Month: February 2025

Here are some of the amazing sights of this beautiful national park on the northeast side of the Dominican Republic.

Not that I had any doubt 😁, but it’s still pretty satisfying to arrive in Puerto Rico. We’ve travelled approximately 1300nm since leaving Reynolds Park on Nov. 23, 2024 and have sailed in 5 countries! Crazy!

We had an awesome time at Los Haitises National Park. We explored the caves and rivers and had several happy hours aboard Greta and Brian’s catamaran Desert Loon. The scenery was so breathe taking that I’ll share a second post with photos!!

Our journey across to Puerto Rico began at 7am Feb. 26th. We pulled up anchor and headed to Marina Puerto Bahia in Samana to get our final departure paperwork. Desert Loon decided to travel with us so we both arrived at the marina at 9am. Unfortunately the power was out so it took until 12pm to clear out of the DR. We pushed off from the dock and were underway by 12:15pm.

It was an amazing crossing – predicted winds and waves were low and that’s exactly what we saw for the majority of our 140nm trip. We saw many whales as we traveled out of Samana Bay and into the Mona Passage. There were several other sailboats with Desert Loon and us, all taking advantage of the low wind to scoot across the Mona Passage. This body of water is known for being challenging because of rough seas and frequent squalls that can pop up on the north shore of Puerto Rico. We were having a fast, easy passage mostly under motor (with the occasional motor sail with the jib) until about 12:00am on Feb. 27th when we were hit by a fast moving squall. We had a brief gust of wind reaching 20kts and lots of rain but it was over quickly and the only impact for us was our speed. We slowed down from high 6 and low 7 knots down to low 5kts for a few minutes. Our friends on Desert Loon didn’t enjoy the squall at all because they don’t have an enclosure (or even a dodger) on their steering deck so they got pretty wet!

The overnight part of our passage was pretty good. It became a bit rough going past the Hour Glass Shoal at the north west end of the Mona Passage (right by the DR) but we were able to keep our speed up. As the sun rose around 7am, we were within 4 hours of our PR destination – Puerto Real. We rolled into this lovely protected harbour and had our anchor down by 11:10 am today (Feb. 27th)!!! We managed to do the 140nm crossing in 23 hours (I was expecting it to take us 28 hours). What a great ride!

After we caught our breath for a few minutes and got our new eSIM working, we cleared into Puerto Rico using the USA CBP Roam app. That process was super easy and we didn’t even have to leave the boat. We did a short video call with the PR CBP (Custom and Border Protection) and found out we didn’t need a cruising license for PR because we have a USA boating decal. Go figure – mainland USA requires all foreign flagged boat to have a cruising license even if you have a decal!

So here we are!! Cleared in and relaxing in Puerto Real, PR. We now have 2 months to do the remaining approximately 120nm to reach our haulout destination for this season – Marina Del Rey. Evelyn and her partner Liam will be joining us on April 6th and Caroline will join Evelyn on April 13 so we have lots of time to explore Puerto Rico!

Marina Puerto Bahia at Samana.

As far as passages go, the 125 nm journey from Ocean World Marina to Samana was pretty good. We got off the dock at 7 am and followed our buddy boat, Sundog, out of the marina. The wind was predicted to be low and it was!! The ocean swells were still rolling in towards us with an average height of about 1.5 m but they were quite spread apart which made them fairly gentle rollers. The first leg of this passage was OW to Rio San Juan. We made it there by 2pm and planned to depart at 10 pm, avoiding the strong afternoon and evening winds. The anchorage was not great – the swells rolled into the little bay and we rolled the whole time. We had dinner and tried to relax a bit but ended up leaving at 9pm!

The overnight passage started great because we were in the lee of the DR. As soon as we came around the cape at Rio San Juan, the wind and waves found us and they were mostly on our nose. There is a thing called “Cape effect” which causes the wind to wrap around the capes and get stronger. We definitely experienced that on this trip. Our motoring speed dropped from 6kts down to 3kts and it was a struggle to get past the Cape. As we got farther away from the Cape and into cleaner ocean wind, we were able to pull out of jib for a bit and motorsail, getting our speed back up to mid 5kts. As the night progressed, the winds died off to less than 5 kts and we moved along well. It was a bit  bouncy and jerky from the ocean swells but it was tolerable. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that Mark unfortunately got the stomach bug before we left and he didn’t feel great for most of the passage. He managed to get some sleep overnight which was good.

By 9 am we were approaching the mouth of Samana Bay and I was at the helm as Mark rested beside me. All of a sudden this large humpback whale breached right in front of us – twice!!! It was awesome and I got an okay photo of it! This area is the winter breeding and calving grounds of the humpback whale so there are many around.

