Tuesday we enjoyed a lazy day on the internet, reading, cleaning and generally just chilling…. and thoroughly enjoyed it. In the evening we popped up to Bob’s Bar which sits above the marina and had a nice couple of hours chatting to Bob, Cam and the two dogs Effie and Gemma.   We also met our marina neighbours Ken and Margaret who are cruising on their large catamaran called Rocking B. The views out across the channel and further out to sea are quite beautiful…..

Wednesday we took Bob up on his offer to take us into town to visit the IGA supermarket – so we quickly took the opportunity of topping up drinking vouchers at the ATM – and got some basic provisions.

Arriving back in the marina and Effie and Gemma were disgusted with our efforts – no dog treats in the bags…. Must try harder!    We also investigated doing some diving – $160 each for a two tank dive using our own gear. And one of our pet hates is a very busy dive boat, so I watched carefully when they left and counted 18….   We are not sure we want to spend $320 for the experience – and don’t forget we’ll have to pay the $300 cruising licence to stay here.   Hmmmmm….not sure…..

After a long debate we decided to wait to go diving until we get to the Bahamas – so close geographically it can’t be that different….. Disappointed but never mind.   Morphie quite likes it here……..and I quite like not having to climb up or down onto huge concrete docks either.

In the marina there are a couple of mangled large props sitting around – and they belong to a $5mn motorcruiser which was put up onto Molasses Reef by the delivery captain at 25 knots having only 40 hours on the engine since new!   The bottom was ripped out and they have filled it with plywood and epoxied over it to make it waterproof – but it is a right off and will never go to sea again probably.

What a sorry tale and certainly puts our bent anchor into perspective – oh yes, and we’ve got it straightened…. Yay!

In the evening we went to a pot luck BBQ at Bob’s Bar and met a lot of locals and more cruisers who are in other small marinas dotted around. Was quite a lively and fun event but eventually torrential rain stopped play….   Bob is a real character – born in the UK, raised in Canada, and moved here almost 40 years ago….  Here is an old photo of him with the dogs.

Thursday morning and we headed out to hire a car and explore the island.   We arrived at the rental place to be told you can’t hire a car without a credit card – not here, not in the Bahamas and definitely not in the USA.   Damn….this is going to be difficult going forward….   Eventually the guy said – OK take the car we’ll take cash – and we got away with it. But not sure that is going to happen anywhere else – once we get to Florida we’ll have to stay put long enough to get the replacement cards sent to us……   Our little hire car was adequate and pretty reasonable at $49 a day – so we headed off.   First stop was the port to get our departure papers……and then we drove the whole length of the island.

We headed out on the main dual carriageway – and Richard enjoyed driving on the left and having proper roundabouts again – eventually we arrived at the Blue Haven resort where the brand new IGY marina on the Leeward end of the island is located.   The marina was spectacular although the entrance is tricky through the extensive reef and they send out a pilot for all the boats coming in.   A bit disappointed that we didn’t get to stay here but, to be honest, it was all a bit sterile and totally lacked any ambience whatsoever.

Moving on we admired the canal system and the very large homes that were built along the waterfront.

Then we came to the main tourist spot – Grace Bay – and it was full of large resorts with most of the big hotel chains present with very few public accesses to the beach. The beach is stunning – beautiful blue water lapping onto white powder sand…..

Not that many tourists around and certainly no small vending operations set up by locals although I did see some jewellery sellers and one hair braiding lady in operation.   All the action is in the hotels it would appear… Driving back towards downtown Providenciales we saw the huge mall – yep designer shops again – and noticed the stark difference between the opulence of the homes and the poverty that the locals clearly live in…… This may account for their less than friendly attitude we have encountered so far here in Providenciales.

Moving on and we drove around the flamingo lake – yes we saw two – and continued on the dirt roads which are littered with rubbish thrown out of cars.

The interior of the island is virtually desert sitting on a limestone base with scrubby vegetation and swamps – the beautiful manicured grounds all belong to the hotels and the luxury houses. And money does not equal taste – some of them were downright ugly!   The scrub land was all parcelled off into lots ready for development which seems to be a theme on this island with Sotherbys offering every other house or lot for sale…

So what do we think? Well, actually we are not impressed…… If you came here for a relaxing hotel holiday on a fantastic beach then I think you would enjoy it a lot.   If you went all inclusive so you could actually afford to go diving then yes that would be great too!   But overall Providenciales has little charm and is a bit soulless….

Friday morning – today – and we were supposed to be leaving to stage for our passage to the Bahamas.   But the weather is not good – strong winds and squalls – so we told the marina office and they said that customs will not force us to leave into bad weather as they would have some liability – don’t worry about it, have a good day and enjoy yourselves. So we extended the hire car and took ourselves off to that stunning beach armed with a cooler and went bobbing….   Was lovely!

Back in the marina now – and we are definitely leaving tomorrow and should arrive into Mayaguana, our port of entry into the Bahamas, on Sunday.   But, of course, it is Easter Sunday so we don’t know whether we can actually check in or not – and also whether we can get any internet access either…..   So just to manage expectations we’ll be back on line the minute we are able.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday morning we were finally ready for sea – and visited immigration and customs followed by the marina office to pay our bill.   We were pleasantly surprised that they calculated our stay on the lower seven day price rather than the daily rate – saving us a $100. Thanks!   We asked for a 12 noon departure to avoid the swells running across the marina entrance that always form later in the afternoon. The Commandante came on board, issued our departure document, and by 12.15 we were motoring and beating into the waves as we left the marina. We quickly cleared the reef and turned towards our first waypoint hoisting the sails into 16 knots of breeze…. and we are absolutely smoking on a beam reach with waves hitting us side on. The motion wasn’t the most comfortable one but who cares – the sky is blue and the sea is bluer and we’re going fast…….   We were enjoying ourselves a lot….

By 3pm we realised that we were going way too fast to arrive at our destination in daylight so reefed heavily to slow us down.   You can tell by this comment that we have finally turned our racing heads into cruising ones LOL.   At 6pm we went into shifts and I saw the sun go down – and of course a few ships to keep me company.

Richard then came on watch and at midnight, just before we changed over again, a huge wave broke on us which pushed our port rail underwater…. I was in bed at this point but quickly ended up on the floor….. Ouch!   At 1am the seas calmed down a bit and I had phosphorescence sparkling in our wake – and of course the obligatory cruise ship glow out at sea.   The rest of the night was quiet – with the occasional rogue wave showing us who was boss – and we made good albeit slow progress towards Grand Turk as the sun rose.

We were both together in the cockpit – and then – WOW – Whales!!!   Broaching, playing, waving … an amazing sight.

We anchored on the south coast of Grand Turk at 9.00 on Friday morning – and fell in love with the colour of the water against a sandy beach backdrop.   Slightly ruined by the industrial landscape, the rusting hulk of a sunken ship and a dinghy dock that was too high, had a boat on it, and left us no option but to drag dink up the beach and keep fingers crossed he would still be there when we got back.   We cleared in easily – welcomed home to these UK islands – and returned to Morphie.

We didn’t want to stay in this anchorage – however beautiful the water was – so picked up the hook and by 2.45 pm we had eyeballed our way in through a reef system to anchor in Cockburn, the capital of Grand Turk.   We went ashore and found that the town, itself, was closed!   A few interesting old buildings, HM Prison and a lot of masonic lodges….and even the museum was closed.  But otherwise very little going on – we did find a small café that had internet so we had a couple of cold ones and checked out the weather.   Well, the weather was going to clock around on Saturday that would make this anchorage untenable so we need to leave in the morning.   Disappointed at this quick turnaround but, hey, we have the other islands to explore ahead of us.  We enjoyed the sunset and an early night to recover from the passage.

Saturday morning and we picked up our hook at 9.30 am – or we tried to.   The water is so clear I can see the bottom and I realised that we had picked up a cable with the anchor as we moved forward – checking the charts again and the cable is a high voltage one and not where it should be grrrrrr…….. decidedly not a great start to the day. Obviously it belonged to the Cable and Wireless Towers that loom over the town.

Luckily it was shallow water – Richard jumped in, I let out more chain to give slack, he cleared the cable and I picked up the chain as quickly as possible to avoid getting caught on the second power cable sitting behind it – also not on the chart!   Then I had to stooge around to pick up Richard inside the reef and then we headed out. Phew….. We always knew this day would come – just very lucky that we were in shallow water.

We had a wonderful sail in 15 knots of breeze across to South Caicos – eyeballed our way into Cockburn Harbour and sat looking around in awe.   Think Anegada with beautiful clear water and you’ll get an idea of what I mean.   And, of course, we are the only boat in the anchorage.   Oh yes, and why do all rocks look like Brian the Snail???   We snorkelled our anchor – wary of more power cables – and all was well. We even had a couple of barracudas that kept us company as we swam around.   We did find a wreck of a boat about 200 feet behind us though….another hazard of these islands it would appear!

We went ashore – wandered the sleepy town – and came across a couple of scientists who run the marine biology school here.   We also wondered at the number of broken down abandoned properties littering the place.

On our trek we came across the ship’s bell from the Rhone steamship that sunk in a hurricane in the BVIs back in the day – a wreck that we have dived off of Salt Island. Apparently a South Caicos islander was involved in the salvage operation and was given the bell along with his pay.   What a small world eh?   It is a shame though – that something so significant – would end up living in a small tower attached to the church in this quiet and sleepy place.

