We were in Luperon, DR for about 3 weeks. We did many land travels there and even got our teeth cleaned for $12 – no cavities. We slid down waterfalls, hiked mountains in Jarabacoa, purchased waxed cheese at a local factory, went on a archeological tour to learn more about the Tiano Indians and Columbus journey to America, hiked the town, went to Los Hildagos via van tour, eat out abit more as it was cheap, played Mexican train with other cruisers and met abunch of x-pats that came their with with sailboat and decided not to leave. It was interesting coming back from our mini off boat vacation to Jarabacoa in that it felt like returning to work coming back to Sojourn – until I reminded myself that this is vacation!
We just got into Boqueron, Puerto Rico Monday, March 12th around 7AM — delighted that our crossing was easy even though abit more motoring than wished. The Mona Passage between DR and PR is nothing to play with so we found a good window and went for it. We feel very blessed! We were abit buzzed after leaving Luperon, Dominican Republic Thursday nite around 10pm and stopping early AM on Friday and Saturday AM at 2 different anchorages and continuing in the evening as the wind/waves settle down. So our body clocks were abit messed up! The shrinking moon was a wonderful treat each night and gave us some wonderful light during these 4 nights. So the first half of the night was starry and then light with moon. We tried to stay with 3 hour shifts but Tom is a terrible sleeper during passages (he can’t stop his brain from wandering) so if he was sleeping I would attempt to let him sleep longer. We would keep in touch with the other boats on a every 3 hour VHF communication or as needed if an emergency. Tom was really tired FINALLY one night and instead of giving me much transition info he just woke me up and jabbered something and went to bed. It was pretty funny as I VHF’d the other boats to ask for more details. The anchorage at Escondido during the day was WONDERFUL even though the commandant came out with a man rowing a wooden fishing boat around at 7pm and told us that this anchorage wasn’t safe as their were men with machetes coming to boats to steal things and possible body harm. We needed to sleep as we were leaving at midnight so we just locked the boat and went to sleep. So much for our first potential danger. WE TRULY LOVED the DR regardless. I already miss the goats and pigs in the street and being woke by roosters in the hills at all hours of the night/early AM! The people are friendly and basic. I only regret that I didn’t know more Spanish so I could have a REAL conversation with them to understand their challenges! I think that is the most difficult in passing thru these villages/countries in that what am I contributing OR am I just buying food and moving on! I guess I thought it would be abit different than just going on vacation for 2 weeks but then we don’t have the luxury of staying in one spot longer than 2-3 weeks.
We celebrated with the 3 other boats (Vagabond-Holland, Halcyon Days-Canada, Daniel Story-US) we traveled with last night per Tom’s request to have a STEAK! So off we went with his determination and found a meat place which was good. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the prices of the DR. Its not always easy to put 3 strange boats together that meet just before a passage like this.
Checking into customs/immigration was a snap as we used Rolling Thunder taxi "Raul" which usually brings cruisers from Boqueron to Mayaquez (15 miles away) for $12/person. He is a regular guy that must go their daily which helps as he knows all the workers and they whip you thru FAST. I wonder if he shares the fare with them so he can get back to work! We thought we should be able to telephone customs as we had a sticker but they still want you to go to immigration in person. Boqueron is sorta nice but we are ready to move on to other remote PR southern harbors. I feel like all the US standards/regulations has stripped this island of their culture — especially after seeing the DR. We just started to read about where we want to be when Kevin/Betty Lou come and visit to provide them with some area to snorkel/dive. This cruising life does seem to be getting easier but its always changing which keeps you on your toes.
We are now preparing for where we could be to meet Tom’s son Kevin/BettyLou in South Coast PR around March 22nd in order for them to dive/snorkel/sail with us for a few days. We look forward to their arrival.
Keep in Touch! We miss your life stories so keep them coming.
Fair Winds and Dry Bilges
Peace & Love