead. I did and started pouring the
bottle of vermouth over the fish, again he panicked and said no, no just a
capful. There was no way I could get a capful near the gills but
eventually it became very quiet and still. We’re not sure if it was
alcohol poisoning or what. We put a call out to Twowowie for suggestions
on fish cleaning and filleting. Rick had the whole thing cleaned, and
filleted, bagged and in the freezer before 9:30am. There was a lot of meat
on this fish so I didn’t want to catch another because I had no more freezer
space to store it, as well, I didn’t want to have to wash the cockpit down
again.
The rest of the daylight hours were pretty relaxing. There was almost no wind or waves and the ocean had just a very gentle swell to it. Oh yes, speaking of swell, I gave Rick a ¼ of a Bonamine pill to help with seasickness. A whole pill is too much and causes drowsiness but ¼ pill every 6 hours seems to work for him. Just before dark we reefed the mainsail. We don’t sail after dark with a full mainsail. Once darkness settled in we started to see lightening all around us. If we were going to be in a thunderstorm, I would prefer a double reef. So we finally got to use our “big honking” deck light. It lit up the whole Atlantic Ocean. With a double reef in the sail and the engine running at 2200 RPMs we were travelling over 7 knots. The wind had arrived. Much later we decided to slow everything down or we would have arrived in Mayaguana in the dark. We started running at about 5 knots when all of a sudden we noticed a squall line on the radar was catching up to us. So we tried to out run it. We failed. When it hit, I was so glad we had double reefed the sail. We were in the middle of no where so there was no danger, we just turned the boat into the wind and let it pass us. It sure didn’t take long maybe 10 minutes. Afterward, I passed Rick a towel, (someone had to get wet), and we continued on to our destination.
The anchor was set and Rick was on the SSB receiving his next weather fax by 7am. We had traveled more than 126 nautical miles in less than 11 hours.
We had breakfast, a nap and started preparations for another overnight crossing. This one to the Turks and Caicos.
We left Mayaguana just before midnight and arrived in Providenciales (Provo), Turks and Caicos before lunchtime. It was a very rough journey during which I was ready to kill the Weatherman (Rick), however, the Captain (Rick), did such a wonderful job of getting us into the anchorage safely that it made up for the lack of weather expertise.
When we left we knew that strong winds from a front that had passed were on their way. They weren’t expected before late Sunday and until then we would have much desired northeast winds. The moon rose at about 3am and the winds changed at about 4am. The reason I mentioned the moon is that without it we were unable to see how threatening the clouds appeared. The wind picked up so suddenly that we were caught with too much sail up. Rick quickly furled both headsails. There was so much power in them that I couldn’t have done it without them flogging all over the shrouds.
The waves did not build to be really nasty mountains until after daylight and for this I was truly grateful. We anchored and after a bite to eat headed for bed. We didn’t check into customs so flew the quarantine flag all night.
Providenciales, where the locals say, “just say Provo, mon, don’t hurt your tongue”.
In Sapodilla Bay the winds were 25 to 30 knots with higher gusts all night.
First thing in the morning we headed into customs with Bob and Marta from Sirena.
Normally the captains would complete the check-in and then come back to the boat
and get the crew, but it was such a death-defying act getting into the dinghy
and getting the dinghy ashore in the winds and the waves that the guys only
wanted to make one trip. Our timing was perfect, the Morris Bus arrived
just as we were walking up the hill. Morris dropped us at customs and said
he would pick us up in a half-hour and take us downtown. He dropped us at
a little plaza. The first little store we went into, Marta, who is Cuban,
met a lady from Cuba. They gabbed for ages, we met her whole family. In
fact, the son-in-law drove over to pick us up and take us to another family
member’s restaurant for lunch but first he took us for a tour of the island.
We visited some of the resorts including Club Med. Kelly had vacationed at
this resort last year so we stood on the beach and sang “Hands Up” just for
Kelly. Lunch was at the “Cuba Bella Restaurante”. The chef, who has only
been out of Cuba for three months, took care of us personally. Marta and
Bob both said this was the best Cuban food they have ever had. Dubi and
Esti, in case you are wondering, yes I had Ropa Vieja, and it was wonderful.