And, of course, Richard couldn’t help himself but to ring it but we also said a silent prayer to all the people that perished on the Rhone.   I had visions of islanders rushing out to see what the noise was all about but no-one stirred apart from an old grisly looking dog who loved Richard scratching his ears…..

Going back towards Morphie, Richard took me to the worst bar I have ever been in….   A complete dive and I think we were tolerated by the locals – the barmaid was wearing very little clothes so Richard was happy and one local guy made good conversation.   Suffice to say we only stayed for one drink!   There was no internet available anywhere on the island so we were not able to catch up with any weather updates…..

Back on board we had a quiet night after Richard fixed the shower sump pump which had burnt out…..

Sunday morning and we picked up our anchor – no diving operation here in South Caicos which is what we were hoping for – and so we had decided to spend the night on the Caicos banks.   The Caicos banks are 60 by 50 miles of beautiful azure blue shallow water peppered with coral heads which have to be spotted by eyeball navigation. We made our way into the banks and were amazed – this is so so beautiful and better than we could ever have imagined. There is no wind at all so everything is flat calm and serene….   We were having a great time – and the wind wasn’t supposed to pick up until the following morning when we would approach the island of Providenciales – known as Provo. But of course our weather forecast was a day old by now which we found out later….

At 3.30 pm the wind stared kicking in – and the water started to chop….   We checked our charts and we can’t make Provo before dark because of the long routing we had deliberately taken – so we have to make the most of it and spend the night.   But it wasn’t going to be the beautiful romantic snorkelling and dining experience under the stars that we had planned!   Well, the wind continued to build above 20 knots and the chop was turning nasty…. We had dropped quite a lot of chain already but decided to throw it all out – so 200 feet of chain in 10 feet of water should keep us safe.   Just before sunset a fishing boat came by to check we were OK – they were running for cover as the forecast had indicated very strong winds overnight and they didn’t think we should stay on the banks…..

We radioed Provo Radio to seek advice and were given an alternative anchorage inside a reef behind a rock on the edge of the banks – but we would have to do this in the dark and what about those coral heads???

So we decided to stay put and settled down for the night on our sofas as the forepeak was too noisy as Morphie continuously bashed into larger and larger waves with many breaking green water over the bow.   At 2am there was an almighty bang – and the snubber has gone… There is no choice but to jury rig another as the anchor windlass would not cope with the strain of this mad night – so Richard is on the bow of the boat in the dark doing it while taking a dip every now and again as Morphie rode the waves. This was the only time I was scared really – because in these conditions I would never be able to get him back if he fell overboard – but he was harnessed up and wearing a lifejacket so wasn’t really in danger….   Job done and we carried on riding out the horrible conditions – with every bang and thump sounding like Neptune was taking a sledgehammer to our hull.   Finally the sun came up – thankfully!

We quickly changed our passage plan to take us back out to deep water to get away from the chop and started to pick up the anchor – it is my turn to take a dip this time with the bow rising and falling into the waves and also to try to stop taking on water into the anchor locker. The anchor came up surprisingly easily however it was badly damaged – check out the new shape!   To bend solid steel like this gives you an idea of the conditions we were thankful to come through….   Were we in danger really? Probably not – but so many things could easily have gone wrong….   Just thankful Morphie is such a strong boat… she looked after just fine.

We quickly entered deep water – cold, miserable and very wet – but had a great sail in 28 knots of breeze although you can tell by the photos that both of us were pretty keen to get to our next destination.

We then re-entered the banks via the shipping channel as we couldn’t eyeball in these conditions and made our way to Sapodilla Bay.   We dropped the hook – and it dragged – so we dropped it again…and it dragged again.   Clearly the new shape is affecting its ability to dig in – so I stooged around while Richard swapped it out for our spare.   All done – dropped the hook – and it dragged.   The Danforth anchor is really designed for hard sand and we are trying to get a set in putty-like mud and grass so not really surprised.   Thankfully on our second attempt we got a set and we set up the anchor alarms and sat in the cockpit for a little while.  When we were confident we were OK for the night – still with the wind blowing old boots but at least in a more protected place – we broke open the beer and I cooked toad in the hole as a celebratory meal.

This morning – Tuesday – and we moved around to Southside Marina, a very basic setup – but at least somewhere we can tie up to while we get our anchor repaired / replaced and another snubber purchased….   The weather forecast is also not looking conducive to run to the Bahamas any time soon with a number of fronts on their way – and we haven’t really explored or gone diving yet. The Turks and Caicos have a pretty strict regime – you get 7 days for $100 entry / exit – and if you want to stay longer then the cruising permit is $300 so we might have to bite the bullet and pay that.   But we have a couple of days yet to work it all out. Right now we just want to relax and take a deep breath!

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday lunchtime we walked….and walked….uphill….until we reached the main road beyond the numerous Lifestyle Resorts that take up much of this area.   We found a bus straight away to take us into the town of Puerto Plata with the other passengers seeming a bit surprised to see tourists using the local transport. The driver dropped us off with vague instructions on how to get to the market – a five minute walk away – and left us in the middle of a busy street teeming with people and motorbikes.   We were unsure whether we were in a safe area or not so looked around to get our bearings and decided to head down towards the ocean.   As we wandered around we were approached a few times by people wanting to be our local / paid guides but we managed to keep them at bay….. We finally reached the central plaza – got some more drinking vouchers from the enclosed bank ATM – and carried on towards the ocean. The ATM was guarded by a security guy with a pump action shotgun – hmmmmm…. obviously not quite so safe then???   The streets were pretty quiet now, apparently all the people were congregating elsewhere for a drive through of some presidential candidates for the next election.

The beach here is pretty nice looking and is framed by a boardwalk which appears to be very popular with the locals just chilling out. We admired the fire station and some old houses before heading back towards the centre of town. We didn’t fancy visiting the jewellery shops, the gift shops, nor the cigar factory….. so carried on whilst fending off more potential tour guides.

We did manage to get some good information though which is that there is a cable car up the mountain – so we headed in that general direction.   We ended up in a market selling fruit and veg – so we picked up some fresh produce – and carried on. We were getting tired as well as hot and bothered and had still failed to find the cable car.   We were then approached by a couple of moto-taxis…. These are motorbikes that do a taxi service. Of course, they are pretty dangerous…. but we thought hey, when in Rome and all that!   So we took one each – and I told my driver not to lose Richard as he had the money not me LOL – and we weaved in and out of traffic, trucks, down main roads and eventually ended up at the cable car entrance. We really enjoyed it although pleased to have arrived at our destination unscathed!

The drivers were keen to pose for pictures and kept calling us ‘momma’ and ‘poppa’ – allegedly a friendly term for older people. Not sure I want to be that old!!!!

We paid our entrance fees, grabbed some water, and then waited for the cable car. One coming down the mountain was a pretty impressive sight.

We all piled in….about 20 of us…..with only two other tourists, the rest being Dominicans….   Then we started on the journey – wow the scenery – and enjoyed looking down on to the town.

When we ended up at the top we realised that we were in the clouds – refreshingly cool and stunning.

There is a statue of Jesus Christ on the mountain top which is just like the one standing over Rio de Janeiro – wasn’t expecting that.

We wandered around – down paths and over bridges – enjoyed the spectacular views and the abundance of trees and flowers before heading to the restaurant and had some snacks – well, we ordered snacks, but they were huge!   After this late lunch we admired the views again – got a local guy to take some artistic shots of us with Jesus – and then waited for our return trip down the mountain….

We certainly went down quicker than we went up LOL.

Anyway we decided that was enough excitement for one day so got a proper minibus taxi this time back to the marina.   We didn’t fancy any dinner so had a quiet night on board having enjoyed the spectacular sunset.

Sunday morning after a lazy start we decided to hit the local beach…..   Most of the resorts here have private beaches – and Ocean World has its own too, but not for marina residents and we really didn’t fancy paying and entrance fee to sit in a manufactured environment and watch dolphins in captivity – so we knew this was going to be a ‘local day’. We went bobbing and people were waving and talking to us….. We even tried out our new Puerto Rican hats too – baseball caps are all well and good but we do not get enough shade with them on our backs. Fancy eh???

We had a fantastic bobbing time and were amazed to realise that we had started a trend when the locals started bobbing with huge bottles of rum and were shouting “Salut, Salut” at us all the time…   Oh yes, and Presidente comes in three sizes here – regular, grande and jumbo.   Please note that we were drinking regular ones, although do own up to a number of grande and jumbo bottles currently chilling in the fridge….

We went back to Morphie and got cleaned up before heading out towards the local Mexican restaurant that we fancied trying. On the way we checked out the fancy artwork on one of the villa walls – looks like riding dolphins might be a bit dangerous too – check out the boy’s arm LOL.

Oh yes, remember Bob the dummy that lived in the garage in Wisconsin???   Well, he is clearly moonlighting because he was modelling outside the restaurant here in the DR!!   We had fantastic food – nothing fancy – but was really very very good…

We then wandered back to the Ocean World complex and decided to have a pontoonie on the Terrace.  Well, Sunday night is party night!   The DJ was playing music and videos and the locals were having a great time – we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching them dancing. Wow these people can move…..   It ended up a pretty late night….

