Voyage 2010: Chapter 4

27 Mar 2011, Mona Passage and on to Luperon, 19 53.94 N/ 070 57.10 W

Two days ago, we departed Cabo Rojo at 0645 and were greeted with no winds and glassy seas with NE swells. We dropped the jib as it was just a flapping. We sheeted hard the mizzen which reduced the roll a bit. Bob routinely monitored the fuel vacuum and noticed it was climbing again. As we were rolling, he re-installed the electric pump but after 12 hours the vacuum was dangerously high. We think that there is a screen in the tank that is contaminated. Bob blew into the hose in the hopes that it would temporarily clear the filter. It seemed to work.

The first night treated us to a beautiful sunset as we left the Mona and continued our passage up the coast of the Dominican Republic. This is a big country! We have another 36 hours to Luperon. Fortunately, the wind picked up a bit from the East but the swells were stubbornly coming out of the NE. At 0330, Ann spotted the cruise ship, Seven Seas Navigator. AIS and MARPA had a very small CPA so Ann called the vessel on the VHF. The operator indicated that he saw us and was altering his course to starboard with an estimated CPA of 0.5 nm. And 30 minutes later he was 0.50 nm off our beam.

The next day greeted us with continued light winds out of the E with the same annoying swells. But it was really, really hot. So clever Ann built a 'tent' under the mizzen held up by boat hook. It worked but it really would be a mess if we had to jibe. During the second night, the winds shifted to the SE (on our stern) at 10-15 but swells still out of the NE We jibed as soon as we could and moved the boat in a more westerly direction, and everything calmed down as the swells were more nearly behind us.

Today at 0930 we turn to the south and head for the Luperon harbor. The Garmin charts are awful here but the CYC charts on openCPN chartplotter are great. There are a lot of lumps and bumps entering and traversing the harbor so we were cautious. No problem, mon. As we were looking for a place to anchor, a local boat came up to us and asked us if we wanted a mooring. We were a bit reluctant until they said they were Handy Andy and Papo. These guys are recommended in the various cruise guides for the area. We have to clean up and go to customs.

06 Apr 2011, Ten Days in Luperon, 19 53.94 N/ 070 57.10 W

We arrived here in the harbor and waited for the Commandante's representative to start the check-in process. Sure enough a uniformed man and his driver arrived for our pre check-in inspection. The uniformed representative was a member of the DR Navy assigned to the Commandante's office. Both were very friendly and we managed to communicate with each other without too much difficulty. As he left, he recommended that we continue the check-in process ashore the next day. So we did.

Our first unofficial visitor was a very long, very thin, very green snake. He was contemplating a slither up our main mast. Bob would have none of that and encouraged him to take a swim instead. The boat hook prevailed and off he went to find another boat to visit.

We hopped into our dinghy the next morning and headed for the dinghy dock next to the Government dock. !Caramba! This dock is in worse shape than the one in Coral Bay (USVI). Walk only where there are new nails. Never navigate the dock at night. We soon adapted to the new challenge and now it doesn't seem quite as bad.

We were told that the town of Luperon suffers from a bit of neglect from the central government. For instance, the roads were torn up a couple of years ago for a new drainage system. The roads are still torn up and the drainage system is below the high tide mark. People have grown accustomed to the dust and dirt but sill hurts the town.

The Catholic church is near the center of town and it is quite a place. It seems to be fairly new. The lady attending to the garden allowed us to enter and we spent some time in the church. When Sunday came, Bob was having a bout of Gringo fever so we did not participate in the celebration of the mass. Sad.

We had lunch in one of the local restaurants (Letty's) where we met Renaldo and his daughter. Renaldo is the brother of Letty so he helps out from time to time. Children here only go to school for half a day so the daughter had finished school for the day. Renaldo told some of the history and politics of the town. It was quit fascinating.

Every Saturday at 1130 there is a baseball game at the town field. The gringos (aka cruisers) play the locals. When we do not have enough gringos, the locals lend us some players. This day the gringos lost the first game but managed to squeak by on the second. Afterwards, the younger children were bribed to clean up the field, funded by the gringos. We get the impression that gringos and locals really like each other as they are always helping each other out.

Our amigos Papo and Handy Andy also clean bottoms of boats for USD 1.00 per foot. So last Wednesday, they came by armed with dive equipment and scrapers. Lots of crud came off and soon Jule's bottom was black again. And her prop again was devoid of marine life. After Jule, they headed for another boat near us. They are braver than we as we saw stuff floating in the water that you normally see in a toilet. Ugh.

We discovered the cruiser's hangout and it is called Captain Steve's Place. We were greeted by Steve and his esposa, Annie. Steve told us about his place, the RD 100 (pesos) specials, the free WiFi, the free shower, and the free swimming pool. Plus they have two neat kids, Stephanie and Coral. We do not have any good pictures of them as the moved too fast.

We went to the Puerto Blanco marina for the Sunday swap meet. Bob went to the 'dumpster' to get rid of yesterday's trash. Oops! It looks like the dumpster was occupado. The cow has discovered a gold mine in the 'goodies' in the dumpster. She managed to stay there most of the day. Not sure the cow is organic, but maybe.

The swap meet was quite nice. We got tee shirts, trinkets, a couple of books, and other miscellaneous stuff that will remind us of this place. We met several cruisers that would be heading north about the same time as we hoped to go. SV Wild Cat is a Dutch boat that will slowly be heading to the Chesapeake. SV Another Adventure is an American boat heading for Key West where they hope to do some chartering work. Good day!

We have been watching this guy almost every day making fishing nets. Every day! One day, Ann approached him and asked him how many he makes. Sadly we didn't know enough Spanish and he not enough English so we just smiled at each other. Oh well, we should have used the Rosetta Stone.

Luperon has a rich local culture. We see people in cars, scooters, and horses all sharing the same roads. The horse seem to belong here more than the scooters but the scooters are becoming more important as fuel and food prices accelerate upwards.

Soon we will be leaving Luperon for the Bahamas. We will miss the anchorage as most folks are friendly and helpful. For instance, Sarah was playing some music on her boat. Ann mentioned that she liked it and Sarah subsequently made a copy for us. Yep, we are going to miss this place.

We leave tomorrow so we need one more time at Steve's Place where we had our last 100 peso meal. We said farewell to Steve, Annie, Coral and Stephanie. We know that they will continue to be a success even with new competition from JR's. There are other cruiser places but they seem to complement Steve's operation rather than compete with it.

While at Steve's, we met up with Frank and Tini of SV Wild Cat. We planned our departure with SV Another Adventure where they planned on stopping at Turks and Caicos while we would continue through the Bahamas. We planned a 0730 departure. We had to check out and get our despacios. That was quite a process but everybody was friendly and helpful. Winds tomorrow will be light and pretty much on the stern.