We decided to rent a car for one day and Rick who just happened to have his
drivers license with him became the designated driver. We continually had
to say “turn right but stay on your left…no your other right”.
Cocktails were served on board Sirena until it appeared as though the weather was worsening and daylight was almost gone. Rick and I said our good-byes very quickly, jumped in the dinghy and raced for our boat to avoid getting soaked.
Marta, Bob, Rick and I headed into town early in the day. The guys dropped Marta and I off at Pablo’s Laundromat and they went to jerry can diesel back to the boat while we did laundry. We expected them back within 1½ to 2 hours. It was almost 4 hours before they returned and by that time both Marta and I were starting to worry. They had finished loading the fuel onto the boats but the delay had been caused by Rick trying to get some cash. All through the Bahamas we had no difficulty using our debit card in Scotia Bank but here in Provo the card would not work in either Scotia Bank or CIBC. Finally Rick gave up and took a cash advance out on his visa.
We stopped for lunch at Mackey's Cafe before shopping for groceries at IGA.
All chores completed we raced back to the dinghy’s and dumped everything into
the dinghies. Bob hurried to return the car to the rental place before 5pm
while Rick made multiple trips to Sirena and Wind-Borne with all of the laundry
groceries and crew. Once the groceries were inventoried and stowed and the
laundry put away we collapsed. It had been a busy day.
This was a very good day to just relax. The winds were still very
strong, all of our chores were done so we just sat around and read most of
the
day. In the afternoon I baked a cake for desert. Dinner on Sirena
was prepared by Bob who cooked his Thai specialty for us. It was very good
but I think we have to do something about their wine drinking skills. Both
Marta and Bob each spilled a glass of red wine. Someday I'm sure we'll let
them forget it but not for a while.
We had a shore lunch with Sirena on the beach in Sapodilla Bay, overlooking our boats at anchor. The afternoon was spent in a chair under a beach umbrella. It was time for a haircut so I cut Rick's and he cut mine. We also had to do a little repair job on the dinghy. The stitching on the zipper of the spray flap gave way when Rick kneeled on it the other day so while ashore we both took turns hand sewing it back together.
Web site: wwww.provo.net
The winds were supposed to start to weaken beginning today. I’m sure
they did somewhere but not here. Meanwhile we had a wonderful day. We
called Morris Bus on the VHF to pick us up at 9:30 and take us to Coral Gardens
on Grace Bay. A perfect location with a beautiful beach and the Whitehouse
Reef just off the beach. We snorkeled and saw a good variety of coral and
fish but with the strong winds and tide we were finding the current a little to
strong for our liking. Marta had a nasty panic attack that was caused by
the strength of the current and she didn’t think she would be able to make it
back to shore. She did manage to get the attention of another couple who
helped her in.
We wandered over to a beachside bar called “Ripples by the Sea” for lunch. While there we met David who with his partner runs Cactus Voyager, a dive and charter business located right behind the bar. He is quite British, very interesting and has done a lot of sailing. We spoke about many places he has been including Grenada. He told us to keep an eye out for Walter and Christine on S/V andara who may be still in Puerto Rico.
Coral Gardens was such a nice location that Marta made dinner reservations at their more formal restaurant “Coyaba” . Bob and Rick walked up to customs and checked out. Once checked out we should leave but we may have to wait a little longer for weather. Back at the anchorage word spread quickly about our dinner plans and the reservations had to be changed to accommodate five couples. Departure II, Kindred Spirit, Twowowie, Sirena and Wind-Borne III all dined together. It was very expensive but the food was amazing. I ordered Wahoo and Rick had Tuna.
Some of the boats left this morning, Twowowie, Serena, Kindred Spirit and ourselves are waiting until tomorrow. Today was just a small job day. Rick finished sewing the spray flap on the dinghy, I did a little laundry and we both had a siesta. The dinghy was raised before dark, Rick rechecked the weather and everything was ok to go.
The alarm was set for 5:30 am and we were up and ready to lift anchors by 7am. By 6:30am we had more than enough daylight to see some very large threatening clouds all around us. Rick called Sirena and we both decided to wait awhile a see what the weather was going to do. Twowowie decided to go ahead. We called them at about 8:30am to see how they we making out. Bob said that his crew (Heather) was preparing a mutiny. It was very rough and she was on the bow looking for coral heads receiving all of the spray and hanging on for dear life.
