We made it to the Dominican Republic

We have arrived in the Domincan Republic and have internet for the first time for a couple of weeks so its time to catch up on our exploits.  Have included a second post which we wrote but never got to send which is below this one.

Myaguana island was our last port of call in the Bahamas.  The main reason for stopping was to complete the clearance formalities for  and boat and crew.   We anchored for one night away from the settlement and then the next day we moved around to a place called Abrahams Bay.  This is a huge body of water enclosed by the island on one side a fringing reef on the other.  It was about 5 miles long and Dulcinea could only get about halfway into it before the depth became a concern.  There are numerous coral heads which we have to visually spot to avoid so everyone was on lookout duty.  Once anchored Nic, Beth and the kids went ashore to clear out while Scott did some of the never ending punchlist items for the boat.  

Its an exhausting existance

The next morning we left early in the dark.  It was a bit risky given the coral heads but as we had our course plotted on the chartplotter from the day before we just followed that.  Once clear of the island we set a course for French Cay, a fringing island of the Turks and Caicos group.  The plan was to stage the journey to the Dominican Republic using French Cay and another cay called Big Sand Cay as overnight stops.  This would break up the journey and also give us enough easting to allow us to sail directly to the DR.  We had discounted going into the Turks and Caicos Islands proper because the waters surroundng them are extremely shallow and did not want to risk it.

Motoring on a relatively calm day

During the first part of the sail we found two flying fish onboard.  These are attracted by our lights and fly onto the deck at night.  Apparently you can eat them but to us they looked a bit small and so they got tossed overboard.  We motored to French Cay through a moderate easterly.  French Cay is a small sand bar with some scrub vegetation on top.  This one is a bird sanctuary so all night you could here the cries of the seabirds.  The next day we kept sailing/motoring east to Big Sand Cay which was slightly bigger.  We dropped anchor on the west side in a sheltered bay and were the only yacht around.  It is absolutely idyllic here.  There is a beautiful beach facing us which rises to sand cliffs at the north end and peeters out to a fringing reef at the south end.  The east side of the island is exposed to the full force of the Atlantic and so is quite windswept and rough.  There is a slight surge curling around the southern reef into the bay but nothing too uncomfortable.  Needless to say the water is crystal clear over a white sand bottom.

Calley and one of the flying fish

Beautiful Big Sand Cay

After arriving and looking at the weather we decided to just stay here for a week and catch the next weather window.  This will give everyone the chance to relax and we will be able to get some schooling done.

Dulcinea at anchor at Big Sand Cay

The next morning we awoke and found a catarmaran had joined us in the bay.  They turned out to be a Belgian family.  We met them early on in the day and got invited across to their boat for drinks that evening.    During the day we schooled and then went ashore.  The island is very narrow and it looks like when storms sweep across it the ocean breaches the island from one side to the other.  On the West side there was lots of ocean rubbish.  It is amazing what gets washed up - the usual spread of garbage like bottles, cans, floats etc but then other stuff like an outboard engine, lightbulbs, hard hats etc.  The kids played on the beach and everyone relaxed.

By the time the afternoon had arrived another smaller boat had anchored.  Late in the afternoon Nic, Calley and I went across to the Belgian boat and met Pierre and Nathalie and their kids.  The cat was a good size (Lagoon 500) and so had a great entertaining space.  Pierre had stocked the boat with 200plus bottles of champagne before he left europe and he proceeded to feed it to us during the evening.  The crew from the other boat also came across to join us.  They were Israeli so we had a very cosmopolitan get together.  There is an immediate bond when you get together in these circumtances and the evening was very enjoyable.  We left late at night promising to catch up with them in the San Blas Islands later in the year.  

Next morning Pierre and Nathalie took off to Providenciales in the Caicos Islands and the Israelis left for Luperon and we were once again left on our own.

Dinnertime onboard

The weather was forecast to kick up from the North East for a few days.  We figured that we would have enough shelter and could ride out the weather until the next window arrived.  We awoke on the Monday morning to a rolling surge building from the north.  The surge was able to wrap around the island and send a significant swell into the anchorage which was very uncomfortable.  We set a stern anchor to orientate our bow into the swell and then hunkered down for a few days to wait for the strong winds to abate.  In these situations you just have to set up as best you can and then hope for the best.  The anchor gear was under a fair amount of strain and was creaking and groaning the whole time.  Scott is on edge always while the weather is like this - just waiting for something to give.  We got some school done but not as much as we wanted.  Also have started baking bread as our fresh food is running very low.  When the rolling gets up you get very lethargic so a lot of time is spent reading, watching movies or resting.  Scott also downloads the weather forecasts religiously through the satcom tracking the breaks.

The surf breaking about 100m from the boat

The weather built on Sunday/Monday, reached its full force by Tuesday and started to die down again by Wednesday.  At its height the waves through the bay were pretty impressive when they crashed against the beach or cliffs.  The power is as awesome as it is relentless.  We were just glad that our gear held.  Each situation like this gives us more confidence in the boat.

One high point was we were able to watch whales occasionally a few miles away.  It was Nic who spotted them first.  You see either the splash of water when they jump, the spouts from them breathing or a massive tail or fin.  After  the first time we kept our eye out and spotted more and more.  The area just south and east of here is a big humpback whale breeding ground and this is the season they migrate to it.

We had decided to leave at midnight on Thursday so we spent the day getting ready.  Sam and Scott had to go and excavate the stern anchor which had dug it self in a bit too well.  While they were diving on it they were watched the whole time by a small barracuda.  These things have a mouth that kind of sneers and eyes that never leave you.  Its kind of unnerving.  Later the kids and Beth had a final trip to the beach.  In the late afternoon we had a visit from some whales which was just amazing.  We were anchored in about 5m of water and felt there was no way the whales would come in that close but on two occasions three or four whales came with in about 40m of the boat.  It was a fantastic sight.  Always one or two adults with a calf.  You could see them clearly and hear them breathing as they surfaced.  If just for that experience alone we were glad to have stayed a week at this cay.

Humpback Whales

The whales

We left at midnight as planned.  The wind was higher than forecast and the seas a bit rougher than expected.  By daylight we were sailing in 2 to 3 m seas with a 20kt breeze.  Considering we were beating into the weather it was not too uncomfortable.  Beth is handling the sailing much better and not suffering the motion sickness as much.  The coast of Hispaniola is awesome.  After being in the Bahamas for the last two months where all the land is extremely low lying we are now confronted with massive hills appearing on the horizon.  They just seem to appear - there are green low lying hills at the coast and then behind them much higher hills of which you can only see the silhouette.  The wind was a few points too far south and so closing the coast of DR we had to motorsail for about and hour to round a headland but then we sailed on to the marine at a place called Colfresi.

We followed a couple of charter boats into the marina and tied up at around 1600 after a very exhausting day.  Having been away from any major settlement for almost six weeks everyone is very excited about arriving here.  Nic and Scott went to clear in with the authorities and found it was a relatively easy process.  We had heard horror stories about officialdom here but so far so good.

So we have finally made the DR.  This feels like our first real overseas destination and is a major milestone to getting to the Virgin Island where at last the winds will be more in our favour.  So we plan to relax here for a week or so before moving on to a place called Samana on the east coast.  The trip to Samana can be a real horror if you do not chose the weather correctly so the key is to wait for the appropriate opening.  Meanwhile we will be exploring.