Monday morning and we were going to do laundry – but the laundry was shut. Oh well….. And it is really quiet from Ocean World next door – no loud pink panther music or applause – and we realised that the performing seals get the day off on Mondays too LOL.  So we ended up getting the complimentary shopping bus to the surprisingly well-stocked local supermarket to get more supplies…… Back on board we had brunch – did some passage planning – and then went to the small pool. This is open to marina guests only on Mondays to Fridays and has a swim up bar, although it is shut….. But that didn’t stop us buying a bucket of beers from the Terrace café and taking them with us….   Had a lovely time in the pool….it was our own private oasis for the afternoon.   Monday night was another quiet one on board.

Tuesday morning and we were going out for the day on an organised trip, rather than rent another car.   The truck picked us up on time at 9.00 am and we headed off with some other tourists – US predominantly apart from one French Canadian couple and another couple from Liverpool.   First stop was a local village – and to visit Pappo and Momma at their family plantation home.   We enjoyed walking through their gardens admiring the coffee, chocolate, bananas, pineapples, avocados, herbs and spices etc all growing in abundance.   The flowers here were spectacular too….. We visited their traditionally-built wooden house – and we were surprised that they still cooked on open hearths using wood as fuel – with an outhouse for washing and another for the bathroom.   They had very little but it was absolutely spotlessly clean – very humbling to think of all the ‘essentials’ we can’t live without at home or onboard. They have to buy drinking water too….. They let us try their fruit, they made us hot chocolate and coffee from their own produce which was delicious…. so I bought some chocolate to use myself on board, now that I have the special recipe!   We said our farewells having had our first beer of the day from the all-inclusive bar tended by Juan the driver.

Next stop was a village school…..   This caters for poor village kids and in one class they have three different age groups. They only attend four hours a day as the classroom is used for another group in the afternoon for four hours and then another group in the evenings….. Clearly the population is larger than they can cope with and we were pleased to see the foundations of a new school being built by the current President as part of a big infrastructure project – 800 schools planned so that every child can get an education..

We donated some clothes and some maps to the school and ended up with our pictures being taken with the principal who was very happy with our donations…..

Schooling here in the DR is not mandatory but the wearing of uniform is – and often there is only one uniform per family that all the children share and many of them don’t have shoes either and have to walk miles to school.   It is a simple but tough life for these kids.   We were delighted that they were being taught English, Spanish, French, History, Geography and Maths even at this early age and potentially can be their doorway out of poverty.   This was also our first exposure to illegal Haitian children who were attending the school as this gave them access to free food, and their learning curve was even sharper as Spanish is not their mother tongue.

On our way through the lush countryside we came across a very poor Haitian village and the local stores seem to have little provisions in them….

After the school we drove through more lush countryside and went swimming in a local river – was very refreshing despite being a little chilly!!!!

After our swim we moved on to a local restaurant run by the Outback company where we had very tasty (unlimited) chicken and rice with beans.   We also got to see some Salty crocodiles which do actually live on a brackish river near the border with Haiti.   I think it freaked out some of the tourists knowing that they had just been playing in the river LOL – wasn’t going to tell them that there were only specific areas these crocodiles lived and this wasn’t one of them!

After lunch we carried on driving through the countryside and ended up in a sugar cane area – so Juan stopped the truck and wielding his machete chopped us some sugar cane to try.   Very tasty!

Then we arrived at the beach – having to walk over a very crotchety elevated pathway made out of palms – to go body boarding in the surf and between that, bobbing, and a back and neck massage, we were pretty chilled……

And that was the end of our day – what an amazing adventure – so thank you to Eddy our tour guide, comedian and singer plus Juan our driver, bar-tender and machete wielder – for a wonderful fun and informative day.   We returned to Morphie and had a lazy evening on board.

This morning – Wednesday – and we have checked that the weather still holds for our passage tomorrow to Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Yes, it does. So I’m in the marina laundry while Richard is on board doing engine checks etc….   The rest of the day will be preparing Morphie for sea and organising the formal and rigorous check-out process here in the marina so that we can leave at the time we want to….

We have really enjoyed ourselves here in the Dominican Republic – we have had an amazing adventure and way beyond our expectations.   Richard even said it was a place he could envisage living – not something he says every day!   We are sad to say farewell but excited about the next stage of our travels this season.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday morning we took delivery of our hire car and headed off to Las Terrenas which is where there are a couple of large supermarkets – and we need to stock up on beer. We waited until we got to the Dominican Republic for this as we prefer the local Presidente to the Puerto Rican brews…. We drove through mountains on one of the only main roads on this part of the island – admiring the lush scenery whilst taking care on the hair pin bends.   The housing got poorer with people living in basic shacks without running water – there were large blue containers dotted around on the roadside which people were filling water containers from and carrying back to their houses.  And the crash barriers were useful places to hang washing out to dry…..

The motorbikes faded away to the towns and the only traffic jam we saw in the countryside was a few farmers on their horses – which appeared to be the main mode of transport.   These horses trot in the most spectacular way – with high knees and small steps – like they had been trained for dressage and reminded us of the Lipizzan horses at the Spanish school in Vienna.

At the supermarket we found Presidente in cans – hurrah – but definitely did not like the price!   Outrageous when we know how much the large bottles cost in Semana – so got some bits and pieces and left the beer behind.   On the way back from the supermarket we drove along the beach which was dotted with lots of small hotels and restaurants – hoping to make a stop to take in the air.   As we were driving along on this narrow road, however, we spotted lots of palm fronds sticking out of the regular mainholes…… and, to our horror, we realised that this was a warning that there was no cover at all…… and these death traps occurred every 50 metres or so.   Picking our way through carefully we abandoned our idea of stopping and just got out of there!

Relieved to be off that road we drove down a tree covered avenue and then back into the mountains……. We admired the view of Cayo Levantado in the distance and the manicured grounds of the marina as we returned.

Having unpacked our shopping we headed back out into Samana Town – again it was very busy – and went to a local warehouse and picked up a couple of crates of large bottles of Presidente for 90 pesos each (67 pesos to the pound)…   These are incredibly good value as they hold over a pint!

Back to Morphie and we got ourselves cleaned up and ready to receive John and Nina for sundowners. This couple had come into the marina yesterday on an Island Packet 40 and we had helped them dock in the absence of any marina staff – so they are our next door neighbours.   We had a really nice evening together.

Wednesday morning and back out in the car – this time our plan is to go to El Limon waterfalls.   We drove back into the mountains and stopped at one of the small restaurants that offer tours.   The horses looked quite stout and well looked after – compared to some of the skinny ones we had seen – and we agreed a price. The guy said it was about a 25 minute ride to the falls – so money exchanged hands and Richard and I were introduced to our trusty steeds – Paloma and Blanky – and we left with our two female guides….. through the plantation as our guides pointed out coffee, bananas, advocados, bread fruit just growing willy nilly about the place.

Of course, Richard gets the good horse which just trots along steady on her feet. Mine, meanwhile, was a stubborn mule who stopped, ate, pooped, refused to move, ran to catch up and stumbled on the rocks.   Not much fun when she stumbled on the path alongside a sheer drop!   After stopping for the horses to get a drink at a feeder to the falls we arrived at the National Park.

We got off and paid our entrance fee and then went down the path – and down and down and down the steps….   And this continued for 15 plus minutes. Phew that was a challenge with my dodgy legs!   We arrived at the bottom – took some shade in a little cave – and then went to the falls…. They were really spectacular and well worth the trip…. We even made friends with a parrot while there…..

Then it was time to turn around and go back up – wow that was very hard work and we had to stop to take our breath a few times….   We were very pleased to be reunited with our horses for the return trip through the plantation. Blanky seemed in a better mood on the way back thankfully LOL.

Back at the roadside we enjoyed soursop and bananas with the guides and their families before returning to the car.   Had been quite an adventure…

Back in the car and we abandoned ideas of continuing on to the beach and decided to return to the marina and that beautiful pool…..   Had a lovely bobbing time……. We enjoyed the final views out to sea and watching the fisherman beating into the waves home.

Wednesday evening and there was a cocktail party for cruisers in the marina – so we cleaned up and wandered along. It was a good social end to the day.

Thursday morning and we were up very early as we were heading out to sail up to Ocean World Marina on the north coast near Puerto Plata an overnight 120 mile sail away.   We started on pink and blue jobs – Richard did an engine check and spotted a dodgy fan belt so changed that out – I went shopping for fresh produce and paid our marina bill. In the meantime we returned the car keys and the Commandante, the Naval Intelligence and the Drug Enforcement guys all came on board to give us our despacho (permission) to leave port.  All done and we slipped out at 11 am enjoying the views of Puerto Bahia as we left……

We motored straight into wind and waves out of Samana Bay and were treated to a couple of huge humpback whales broaching on the way – but didn’t get close enough or stay long enough for us to get photos – but wow nevertheless!!!   We turned the corner, pulled out the sails, and enjoyed the views of the lush coastline….. Then it was time to go into our shift pattern and I was alone sailing downwind with full genoa to watch the sunset.

Nothing much happened after that – then Richard came on watch at 9pm.   At midnight we swapped again and there was a ship going across our bow – so I stood watch and had a very exciting three hours!   After the tanker crossed our bow I had two coming from behind – one was a large cargo ship and the other was the Independence of the Seas.  And the cruise ship was heading straight at our stern.   The cargo ship started to pass us to starboard and I radioed the cruise ship to check they could see us – he confirmed he could and he changed direction slightly to pass about a quarter of a mile on our port side.   Was a pretty spectacular sight as he passed!   Phew….all done….oh, hang on, another one coming at us.   This large container ship passed us to starboard going in the opposite direction so all that was left were stern lights as Richard came up for his 3am watch.   Was pretty tired by now so fell into my bunk gratefully!  And, guess what, Richard never saw another ship all night…… but really enjoyed watching the sun come up.