Well by 9am we could see the horizon under the clouds so decided it was now or never. We headed out but didn’t get very far. The winds were supposed to be 10 to 15 kts. No way! They were 15 to 20 plus. Granted we were on the Caicos Banks not on the ocean but if we’re following Van Sant’s rules:
1. We were supposed to leave no later than daybreak to make it across the banks in daylight. 2. We are not supposed to travel the banks in the dark. 3. It is not wise to anchor on the banks unless you want to destroy your anchor. 4. Since the winds were southeast we should not travel the banks in anything over 15 kts of wind.
II brought these few things to Ricks attention and due to the fact we were making less than 5 kts with the mainsail up and the RPM’s at 2200, he decided it would be wise to return to Sapodilla Bay and try this leg another day.
Sirena, turned around with us, (we are Boat Buddies now), and we both anchored a little closer to shore this time. They joined us for a Mahi Mahi dinner that was not bad. We had originally tried to barbecue it, but there was too much wind and we retreated to the oven. When I spilled my white wine at dinner, I had to accept the ribbing gracefully.
We slept late then listened to David Jones weather at 9:30am. According to him the winds are going to remain strong 15 to 20 east-northeast until the weekend. We decided that although it would be better than yesterday’s southeast winds, we’re going to wait. The captain likes to keep his crew (me), happy and this trip is supposed to be fun not a slog into heavy winds and waves.
Just before lunch there was some excitement on the radio. A 20-foot fishing boat had hit the reefs right behind us. It was very lucky for them that S/V Navigator was coming into the anchorage and saw the 3 men aboard bailing. It appears that they didn’t have a radio or life jackets. There was a three-foot hole in the boat and it was sinking fast about a mile from shore. Navigator couldn’t get close because of the coral heads so called for help from any other vessels. It didn’t take very long and three small fishing vessels raced out to help. They were able to tow the boat right past us on the way to shore. We waved and cheered to the hero boat and told the guys aboard the boat in tow to keep bailing.
We took Morris Bus into town with Sirena and checked in at Immigration. The first 7 days cost us $5 but to extend the stay beyond 7 days cost us $50 per person.
When we returned to the beach, Ken and Maddy were just getting ready to leave. We have run into them almost everyday since we arrived. They are originally from New York but also own a house in Provo. Each afternoon, they come to the beach at Sapodilla with their dog. They have invited all of us (Sirena and Wind-Borne), to their house Wednesday night before going to Mackey's for Dinner.
It is extremely interesting to observe how much can happen on a day that we
chose to do nothing. Originally we had planned to snorkel but the winds
were so strong that we decided to cancel and just sit on our own beautiful
Sapodilla beach. Marta (who we now call Lucy due to a little Cuban
influence), and I prepared a shore lunch. The guys lugged the chairs,
books, cooler, towels and beach umbrella ashore. We hadn’t really even got
comfortable when a couple of strangers appeared on our beach. We’ve been
here over a week so yes we are becoming possessive about the area. They
eventually came over and joined us under the palm tree. Jane and Dennis
arrived in Provo by plane a couple of days ago and are only staying a week.
Today was their 25th wedding anniversary so Lucy and I advised Dennis that
Coyaba was really the only restaurant that he should consider for a celebration
this important.
A while later Todd and Eric swam ashore from their boat. We had a lot of laughs with them over the fact that Morris Bus has been charging them double what he charges us. That’s because they don’t have Lucy negotiating prices. From this island on they have promised to negotiate all prices. They are leaving tomorrow with a few engine problems so rather than have to motor they are going to head east and then directly south to the Virgin Islands. It’s a long sail and will take them quite a few days so we wished them well.
Next to arrive on the scene were Ken and Maddy with Katie. I previously and mistakenly referred to Katie as “the dog”. Once I learned to recognize her as a family member she was very content to lie down at my feet in the sand. I’m not sure how it happened but it appears that Lucy and I now have an appointment for a Manicure and Pedicure in town tomorrow. Maddy has not only made the appointment for us but she has also offered to drive us into town. I wonder if maybe she isn’t trying to tell us something.
