4/30 Goodbye Luperon

After a day of a few errands and settling our accounts (read: pay off corrupt officials), we are ready to go here in about 30 minutes. First stop, immigration, where we learn that if you stay over 15 days, money due. Only $8/person, but still. Then to harbour control, where we learn, even though officals visited us on check-in, that we owe $30...$10 for harbour fee, and and extra $20 for staying over a week. Then to the navy commandancia, where we learn, that even though these are supposed to be free, we must pay $20 for the dispatcho, a ruse to check our boat for illegals we might be transporting. They are to come to us at 4p with the dispatcho. 4 comes and goes. At 5:30, getting nervous, we call to inquire. Aha! It seems the NAVY has NO BOATS and that we should come back to the dinghy dock to pick them up. Fortunately, some of our new friends were in town, heard this comedy of errors on their portable VHF radio, and brought the navy to us.
All squared away now.
We have not gotten a window to make the whole passage to Puerto Rico...one long enough for the whole trip is still at least 2 weeks out. So, we will be making short, 50 mile passages up the coast, traveling at night to take advantage of more calm wind and sea conditions. We will stop during the day for rest. We doubt these little rest stops will be equipped with internet towers, so it may be several days before our next post.
Keep checking back!

4/27 Monday

This is a sweet little boat in the harbour. A captain has been hired to take it to Martinique...he reports that anything over 2 feet brings the engine out of the water.












Sunday 4/26 we went over to Puerto Blanco Marina for the weekly swap meet and buffet that is attended by cruisers and a few local vendors. There is a lady who does sewing and canvas work, so we took her two of our enclosure windows for zipper replacement. We have learned that regular application of chapstick will prevent the zippers from deteriorating, but these two were on their way to zipper heaven before we left Florida and before we learned that trick. We also picked up a couple of courtesy flags for Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands; a courtesy flag of the host country is flown after checking in. Our friend Marcel was selling his riding sail so we relieved him of it. A riding sail serves to somewhat stabilize the boat at anchor and reduce swinging on the anchor. I learned that Paula from S/V Exuma Grouper does haircuts, and since my hair was getting very long and heavy, I had myself a cut for $10. There are no Aveda salons here. I guess there was a discrepancy over the meaning of two inches but not to worry. We also met Bruce Van Zant, who lives here in Luperon and is the author of Passages South, the cruising guide for this part of the world.
After the swap meet, we enjoyed a buffet lunch with our friends. For the afternoon activity, we hiked over to the beach on the other side of the island and at the entrance to this harbor. We enjoyed the crashing surf and beach activity, camping out for a bit on a resort patio that overlooked the ocean. We short-cutted through the property to get back to the main road and encountered a few feathered friends.

This is Craig, me with too short hair and Bruce.

Craig prepares for a high dive.

A cowboy rode his horse up to the beach...

On a side note, Skip and I experimented with cooking plantains which can be eaten at any stage of ripeness. When they are green, they are much like a potato. When they are ripe, they are much more like the bananas which they resemble. We quartered and pan-fried in a bit of olive oil and butter, with a sprinkle of brown sugar at the end…delicioso!!

Monday 4/27/09
An excellent rainbow…may be a sign from above that we can go soon. Skip photo-shopped two pictures of it together to simulate the view.

4/22-24 Luperon We Are Still Here

This gives you an idea of why we are still here....










We remain in Luperon harbour at least until late next week and are enjoying new friendships with other cruisers who are also waiting to make passage to Puerto Rico: Jim and Renata on S/V Emerald Seas (Vancouver), Will and Susan on S/V Blue Moon (Montana), Terry and Barb on S/V Wind Whisperer, Bill on S/V Turn the Page(California), Dennis and Dodd on S/V Vesper Light (Arkansas), Jean Pierre and Denise (Montreal) and Sim and Rosie (London). Marcel and Lise on S/V Sea Belle (Quebec) are anchored right beside us and are heading north…we met them in Manzanilla. We are still getting squared away on boat names and who lives where. On Wednesday we rented taxis and went to Puerto Plata, a large city about an hour from Luperon. We went to the Brugal Rum factory which turned out to be a bottling plant. For the discriminating rum drinker, Brugal, even 12yo Brugal, can be equated with the imagined taste of jet fuel. We are contemplating seeing if the dinghy will run on it. Following that, we went to an old fort. The next stop was an amber museum but Skip, Craig, Angela, Dennis and Dodd took off for a cold beer and meaningful cultural exchange. I met a Belgian man who finally explained the mystery of why US coins are no good here…banks and money exchangers will only accept paper notes. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch, then went to the bank, a marine store (West Marine it ain’t) and a supermarket to stock up.