Beautiful sailing day, the skies were blue and the sea was bluer….. and we spotted Puerto Plata in the distance.   Then the wind died too low to push us along at any reasonable speed so we motor sailed the last few miles….

We entered the marina after a 26 hour passage and pulled into the fuel dock – have never seen docks this high in our lives!!!

We were met by the Commandante, the marina manager and the drugs people who did not come on board – instead I went with them to the office while Richard stayed with Morphie to ensure that the lines didn’t chafe through on the dock.   Formalities done and we were given information on our slip and we moved off.   We got docked in our allocated slip and, again, the fixed concrete docks are very high so Richard made some quick chafe protection gear out of flexible conduit he had purchased at a builders yard near El Limon for this exact purpose.  We had been warned by other cruisers that it can be rolly in this marina and they had ropes sawn through by the concrete docks – in fact, they all had renamed the place Motion World LOL.

All secure, we washed down Morphie and then went ashore…..wearing our compulsory wristbands to identify us to the security staff.   Ocean World Marina is part of the Ocean World Park complex and it has a pretty tacky building fronting it….and we were served restorative beers in paper bags at the terrace. Whatever next?!?!   After a little wander around outside the complex we returned to Morphie for an early dinner and to bed – pretty tired.

This morning – Saturday – and we are planning to wander to the main road and see if we can get a bus into town…..   Richard has just checked the lines and spotted this….. would have lost this rope for sure during the night without his preventative measures!

We will be here for a little while waiting for passage weather – lovely and settled right now but not enough wind!

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday morning we were up early – I sorted out the marina formalities and eventually we slipped from our dock by about 9.45…. and headed the ten miles over to Los Haitises National Park.   Haitises means ‘highlands’ or ‘mountain range’ in the Taino Indian language which are the Dominican Republic’s original inhabitants and the national park covers 1,600 square kilometres with only a small portion of the park being open to the public.   The national park is home to untouched mangrove forests, Taino cave drawings, secluded beaches, pirate hideouts and a grand diversity of endemic flora and fauna.

We had a very brisk and enjoyable downwind 10 mile sail with up to 30 knots and big waves pushing us along.

As we approached the mangroves we were amazed by the scenery beyond. We felt our way inside and got a spot anchored behind a Canadian cruising boat At Last in 15 feet of water.     This is an amazing anchorage – limestone cliffs covered in abundance of lush growth extending below into the sea with small islands and deep hollows all in the shelter of mangrove swamps which kept the sea flat even though it was running really fast outside…..   Check out this panoramic shot.

We quickly took the outboard off the rail, got dink back in the water and reassembled, and headed off to explore. We went by At Last on the way and organised sundowners for later back on Morphie. We went up and down little mangrove swamps and rivers; found the entrances to the caves; and just generally got blown away by the beauty of this natural oasis. The sea was green and full of nutrients but still looked majestic somehow….

Back on board we entertained Dave, Corrine and their dog Libby for sundowners – a few dark and stormies were imbibed along with a fair amount of cheese. Including Libby who has a fondness for it….   She is so cute we could certainly have let her stay!

Friday morning and up at a reasonable time – today we are going to explore the two caves which were once used by Taino Indians for more than a millennium before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.   We said goodbye to At Last who were heading back to the marina and dinked around to the entrance near the rangers lodge.   The first cave Cueva de la Arena is located on a secluded beach and we enjoyed our visit to them, completely on our own before the first set of tourists arrived for the day.

Having got our fill of these we then dinked around to the second cave Cueva de la Linea which is located deeper in the forest and is filled with Taino pictoglyphs.      This cave was really dark and of course we didn’t have a guide nor a torch with us – but we managed to get some natural light through some of the holes in the caverns and see some pictoglyphs. Unfortunately no flash photography was allowed…..so only a few photos.   Was an enjoyable experience.

On the way back we dinked by a broken down old pier where the pelicans and the gulls hang out – all the time being circled by buzzards and frigate birds…..

We then went exploring further into the mangroves looking for a river which leads to an eco lodge. We found it – took the right hand turn – and carried on inland for about a mile while herons kept flying around ahead of us being startled by our arrival….   We found an area where boats tie up – so locked up dink – and went exploring. Well it was hot – and the track went on for a while – but we said hello to a few horses wandering around – and then came to a junction.

We had now spotted a rooftop peeking through so turned right and ended up at the Paraiso Cano Hondo eco resort. An amazing place – buildings created out of stones and natural waterfalls cascading into loads of pools…..     We had a couple of beers, wandered around, enjoyed the views, took some photos vowing to return the following day before departing for Morphie.

When we got back to the anchorage we had been joined by a large motoryacht so we had company for the night – which was a good thing. This is a pretty isolated place after the tourist day trip boats have left for the day! We had a quiet night in the cockpit – enjoyed a stormy sunset – and so to bed.

Saturday morning and we waited for the rain to stop before heading off out with a trip to the eco lodge planned. We had to go up and down for a little while before we could find the correct river again – and eventually we found it.   The trip up the river was amazing – this time we saw loads of eagles circling…..   Locked up dink, did the trek and came across this cow playing in the swings LOL.

We entered the resort – this time we had to pay $2.50 each to use the facilities – oh well, never mind.   We had a wonderful fresh grilled fish lunch with sticky rice and steamed vegetables and then wandered down to the pool and lazed around. We did go bobbing for a short while but wow the water was way too cold to stay in long.   But, of course, we did have to do the obligatory under the waterfall shots – brrrrrrr……

We had had a very special day….and had big grins on our faces as we left the resort.   Back to dink – and I managed to catch my bum on a nail on the dock so another swimsuit bites the dust! – then meandered back through the mangroves to Morphie.   She was completely alone this time so looks like we are the only ones here tonight.

We had dinner and a quiet night – we were sitting in the cockpit in the dark when we heard two pirogues very near to us – and they circled us but Richard quickly put lights on down below and they headed off.   Phew…. And so to bed.

Sunday morning and we were up really early. The earlier rain had really flattened the sea so we made the most of it – motored out accompanied by two large dolphins briefly – and went all the way back out to the entrance of Samana Bay to whale watch…

By this time loads of tourist whale watching boats were out and about and we watched then keenly through binoculars to see if there were any sightings.   Sadly there were none so we turned about and sailed back to the marina in very light airs…..   Never mind.   Back into a slip we sorted out the paperwork and I spoke to Mum to wish her Happy Mother’s Day and check our flowers had arrived before heading off to do laundry while Richard cleaned all the salt off Morphie’s topsides.   Later on we went over to At Last for sundowners – they are leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow – and met their buddy boats…. We had a really nice evening.

This morning – Monday – I’m catching up with the blog while Richard is out in dink going around the hull to clean off all the salt and then we’re planning a pool afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to hire a car for a couple of days to continue exploring.

Bye for now

Jan

By the time we had published the blog it was Friday afternoon so we decided to have lunch ashore….   We ordered a single portion of ribs to share between us and this slab of meat turned up!!! OMG – absolutely huge….   Very very tasty though so it we took about half back in a doggy bag.

We popped into the chandlery – as we needed some more polish – and bumped into Pat and Eric. Wandered back down to the town dock with them and said our farewells….   We have really enjoyed their company over the last few days.

Back on board Morphie and we take the outboard off the dinghy…and stow on the rail. We then lift dink onto his davits for the trip.   I go below making food for the passage while Richard does final engine and other maintenance checks. We finalise our passage planning – insert the waypoints – and enable the chart plotter to follow the route. Then it is time for our final Boqueron sunset – followed by an amazing full moon – and then an early night.

We are up before the sun on Saturday morning and slip away quietly from the anchorage and say our final farewells to Puerto Rico.   The sun comes up to say goodbye as we go out through the reef under motor….

Having cleared the shallows we then hoist our sails – on a broad reach passing Isla Desecheo to starboard. Then we changed direction slightly – now with the wind more or less behind us – so we ran on genoa alone. The seas picked up as we got deeper into the Mona Passage and were about 7 feet with gusts of wind up to 24 knots.   Going very smoothly – enjoying ourselves a lot – and we had a few ships crossing our path.   Gassa – a new crew member – was also enjoying himself.  No seriously, he is just a jerry jug of petrol in disguise LOL.

One tanker, named the Casa Palma, was visible on the AIS but we could not eyeball him.   So we radioed him to ensure that he had seen us – and all we got back was ‘Get out of my way’!!!   Not very friendly to say the least….   Certainly not an officer and a gentleman….   We then went into our shift pattern and I took the first 6-9pm slot.   Richard went down below to get some sleep. However, the movement was pretty rolly as we had following winds and seas and sleeping was quite difficult.   I watched the sun go down and enjoyed the peace and quiet as the darkness descended.

At 9pm we swapped over and I went below…. Sleep was elusive but I enjoyed relaxing a bit….   Then we swapped again….and Richard saw the sun rise…..and let me have an extra hour in my bunk! Thank you – much appreciated…

Coming up at 7am Richard told me that a 900 feet tanker had just changed course to avoid us – so he radioed to say thank you. Complete contrast to the other guy or what?!?   We got a picture of Iron Fritz as he passed us eventually.   He was a big chap!

