Month: February 2019

February 20, 2019

We took a few days and worked our way around the south side of Puerto Rico and then up the east coast to the Yacht Club at Palmas Del Mar. The anchorages we chose were peaceful and calm and every time we were the only boat there. The second one, Cayo Puerca was surrounded by mangroves so I took the kayak down and paddled around one morning. Lots of birds and something big in the water that kept swimming away from me (probably a manatee) but I never got a good look as the water was a bit murky. I’ve definitely been spoiled by the beautiful water in the Bahamas and now anything less than crystal clear, turquoise water just doesn’t look inviting.

This is a pretty yacht club that is well protected and will be my home for the next two weeks. I say mine as Gary is flying back to Virginia tomorrow for a week or two.

I have a pool, small but nice view of the harbor and the crashing waves, lots of restaurants within walking distance for lunch breaks, and a gated marina with 24/7 security. All in all, Isabella and I will be fine on our own. I may even get that pesky “to-do” list completely taken care of.

We’ve also had a car the last few days and it’s quite easy to get around so if I start going crazy I can always rent a car for the day and go shopping or sight seeing.

Puerto Rico is still suffering the after effects of Hurricane Irma even in the coastal tourist areas. Lots of houses are missing tile roofs and several of the surrounding houses and condos need major work.

The main roads are not bad and there are no motor scooters here so driving is a lot less hectic than it was in DR. But there are a LOT of cars. Like the US it is a very mobile island. Without a car it’s not that easy to get around. Good thing there is a car rental place just outside the marina gates.

The weather is starting to kick up a bit so we’re expecting the marina to start filling up. At the moment it’s only about ⅓ full. There are condos surrounding the marina and they all have private slips so it looks much bigger than it really is.

No more updates until we get back underway again. Next stop will be a small island with good diving to get us back into the swing of it.

February 15, 2019

We finally found a three day weather window, not perfect but doable and left Oceanworld Marina near Puerto Plata on the 13th at 5pm. The idea is that the winds coming down off the mountains in the evening help flatten the seas but the jury is still out as to whether it made any difference at all. We probably would have been better to leave at about 10pm but we needed to clear the marina by 6 at the latest and the dockworkers leave at 5.

Friends we met during our stay at the Marina came to see us off as we were taking on diesel in the afternoon. Secretly they all thought we were crazy but wished us well and we’ve all promised to see each other again down the line. We checked out with the local officials who didn’t want to leave the boat until we offered them beers. Then of course they came back right before we left with an additional “fee” that we needed to pay. As they left the boat they could be seen divvying up the “fee” between the three of them but at least we could leave. The DR, unlike The Bahamas, is very regimented. You can’t just pull in and anchor anywhere. No matter where you stop, you WILL be met by the Navy and others to make sure you have proper paperwork and pay all necessary, and even some unnecessary, fees.

After being under way for several hours we thought our new friends might just be right. We were facing 5-6′ swells and the wind picked up and things got a little hectic. It’s one thing to be in waves when you can see them coming, a totally different animal when it’s dark and you can’t anticipate where they are coming from or when the front of the boat will be lifted into the air and slammed back down again. At one point I woke up and thought I was inside a washing machine. Not a great feeling but a good test of the stuegeron that we purchased in DR.

Gary and I took turns at the helm all during the night with 2-3 hour shifts and caught sleep where we could. Even tho we’d taken care to put away items that could fall or move inside the boat we still had to respond to several “crashes” during the night. Things that have never moved an inch were tossed on the floor. Nothing broken and the flying coffee maker missed Isabella so everything turned out okay.

After 14 hours we pulled into an anchorage in Samana Bay for a 4 hour break to rest and put everything back together. Of course as soon as we anchored we were visited by the local Navy representative with a customs & immigration fellow and a “barely able to understand English” interpreter. I think they were disappointed to discover we had the appropriate paperwork and were only staying for a couple hours.