It was dinnertime so we headed back to the boat. We had just climbed aboard when I noticed a kayak with two guys in it pulled up beside Sirena. It didn’t take Lucy long to invite them aboard and even over the sound of the wind which is still very strong, we could hear a lot of laughter coming from their boat until well after dark. They called us on the VHF while the guys were still there. Evidently they are both chefs in the process of opening a new restaurant. Would we like to be some of their first customer’s Thursday night, of course!
So for a do nothing day, a lot seemed to happen.
Rick took Lucy and I to shore where Maddy was waiting for us at 9:30 am.
Talk about service, she took us into town to a salon and waited while we both
had a manicure and pedicure. It was one of the best pedicures I have ever
had but it took until after 2pm before they had finished working on both of us.
On our way back to the boat, Ken called to tell Maddy that the guys were with
him at the house. We picked up some meat pies and headed to their house,
which is just down the road from Sapodilla Bay. They have a beautiful
place called “Bashert” (meant to be), with a view that you only see in travel
magazines. As soon as we arrived the guys told us about the adventures
that they had while we were gone. Evidently they had taken Ken aboard to
visit the boats and while aboard they looked over and noticed that Dolphin (a
boat anchored in the bay), was dragging with no one aboard. They rescued
and re-anchored the boat, as they tell it, in a major squall, getting totally
soaked as they did it. We declared them heroes of the day. We
couldn’t stay long at Maddy’s and Ken’s, we had to leave so that we could return
about 5:30 for our planned visit.
Sure enough, right on time Ken drove up to the beach to transport us back to
their house. We had a very enjoyable evening, which began with drinks and
appetizers and a tour of their house. We then moved on to Mackey’s for dinner.
This is the third or forth time we’ve been to Mackey’s. The food is
excellent, the price is right, service is more than adequate it’s very
enjoyable. This is where the locals eat. I had steamed grouper this
time and Rick had ribs.
When we first arrived in Provo, Lucy (who was still Marta at that time) and I met a couple of guys while our Captains were checking in with customs. These guys were captain and cook aboard a large power boat/cruiser anchored behind us. The boat name was Blue Guitar. Marta figured that with a name like Blue Guitar the owner had to be a singer. Sure enough, we learned today that Eric Clapton owns it and that’s whom we saw aboard last weekend.
We’re leaving tomorrow so first thing in the morning I thought I would do a bit of hand laundry. I got to my manual rinse cycle and there wasn’t any water coming out of the tap. Rick pulled the pump out thinking that was the problem. He took it all apart and reassembled it and then everything seemed fine. Just after lunch we headed to the beach to spend time with Maddy and Ken. Ken drove Bob and Rick back to customs to check out again. The women relaxed on the beach and Scott and Steve joined us. Scott and Steve are two of the chef's who are cooking for us tonight. I was mistaken thinking we were going to be some of their first customers. Their restaurant, the Blue Papaya, will not open until June. We’re going to their house, which is a two-minute walk from the beach. They have also invited Maddy and Ken.
It was a little after 5pm and we felt it was time to return to the boat and dress for dinner. I took a shower and again the pump seemed to act up. Rick checked it again and this time by checking a little further discovered we were out of water. Our ma tank monitor was stuck at ½ full. When we actually thought about it, we realized that we have both showered at least once a day sometimes more often, with dishes and laundry we’ve used a lot of water yet we have only been making water for a few hours every two to three days. We had to leave for dinner so couldn’t make water until we returned.
We arrived at the house, which is very nice and had a good size kitchen. All the guys including Bob were working away at dinner. Steve was making conch fritters. Craig made an amazing goat cheese and mango dip as well as some wonderful guacamole. Bob had volunteered to make his famous Thai beef dish which turned out better this time because the guys were able to get the fish sauce for him. Scott served drinks and looked after the guests. Craig had previously been a chef at Coyaba (where they were able to borrow the Thai fish sauce). Steve was a chef at Club Med. There was another couple who they had invited, some very close friends of Craig’s but it was obvious very early in the evening that there was going to be enough food for many more people. The guys phoned a few friends and in no time it was a full-blown party. There was a lady from Courtney BC who moved here a couple of years ago, there were a couple of customs officers, one was Steve’s sister and there was a friend whose birthday was today. We said it was the best kick-ass bon voyage party we had had in a long time. We’re sure their restaurant will be one of the most successful on the island. They make a great team, work well together and are all very talented (and good-looking). On top of that, they really are very good chefs.