After a good passage and a pretty uneventful night we started our approach into Samana and Richard saw a whale breach….then we saw two other water spouts as they exhaled….but sorry no pictures!  Very excited….   We ended up having to motor the last couple of miles because of the changing wind direction so we enjoyed the sights of the whale watching boats out and about and our first visual of Samana town.

We approached where we though the marina was because, although in our pilot guide and on google earth, it didn’t appear on our latest chartplotter chip!   Finding the entrance a rib came out to tell us which side to tie our fenders on – so all prepared we turned sideways to the waves and ran into the entrance of the marina.  Followed the rib to find the slip they were pointing at to find it was on the opposite side of what they had told us – so Richard had to do some quick (difficult) manoeuvring in close quarters and strong winds while I ran around like a looney changing everything over. Finally we entered the slip – and one guy came on board to help us with the three pilings that we need to tie up to as well as those on the concrete dock.   Phew – all done.   We filled in the marina papers that we were given almost immediately – fending off dock workers who want to clean our boat – and then were escorted to the immigration / navy commandante to complete our clearance procedures.   We were expecting a range of officials to board our boat but we were spared this – perhaps coming in on a Sunday was a good idea!!!   Although we did get stung for overtime fees – having to pay $94 for the pleasure of checking into the Dominican Republic.   But hey, we’ve done it!    A passage of 158 miles in 30 hours from anchor up to docked in the marina.   We’ve crossed the Mona Passage…. woohoo…..another cruising milestone checked off.   Very pleased with ourselves.

We enjoyed the sight of the marina buildings before we got ourselves cleaned up and had a couple of hours sleep.

We then went exploring…..   We didn’t realise that this marina was part of The Bannister Hotel which is listed as one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Wow is the only word to describe this place…..   And very good value as we get to use all the facilities of the hotel for only $1 a foot in the marina – bargain!

We settled into the bar overlooking the marina and had a couple of Presidentes – the local brew – before turning in for the night.

Monday morning we explored a bit more around the marina – and spoke to the on-site tour people to see what is available. We had hoped to visit Santo Domingo while here – which has an ancient area a bit along the lines of old San Juan – but were told it was not safe to go on our own.   Shame we were really looking forward to that but hey, if these people live here and don’t recommend it, then who are we to ignore that type of advice????   With loads of information to consider we take ourselves off to do more domestic stuff – like laundry – while we left two local guys washing and waxing the topsides and cleaning the stainless steel…   We were going to do this ourselves but the price they wanted for the whole job was so reasonable we thought, why not???   We returned later to find Morphie sparkling….they had even climbed up the arch to clean the stainless steel, which is an area I always struggle to do…. So fantastic job!  Thanks guys.

In the afternoon we decided to take ourselves off to the pool – with waiter service even supplying towels and pillows – and went bobbing for the first time since we left the BVIs.   Was pure bliss – and the view out into the bay is just spectacular….   Had a wonderful time before having a quiet night back on board.

Tuesday morning we organised a taxi to take us into Santa Barbara Samana – the local town.   We need to get to the bank to pick up some drinking vouchers in pesos …   Leaving our manicured surroundings behind us we went first to the local fruit and veg market.   The place is absolutely manic – people everywhere, motorised rickshaws vying for trade, motorbikes with four people up, large drains running with more than water, and just completely crazy. Reminded us a little of India….   Anyway, we wandered around – purchased our fresh produce from a very helpful lady – and then spotted the butcher stands!   We always like to try local street food whilst out and about but chicken and pork parts laying in the full sun open to flies meant we quickly changed our minds about this….

We then went downtown – got some local currency – and wandered around the seafront area. We came across a really pretty Methodist church called La Churcha which was shipped to Samana from England in pieces back in 1823 before being reconstructed. Amazing…

The town is really quite small – and a bit manic – and we enjoyed wandering around. We came across a large development of small shops with most of them empty. There was security though – and the guy really is leaning on his pump action shotgun as a seat!   Gave him a wide berth….

After exploring we went into a French restaurant that had been recommended by the tour office – and had a wonderful lunch.   Beef in green pepper sauce, chicken in mushroom sauce, followed by semifreddo and a deconstructed tarte tatin.   Really enjoyed it – it has been a long time since we have actually sat down and had a meal in a restaurant…..

Heading back to the marina we went to the pool…..had a couple more beers….and then went back to Morphie. After showering we decided to have a snooze and nothing else to eat for the day.   Of course we ended up waking up at 9pm so decided to stay put and that’s what we did LOL.

This morning – Wednesday – and we have just been to see the commandante and the marina office to secure permission to go over to Los Haitieses national park with Morphie for a couple of nights.   There are caves, mangroves, an eco lodge and beaches to explore so very pleased to have secured permission…and will head over there tomorrow. The rest of today will be spent chilling – and probably another visit to that fantastic pool providing the rain holds off….  Wind very strong right now with grey skies….

Bye for now

Jan

Friday afternoon – after I published the blog and before we left the restaurant – we checked our credit cards on line. We were horrified to find that they had been suspended again – and this time because they had been compromised with over £5k worth of expenditure from places as diverse as Vancouver, Delhi and Agra.   Quick telephone call to alert the company and, phew, we are not liable. But of course now the cards have to be destroyed and we lose access. Very frustrating as we are very careful with them and have only used them in reputable stores…and never let them out of our sight.   The bank reckons we got cloned at a checkout with a card reader…   There really is no defence against this happening.   The bank are willing to post new ones out to us but it will take as long as it takes – and we need to stay in one place to receive them.   We have heard horror stories of people being stuck for as long as seven weeks during this process so we ask them not to send new cards – we’ll be in touch when we get somewhere we intend to stay for a while…..   So we had two more beers and a late lunch while we talked through our strategy for coping without them!

When we had recovered from the news – and had devised a plan – we talked to the restaurant owner about the spy blimp and we were told that the locals are very suspicious as the area is heavily guarded and not accessible to anyone – leading to views that there are aliens being held there…. Is this another Roswell LOL????   A local guy had even painted their idea of the secret installation.

Back on board we were buzzed by a spy helicopter – the authorities here appear very nervous about who is in this area as there are only two occupied boats in the anchorage – conspiracy theorists would love it here!

Saturday morning we were up very early and bade farewell to La Paguera as the sun was coming up.   We headed out along the coast and had to motor as the wind hadn’t picked up yet.   And that remained the case – the seas were still rolling along behind us – but the wind didn’t reach 10 knots so we ended up motoring all of the 20 miles around the bottom of the coast, past Cabo Rojo’s cliffs, and made our way into Boquerón.

We recognised Cutter Loose in the anchorage straight away so anchored not too far behind them.   We were still getting ourselves organised when they swung by – they had hired a car so were on their way out for the day.     Boqueron has a large anchorage all sheltered behind reefs with a long beach at the head of it.   Flat calm too – nice.

Having got ourselves and Morphie all cleaned up we dinked in – to a proper dinghy dock, hurrah! – to wander the town.   Well the town is really small with a number of bars, restaurants, residential and business properties littered up and down the narrow streets.   We found a little supermarket and got some fresh produce and then I found a beauty parlour.   Yay – am long overdue for a haircut!  So popped in and booked for Tuesday – looking forward to that..   As we wandered back down towards the waterfront we were given a lift back by Eric and Pat in their car and so we sat on the waterfront together, had a couple of beers, and enjoyed people watching as the Puerto Ricans started partying.   After a few hours we headed back to Morphie for a lovely sunset.

Sunday morning and we did boat jobs. Richard got into the water – which, while a pretty colour, is full of nutrients and has no visibility whatsoever – and cleaned the waterline while I did the laundry.   We then wandered ashore and looked around a bit more.   We enjoyed the sight of the local oyster / clam sellers although definitely did not fancy trying them.   We loved the gulls who sit on the pilings of a broken down pier – one each and no squabbling.   We went in a few shops – all selling the same tourist tut – and then the skies turned black.   We dashed for cover and ended up in a bar – oh well – worse ways to spend an afternoon.

Back on board – in a gap in the weather – and we were sitting in the cockpit and realised that we were in the middle of a race track!  Did we tell you that Puerto Ricans are petrol heads????!!!!   Finally the boat left us alone, we enjoyed a spectacular sunset, and had an early night.  The party ashore was just getting going at this point but we didn’t fancy it…..

Monday morning and we had a lazy start.   It is so still out here in the anchorage it is hard to believe the forecasts that say that the Mona Passage currently has 10 foot seas and 35 knots!   We can’t even determine where the sky ends and the sea begins today….   We had a busy cleaning and tidying day as Eric and Pat are coming over for dinner and I do like to make sure Morphie looks her best when we have company.   We are cooking them a curry as they like to eat it and don’t know how to make it.     Well it was a success – they loved the food – and very kindly supplied the wine to go with it. We had a lovely evening.

Tuesday morning and I go to get my hair cut while Richard goes off to the petrol station – called Doggy Gas would you believe LOL – to fill up our diesel and petrol jerry cans.

He then went to the bar with the best internet we could find and I joined him there later, suitably shorn, having dodged the rain again…..   We caught up with the news and spoke again to the credit card company as online it was saying we had to pay £4k by 13 March… Errrrr, don’t think so!   Got that sorted – headed back to the dock – and bumped into Eric and Pat again.   We arranged to meet the following day and went our separate ways. The whole town appears only to be awake and open at weekends!  We had a lazy – rainy – afternoon and evening back on board.

