Dear Family and Friends,

We left off when we were in Mayaguana. We ended up staying there for a week because of contrary winds. But it was a busy week. Every day new boats would come in and old boats would leave. Most of the boats had just come from the Caribbean and were on their way back to the US. Two other boats were heading our way. Part of the joy of cruising is learning about new countries and other sailors. So here we go

Mayaguana, Bahamas

We went ashore in Mayaguana at Abraham Bay. No large boat can come ashore there because it is too shallow. When the mail/supply boat arrives, it must come to Betsy Bay. Because the dock at Betsy Bay is exposed from the SE to the W, the boat can not always come in. But there's always next week. Being such a small island, everyone is aware of the mail boat's comings and goings. We met a young Bahamian named Anton. He was born in Nassau and got tired of the city life. He loves the quiet of Mayaguana and hopes to open up a bakery. We learned that the investment company that came to make the island a resort is having financial difficulties. They lost millions of dollars this year and they plan to lay off some of the island workers. It is certainly not easy to make a living on a remote Bahamian island.

A 28 foot boat named Naiad was skippered by Englishman Bob. Bob had sailed this little boat around the world. He had so much trouble with his engine that he finally pitched it and was now strictly under sail. To get to the Turks and Caicos he needed a good sailing 48 hour window. He's very patient and is very comfortable in his solitude. We invited him to share some conch with us and he had many, many good tips on his favorite islands.

A boat named Callista. We actually didn't meet the skipper aboard until we got to Luperon. The skipper had a friend helping him deliver the boat to the Dominican Republic. He, like us, was reading the book by Bruce Van Sant about how to get to the Caribbean against the trade winds. Like most sailors, Mr. Van Sant is opinionated. But he does offer some helpful tips. At Mayaguana he suggests you stage yourself in an unsheltered bay nearby the Mayaguana anchorage. He also mentions that the winds should be under 15 knots. This boat decided to stage there in 15-20 knots SE winds with higher gusts. They had no protection from the ocean swells and it could not have been a comfortable anchorage. So the skipper decided to take his dinghy ashore and ended up swamping his dinghy and engine in the high surf by the beach. The lady on board panicked and called for help. Chris answered and talked to her about the situation and what could be done. It turned out there was a fisherman house ashore that the skipper could stay in, but there were no roads out to that spot. Their boat was safely, though not comfortably, anchored. Chris kept talking to her and during one transmission the US Coast Guard came in to offer help. They were flying their helicopter and could be there in 14 minutes. Just then the skipper returned to the boat, so all was well. The CG helicopter did a pass around the boat and then our anchorage. While they are there to do drug interdiction, it's nice to know they are also there to help boater's in distress.

So, in Mayaguana, we were lucky enough to find conch. We got out our conching hammer, fillet knife, pounding mallet and prepared the conch for dinner. It was delicious. So delicious that we got more conch the next day. The winds died down and we left after dinner.

Provo, Turks and Caicos

Our crossing was not bad. Light winds but on our nose. We motorsailed the entire way. There were just a couple of boats out at sea that night and a little light rain in places.

We got in to Sapodilla Bay by morning and Chris dinghied in to clear through customs and immigration. Then we went over to Southside Marina to get fuel. We were met at the dock by Bob, the owner, and Simon and Charlyn, the dock managers. Bob is a native. He has bought land on the island of Provo and wishes he had bought lots more. They are experiencing a building boom at the moment. Simon is an Englishman. He is what we would call a "more serious" Austin Powers, with his strong British accent and his very definite overbite. Charlyn is an American and a fabulous tour director. She whisked us away to do laundry, sightsee the island, and shop at a wonderful grocery store. They were the friendliest marina dockmasters we have ever met. They invited us for cocktails and we learned all about their sailing stories. They have brought their boat through the Panama Canal. What an amazing journey that is.

On our next trip we actually got to sail to French Cay in the Caicos islands. The winds were 15 to 20 knots and we flew to that anchorage. French Cay is a bird sanctuary. The birds sometimes sounded like cats instead of birds. There were hundreds of them. We anchored there with another catamaran. We enjoyed meeting Martin and Yvonne aboard Sea of Time. They are from Holland and have cruised across the Atlantic Ocean. We are always learning so much and enjoying all of our fellow cruisers' stories.

We left French Cay in very calm weather the following morning.