When it was time to say good-bye we couldn’t get Maddy and Marta apart. Their tears were flowing for ages. Ken and Maddy came to the beach so we could say good-bye and M&M could generate more tears. If that wasn’t enough, everyone is coming to the beach to wave good-bye to us at 6:30 am. Now I ask you, have we made friends on this island? Maddy and Ken are coming to visit us in Grenada this November.
We are taking away some very special memories of the people on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The party last night continued long after we said our good-byes so the ”young uns” that said they would be on the beach first thing in the morning were no where to be seen. They had probably just hit the sack and therefore could not be roused even by Ken, who did try. Our friends Ken, Maddy and Katie were there to wish us a bon voyage. Ken brought his VHF radio which not only allowed us to talk but permitted Marta and Maddy to shed more tears.
Although we hated to leave it was the perfect day to cross the banks. The wind was light and there were almost no waves. Above us the sun was shining however all day long we watched a menacing cloudbank travelling in the opposite direction from us. In fact it looked like Ken and Maddy may even get some much-needed rain soon. The Caicos banks have coral heads everywhere. We followed one of the deepest channels across the banks and we were still continually dodging coral heads. The fact that the turquoise water was so clear that day made the coral heads even more visible so some of them may have been very deep, it was hard to tell. We steered around them anyway. About halfway across the banks while I was up at the bow on coral watch we had a dolphin swimming with us at our bow. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Jo Jo, we were to far from Provo, but it’s the first dolphin we’ve seen since leaving Florida. We arrived at Long Cay by 3:30pm. Long Cay is just below South Caicos and almost appears to be part of the same island. Marta and Bob joined us on Wind-Borne for Cocktails and a toast to our friends we left behind in Provo.
We awoke to some thunderstorm activity but nothing major. The weather forecast was still promising light winds and seas for the next few days. We raised anchor at 9:45 and headed out through the cut. I still can’t believe the colours of the water and the sky. We left the Caicos Banks with beautiful light greenish turquoise water that is also reflected in the clouds above. As we traveled through the cut the water changed to royal blue and eventually on the ocean to a much darker almost navy blue which again when the sun is out seems to be reflected in the clouds. When we arrived at Sand Cay we entered bluer rather than greener turquoise waters.
It was an almost perfect day. We had a very comfortable motor sail travelling through only one rain cloud, which didn’t even generate enough rain to wash the salt crystals off the deck.
We arrived around 2:30pm. Sirena called and offered to taxi us into
shore in the Lucy-mobile so that we didn’t have to drop our dinghy out of the
davits. It is a lovely island and we were the only people on it. We
walked over to the windward side for a little beach combing. While we were
there a huge hawk swooped down so close to each of us that Marta even ducked.
This island is a nature reserve. A lot of junk and garbage had washed
ashore which was sad to see. The guys each picked up a couple of fishing
floats while Marta and I gathered some good shells, fans and coral from the
beach.
The beach on this island drops very quickly to about 12 feet of water and here is a strong surf so getting safely into the dinghy and getting the dinghy afloat was a major task creating a lot of tension and laughter. Marta ended up in the water but was able to jump back up in before the waves took the dinghy over top of her. I don’t think we’ll go to shore again.
We all had appetizers on Sirena, watched a beautiful sunset and then called it a night.
We had a little rain again before daylight and I think the Laughing Gulls of Sand Cay are party animals. They laughed at each other continually all night. It was a lazy morning we watched three other boats arrive, made some meals to eat underway, read for awhile and rested.
At 3 pm anchors were up and we were on our way. Goodbye Atlantic Ocean, Ola Caribbean Sea. The first part of the passage was wonderful. We had all sails up and we were traveling at about 6 ½ to 7 kts. The engine was running at 1400 RPMs just to charge all the batteries. The winds were southeast 10 to 15 knots and the waves were less than 6 feet. We were tempted to slow down because at the rate we were travelling our arrival time would be much to early. We’ve learned however to make hay while the sun shines, if necessary we would slow down much closer to our destination. Sure enough with only 30 miles to go Bob called to see if we had noticed the squall lines on our Radar. We hadn’t but the distant lightening wasn’t as east to miss. We went through 5 separate squall lines that night however we dodged most of the individual intense squalls. Only one caught and drenched us but we were prepared for it.