Wednesday morning and we got up early – did a few boat jobs – and then met Eric and Pat who took us in the car to the large Pueblo supermarket. I am amazed at how industrial this area is inland with the four lane highways and the endless parade of restaurants, fast food outlets and malls etc.  It is all a bit run down too….  We had a great shopping trip and came back laden with some lovely fruits and fresh vegetables.   Back on board we stowed all the stuff – and then Richard and I went for a walk along the beach and had a glimpse at the marina.   The water is really cloudy with lots of sea grass so you can’t see the bottom – so we didn’t fancy bobbing here. It is a manatee area but no chance of seeing them in this water.

We enjoyed the beach although was a bit surprised by the ramp for wheelchair users to access the sea – which was clearly no longer in use – and perhaps it might be something to do with the 12 inch step to get onto it in the first place? Duh!   Pretty palm trees and lifeguard huts with very few people around – and then we come across a huge recycling centre. What???   Strange place to have it…

Anyway…. we wandered behind the beach back towards the town…. And we came across a lovely bar with a really nice swimming pool. Hmmm…. wouldn’t mind spending time here. So we asked the barmaid Claudia whether we could use the pool and the answer was yes – for $18 per person per day. Er…. don’t think so – thanks.   Obviously that’s why the place is empty!   We had a nice time chatting and watching the iguanas in the tree near the pool. They bathe in the pool as well apparently….

Back later to Morphie and we spot an iguana in the sea – this isn’t the first time since we had been here – and very strange to have one of these turning up around the boat as we are a good 500 yards off shore.   We have another early night after a spectacular sunset.

Thursday morning and went off out with Eric and Pat again.    We stop by Puerto Real on the way – definitely a one horse town but Richard was at least able to replace his lost fishing lure that got eaten by a (huge?) fish on the trip round here.   Then onto Mayaguez and we went into the old colonial style customs house. Through security and to the customs window – and the guy just gave us a stamped and signed piece of paper for us to fill in at our leisure…. Took all of five minutes – so we can leave whenever we want – excellent!   Although seems slightly at odds with the requirement to make telephone calls every time we move port.

Back to the car and we went to an artisan baker / café for lunch – soup and speciality sandwiches.   What a find….delicious food.   And we came away with some ciabatta for later.   After dropping off the car we headed back to Boqueron by taxi and had a couple of beers before heading back to Morphie for another quiet night on board.

This morning – Friday – and we are making preparations to go to sea early Saturday morning.   So a busy day ahead but we are looking forward to being on the move again – having been frustrated whilst waiting for decent passage weather.   We have enjoyed our time in Puerto Rico, particularly the splendid architecture of old San Juan and Ponce.  However, as a cruising area, we have been a bit disappointed….  But the people are really friendly and helpful and we have felt very safe here…..

Our next destination is Samana in the Dominican Republic – across the notorious stretch of water called the Mona Passage.   There is a huge trench running down this channel with areas that shallow up from 3,300 to 120 feet – creating a washing machine / whirlpool effect.   There is also seismic activity with the last underwater eruption last month.   On top of that the coast of the DR will be a lee shore – so we need to stay a good distance offshore to remain safe.   Nothing to worry about though so long as we take a longer route to avoid all this – making a 150 mile plus passage.     We should arrive sometime Sunday afternoon…..   and hoping for whales along the way as it is breeding season right now – fingers crossed.

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday evening we went out for something to eat in the marina bar / restaurant.   It was pretty busy with loads of large family groups – so we sat at the bar and had a snack and a bottle of wine. It was clear that some members of one of the family groups were already under the influence – they were very loud and it was apparent that not all was well with some relationships…   Then the heavens opened!   Luckily we were under cover but no-one else was – so they all had to run inside.   The bar staff – who had been getting a bit of a raw deal from these particular rowdy customers – found this all quite funny and so did we!!!   After a nice evening we managed to find a gap in the rain to head back to Morphie and so to bed.

Sunday morning we were up early – settled our bill – and moved out of our slip. We were not looking forward to getting out of the narrow marina entrance straight into the wind and waves – but we managed to punch our way out…and Morphie handled it brilliantly.   We did wonder whether this was why the marina was so empty though as we headed out??? Sadly no dolphin visited today!

As we turned the corner onto the south coast of Puerto Rico the wind and waves were now behind us.   The seas were not particularly large or lumpy and the wind was blowing steadily. This was the best sail we have had in a very very long time…..   Absolutely fantastic!   And we were visited by a huge leatherback turtle – the size of a small car – coming up for a few breaths…. Radical dude…. Sadly we weren’t able to get a photo of him / her.

 We made good time, averaging 6 knots over the 25 mile sail, and turned around the cayo towards the anchorage that nestles between the mangroves.   And, of course, the minute we drop the sails and head into the wind and waves trying to navigate through skinny water the wind picked up and the rain came down…..   If you are wondering why our speed is Zero – that’s because a little crustacean has taken hold of the impeller and we have not had nice water to dive under and dislodge it!    We managed to make our way in safely and dropped our hook in 9 feet of water and got an instant set into the mud. And, of course, the weather cleared the minute we were in.

Salinas is a lovely anchorage.   Absolutely flat calm and felt like we were tied up to land.   We deliberately decided to stay at the back of the field to give us more privacy – especially as we knew that this anchorage was very crowded with private mooring balls and liveaboards closer in to shore.   We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the pelicans fishing and the views of the mountains behind the boats… and the police boat that used us as cover to caution people for going too fast through the mangroves, which is a manatee area. We decided not to go ashore and just enjoyed being at anchor again and watching the sun going down, having dinner in the cockpit.

Monday morning and we cleaned Morphie up.   I went around the outside rail in the dinghy as, when we had removed the blue tape after varnishing, the anchorage in St Thomas was very rolly and dangerous so it was not as perfect a job as it could have been.   So I cleaned up some bits and bobs that had escaped us the first time round. Richard did some engine maintenance tasks and, late morning, we went ashore to explore.  On the way we dinked slowly around the anchorage looking for manatees but to no avail – Richard even offered them salad if they showed up, but they weren’t playing LOL.

Salinas is a sleepy place – and has a gastronomic route to follow which is quite famous apparently.   So we wandered around – saying Buenos Dias to anyone who smiled – but it was largely empty, shops shut, restaurants shut and apart from admiring the huge propeller someone had installed in their front garden, there wasn’t much to see.

We wandered back – a bit disappointed – but found a sea facing bar open and went in and tried some local appetisers.   Cheese balls sound horrendous, but actually were very tasty, especially with the guava dip.   Richard had huge shrimps and enjoyed them too…   Whilst sitting there we watched pelicans resting up on the broken down pilings in the sea.

Having had an enjoyable hour or so we wandered back to the marina – enjoying views of the ocean when we could catch it between buildings – and ended up in the marina bar where we quickly caught up on emails and then returned to Morphie in time to watch a stunning sunset.

Tuesday morning and we were on the move again – this time our destination was Ponce – and we enjoyed looking at the windmills along the coast. Again, it was another 25 mile downwind sail which was both brisk and breezy.   Loving this.

We reached the main channel into Ponce when we heard Triton on the radio letting people know that he was leaving Ponce port and was towing a large barge so was restricted in his ability to manoeuvre.   We hailed him to find out his requirements and we decided to leave him the whole width of the channel as, at the point we would pass, we had enough depth to go outside of the channel itself. He was very grateful and thanked us for our consideration especially as the wind was howling and he wanted to go down the ‘wrong’ side of the channel to avoid getting swept down onto the green channel markers.

Once we had passed port to port we returned to the main channel to avoid shoals that were now ahead of us….   We were getting beaten up with the waves hitting us on our side and our first sight of the anchorage was not an inviting one.

The main yacht club was full of power boats, the inner harbour was full of private mooring balls, and that only left anchoring room outside and opposite the main industrial port. It was 30 feet deep so we made sure we had a lot of swinging room and dropped 150 feet of chain into the mud. We got a good set straight away and sat back and watched for a while.

Later on we dinked across to the yacht club main building – which was absolutely deserted and obviously not in use – and found the main office in the car park. We enquired about a slip but decided to decline at $2 per foot per day.   We also enquired about leaving dink there during the day – and decided not to bother at that either at $10 per person per day.   Not sure what the cost was for – there wasn’t an actual dinghy dock and there was no security either – no problem we’ll find somewhere else.   We did, however, manage to get a useful map of Ponce town, which is about a 10 minute drive away from the anchorage.

Later on we dinked around and found a little dock near the boardwalk which was marked ‘dinghies only’. Hurrah!   We went to the boardwalk and wandered up and down – surprised that it was all little kiosks rather than nice bars / restaurants – but we had a couple of cold ones and some more local snacks. Unfortunately it would appear that most Puerto Rican appetisers are deep fried so we’ll have to avoid these in future.  On the way back to dink we spotted a huge Zumba class going on – they seemed pretty keen!   Back on board and we enjoyed the sunset before turning in for the night.

Wednesday morning we tried to hail a taxi – but failed miserably.  So we walked to the security gate of the marina and the guy there was kind enough to call one for us.   He arrived – I attempted some Spanish – at which point he replied in English!  Oh well – I did try…..   He dropped us at the Fire Station in the centre of Ponce and what a treat….   Fantastic place….with an antique pump and a weird display of carnival costumes.

Around the corner we visited the Cathedral which was absolutely stunning….and pictures really do not do it justice.

Outside the cathedral in the main square we found hand-painted lions by local artists. Not sure what the lions signify but they were all individual and an interesting sight, especially when we realised that there was a parade of them on every corner to this park.

