Bahamas to the DR

Long Island, Mayaguana, Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic (DR)

We have left George Town and started our trip to the Dominican Republic known as the DR from here on in. Upon leaving George Town we said good bye to Anneteak who we have been traveling with since Vero Beach (five months ago) how time flies. Anneteak (Anne and Brad) are headed back to Florida and then flying to New Brunswick. We also left new found friends on Dream Ketcher (Patti and Dave) as they were headed back to the US. Will also miss weekly hold’em games but more to experience in the near future. Sweet Chariot (Tammie and Jim) are taking a similar route to the DR and they decided to leave on the same day as us.

The winds were good but against us but we managed to motor to Long Island. It was an uneventful day except for a call from Sweet Chariot, they hooked a mahi mahi fish. They called and said they had dinner. We waited patiently to arrive with dinner but the winds kicked up and to get to their boat would have been a wild dinghy ride so we settled for a rain check for the mahi mahi. Spent the night rocking and rolling all night from the surge that came into the anchorage.

Next morning the winds were more co-operative and we were off to Mayaguana. We had to go into the wind for the first hour then we turned onto our course and were able to get the sails out. Nice sailing weather. Sweet Chariot were closer inland with all sails up and guess what they called and they have another mahi mahi. At this time I think they are pulling our leg and they just stocked up before leaving George Town so we decided that we needed to get some fishing in and see if we can catch something too.

Well we sailed for about 4 hours Jack and I are comfortable in the cockpit Xanadu is handling the weather sailing smoothly along and then we here this singing sound I looked at Jack and he looks at me then it registers, the fishing line.  We have a fish on for the first time.  We here a line run out so it took a second or two to figure out what was going on. Yes that is right our first fish caught on our line while sailing. Then realization sets in what do we do next:

How do we kill it, how do we get it on board more importantly where on the deck and where to clean it. I had already read the fishing books but now we need to have a plan. We have our gaff but who wants blood all over the deck. Finally figure out a spot, so Jack is still fighting the fish and I am steering the boat. Jack’s word it must be a big one as the rod is bending to the point I thought it would snap. At first I thought the fish would win and then finally we see it about 50 yards behind the boat. We get it closer and then we finally see it and it is a barracuda. This is about the only fish we can identify without looking at the charts. They are oily and boney to eat so we decided we did not want it but we wanted our lure back. The problem with that is they have huge sharp teeth. The barracuda is about 3 feet long but put up quite the fight. We now have it near the boat Jack is armed with gloves and long handed pliers and a gaff. Soon as the fish is out of the water it takes a huge leap we thought it went up on the dodger but lucky for us it was just the lure and the fish got away.  Of course neither one of us thought to get the camera. Our first fish and no record except for our memory.

Well the rest of the day was quiet we are pulling into Mayaquana and it has a huge reef around it most of it submerged but with the charts and chart plotter it was a pretty easy access to the anchorage but from the angle it looked like we were in the middle of the ocean but finally we find a spot in about 10 feet of water protected by some land. We left through the night so we would get to Turks and Caicos in the daylight so we would have no problems with the reefs there...

We arrived at the Turks and Caicos about mid-afternoon and it takes us about an hour to get to Provo. Beautiful beaches on the north shore of Providence. Lots of reefs and coral heads and beautiful turquoise water just makes you want to jump in and enjoy the area but there is also larger fish out here too. Provo is known for its many dive and snorkelling sights. It has many resorts to visit but way out of our budget so we settle for an anchorage. They have a lot of security and take it very serious if you just try to drop and anchor and leave next morning without checking in. We were staying for a few days so were we fine.  We checked in and it cost us $50.00. We spent two days in Provo went into town when we finally found the right way. We got a ride with a local person living there when we found we were walking to a dead end area. Language does make a difference when getting instructions. Oh well he was nice and gave us a ride into town.

We were going to pick up some groceries but ended up with some milk and bread. I picked up 3 lbs. of apples $10.99. Veg’s were extremely expensive and so was most of everything else. For the guys here is a good comparison: 24 of Coors light: Canada $40.00, Florida $21.00 Bahamas $43.00 Turks and Caicos $63.00. Good thing we stocked up in Florida. I even took a picture of the SKU.

So once again we sailed over night to the Dominican Republic, stars were out and wind was good until Jack takes the helm. Next thing I know Jack is calling me it is black and we need to get the sails down we thought there maybe a squall coming through. I go back to bed and then the rain starts no wind just a huge downpour. Washed the salt off the decks and Jack got a good shower too.  He was pretty wet even with his jacket on. That passed and the rest of the trip was pretty pleasant.

We got to the DR at about 8 in the morning. Found a place to anchor and checked in. You had to go to 4 different places. They were very nice and it cost about $70.00 to check in for all the different offices.

Since we have been in Lupron we have gone to several beaches, Puerto Plata, Columbus’s landing here in Isabella, gone to movie night, and Texas hold’em night. A few of the boats that arrived after us play and set up a game and Jack came in first and I was the first out. We are in a well-protected harbour and the people are so nice here. I much prefer it here than Puerto Plata.  Beer is about $1.75 for a quart. Lunches that you cannot eat the whole thing are about 100 pesos which is about $2.50, no taxes. Dinner will range from 150 pesos to 400. Usually it works out for dinner about $10.00 per couple. To rent a car and driver for the day is $40.00 plus lunch not bad when 2 couples share the cost.

We I have a bunch of pictures so here they are:

 

 

THAT ABOUT WRAPS IT UP EXCEPT FOR WHO AM I (Linda) with and a cold beer. There was no photoshop pictures.

Jack and Linda