Luperon, Dominican Republic

We had a very nice motorsail for the next day. During the night we had some wind chop but the dawn arrived and we had a beautiful sight before us. The mountainous island of the Dominican Republic. There was the distinct smell of earth in the air. We had the wonderful experience of entering a new harbor at dawn. All was peaceful and quiet. We put our anchor down and very quickyly we were introduced to Papo. He is an entrepreneur in the harbor of Luperon. Papo can get fuel, water, motorcycle rentals, beer, produce, take garbage, etc. for you. Papo brought out the customs and Dominican navy representatives and we cleared through with them. Then we went to meet with the following officials: immigration, port security, port clearance, agriculture. All went well and we were ready to sleep.

We are now bona fide tourists. The Dominican Republic is a lovely island and is part of the Greater Antilles. This is the island where Christopher Columbus decided to establish the first European settlement in the Americas. It is so lush here and it looks like you can just drop seeds on the ground and they will flourish. They export banans, sugar cane, cocoa, coffee, silver, and gold. The language here is Spanish. Chris and I practiced a little before we got here, but being here and speaking has really helped. The money is the peso and right now 33 pesos equals 1 dollar.

The people in Luperon are very, very friendly. Our "Ollas" are always greeted with a big smile. The people have an extremely varied background: Taino indian, Spanish, African, Haitian. The individual homes are clean and neat. The public areas though have an accumulation of plastic bags, styrofoam cups, and general paper/plastic litter. There are animals everywhere. We've seen chickens, goats, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, and beautiful birds. There are small stores for almost every need in this village. The larger city of Puerto Plata has bigger stores and it's just a day trip. On Tuesdays the farmers truck in fresh fruit and vegetables. We had to restrain ourselves from buying more than we could eat.

Our Motorbike Day

We rented motorbikes one day to visit Isabella, the sight of Columbus' first European settlement. We went with our Dutch friends, Martin and Yvonne aboard Sea of Time and Nick and Susan aboard Windswept. The bikes were in terrible shape but they held up for the entire day. The countryside we passed was beautiful. The north of the Dominican Republic is mountainous, so the views were very lovely. At the settlement we saw the layout of the village which, in the 1400s, housed about 1500 people. One of the trees there is 500 years old. Columbus' house was large and had a beautiful view of the Bay. We tried to imagine what life was like in those days. Fresh water was so very important, and this site had that. A protected anchorage was also important and, for the most part, this had that too. The archeologists had excavated the bones of one of the soldiers. He must have been quite young judging by his very intact teeth. The museum there was entirely in Spanish and we had fun trying to decide what was being said.

Having lunch with our friends and exploring some more, we happily made it back to the bike place and we felt we had learned quite a lot that day.

The Waterfalls

Once we got to Luperon we heard about a trip to the waterfalls. It sounded very intriguing and we booked ourselves for a day with a guide. Martin aboard Sea of Time, Graham and Jo aboard Long Reach, 2 single handers, Chase and Dave and Chris and I were all game. Jose, our guide, talked about his island as we drove to the falls. We learned of the history, the culture, the crops, the politics. We again passed a beautiful countryside. Everything was green and healthy. At the waterfall site we changed into bathing suits, were given life jackets and helmets, and began a 20 minute hike, winding our way through paths and streams. This waterfall experience was quite different from any others we have had. At the base, you are not looking up at a big massive falls. It's just maybe a 10 foot fall. We swam right up to where the water was rushing down and the guides grabbed our hands and pulled us up to the next level. We did this for 7 levels. It turns out there are actually 27 levels in all. You can keep going up but coming down gets harder and harder. So, what was it like to slide down a waterfall? It was exhilarating. One by one we got in position to either jump or slide down 7 levels of falls. We even got to do the most exciting level twice. It was a natural water park. We surmised that this place was probably a spiritual place to the original inhabitants. Martin braved his camera for the entire trip and made all of us a wonderful video. Our pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the place.

Our tour went on to a delicious lunch and then a walk through a very pretty botanical garden. The garden had large mahogany trees. You must get government permission to cut any of these trees down. From the outside it is hard to believe that the wood inside is so beautiful. We then went on to the stonecutter. The stonecutters were quite talented. Some of the carvings were very beautiful and all were for sale. One of our friends bought a very unique frog carving. When you pour water over the sculpture it turns various colors of brown. The stonecutters are also interested in cock fighting. They put protection over the deadly claws and demonstrated how they fight. Jo and I decided to miss that part of the tour.

What's next

We will be visiting Puerto Plata this week and then we'll be using the next weather window to make our way to Puerto Rico. We are certainly enjoying our time here but we are keeping our eye on the tropics. We'll keep you posted as we try and outsmart the trade winds heading southeast.

Fair winds. Pam and Chris aboard Wildcat