It was, at this point, we were approached by a couple of beggars which is the first time since we arrived in Puerto Rico.   Ponce is very Spanish, has lots of history with fantastic architecture, and we enjoyed the sights and sounds a lot.   We even went shopping in the very reasonably priced local outlets – so cheap that I got two pairs of shoes for $35.  Bargain!!!!   They are made in China and will probably last less than one season but hey, a girl can never have too many pairs of shoes, even on a sailboat LOL, although Richard did make me throw away some old ones later!

We made our way back to the boardwalk via another taxi – this time the driver did understand the Spanish yay! – and had a few beers.   We bumped into this tour group from the US whom were keen to chat when they realised we were English – so we had a good time with them before they returned to their hotel.

Back on board we enjoyed the Ponce sunset, had dinner, and a nice evening in the cockpit before retiring.

Thursday morning and we were up early – we motored out through the channel, cleared all hazards, got the sails up and ran downwind towards La Paguera.   The sail was brisk – with a very big sea running behind us – and it slapped us quite a few times with waves breaking under us, over us and surfing us along in the wrong direction a few times!   But we still had a great time and enjoyed the coastline – and wondered what this huge industrial area was all about? That’s when we could see it behind the waves of course….

La Paguera is well hidden behind cayos and through reefs – so very careful navigation was needed here. We kept an eye on the charts, on our depth, on our plotter and felt our way through.   The main anchorage opposite the town was empty – and we weren’t sure whether we wanted to be the only boat there for security reasons – so we crept through towards the marina tucked away around the corner of a little island.   We realised that our chart plotter was completely inaccurate in this area as we actually appeared to be sailing on land at some point…..  Oh well, gave us good practice at eyeball navigation and reading the colour of the water to determine depth…..   Thankfully we managed to get anchored in 10 feet of water behind a cayo and we realised that all the boats ahead of us had actually been left here unattended. So we are on our own anyway – and then a French boat turns up and anchors alongside – clearly they were looking for safety in numbers too.   The sail had been very tiring – we had hand steered most of the way as the waves kept knocking Colin our auto pilot off course and we didn’t want him to work that hard – so we decided to rest up for the rest of the day and had another quiet night on board.

This morning – Friday – and we were out and about pretty early.   We dinked through the cayos admiring all the little houses scattered along the shoreline, although most of them seemed to be deserted.   We dinked along the coast to find a place to put dink and failed miserably…. although did find the only hotel!   So we returned to the marina to be told that it is private and members only – no transient visitors allowed.  Not very welcoming eh???

But we did found out where to take dink in town so turned around and went back again – finding a small floating dock in about 18 inches of water behind Johnny’s boat rental. Phew…..     The town is tiny and under construction – so nothing much to offer really. We are now holed up in the only local restaurant that has internet coverage and will return to Morphie once this is finished.   Oh yes, and we have found that the huge blimp up in the sky is actually a spy checking out for drugs!!!!

Another quiet night on board beckons.  Tomorrow – Saturday – we are planning to sail to the end of Puerto Rico’s south coast and anchor on the West Coast…. Another different customs zone so will we need to check in again once we arrive.  We are hoping for a bit more life ashore on the West Coast – fingers crossed!

Bye for now.

Jan

Monday afternoon we dodged the rain a few times but still got soaked……   We picked up internet ashore then went back to Morphie and watched the rain fall again. Not nice.   So another early night followed.

Tuesday morning and the sun came out! Hurrah!   What a difference a day makes. We did some washing and cleaning up then went ashore in the afternoon. Obviously the weather makes the eagle rays happy too as there were about six of them swimming around under the dinghy dock.   Managed to get one of them in a picture….

Ashore we were just checking for weather to make sure the passage to Puerto Rico in the morning was viable – yes it was – so we spoke to the marina at Palmas del Mar and they confirmed a slip for us.   We were then asked to join two couples who were sitting adjacent to us – turns out the American couple owned the other Island Packet in the bay and the English couple had the large schooner.   They had both just sailed down from Florida through the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico – so we gathered lots of relevant and useful information.   And as they were heading down island we shared some information on our favourite islands too….   Was a very productive few hours!   Back on board we got Morphie ready to go to sea and had another early night.

Wednesday morning and we picked up our anchor and left Vieques. It was a nice start to the day … the sun was out, the sky was blue, and we were sailing downwind under genoa alone. Of course, it didn’t stay that way, and we were increasingly chased down by clouds and rain. And of course the sea responded by getting lumpy too…. Never mind – we were both excited by the prospect of exploring a new island.

After 20 miles we approached the entrance to the marina – this is not huge and is on a lee shore and there was some swell running….. So we hung about outside in safe water to call to find out what side to put fenders on – and no reply to the radio.   Damn….   Always happens!   So we got the boat ready for either side with ropes stern and aft and fenders out….   While we were doing this – head to wind and into the waves – we spotted dolphins playing in the breaking waves. Then we realised that it was two adults and a baby. Wow!!!!   Exciting…. So we watched them play for a little while and then got ourselves back to the task in hand….

Responding to a telephone call – not the VHF radio – the marina told us to go alongside the fuel dock in the first instance and gave us directions. So we then lined ourselves up to get through the narrow entrance and I then spotted we had lost a fender!!!! Richard!!!!!   So we did our man overboard practice to retrieve it… And of course we are now being pushed in the wrong direction for the entrance so we turned into the waves to get away from the hazards and line ourselves up again…..   And of course this is when a monster wave – and I mean monster – broke over our bow with green water coming across the coachroof, into the cockpit, and some even went down below.   OMG – that was a scary moment.   Thankfully we punched through, turned, and made our entrance in a sedate way afterwards.   Phew!

Shortly after tying up to the fuel dock we moved to a proper slip and I went to the office to check in.   That was quickly sorted – very impressive and friendly service – organised laundry and a hire car before wandering back to Morphie.   After sorting ourselves out we headed out for a walk having a look at the pool on the way. The marina bar is not open on a Wednesday so we wandered up to the local plaza and had a couple of cold ones sitting out on the pavement…..watching the world go by.   Felt very Mediterranean….   We were tired so headed back for another early night.

Thursday morning – up early – and picked up the hire car at 9.00 am.   We were heading off to Old San Juan today – we got instructions and, it was only at this point, that we realised that the whole of Palmas del Mar is a private gated community with security gates, golf courses etc and all beautifully landscaped.    Very nice!!!

We found our way to the motorway – express way tolls and all – and were a bit taken aback by the lanes of traffic and the US way of doing exits…. All felt very busy and a bit disconcerting that people are allowed to overtake on both sides of you.

We reached the historic city of Old San Juan in about an hour – and found a multi-storey car park – in the smartest looking building you could image…..   Old San Juan is beautiful – fantastic historic buildings with some in need of repair, but many stunningly renovated.   Add to that the modern statues; the myriad of museums; the churches; the art galleries; the piazzas; the horse-drawn sight-seeing carriages; the San Juan wall and castillo and you could easily imagine that you were in a renovated Havana..….   Then you spot the cruise ship terminal and the gift / souvenir shops / restaurants clearly with US clientele in mind and you capture the essence of this place. What we weren’t  expecting to see was the sobering tribute to the 6 million holocaust victims and the other tributes along the mall to diverse groups such as police, teachers and women….. I found all this quite thought provoking.   The city was spotlessly clean and very well patrolled by police who either looked by Canadian mounties in their hats or something out of “Chips” on their Harley Davidson bikes….. We even spotted some Segway riding ones LOL.   So here are some of our favourite pictures from the day….

We had an amazing day out and got back to the marina late in the afternoon and decided we deserved a cold beer. But there was a wedding going on… The marina bar served us anyway and we kept out of the way on the deck and were joined by two other couples who fancied a drink! Then suddenly the wedding party had left and we were alone….   Had a chat to the bar staff and called it a night…. Another exploring day beckoned.

Friday morning up early and we went out planning to explore into the mountains. But we wanted to sort a few jobs out – and the first was to find the propane gas filling station as one of our bottles was now empty.   Job done – bottle stashed – and then onto the minor roads which will take us along the South coast.

Well – the road went up, down, around, corkscrewed, through mountains, through forests, breath taking scenery and amazing little cafes stuck out on the top with viewing platforms.   We had a great time taking it all in and ended up in Salinas – one of our future proposed anchorages – and had lunch in the marina restaurant, which is elevated so that you get views….   We also had local food – well, Richard did by trying the mofungo (mashed plaintain) and the fish covered in a local tomato sauce. I ordered pork with a baked potato but had local veg – and was completely shocked to get two huge chops – one ended up coming home with us by way of a doggy bag LOL.  Had another wonderful day out – and here are some of our favourite pictures….

In the evening we didn’t have dinner just an early night.

This morning – Saturday – and we were up with the lark as we need to return the car today.   So we ended up in Walmart by 8 am making the most of our wheels to pick up more wine, soft drinks and get some fresh produce and bread.   Job done – back to the marina – and we were given a lift back to our slip by the staff in a golf buggy. Nice place this!!!!   Richard has, ever since, been down the hole in the starboard lazarette attaching our new Merlin controller to the fridge while I’ve been blogging….. Oh yes and it’s raining again. And the laundry came back….