As the sun was starting to rise we were just a couple of miles from our waypoint leading into Luperon.
We inched our way into the harbour and found many boats already at anchor. It had the look and feel of a cruising community. The scenery is magnificent. After seeing the flat sandy Bahamas for so long it was wonderful to see the lush mountains of DR.
We felt our way around in the harbour and found 3 out of the 4 existing
sandbars. We gently ran aground on each but were able to back off.
We eventually found a spot to our liking and dropped the anchor. As soon
as we finished, there was a voice calling us on the VHF. He had noticed
that we laid our anchor to the west, which was the direction of the wind at the
time. He told us that we should re-lay it to the east because when the
prevailing trade winds picked up (from the east), all of the boats would turn
and we would most likely drag. He was very specific as to how much rode we
should use and how we should lay it and back down on it.
I thanked him and because he sounded very confident and knowledgeable in what he was stating, we raised the anchor, found another spot and re-anchored according to his directions.
This was a very wise move. I met him and his wife Rosa at happy hour
later in the day. It was Bruce Van Sant, the author of The Gentleman’s
Guide to Passages South. His book is a bible to all cruisers heading
south. The cruising community in Luperon has a small newsletter that was
delivered to our boat. We learned that happy hour at the marina is daily
between 5 pm and 7 pm. Movie night is on Wednesday. There is a
barbecue each Sunday. I’m sure there’s more but it takes time to discover
these things.
José who we met in town thanks to Marta who loves to talk to everyone, is the translator for customs, tour guide (he will take us to the waterfalls), sells courtesy flags which Sirena needed, arranges delivery of fuel or propane to your vessel and anything else you can think of. In fact when we checked into customs, the immigration official was out on a date. José offered to bring him to the marina later to process our passports during happy our. Well José showed up but we don’t know what happened to the immigration guy. It doesn’t matter, we’ve already made plans for tomorrow so maybe we’ll see him the next day. We’re definitely on island time.
Early in the morning we dropped our laundry off at the marina. In the
Turks & Cacaos the laundry machines cost $7 per load for us to wash and dry.
Here, the marina charges $8 per large load, they supply the soap, they do the
work and we pick it up all folded the next day. I couldn’t resist.
We had to pass by the Custom & Immigration office so we stopped in to see if
they could find the missing Immigration Officer. Sure enough, they found
him at home and he arrived and did his thing quite quickly.
Then our day really began. José, who does everything, was our tour guide for the day. He took the four of us to a mountain with waterfalls that we could slide down. What we were not aware of was the climb up the waterfalls. I mean that literally. We walked a long way up the mountain, crossing streams and following rocky paths. When we reached the lowest of 27 falls we had to get in the water, swim and climb up the waterfalls. José picked up another guide (Carlos), on the way to the falls. They both assured us we were only going to climb seven of the waterfalls this day.
The first one was the easiest, we swam against the current to a rock ledge and the guides helped us up. Then there was a wooden man-made ladder that we could use to climb up the rocks beside the actual waterfall.
The next one was a little more difficult. The current was getting
stronger and there were no more ladders. Carlos climbed first while José
stayed below. We had to put our right foot in Jose’s hands, our fingertips
of our right hand were to reach for a crevice in the rock while our left hand
was to reach up and Carlos would grab it and pull us up. This maneuver was
done with the full force of the waterfall plummeting down over our head.
Some of us needed a couple of attempts. The high rocks formed a very
narrow channel causing the current from the next waterfall to be extremely
strong. We were swimming with shoes/sandals on our feet because of the
rock climbing. Only one person could go through the channel at a time
while the others were told to wait one minute before proceeding. This
waterfall was around a bend so you couldn’t really see what was happening.
After the guides, I went next. The climb this time was much higher and
when I reached the falls I couldn’t find a foot hold anywhere. Carlos had
his foot down as far as he could reach and told me to grab hold of it, as I did
that, it put my head right under the falls. Quickly though, José grabbed
my arm, then Carlos had changed position and had hold of my other arm.