The Brugal Pant (refinery??)

The Fort. The docent explained that the doors to the powder rooms were short so that entering enemies' heads could be chopped off when they stooped through the entry. ?? Craig demonstrates:

Dominican Sno-cones. He is shaving ice off a large block. My Belgian friend. He has only been home once in 20 years to get a throat cancer operation. Effect a thick gutteral European accent and speak his words: "I am a stranger in my homeland!!"

Our lunch spot and the biggest Banyan tree I have ever seen. Octopus stew....who knew??

The merry pranksters??








Thursday evening, the yacht club that overlooks the harbour sponsored a pot luck dinner which was well attended. They have an open grill (we enjoyed our Omaha burgers) and set up the bar for side dishes brought by the cruisers. It was a great evening of good food, dancing and getting to know other cruisers.

After dinner, the dancing got out of hand, literally....

New friends...

Rosie and Sim; me with Will and Susan; Skip with Marcl, Jim and Renata

The waiting is the hardest part. We see the clouds scooting around the mountains, on their way, I guess, to where we want to be. It is quite windy during the day but mostly sunshiney. At night it is dead calm as the night lee settles in and the heat of the land dissipates over the water. It is noticeably cooler tonight though...the weather for which we have received warnings must be close at hand.

Tuesday 4/21 Luperon, Dominican Republic

We are enjoying the town of Luperon. There are limited areas with big houses but the the town, as a rule, is very poor by American standards. However, the people do not lack in warmth and friendliness. We are greeted with shouts of “hola” (hello) and “buenes tardes” (good afternoon) by everyone we pass. There are children everywhere, playing with simple toys, sitting on grandma’s lap or chasing chickens. All with big smiles.

These are some town shots. Farmers bring in fresh produce and sell on the streets. I bought potatoes, plantains, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and onion for about $5.

This is Steve's Place and Bethany, one of his little girls playing in momma's makeup. Also a security fence made with broken Presidente (beer) bottles.

On Sunday 4/19 we went on a tour to Salto del Rio Damajagua, a local waterfall attraction. We had understood this to be a waterfall excursion in which we would travel inland by bus to a waterfall, hike to the waterfall, perhaps swim around, have lunch and return to base. Well, we were wrong. Fortunately some fellow cruisers told us to bring our wetsuits as the water might be cold. Upon arrival, we were instructed to don a life jacket and helmet and to store anything we did not want to get wet. We geared up and hiked to and (yikes) UP seven waterfalls (there are 27 at this park). Sometimes we climbed the waterfalls and at other times, we were man-handled up the fall by our guides. At the final waterfall, we learn that we are riding the waterfalls back down. Uh-oh. One of my favorites is one Skip, Craig and I came to call “the flush”, appropriately named not only due to the downward circular spiral but also the fact that I thought I would pee on myself in fright. In the action shots, we are both wearing black skins, Craig is wearing the red helmet and I am wearing yellow. A big shout out to Skip for the action shots of Craig and Angela, as well as many of the town shots.

A couple of the waterfalls and a somone coming up the flush.

Angela does the flush...getting instructions or last rites, not sure....

Craig making the big leap and then assuming the "coffin" position for the bit one.

Monday 4/20 was a day of deep tissue healing and a few chores. Craig dived into charts as we study and prepare for the 236 mile passage to Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic’s recently implemented paperwork (dispatcho) at each stop (even if we do not get off the boat) makes us reconsider how we will chart our course. Weather is significantly impacting us and causing delay as we consider the open water between the countries. We wanted to leave Thursday and have learned today that we will remain here for at least another 10 days waiting on a weather window. We do not know now if we will be able to get Skip to Puerto Rico for his flight or if he will need to redirect out of the Dominican Republic. I adhesive-patched a few small holes that have worn in our canvas top and attached new Velcro on the back of salon cushions to better keep them in place. Even heavy duty needles would not penetrate the canvas backing, so I wound up suturing it on with 1-0 silk on a cutting needle. I needed to refresh my suture skills anyway. Medical friends take note: If you can score some, I need some 0 silk or 1-0 silk suture real bad!!

Skin...canvas. Same difference, but glad I refreshed lest I cut myself with my new petite switchblade ($4.28, US)...all the cool girls have them.