Tomorrow – Sunday – and we are back out to sea.   We have three possible places to stay overnight – depending upon conditions and our speed – so we just need to do a proper passage plan as the south coast is strewn with reefs and shoals plus some small outlying islands.   Really looking forward to it – we have loved our time here so far and can’t wait to see more of the island.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday afternoon we headed into town – worked out where to get a golf buggy from; we went to get a loaf of bread from the bakery to find it was actually a café; the supermarket was closed; but at least we got rid of our rubbish!!!!   We wandered down to the ferry dock and spotted this statue throwing rocks – we think he is a monkey?!? Not sure of its significance but quite liked it anyway… The ferry had just come in so there was a traffic jam down the main high road – which is a very small street really with the odd gift shop along it.   And that’s about it for the main town!

Back towards the Dinghy Dock where we had left dink chained up – and went into Mamacitas for a quick drink and snack. This used to be a very lively place when we visited five years ago, but now appears to have changed hands and the only other people were staff and a very drunk loud local lady.

We enjoyed the view down the canal that goes completely through the island from one side to the other and then wandered back to the Dinghy Dock.

Not really feeling in the mood we had one beer – whilst enjoying the huge tarpon circulating along the dock – and then returned to Morphie with a quick detour to check Cutter Loose was safe and sound as Pat and Eric had gone to Puerto Rico overnight.

It started raining again so we ended up with a moody sunset before having an early dinner and to bed.

Friday morning and we were up early. It was still grey and miserable but at least the rain was holding off and we optimistically put swimmers and towels in a beach bag to take with us. So we did the hot and steamy walk back to the airport enjoying the sights of the main road on the way…. The Government Building was new and impressive but oh so boring!   The local food was a revelation – a whole suckling pig in the back of a caravan…..   Was a bit early for us but I could have fancied trying that out for sure!

We picked up our buggy and headed off towards Punto Soldado.   The roads are narrow and winding up and down hills….. and then we came to a road block. Bit of work going on as they were moving a very large palm tree that had come down.

Moving on and we come to the end of the tarmac.   Another buggy was following us and had two local women in it – who said that there was a lovely beach down there….   So we followed them off road – went about half way down and decided that our buggy definitely did not have enough power to get back up the hill if we went any further so we abandoned that and turned around.   Culebra is very green and lush….and we were enjoying being out and about.   And, of course, it then started to drizzle….   Never mind…. The views were stunning and I can imagine they would be beautiful given better weather!

We left that end of the island – went back through Dewey again – and followed the main road out towards the other point which is the opposite end of the entrance to Ensenada Honda.   Driving along and the rain stopped. Hurrah!   We found the museum in a cute building from 1905 which had been used as a storage facility for armaments.   The museum was slightly disappointing in that there really wasn’t much there apart from the odd piece of pottery and hand tools they had found on various digs. Although cute not sure I approve of what they did to this puffer fish either!

Culebra was not colonised like so many of the other Caribbean islands – and there were less than 500 people who lived there until the islands were taken over by the US in 1905 who saw it as strategically valuable due to its close proximity to Puerto Rico.   The highlight of the museum visit was undoubtedly the film by Culebra OAPs who shared the stories of their lives – on island, off island and back again.   They were very poor with no running water, no electricity, no toys and few home comforts, with farming being the main way of making a living.   These OAPs seemed to come from all different ethnic backgrounds which was interesting, with many of them looking like they had Carib Indian ancestry.   The stories were amusing, sad, uplifting and quite shocking in places. But despite the hardships they all looked back and said they were happy….with many of them having returned to Culebra to retire having lived a lot of their adult lives in the US. The US Navy used the island for shelling practice and, at one point, they had 7,500 troops stationed here.   This was a great time for the locals to make some money by turning their porches into bars selling home-made liquor and crafts…. The women had to be careful though as the sailors were often randy as well as rowdy!!!!   Sadly the shelling practice often meant that people got displaced, animals were killed and some children were seriously injured by unexploded ordnance when they played with their shiny new toys.   This continued on and off – with breaks for the world wars – until 1975 when the shelling was stopped.   But, of course, this means that the island had not been developed throughout this period so is now struggling to catch up.   There is a lot that needs doing in terms of infrastructure and encouraging investment here.

While watching the film the heavens had opened again… but we braved the elements and continued on our tour.   Amazing how quickly the roads dry….  We headed off towards Mosquito Bay and came across the Costa Bonita Beach Resort.   We went through security and down to the main buildings. The restaurant was shut, the bar was shut, the place was deserted, and apart from the pool and reception being operational it appeared that this resort of condos had failed to attract many purchasers yet.   It was soulless and not inspiring whatsoever….

So we quickly moved on again.   Back through Dewey – over the bridge – and we are heading to Flamenco Beach now – which is supposed to be stunning. Well – it is – but, of course, the weather wasn’t quite right. Thankfully the rain stopped so we were able to wander the beach and was amazed at the surf raging…. Still strong north swells in the region right now.   The pelicans were out in force fishing too.

We carried on around the headland and came across an abandoned US tank on the beach.   Walking back through the scrubland we came across another painted tank…..   On the path behind the beach there is a campground and there are loads of tents and paraphernalia around. Looks like some of the people are actually living here – some of the areas looked like permanent encampments. Wouldn’t fancy living there – scrubby sand, sand fleas, mosquitos from the nearby lagoon….   But at least there is fresh running water, showers and toilet blocks so I guess on a bright and sunny day I might have had a different opinion LOL.

Back to the car park and we were hungry – had been hoping to find a beach-fronted restaurant where we could chill over food and watch the waves. Sadly all there was were fast food concessions and so we ended up with burger and chips sitting on a stool trying to keep out of the rain….   Oh well!!!

By this time we had had enough really so decided to return the buggy.    Not like us to take a vehicle back two hours early but we were soaked through – and we’d rattled our fillings a number of times when hitting potholes covered over by standing water LOL.   The rental place gave us a lift back and so we went to the Dinghy Dock and had a beer….   The skies were getting darker again and we thought we’d make a run for it – well, glad we did!   We just got on board when the heavens opened…… and it was torrential for a long time…… I was getting worried about dink getting swamped as we hadn’t had time to lift him up before the rains came.

We ended up with a quiet night on board and an early night……having watched a pretty stormy sunset.

Saturday morning and it was still raining….. So we had a lazy day and didn’t get much achieved at all.   Later on in the afternoon it cleared up a bit so we made a dash for the Dinghy Dock.   Sitting in the bar and Eric and Pat came in with their guests from home. We enjoyed a drink with them before they headed back to their boat.   We were going to have a Valentine’s dinner out – but didn’t feel hungry – so decided to go back to Morphie for another early night after another stormy sunset.

Sunday morning and I awoke early to some great colours in the sky – so I went up top and watched the most stunning sunrise….   Wow!

We got Morphie ready to go to sea, picked up our anchor, and said our farewells to Culebra.    We had enjoyed ourselves here but time to move on.   We had planned to go straight to Puerto Rico but decided to let this weather move through first – so it is to Vieques instead.   Only a 25 mile sail away and, of course, as we navigated through the reef the heavens opened again….   Little bit of wind – again weirdly from the West rather than the East – but we managed to motor sail under genoa and lift our speed by a knot as a result.   And that was the scene set for the day – raining, swelly, some wind, got wet and had to dodge lobster pots along the shore line for quite a way.

We arrived into Vieques around 12.30 and were dismayed to find that a lot of the anchorage had been covered in mooring balls.   But we found a spot behind Cayo Real – a long way from shore but this anchorage has a reputation for being a bit lawless and we wanted to be beyond swimming distance!   Just as I was dropping the anchor this dinghy turned up and this English guy shouts “That is the worst place to anchor – you’ll never get a set – it is all grass – you’ll definitely drag.   The balls are good – only $25 a night…”  We explained to him that we had been here five years ago and didn’t have a problem so we’ll try anchoring first – but thanks for the advice. Anyway we got a good set straight away with loads of scope out in 12 feet of water with plenty of swinging room and then this guy Chase turns up. Tells us loads of stories about how he is now the guy who looks after the bay – and that Vieques is now safe as the local drug lord had dealt with – very harshly – anybody who had stolen dinghies in the past.   Since then no dinghies have gone missing….   This is now considered a safe place for cruisers.   Glad to hear it.

Of course it rained on and off so we decided to go ashore later – in the meantime Cutter Loose sailed in behind us and anchored closer in.   So we waved hello and hoped to see them again later.

About 4.30 ish we went into town – enjoyed a walk along the boardwalk and the views out to the anchorage – and settled into Lazy Jacks the cruisers bar because it has free wifi  We were joined later on for a quick one by the Cutter Loose crew before they went off to do the bio pool experience.

On the way back to the boat we came across a bar offering to look after husbands which Richard thought was a great idea LOL.  We were surprised by the number of bars and restaurants that had opened since our last visit – but I guess the recession had hit them pretty hard by then.   Back on board Morphie we had cheese and biscuits for dinner and another early night.

Monday morning and we could hear the rain pelting down on the coach roof above us – so we had a lazy start. We waved goodbye to Cutter Loose as they passed by on their way to Puerto Rico – don’t envy them the miserable sailing day today that’s for sure!

Richard did some boat jobs while I was blogging and we waited for a lull in the rain to go ashore.   We made it ashore but got soaked on the short walk to the supermarket!  With the weather being so inclement – and with strong swells forecast again for tonight through to Wednesday morning – we are thinking of staying here for a little while just to sit it out as our next stop is into a marina in Puerto Rico so that we can hire a car and explore the island. Really would like some sun for that!!!!

Bye for now

Jan