Soon I was able to get an arm around Carlos’ neck and he was lifting me but I
still couldn’t find a foot hold. I was beginning to tire so I told the
guides to let me fall back into the water because there was no way I could make
it up. I swam back to the pool at the top of the previous waterfall
totally exhausted. Marta, Bob and Rick decided we had gone far enough and
I was in complete agreement. Just then another group was coming up.
Their guide was Carlos’ uncle. (Carlos is eighteen years old and extremely
strong but his uncle looks like a body builder.) The uncle told us not to
worry, he would lift us up without our having to help at all. Marta
thanked him but said we had had enough.
That was the going up now we had to go down.
The first waterfall going down we just sat and slid down the rocks that dumped us right into the current below.
We then swam back to the next one at which we had a choice. We could either slide down the rocks, or jump off the ledge or climb back down the ladder. Bob and I slid down the rocks. Marta and Rick climbed down the ladder. On the next ledge there was no choice we had to jump. After all of this, we needed a beer before starting the walk back down the mountain.
After dropping Carlos off, we headed to a restaurant for a buffet lunch, which was very good. No time to rest, we were now off to a botanical garden. The gardens were beautiful, and José found and showed us a mahogany flower from the mahogany trees, picked and gave us a rose showed us all of the beautiful plants and flowers. I fell asleep in the van on the way back to the boat.
Irene and Frank from a boat called Distant Drummer announced on the radio
that they were going into Puerto Plata and asked if anyone wanted to share the
cab. Sirena definitely wanted to go as they needed to purchase a new
inverter (Marta is in desperate need of her hair dryer and curling iron, which
she hasn’t been able to use since their inverter died).
We decided to go along for the ride. It was a good deal. The cost of the van for a full day was $5 per person. The driver took us to Puerto Plata but stopped anywhere we wanted for any length of time. We left Luperon at 9 am and didn’t return until almost 6pm.
While in Luperon we ate lunch at Sam's bar and grill and then roamed the
tourist traps (stores) while Frank and Irene went to the airport to pick up some
friends. Marta and I both bought some souvenirs. We all met again at
Sam’s and had the taxi take us to the market. Fresh fruit in the Bahamas
was not readily available and when it was, the prices were ridiculous. We
were really craving some fresh fruit. I bought a large bunch of bananas,
some plantains, pineapple, and papaya, limes and another fruit that I’m not sure
what it’s called. The total price of the fruit was about $3 US. We
returned to the marina, dumped everything in the dinghy and raced for the boat.
I quickly washed everything before bringing it aboard, Once the fruit was taken
care of we headed back to the marina for Merengue night. Wednesday night
is normally movie night but the marina (Puerto Blanco), had hired dancers from a
nearby hotel to entertain us this evening. Marta who was totally exhausted
before the evening began was up and fully participating in the Latin dancing.
When the dancers took a break we all called it a night and headed back to the
boat again.
Looks like we’re going to be here awhile. There is no weather window appearing in any of the forecasts yet. Marta and Bob left very early in the morning and traveled to Santo Domingo for the day. We had been there before so decided to spend the day doing almost nothing. We finally got around to picking up the clean laundry, which has been ready for a couple of days. We arranged to have some water delivered to the boat since our tanks are almost empty and we can’t make water in this harbour. In fact we pickled our water maker the day after we arrived here. The water is so bad in the harbour that before we leave here they recommend we hire someone to clean the prop and the bottom of the boat. They also suggest that once every week or so we pull up as much of our anchor rode as possible and clean it off before it gets too encrusted with nasty stuff. Although the water is extremely dirty the harbour is one of the most beautiful we have been in. It is a good hurricane hole surrounded by very lush mountains. The edges of the shoreline are all mangroves. The bottom is hard mud that has clay below the mud. Once the anchor is firmly set, it doesn’t move. Each day the trade winds pipe up to 15 to 20 knots and then dies down to nothing every night. Sleeping aboard in this harbour is almost like being on land. There is no motion of the boat at all. Some of the boats in the harbour are here for the hurricane season.