We are currently anchored by a national park called Los Haitises. The scenery is incredible! It really gives you the Jurassic Park feeling!! Lush vegetation and lots of birds! We’ll be hanging out here for a few days – relaxing and enjoying the area. Sundog is here with us and the other Ocean World boat – Desert Loon arrived this morning (Feb. 22). I’m sure we’ll have a few happy hours in the future!

Well we’re still at Ocean World Marina! Our good crossing window for Monday, Feb. 17 disappeared so we’re now looking at crossing to Samana on Thursday, Feb. 20. As Mark reminded me – you’ve got to be patient!! And after seeing and hearing about all the snowstorms up north, I think we’re “stuck” in a pretty nice spot. We’re still looking to travel with 2 other sailboats – Sundog (Sharron and John from Ottawa) and Desert Loon (a catamaran owned by Greta and Brian from the USA).

Our 2 weeks here has given us some insight into the weather patterns for this part of the DR. It has rained almost everyday – sometimes just a sprinkle or two and other times a downpour. The early mornings are very calm and the afternoons are very windy. With this information, we know that leaving here in the morning will be good – low wind and calmer seas. But the afternoon will bring the opposite! We’ll keep that in mind as we travel east along the northern coastline.

It’s been pretty quiet for us on the dock. We hired our tour guide Ti to drive us back to Puerto Plata to do some shopping. This time Sharron and her husband John joined us. It was a successful trip and we were able to buy almost everything we needed. Mark found a coolant leak on the engine so he needed a new hose for that and Ti was able to take him to the right spot to buy it!! I haven’t done much lately – had a little stomach bug that has kept me inside the boat for a few days but that’s now cleared up. Mark has been busy with jobs. He fixed that coolant leak and did a few other checks on the engine. He took the port side hand rail off (which is inside and outside) and sealed around the holes. We’ve had a mystery leak for a few years now and this is the latest attempt at stopping it!! Fingers crossed this works because we’re running out of places to seal!! Today Mark worked on a leaky chain plate on the port side. The chain plate attaches the rigging to the hull of the boat and leaks can develop over time at the deck surface.

The Danish sailboat beside us left this morning (Feb. 17) and within 3 or so hours, a new Danish sailboat took its spot!! They all seem to know each other and have travelled together. This new boat is here for a few days and then they will be heading north to Turks & Caicos.

Happy Family Day!!! We’re always thinking about all of you!

It’s a little hard to believe we’ve only been in the DR for a week (seems longer – in a good way). We were pretty busy last week going on tours, shopping, getting laundry done and working on a few boat jobs. This week things have slowed down and we’re definitely more settled into the dock life. We’ve had lots of rain – pretty much everyday so the deck is nice and clean.

Mark has continued to pick away at jobs, some which have been on the list for a few years (obviously not critical jobs!). Yesterday (Feb. 10) Mark “descaled” our 2 refrigeration units with this stuff called “barnacle buster”. This was a job that had been on the list for a few years so it’s great to get that one crossed off! Mark has also worked on transferring fuel to different tanks. We have a lot of fuel in our starboard tank so transferring some to the port side will make us better balanced. There still is the big job of installing the aft cabin air conditioning unit but that’s not a priority at this point.

We’ve been doing a lot of dock watching (and walking) – checking out boats coming in and going out. 2 days ago, a sailboat from Denmark came in and tied up right beside us. It’s a crew of 5 or 6 young people and they are travelling with a catamaran also from Denmark (that has about the same number of crew onboard). We’ve had another happy hour – this time on Matt’s catamaran. Matt and his son are planning to leave tomorrow (Feb. 12), heading east along to north coast of the DR. We’re having another happy hour on their boat tonight!

We still have about a week here if the current weather holds. It’s difficult to continue east from here because the prevailing winds (and waves) are from the east. We’re seeing winds in the high teens and low 20kts from mostly east which would mean motoring into strong winds and waves – not fun at all. There is a calm (well mostly calm – under 15 kts) window coming on Feb. 17 – 18, so we’re planning to use that time to motor the 120nm to Samana. From that point, it’s about 140nm to Puerto Rico.

There’s a lot to be said about dock time – both good and bad. It can be expensive and sometimes a bit dull but so far in the DR – we’re having loads of fun. As I mentioned in my last post, the marina is inexpensive and in good condition. The staff here are super friendly and will go out of their way to help you. Mark and I needed to do a bit of grocery shopping on Tuesday (Feb. 4) and we didn’t know how to get to the store (not in walking distance). We asked at the main desk (for the marina) and were given many options. A taxi was arranged for us and it was very easy!!

On Wednesday (Feb. 5) two Canadian sailboats arrived from Big Sand Cay early in the morning. Mark and I were just dropping off our laundry (they have a laundry service here!!) and saw the two boats at the fuel dock. We went over and had a brief chat before the boats moved over to our dock. We met Matt and his son Jonathan from BC and Sharon and John from Ottawa. On Thursday night we had a happy hour aboard our boat and learned more about our new dock mates. They had some interesting stories about their adventures coming down and about their crossing from Turks and Caicos.

Mark and I had been talking about hiring a car to take us on a tour of the area. We mentioned this to our new dock mates and they thought it was a great idea so we went ahead and booked a car tour for 6 people. On Friday morning our car and driver arrived at 9 am but only 4 of us took off to explore Puerto Plata and the countryside (John and Jonathan were not feeling well so they stayed behind). Our driver (who told us to call him T) first took us to the countryside where we learned about all the plants and produce grown in the area. We also had a little tasting of fruit, coffee, chocolate and this local drink called Mama Juana. Our second stop was a butterfly garden. It was very interesting and informative. After the countryside, we went to Puerto Plata. T showed us all parts of the city – the poorer areas and the very wealthy!! We had lunch at a little place that T recommended (he got a free lunch for bringing us there!!) and then we walked around a bit in the more touristy part of town (down by the cruise ship terminal). Our last stop was the Macorix House of Rum Distillery. That was lots of fun – had a tour and tasting!! Can’t go wrong with ending our 7 hour tour with a bit of rum!!

It hasn’t been all fun and games. As usual, there are still jobs to be done! The big job news is that Mark finished the installation of our main cabin air conditioning unit! Oh boy does it work well!! We ran it for Thursday afternoon and it was lovely inside the boat. We’ve also spent time washing the deck, inside the cockpit and all the cockpit cushions after our salty passage to the DR. Definitely our work pace has slowed down.

We’re now looking at the weather to continue our journey to Puerto Rico. Matt and Jonathon are headed for Trinidad and Sharon and John are going to the BVIs. We’ve decided to try to all travel together to PR. It’s really nice to have other sailors to chat about the weather and to figure out a good crossing window. So far it’s looking like we’ll be at the marina for at least another week. Time for more happy hours 😁

Oh what a ride!! A 104nm journey filled with strong winds in a slightly forward of the beam direction (90 degrees to the boat is called on the beam) which made for some big waves smacking the side and bow of our boat. It was a passage to remember (and to write about 😁).

We had a very productive day on Sunday, Feb. 2nd and by 4 pm we were ready to go so we pulled up anchor. The first part of our trip was great. We were behind Grand Turk Island, a large reef and then Salt Cay with a wind direction that was on our aft quarter. It was a pleasant, fast sail that only lasted about 11nm. As we turned the corner to head on our straight line course to Ocean World Marina, things changed dramatically!! The wind direction was now on the beam and slightly ahead and we were no longer protected from the waves. That’s okay – we were expecting a pretty wild ride!! We were sailing jib and jigger (mizzen sail) so were able to handle the higher wind speed with less heeling over (makes for a more comfortable ride). The predictions for this passage said we’d see wind directions from the north east and east north east with strengths around 18 – 20 kts. The direction was spot on but they under estimated the speed. We were seeing sustained 20 – 24 kts so we really moved along in the beginning.

As the sun went down, we got ready for our long night of bouncing around. It certainly wasn’t a dull night!! We managed to sail on a good line to reach Ocean World Marina but with the strong wind, we spent a lot of time adjusting our sails! That poor jib was reefed (furling it a bit to make it smaller when the winds got too strong and then letting it back out when the winds decreased), tightened and loosened many times during this trip!! We were both getting lots of arm exercise that night. It was a long night and getting sleep was difficult with the rough motion. During our entire trip, we only saw 3 AIS signals from other vessels. One signal was from a catamaran who was sailing north. He passed about 1nm from us – it was nice to see another sailboat!!

As the sun came up (always the best sight after a long night), we realized that our anchor had come loose and was hanging over the bow. We knew there was an issue with it all night long (I kept an eye on it, checking with a flashlight every few hours) but Mark didn’t want to risk going out on deck in the dark with such rough conditions (and I seconded that decision). With better visibility, Mark was able to scoot out to the bow and secure the anchor with several new ropes. Shortly after that adventure to the bow, Mark had to go to the stern and tighten all the lines holding the dinghy in place. All the rocking had loosened the lines so the dinghy was doing quite the dance back there!! All this on deck work didn’t help with Mark’s sea sickness which had been plaguing him all night long. His new motion sickness watch thing was working overtime to help him out and for the most part, the devise managed to keep him well (or at least well enough).