By 11am we were on our way again on a circuitous route to Puerto Rico that would take 19 more hours. Samana Bay is a humpback whale preserve and whale watching is a very big thing from Jan 1 thru March 15th. As we left we could see the boats in the distance just floating with whales near them. For almost an hour we were treated to whales popping up in front of us, sending water in the air from their blowholes. One actually breached and another flipped his tail at us. A really nice window in an otherwise long and hard slog.

A couple observations about traveling at night.

– I thought the blackness of the night would bother me as I’m pretty claustrophobic, but that wasn’t the case. We had a half moon and brilliant stars for ambiance. We turned on the outside lights as well as our navigation lights so we were pretty lit up but being up on the flybridge you really didn’t see it. We just wanted to make sure anyone else out there saw us.

-Traveling at night means you miss the scenery. I know we passed some major towns as well as beautiful mountainous areas but all I could see were occasional lights. It reminded me of traveling through the Alps years ago on a sleeper train car. We got where we were going but missed the view!

-The only thing quiet about a night crossing on a trawler is the radio. Between the engines, crashing waves and things crashing inside the boat it gets noisy. The radio on the other hand, is eerily quiet. We only saw two other vessels over a two night period. Both of them were big freighters and no one was chatty.

-At our ages, getting 2-3 hours of sleep at a time really wears us down. I had a headache for most of the trip. We’re taking a day today just to relax, nap and generally recuperate.

I think in future unless we can’t avoid it (long crossing) we’ll travel during the day. After all, we’re retired and shouldn’t have to hurry to get anywhere!

We’ll spend the next few days traveling the south coast of Puerto Rico and make our way to the Yacht Club at Palmas del Mar where we’ll be docked for a couple weeks while Gary flies home for medical appointments and to visit. I’ll stay on the boat with Isabella as someone has to feed and care for the princess! I’ll see everyone at home on our next trip back.

We initially thought we’d bypass the DR but with weather being what it is decided to layover at least once in a marina. Once here Mother Nature has again played her games and we are in for 10-14 days before we can cross to Puerto Rico.

Never having been here before we really didn’t know what to expect. Wow have we been surprised. After The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos the hills, mountains and just general lushness of the island are a welcome change. Although it’s a poor country the cities and marinas have a concentration of wealth. We’re sitting in a marina at Oceanworld surrounded by several resorts so you can get most anything you need. The US dollar is accepted although you may not get a favorable exchange rate for change.

The second day here we decided to hire a driver to take us in to Santiago. It’s a city of contrasts much like you would find anywhere. Parts of the city are clean, prosperous and really pretty, while other parts are unsafe and we steered clear. It boasts the oldest church in the Americas and Columbus is everywhere (or as they refer to him Columbo). We toured the city, had a nice lunch, visited a huge hardware store (remember the three stops we always make) and then returned to the boat. We were happy to have a local driver as the main road is under construction and once in the city we would have easily gotten lost.

The next day we took a rental car and drove to Puerto Plata, a much smaller town looking for a grocery store, pharmacy and cigar store. You don’t need prescriptions to get medication in the DR. Just go to the local pharmacy and ask for what you need. They also have an extensive stock of generic medications. I was looking for something to replace the Dramamine I’ve been taking that makes me so sleepy. Stugeron was recommended by several cruisers so I’m giving that a try.

Cigars are made here in DR and they are very good. Gary was able to replenish his supply and we even got a lesson in how cigars are made and where the different tobaccos they use come from.

We also managed to find a German butcher shop where I stocked up on beef, smoked ham and bacon. The island has a large agricultural vibe but they are also very industrial. If you need something fabricated or repaired chances are you can get it done here and for a reasonable price. After the Bahamas where everything is overpriced it was a pleasant surprise to buy pounds of beef filet and other meats all for $64!

There are motor scooters here everywhere. For every car there are at least 15-20 scooters. They are used as a mini taxi service as cabs are very sparse and very expensive. Not sure we’re brave enough to try them out but they sure make driving a rental car adventurous. Gary was in his racing element and I held on and closed my eyes for the most part.

