TCI to DR

Posted by Dave on March 28, 2015

Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic.

We are here in Luperon DR having a fantastic time! The DR is a developing country, it’s still inexpensive, and it is really beautiful. We have barely scratched the surface, next week we will venture out past the town of Luperon and see the country. We will take pictures this stop! Sunday we are heading to Puerto Plata to pick up Tanya’s Father. In the mean time we are slowly learning Spanish, fixing up the boat, and taking life easy. The people in Luperon are really friendly, everyone smiles, and many people have gone out of their way to help us and they ask nothing in return. Genuinely nice people!

To continue the journey… We left Provo, Turks and Caicos, crossed the banks and anchored between Ambergris Cays for the night. The next morning we pulled up anchor, headed north then east across the Turks Channel to Big Sand Cay, our staging point for the trip south to DR. Big Sand is a wildlife preserve. We wanted to go ashore but there were five to six foot swells that ran all the way to the shore making a dinghy landing impossible. Pretty though:

Caught a Mahi, it did NOT get away:

After a very nice crossing the sun came up, giving us our first sight of the North coast of Hispaniola!! The place is breathtaking, very different from The Bahamas!

We came in, plowed into a sandbar, backed off, and dropped anchor in Luperon Harbor:

“Papo” came along side us in his panga, gave us an introduction, and 45 minutes later came back with all the Dominican officials. They climbed aboard Dea Latis, asked if they should remove their shoes, had us fill out a few forms, searched the boat and gave us instructions for completing the arrival process. The Navy Comandante looked very squared away so I chatted him up about my time in the Marine Corps. It was nice to have a little connection and break the ice. After I showed him a picture of us at a Marine Corps Ball he looked at me very seriously and asked if I had guns on board! NOPE! After they left we replace the Q flag with the flag of the Dominican Republic:

There has been very little wind lately, and it’s hot! Not complaining!

Later we took the dinghy in to complete our check in. Government dock:

Dinghy dock down there somewhere:

Walked in to the government offices:

Then being tired, hot and un-thrilled about cooking, we found “Wendy’s” which is the cruiser hangout. We looked at the map, Wendy’s? They have a Wendy’s in Luperon…? No they don’t, it’s just Wendy’s. Always a good starting point:

I hate for this topic to be the focal point but I like beer. The beer is very good pilsner and they’re huge, 650ml or a bit smaller than a bottle of wine. In the store they are $1.75, in a restaurant they are two bucks, either way it’s awesome! We have also found some great wine here too!

After a delicious loaded pizza and a couple of frosty Presidentes we headed back to Dea Latis to watch the sunset over the mountains:

We are knocking out some boat chores while we wait for Tanya’s father to arrive. We have been without a boarding ladder…forever. I tried numerous times to get our welding done in the states and elsewhere but it was always delayed or too expensive. One of the first shops in town is a welding shop! Cuanto Cuesta weld these together for me? Ten minutes and 500 pesos (about $11) later our welding was done! They did a beautiful job, PERFECTO!!

Now we have a boarding ladder!

Hair, it has been months and it’s driving me crazy:

Found a beauty salon. This nice lady cut my hair for just over three dollars::

Went to the market. Everything is field-to-market fresh here. Head of lettuce, two tomatoes, and a huge cucumber for 68 pesos or about a buck fifty. In order to keep bugs out we wash them in a light bleach solution: