If it is week 17, then it must be…….the Dominican Republic.
We stayed in the Caicos marina for another two nights – the
whole area was experiencing very strong SE winds, which meant that if we were out in
Sapodilla Bay, we would have been bouncing like a bouncy castle all day and
night. Not very nice when you have other options like a very small marina with
great Wi-Fi.
Wednesday morning looked a good day to cross the Caicos
Banks. The wind was down to 10 knots so the swell on the banks would be small.
The Banks are very shallow in some areas with lots of coral heads so although we
have waypoints and a line on the chartplotterr to follow, you have to be
vigilant.
Early Wednesday morning (7.30am) we said our farewells to
all at the Caicos Marina and started heading S/SE across the banks. As
predicted, the wind wasn’t playing ball – it is always so unpredictable! It is
so predictable in its unpredictability. We listened to broadcasts, downloaded grib
files from 4 different sources and still it is never quite what is predicted.
The wind was meant to shift from SE – S – SW – great as
the SW would push us along the Caicos Banks – but no way, we only saw a SW for
about an hour and half and that was all the comfortable sailing we could do,
otherwise it was motor sailing, which we are so sick of!!!
Our plan as mentioned last week, was to get to Fish Cay,
anchor off there for the night (Wednesday night) before heading across the Turks
Ocean passage to Salt Cay or maybe even Big Sand Cay and then overnight (Thursday)
to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.
We reached Fish Cay at about 3.30pm and meandered our way
through the coral heads to a lovely anchoring place. Far enough away from the
island in case the wind should change to the W as we would then be on a Lee
shore (i.o.w – we would not be blown onto the shallow area of the island ) – we
put our anchor watch on as Mel was concerned about the holding – where the
anchor had “dug in” looked sandy enough but unless you dive down and check it
for yourself which Mel normally does any
way, there can be only a very thin layer of sand, on top of rock which
obviously the anchor doesn’t dig into.
Mel dived the anchor and we both had a quick swim close to
the boat which was lovely and refreshing.
While we were organising the boat for the night ahead and
for the following day/nights sail, in the distance I spotted some whales
jumping up into the air. It was quite far way so watched through the
binoculars. It was amazing!!
Well that night……. Talk about rocking and rolling!!! We
rocked and we rolled all night, hardly sleeping at all!! The swell from the
Fish Cay cut was awful!! If we could have left earlier (in the middle of the
night) we would have but because knew about the coral heads, we couldn’t move
until the sun was up and the visibility was good – of course!
As soon as we could get going on Thursday morning we were
out of there. I helmed, while Mel directed us clear of the coral heads. After a
bad experience, Mel and I always try to learn from it and analyses “What did we
do wrong??”
We had listened to Chris Parkers broadcast (the weather guru
for this area who transmits his forecast Monday – Saturday over the HF radio at
6.30am) and he had said that the cold front, which we knew about, was closing
in on Provo earlier than expected. Yey too right, we could see it coming. We
knew it would help to push us across the Turks Passage to Big Sand Cay and
hopefully to Puerto Plata – it was meant to be only 10 – 12knots but it was actually gusting 15 – 20 knots!!!
I was trying not to get too worked up and to panic as I always
say to Mel “If the boat is fine and he is happy, then I can cope” – my Salty
Sailor Husband!!!
I tried to stay in the cockpit for as long as possible but
when it started raining and the squalls came (25+ knots), I had to go down and sit in my
safe little corner.
See photo – FYI – we have our towels hanging there as I
can’t always reach the hand rails. I find if the towels are there it is easier
to grab them when we are healing and are underway and I can at least move
around the saloon area without falling all over the show!
We made very slow progress to Big Sand Cay – we eventually
arrived there at 2.30pm, put the anchor down, assessed the situation as the
winds were much stronger than forecast and the sea swell was also unpleasant.
We looked at the weather forecast and the grib files and
assessed our options. It was either we press on to the DR or we stay at Big
Sand Cay for the next three days, rocking and rolling. We obviously decided to
press on to the DR although we knew it would not be as pleasant as we first
predicted or anticipated.
Anchor was up by 6.00pm and we headed for the DR.
There was a ¾ moon so it looked lovely on the sea but I
didn’t stay up in the cockpit for long. Salty Sailor Mel was all locked on and
happy to spend the night up in the cockpit.