It looks like the weather will calm down in a day or two. We will depart our marina about 5:3opm Wednesday and do an overnight cruise, anchor out for the day and grab a few hours sleep and then do it again overnight to Puerto Rico. Traveling at night is supposed to be calmer so we shall see.

Meantime we will  visit our favorite restaurant once last time, say goodbye to friends we’ve made and gas up before heading out.

February 6, 2019

We traveled from Turks and Caicos to The Dominican Republic yesterday. A beautiful 9 hour crossing with calm seas. If every crossing was that easy everyone would have a boat!

Each country we enter and leave gives us an opportunity to visit with customs and immigration. The Bahamas was easy. Visit the dockside office at Bimini, fill out the appropriate paperwork, pay $300 for a cruising permit (that includes a fishing permit for the boat) and you’re good for six months. When we left the country we turned in our paperwork at our last marina stop and we’re done. Last winter we mailed the paperwork back to them when we reached the US mainland with no problem.

Turks and Caicos seems to make it up as they go. We checked in at Turtle Cove Marina. Again, fill out the paperwork, pay $50 and you’re good for seven days. If you want to stay longer than that it costs $300 for a cruising permit but we didn’t think we would stay more than a week. When we left we checked out at South Caicos where they seemed surprised that we had moved around during the week from the original marina. Really? It’s a boat. It moves. That’s the point of having a boat. Anyway we paid our exit fee of $50 and had 24 hours to vacate the country. So we overnighted at Sand Cay and were on our way bright and early the next day.

Dominican Republic is a different animal. When we arrived at the marina the dock guys helped tie off the boat and then told us the procedures. We were to wait on the boat for customs and immigration to come to us. Sure enough, within 30 minutes four guys were at our boat. They came onboard and we filled out the necessary paperwork. They did a cursory inspection of the boat, petted Isabella, asked about firearms (no) and then Gary accompanied them back to the marina office where he paid $100 ($75 for the boat and $12.50 per person) and we’re good until we move to the next marina. Each move within DR requires a despacho which will be asked for at the next stop. When we check out of the country we will be boarded with drug sniffing dogs because we’re traveling to Puerto Rico and the US had made that a requirement for anyone coming from DR. I’m sure Isabella is really going to enjoy that!

A bit about Turks and Caicos. We had been there before about 10 years ago and rented a beach house on Providenciales so we were somewhat familiar with the area. The people are very friendly, English is the language and they use US currency. That makes it very easy to get around. We found that they are not necessarily a cruiser friendly country tho. There are only a handful of marinas. and most of the anchorages are not well protected. We spent the first two nights at Turtle Cove Marina and then moved to Sopadilla Bay on the south side looking for some good diving/snorkeling. Unfortunately the anchorage was very rolly and the water was cloudy. We were out of there the next morning. We then happened upon a beautiful anchorage at a very small cay called Six Hills Cay. There was probably enough room for 5-6 boats but we were the only ones there. The water was pristine and we had a very nice snorkeling area about 100 yards from the boat. A little slice of heaven.

From there we moved to South Caicos to check out with a very rolly overnight in the harbor and on to Sand Cay for another beautiful anchorage. We did manage to see a green flash at sunset so maybe that made up for the rolly movement of the boat…uh no. At Sand Cay we anchored within 100 yards of the beach and as the wind and therefore the boat turned we ended up even closer. It was a little intimidating to look at but having snorkeled earlier in the day to the beach we knew that the water was deep to within 10 feet of the beach. Even with confidence in our anchoring skills Gary didn’t sleep very deeply that night.

So now we’re at Oceanworld in the DR once again waiting for the weather to cooperate. It’s kind of a catch 22. The weather is more favorable in the summer for cruising but our insurance says we can’t be here because of hurricane season. So we travel in the winter months when weather is more volatile. Oh well.