We wandered through town in the afternoon. Rick ordered a case of Dominican rum, we picked up some goodies from the bakery and had lunch at the Chicken Shack. On our way back to the dinghy we stopped into the marine store. It’s a very small store but they have a good selection. Brian and Margie who also do canvas work own the store. I asked Margie if she could make a squall proof hatch cover for the boat before the next weather window. She would try.
Back at the boat we had a late siesta which meant a late dinner as well. I cooked some of the plantains but forgot to add a little brown sugar. They were ok but I’ll have to try them again. We have had some wonderful plantains at restaurants prepared many different ways so I know we like them. I just have to work on cooking them properly.
Margie and Brian arrived about 9:30 am to take measurements for the squall
proof hatch cover I want. The earliest she can begin working on it is next
week so we agreed that we would wait and check weather windows next week before
she starts. It wasn’t long after they left and Rafael arrived with his
crew. They not only had our water bottles onboard but they brought the
fuel boat in tow
as well. They filled the fuel tanks and water tanks and took away our
gasoline jerry can to fill for us. After they finished with our boat they
moved their full service station over to Sirena. The timing was not the
greatest as it started to rain just as they were pumping diesel. Bob
covered the intake to avoid unwanted water in his tank and they finished pretty
quickly. Meanwhile, since it was raining, I read for awhile and then fell
asleep.
Dinner was a Pig Roast at the marina ($5 per person). We met Eric and Jan from Kuramu VII who just arrived. They left England last June, spent some time in the Caribbean and plan to spend the summer in Canada. They will stop in Kingston for a while and then plan to anchor in Prinyers Cove with Friends before heading to the western end of Lake Ontario.
An all day rain that didn’t really pack any winds dictated a rest day for us and a workday for Sirena. Bob started to install his new inverter when the refrigeration guy call to say he was ready to begin work on their fridge which had been acting up lately. By the end of the day the inverter was in and working and the marina had agreed to let them put all of their food in the marina fridge for a few days. The refrigeration guy is to return on Monday after the fridge has been defrosted and turned off.
Our day consisted of Lunch at the Chicken Shack again and an ice cream for desert.
There was a flea market at the marina in the morning so we decided to have a look. We didn’t find much there but before leaving we decided to have breakfast there. We were having a great gab with our new British friends Eric and Jan from Kuramu VII who are heading up to Ontario when Marta and Bob arrived. They had a new tale of woe. Now their water pump for the fresh water system has stopped working. They are not having a good week. Another boater had a spare pump and Bob now has a new project. We then realized that on Sunday there is an all day barbecue at the marina so we had to stay and try the barbecue as well.
After lunch we were all going into town but on our way as we left the marina Rick and I noticed that Wind-Borne was a little behind Sirena rather than a little ahead of her where she’d been all week. Sure enough, we had dragged. I think what caused it was we had put our boom tent up a couple of days ago to keep the sun off the cabin roof. The winds this day were gusting to over 25 knots and boats were dancing on their anchors. While the boat had turned sideways a bit, the wind probably caught the boom tent that is a lot of canvas and pushed the boat from abeam. We re-anchored but stayed with the boat for the rest of the day.
I have a cold. How can this happen. The temperature here is 85 to 90 every day. It’s a tough life.
We seem to be holding fine today but a couple of other boats dragged. One ended up on some mudflats. A lot of dinghies tried to pull it off but in the end they had to wait until almost midnight before it would float off. I made some Bahamian Macaroni and cheese for a pot luck dinner at the marina tonight. We think we might see a weather window coming so we also stopped by and told Margie at the marine store not to start work on our hatch cover.
Sirena came over first thing in the morning so that we could compare
waypoints. We then headed into town to check out with customs and spend
our remaining pesos. The pesos we spent on putting Wind-Borne III’s name
on the wall of a new club house that is being built for the boaters, a nice
lunch at Anny’s and a loaf of bread. Checking out with customs and with
the Commandant was extremely easy. We did absolutely nothing, Marta took
care of everything for us. We heard of a boat that arrived from Puerto
Rico and tried to check in, they only spoke English and ended up with exit
papers to go to Puerto Rico. I think this is the type of situation we
would have found ourselves in without Marta.
We returned to the boat by 4pm, raised the dinghy and rested before heading out after dark.