As predicted by us – the wind clocked to the SE quicker than
the weather forecast said. This meant that we were being pushed west more than
what we wanted to and it looked more like we were heading to Luperon in the west
instead of Puerto Plata.
We have noticed that when the weather forecast predicts
10 knots of wind, it is at least plus 5 – 8/10 knots more and the timing is at
least 5 – 6 hours earlier than anticipated.
Mel was not keen on us going to Luperon, as he had booked us
into the Ocean World Marina in Puerto Plata as they would help us with customs and immigration, which we knew from reading and other people can be a
very trying, difficult and time consuming process.
Dawn broke on Friday morning and we were about 30nm from the
DR – we could see the high mountains – it was a change from being in the
Bahamas where the land is just above sea level.
Mel calculated that we should be at the marina by 4.00pm but that
meant we would have to put the engine on and motor sail with the wind on our nose. Not very comfortable at all – something we have to expect for the
next few weeks until we are past the Virgin Islands.
When we were about 5nm from the entrance to the marina, a
whole school of porpoises swam in the wake of our bow for about 10 minutes. It
was magical! I tried capturing some of the swimming and jumping next to our
boat.
We entered the marina at – 4.00pm, tied up at the
customs and immigration dock, flew our yellow quarantine flag and waited for
the Customs Officials to arrive. We waited for about 15 minutes, when four
“Official” looking men arrived to board our boat.
One was a representative of the marina, who could speak
fluent English – he acted as an interpreter for us, a Naval Officer in his camouflage uniform, an Immigrations Officer and another from M2 – Intelligence.
We had heard of M2 and told to expect to see a few of these individuals
around.
After filling out two forms, they were happy and Mel was
escorted to the Customs building which was just above the main Marina Offices.
Mel was away for about 10 minutes, when we were given the all clear to put up the DR flag and could move to where we
would be for the next 2 -3 days.
We were all secure by 5.00pm and Mel, as he usually does,
gave the boat a good clean as it was caked in salt in some areas.
Having that first cup of hot tea is always the best as is
the first really hot and long shower that we had soon after the boat was clean.
We had a light supper and off to bed – exhausted!!
We slept like babies and work up on Saturday morning feeling
refreshed and ready to explore.
As it was our Anniversary (17 years – where have they
gone!!!), we decided not to spend the day doing boat chores as there is always
something!! (At the moment, we have to look at the strappings that
secure the two Gerry cans on the port side of the boat – they have worn away. Also,
our second head/toilet, is still playing up)
We were told that one of the grocery shops in the city
centre offers transport to their shop and back to the marina so we thought we
would do a bit of shopping and sight-seeing at the same time. After a lovely
breakfast at the Ocean World Terrace at the marina, we went into Puerto Plata.
Puerto Plata was founded in 1502 and has a mixture of
Victorian gingerbread type houses in the heart of the centre city along with
the modern more urban sprawl. Soaring over Puerto Plata is Monte Isabel De
Torre (781m) which offers lovely views over the area – there is cable car access
to the summit, which Mel and I MAY do, depending on how long we stay here. It
all depends on the correct weather/winds for heading east!
We did a bit of shopping, left our shopping at the shop,
walked along part of the waterfront and down some of the side streets,
back to the grocery shop and then were taken back to the marina.
The driving is organised chaos – most people ride motor
bikes and a whole family of five can be piled onto one bike – NO helmets to be
seen. It felt a bit like being in a time warp – as one minute you would see a
donkey drawn cart, a very run down truck with smoke bellowing from it and the
next you would see modern cars sweep past you.
It seems as if there is quite a bit of free enterprise as
there are many little shops/home businesses. The appearance of the outside of a
building is quite deceiving from what you may find once you step inside.
We would like to go back into the city centre but as I
mentioned earlier, it all depends on the correct weather window.
Saturday evening, since it was our anniversary, we went to
the lovely restaurant at the marina. It felt good to dress up a bit and to put
some make up on!!
So that is the week that was – Week 17. We are slowly making
our way further east and south as we are now at 19 degrees north – we started off at 27
degrees north in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Sending lots of love
Captain Salty Sailor Mel – the Sailing Nut and Admiral Caryn
