Puerto Bahia, Samana DR

I think we are in one of the most beautiful places on earth. If you have never been to the Dominican Republic you need to put it on your list.  We happen to be staying at a very nice resort in Samana Bay which has an exclusive hotel that happens to have a very (cheap to stay) nice marina. At a $1 per foot we couldn't pass up staying two nights at this little slice of heaven. We took a trip into town to see the sights and boy were there sights to see. There were so many motor bikes running around it was complete chaos.  The hotel/marina gives you a ride into town but then you have to find your own way back. You can either take a mini van (taxi), ride on the back of a motor bike (no way) or ride in a cart pulled my a motor bike.  We chose the latter though I don't think any of them are really that safe but we made it back in one piece.  We have to do a couple of repairs to the boat (no surprise there) and we had some dock boys patched the dingy for us for $6 ~ we'll see how it holds.   Then we gave the dogs a desperately needed bath on the dock and of course Max fell off the boat shortly after.  Tomorrow we will head out at around 10:00 am after we check out with customs and start our long trek to Peurto Rico.  It's about 125 miles and we will sail straight through.  The winds are suppose to be in our favor the next two days.  It will be sad to leave the DR but hopefully we will be back and see more of this beautiful island sometime.

The bay in downtown Samana

Downtown Samana

The Market 

This is what we rode back to the marina on

Puerta Bahia marina

The marina grounds

The infinity pool at the hotel/marina

In Luperon

We made it to Luperon. This is a cool place. The bay is bio-illumine-cent. Its as good as the bio-illumine-cent bay in Viegas we went to last year. We each paid 40 bucks to go on a dingy ride there and here we had just as good bio effect and we were just dingying in. 

The town of Luperon is just like a South American or Caribbean town should look like. There are 500 little motorcycles running around the town. They out number the cars 3 to 1. Then there are the dogs. They have 100 or so dogs all over the place. I haven’t taken our dogs to town. That would just be too much action for me to handle. Max would be just too big a target for all the dogs in town. So I take them to  a beach on the other side of the bay. I think they like that better anyway.

I’ve been fighting a hole in my dingy. This hole I fix for a day then the patch comes off a little and I have the same hole again. I’ve been fighting this thing for a week or two. If anyone knows a secret to fixing a dingy leak please let me know. The problem seems to be that the patch goes over a place that is in one position when there is no air in the dingy, But its in a different position when there is air in it. So every time I put air in the dingy it stretches the patch and eventually starts leaking again.

Today I did my 100 mile oil change. With as much as we have been running lately it seems like just yesterday that I changed my oil. But it was two weeks ago. I will have to do another one before we get to St Thomas. But at least my engines seem to be running well. I had to change the fuel filter on the starboard engine this morning. The engine would stop every once in a while. But I think that change fixed the engine stopping.  So now I’m done working on the boat. I think I will take the dogs in one more time then Karen and I will go to town. There is a lot to explore in town and I think we will have a great time checking it out. That’s all for now.

Heading to Dominican Republic

We left Turtle Cove which is on the north side of the island and headed around to the south side and anchored.  Then on Wednesday we headed towards Sapodilla Bay and we were going to anchor the night there then leave really early Thursday.  When we got around the island the water was really rough.  We were pulling towards the anchorage and we were talking to the other boat we were with, Off The Grid, and they didn’t want to battle the rough waters for an extended time but we decided that we would be better off just leaving straight to the Dominican Republic because if we didn’t, we might not be able to go until Monday because of the weather and wind.  So we left them in Sapodilla Bay hoping they will catch up with us and headed south.  It would have been nice to have another boat along on the crossing. It has been a long 34 hours and we are still about 40 miles out from Luperon.  We decided to slow down so we would get in in the daylight and should arrive first thing Friday Morning.

In the middle of the night I was at the helm so Wes could get some rest.  He was out on the bench on the deck and all of a sudden he lets out this yell and scared the sh— out of me.  He said something hit him between the legs.  So we got the flashlight out and started searching the deck and there bouncing around on the floor was a flying fish.  He looked a bit dazed and confused so Wes picked him up and threw him back in the water before the dogs could figure out what it was or it would have been complete chaos.

It will be good to get this long stretch done and we won’t have any more this long.  It’s about 150 miles with tacking because of the wind and averaging 4 knots an hour makes for a very long ride.  

Here are a few pictures of coming into Dominican Republic with more to follow once we look around the town.

More on Provo

I wanted to blog a little more about Provo in the Turks and Caicos because it is a really neat little island.  We stayed at Turtle Cove Marina on the north side of the island and we had them send out a pilot boat to guide us in when we got close because there is a reef around the whole area and there is just a small section to go through and as you go through there are big breakers on each side of you.  It was a bit scary but with the guide boat it made it a lot easier.  The Marina was pretty nice.  The only bad things were there was  no laundry facility and there was only one shower that was quite a ways from the slips where we were.  They have a very nice tiki bar though.  There is also a nice sports bar called Sharkbite that is on the other side of the marina and we were able to watch the Avalanche game on Saturday, though they lost and the Broncos game on Sunday night-at least they won.  Chris, the Manager is a really nice guy and he is also a Bronco’s fan.  