So the sun is up and we’re about 20nm away – hurray!! We’re mostly cruising along at 6 kts so it should be another 3 or 4 hours! Nope!!! Mother Nature had another plan!! The weather changed and kicked us in the butt! We encountered squall after squall – some with heavy rain and 29kts of wind. All of these storms changed the wind direction drastically and the speed went right along with the direction. We couldn’t sail half the time and it was too rolly to use the engine (in case we overheated). So our lovely 3 – 4 hour last leg turned into a gruelling 6 hour fight, making our arrival time 2pm instead of mid morning. The last 10nm we just motored – easier than chasing the wind!

Now we’re securely tied to the dock at Ocean World Marina. So far it’s a great place and very inexpensive! We had pizza dinner last night from a restaurant onsite and today we went for a walk to the town near us called Cofresi. This area of the DR is very mountainous and the scenery is amazing. It’s such a change from the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos!! We’ve decided to stay here for a bit and explore the area. The Ocean World Marina is part of a complex with a boat storage facility and a marine park called Ocean World Adventure Park. We get free admission to the park because we’re staying at the marina so we’ll check that out one day. Lots of things to do around here I’m sure!!

What do these 2 things have in common – you’re being woken up by them while anchored at Cockburn Town, Grand Turk Island. Grand Turk has the small island flavour that makes you feel welcome. The island is the national capital for the Turks & Caicos and it has a thriving cruise ship industry! It’s great we were able to visit this special island. How we got here is a bit of a story (typical sailing!!).

Our plans changed when we started our crossing to Big Sand Cay. The wind direction went from east northeast to east southeast which made it very difficult for us to continue to head to Big Sand (which was south east of us). So we quickly changed course to head directly to Grand Turk which would allow us to use this new wind direction a bit (a motorsail). Unfortunately that wind direction didn’t last but we’d already taken down our sails and were committed to our new destination. It was a slog!! We were going mostly into the wind and waves and both were strong! We had a fast moving rain storm where the winds piped up to 25knots on the nose but after it passed, we had a reprise from the wind, dropping to about 12knots. All in all it was a long 23nm but we made it in before 2 pm.

The anchorage on Grand Turk is right at Cockburn Town – a lovely island town that hasn’t really been negatively impacted by the huge cruise ship industry. We’re anchored fairly close to shore where there are lovely beaches and a few little resort places. We spent Friday (Jan. 31) doing some grocery shopping and then walking around the town. We easily found the donkeys (not sure if they are like the swimming pigs of the Exumas – a tourist attraction – or if they are just allowed to roam freely) hanging out on the beach. We walked the main waterside street and chatted with some of the locals. One man told us all about the church he belongs to (we had left the dinghy on the beach infront of the church) and the places he had travelled to! At one point in our conversation, Mark said we were headed to the DR and the man asked if he could come with us 😳!

We spent the afternoon of January 31 finding the customs and immigration office so we could get some info on doing our clear out 24 hours before our departure. We walked up to the Ministry of Border Control and they told us to head to the commercial dock (near the cruise ship pier) and find the customs warehouse. Okay back in the dinghy! We headed to the south end of the island (only about 2nm away) and landed on a very nice beach close to the cruise ships. It was a short walk to the customs warehouse but boy was it weird! We weren’t sure if it was the right place – small white building with 2 closed garage doors. And at the back, a small door with a large window – no sign! We were at the right place and were told we could clear out on Saturday morning. Excellent – with that settled, we dinghied back to our area (north of the cruise ships) and had a relaxing late afternoon drink at a little restaurant near the touristy shopping area. I guess the cruise ships were all done for the day because we had the place to ourselves!

On Saturday morning, Mark went back to the custom warehouse and cleared us out!! It took over an hour (computer problems and some confusion from the officers) but we’re now good to leave. We spent the rest of the day getting things done for our sail to the Dominican Republic. I made chili and did some laundry. And we both read our guide books for the DR and Puerto Rico.

It’s now Sunday, Feb. 2. We’re making water right now so we don’t need to when we reach the DR. Mark is doing engine checks and I’ve got a few things to take care of before we leave (like doing this blog!). We’re planning to leave here tonight around 5pm and if the winds are favourable, we’ll continue directly to Ocean World Marina at Puerto Plata or Luperon (about 100nm). Where we land will depend on the wind and how far to the east we can sail. If all goes well, we’ll be in the DR by mid morning on Monday. We also have a back-up plan. If the wind isn’t great, we’ll stop at Big Sand Cay tonight (it’s only 17nm south of here) and wait until Monday night to continue across to the DR. Got to have back-up plans in this sailing business!