We decided to rent a car on Monday because we had quite a few places we needed to go and they weren’t in walking distance.  They have a pretty nice grocery store so we were able to get stocked up on everything.  Then we had to get the laundry done and of course stock up on rum and beer.  They have a really big place that is like a home depot that had just about everything we needed to get things fixed.  We stopped and had lunch at this cool little shack on the top of the hill and the son of the owner, who actually runs the place came out and talked to us for a while and told us the history of the restaurant.  They had great Caribbean and Chinese food.  I had the sweet and sour chicken and it was really good.   It was nice having the car because we were able to see quite a bit of the island.  Then in the evening we went to the Grace Bay area, which had all of the boutiques and shops and then to Mango Reef for dinner.  

Leaving Turks & Caicos

We decided to leave Turks & Caicos today because the wind is supposed to change on Saturday and come straight out of the south which makes for difficult sailing when your heading south.  So we want to get to Dominican Republic before Saturday. We will head to the south side of T&C's today then start our 34+ hour trek to DR on Thursday morning. That will be a long couple of days but that will be the longest stretch of the trip.

At least we were able to see some of Provo, do a little shopping and have a really nice dinner last night on the beach at a really cool restaurant.

Turks and Caicos Islands

We made it safe to Turtle Cove Marina which is actually on the Providenciales Island of the Turks and Caicos.  I think it is probably the most populated part of the T&C's.  We plan on staying here 4 days because we have quite a bit to do on the boat with fixing some things, cleaning and reprovisioning.  It was a nice quiet sail (motor) over with not much wind.  We were able to put up our spinnaker on the way down because we were heading down wind and our friends took some pictures. There were huge swells which must have been left over from the hurricane passing through.  It's nice being near civilization again after several days in the Acklin Islands where there is not much population but nice beaches, clear blue water and beautiful sunsets.   Here are a few pics from along the way.  We haven't seen much of the T&C's islands yet, so once I get some pictures I will post them and let you know about the island.

We had this little guy visit us on our way to T&C's.  The dogs were going crazy trying to catch him.

 

Waiting on Gonzo

Right now we are heading for Atwood on the Acklands, in the Bahamas. We are heading there to ride out hurricane Gonzola. We are busting our but to get there. Yesterday we sailed from the other side of the island to about 14 miles await from Atwood. We never would have made it to Atwood before dark. So we found a place that was an anchorage and stayed there. Its a little bumpy but better than out in the ocean.

That was a rough sail. We did the first 10 miles easily, but the next 15 were though.

We have 6 to 8 foot seas and we were heading right into them. We couldn’t use the sails so we just slugged it out. Plus we had some current against us and for a while we are only doing 2 miles and hour. I will fell a lot better when we get to Atwood. 

 This morning we are doing the last 14 miles. The hurricane is supposed to be its closest to us tomorrow night. It isn’t supposed to hit us but you never know. Atwood is the only real hurricane hole on Crooked Island and Ackland Island so it looks like a pretty good place to ride out this storm.

There is nothing around here. The islands have about 200 people on them. You will see a fishing boat now and then but that is about it.

One good thing is we found some folks to cruise with. They have a cat two and are going to go with us to St Thomas.

In Georgetown going to Turks and Cacos

We are currently in Georgetown. That is in the southern part of the Exumas, Bahamas. We have three more big islands to go through before we get to Turks and Caicos. But they don't have many people on them. They say a lot of people end up staying in Georgetown after they try to sail down to Turks and Caicos. It apparently gets rough in between the islands we have left and some people turn back.
We found another couple that is also going that way so they are going to sail with us for a while. That should be a great way to go from a safety point of view and also just to have some company. It's 210 miles to Turks and Caicos and I think it will take us 7 to 8 days.
I have done the 300 hour boat maintenance. That's change the oil. Check the Zinc Andotes, check the transmission oil. Check the coolant and the belts.
We gassed up and have filled our water tanks and got grocery. So I think we are set to make the run down there.
We are going to leave Wednesday and I'm not sure when we will have internet again. But I should be posting by the middle of next week.

The Exumas

We have been heading South through the Exumas, which is another string of islands in the Bahamas.  We haven't had much internet access because the islands are not too inhabited.  We first stopped at Allen's Cay, which I don't think anyone lives on it-at least human.  There are a bunch of Iguana's that live there and are very friendly once they figured out you aren't there to hurt them.  We didn't take the dog's on shore because we thought they might have way too much fun chasing the little creatures.

Our next stop was Warderick Wells, which is the headquarters for the National Park that covers several islands in the Exumas.  There is a trail that goes all over the island, which includes going through the water several times that we took.  It also takes you up to Boo Boo Hill, where its tradition to take a piece of driftwood with your boats name on it and put it in the pile at the top of the hill.  There was a ship that wrecked off the island and there were no bodies recovered and they say that their spirits haunt the island.  That is why it is called Boo Boo hill and supposedly they chant hymns which are heard from the blow holes if you listen very closely.

 a baby ray we saw on the hike

Wednesday we visited Staniel Cay which does have about 100 people living on the island.  The marina was closed for renovations though.  We are finding out that a lot of things are closed this time of year while they try to get repairs done in the down season, before the high season kicks in.  There are not a lot of boats sailing around either.  There is an amazing snorkeling spot called Thunderball Grotto, named after the James Bond movie of the same name that was filmed there.  We snorkeled through the rocks to the inside of a cave that opens up and it has the most beautiful coral and fish and one very large barricuda.  I wish I could have taken pictures but my underwater camera is not working-bummer.
Then we went over to Big Major Cay to see the wild pigs and I tell you what, they were not as cute and nice as the ones on No Name Cay.  These guys were very aggressive and very greedy.  I thought the 300 pound fat one was going to jump into the dinghy

Atlantis

We decided to spend two days in Nassau because there was just too much to see.  We ended up walking quite a bit.  We went downtown where the cruise ships come in and there were three ships in port so it was VERY BUSY.  Then we took a cab over to Atlantis and toured as much of it as we were allowed.  You have to be a guest to actually see all of it or buy a day pass and since it was so late in the afternoon we figured it wouldn't be worth it.  It's just like one of the casinos in Vegas except it has a marina where you can pull your boat (or in most cases your Yacht) up to.  Then we walked through the shops in Marina Village and took a cab over to the other side of the bridge where the local fisherman have little shacks the back their boats up to and they serve fresh made conch salad and fish dishes and of course beer.
Now we are getting ready to head to the Exumas and keep trekking south.  No signs of any hurricane activity YAY.

Atlantis

The stingray pool at Atlantis

The turtle pool at Atlantis

The local fisherman booths under the bridge

In Nassua

We made it to Spanish Wells and then to Nassua. 

Matthew: You might recognize the boat next to us in the marina. 

It’s the Blackbeards boat you were on. Morning Star. We meet Charlie who trained you and we went and partied with the crew last night.

We are going to stay in Nassua two nights. Karen wants to look around Atlantis and we may only be here once.

We had a great sail down here. We didn’t have to use the engines at all and we made about 5.5 knots average. That means when we were sail fast we were doing close to 8 its. We did finally reef when the winds got over 20 kts, but that only lasted 5 minutes.

Stuck in Marsh Harbor for the Broncos game

We are in Marsh Harbor today for the Broncos game. We are going to watch it at a bar called Snappas. It's right on the bay where are boat is anchored. Here are some pictures.

This is the bar.

This is our boat from the bar.

This is us.

here you go Amanda

Boat Repairs

We finally left Man o War, It cost us $4000 to get everything fixed. But they did work for the 4 grand. We had two sails fixed. We had a cover made, We had the transmission replaced, we had the starboard drive shaft replaced, we had our port side strut strengthened, which required some fiberglass work. So we actually got a good deal, but it still hurts to spend that much on the boat.

We had a pretty good time in Man o War. I started running again, the dogs and I would go about 4 miles, it was two miles up to the north end of the island.  We went to every beach on the island. They are gorgeous beaches. Every once in a while you would see some of the locals swimming on them. tThe dogs loved the beaches. The beaches are protected by an offshore reef but there are still some rollers coming in. Max didn’t care, we get to the beach and he would just runs right into the waves and starts swimming.  It’s amazing to watch because when we first got him he didn't know how to swim at all. 

Today we are in Marsh Harbour. We will be here until Monday. Karen needs to see the Bronco’s game tomorrow. Today we are also going to resupply. They have a grocery store here that is the biggest in the Bahamas. They have almost everything and we need some stuff. After that we are going to start heading south.  I want to be in Turks and Cacaos by the 15th of October. Then we will make the passage to Puerto Rico.

Stuck in Man O War

We are stuck in Man O War until at least next Tuesday. The reason we are stuck is we need a new drive shaft for the starboard motor.  We already changed the transmission on it. We also tried a new prop. But we still have a vibration when we put that engine into gear.
I think Man O War is probably the best place in the Bahamas to get the work done. The folks we are working with are definitely competent. But although it may be the best place to get work done it's one of the worse place to be stuck in.
This is a dry island. We are down to 5 beers. Luckily we have a lot of rum and wine so we can stay here a month if we need to.  But since they don't have any beer for sale they don't have anything like a sports bar.  No place to watch football.  Last weekend we were at Nipper bar on Guana Key. They had all the games on. Karen got to see the Broncos although we had to stay up until midnight to see the whole game. She was also forced to sing "paradise by the dashboard light" during halftime. But different places have different rules for watching a game.  I'm not sure where we are going to watch the game this week. I think we can get it on the sling box. If we can then I won't be in trouble. If we can't then, I might be.
We also got some sail work done here so I now have good sails and tomorrow we will put the main sail back up. Other than that we are just stuck here.
Once we get everything functioning correctly we are going to start heading south. I want to be in Turks and Cacaos around Oct 15th. Then we can plan the trip over to Puerto Rico.