One of the animal acts at Ocean World
I don't know what the traffic rules are for horses on main street!
Us at the Brugal Rum factory. ( We even got free samples!)
The oldest fortification in the new world overlooking Puerto Plata harbor
General Luperon's statue
A view of Puerto Plata harbor
Town Square in Puerto Plata
You can see the REALLY narrow streets ( especially with cars parked on both sides of the road)
View looking up the cable to the top of the mountain
View from the top
Christ the Redeemer statue
Another view from the summit
Fri Feb 12
We arrived today at Sapadilla bay on Provodinciales in the Turks and Caicos. The entry to the bay was through a channel in the reef called the Sandbore channel and after picking our way for a few miles through coral heads and rocks it was a relief to finally drop the hook.
Check in was fairly straight forward as I took the dingy over to government dock and went in to see customs and immigration. The Turks allow you to be there for up to a week without having to purchase a cruising permit so we will probably be here just a short while.
Sunday Feb 14
Today we moved to Southside Marina and it was nice to be hooked to the power grid and have a really high speed wifi connection. Simon, and the crew at the marina were very friendly and helpful and even drove us into town for a provisioning trip. The local IGA supermarket was the best we've been at on our travels outside the US. We took on 85 gallons of water and are now set in that department for a while.
Tue Feb 16
I took the autopilot linear actuator out and was preparing to send it to Raymarine for repair when I noticed that the actuator cylinder was loose and the outside housing was also loose. After tightening them the autopilot arm no longer rattled and moved smoothly in and out. I then re-installed the arm and IT WORKS!!! You cannot believe what a thrill it is to have the autopilot back in operation. After hand steering for 24 hour you can really appreciate the advantage of having the autopilot on the job.
Thursday Feb 18
At the end of our 7 days we started out for the Dominican Republic. The first stop was a day trip across the Caicos Banks to Ambergris Cays. The trip was kind of nerve wracking as there were coral heads and rocks every so often and as the sky was overcast the heads were hard to see until you were almost on top of them.
The anchorage was very rolling and bouncy as it was open to the north and there was a north wind blowing so we were out of there the next morning as soon as we could see to navigate around the coral heads and reef. The next stop was Sand Cay, a remote uninhabited animal sanctuary. We anchored in 15 feet of water over deep sand ( hence the name) and were firmly tucked in for the night, planning to leave the next morning for the Dominican Republic.
Saturday Feb 20
Legacy departed Sand Cay at 12:20 PM today bound for the DR. The advice we had was to expect a 20% reduction in speed due to adverse current. WRONG!!!. For the first 40 miles we averaged 6.0 knots and if we continued we would have arrived at 4:00 AM. Instead I had to reduce speed to 3 knots to insure we arrived after daylight. The last half of the trip was somewhat uncomfortable as we had a 3 to 4 foot swell from the NNE while the wind was blowing 15 knots out of the SSE. This caused the boat to roll severely as well as a significant pitch.
Sun Feb 21
The coast of the Dominican Republic is a lot different from the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos. The Island rises out of the ocean in a steep hillside that is covered with subtropical vegetation. As we approached the island peaks were covered in clouds and the fog was thick in the valleys. The radar picked up a line of rain shower cells that were marching along about a mile off the coast. It seemed like a scene out of Jurraisic Park and that was not too far off the mark as some of the film was shot here.
We arrived at about 6:30AM and discovered that the marina did not open until 8:00 so we had to motor around and kill an hour and a half. When were able to raise the marina on the radio we were quickly assigned a slip and assisted in rigging our dock lines. The Navy visited us to sign us into the country then it was to immigrations. After checking our passports and such I was given a bill for 14000 ( fortunately it was in pesos which was about 42 us dollars.) Next was customs and all went smoothly. The marina is part of the Ocean World complex which includes a casino, a dolphin experience, and a sea show. The amenities are first rate and the dockage fee is moderate especially if you stay a week.
Monday Feb 22
Today we went to market in town ( free transport to and from). The ride reminded me of driving in Saigon in Viet Nam. The motor bikes outnumbered the cars 4 to 1 and the rules of the road were not rules but mere guidelines, There were several times I thought we were going to be involved in a maiming accident but somehow at the last minute a massive dose of braking was applied by some of the parties and disaster was averted.
There was a lot of poverty as well as affluence here and the contrasts are stark. The people are very friendly and tend to overlook the fact that we cannot speak their language.
After the grocery expedition we went to the Ocean World park and partook of their buffet lunch and watched the animal show. The first show was a series of bird tricks performed by macaws, parrots and cockatoos. The second show was a group of seals performing.
Tue Feb 23
We booked a tour of Puerto Plata for today and It includes the transportation as well as an interpreter. Eduardo was very friendly and gaves us an in depth tour of the town. We went for a tour of the the Brugal bottling plant and following the tour were given free samples of the product. I could definately tell the difference between the 6 year old and two year old rums, they also manufacture a type of clear rum that is more like a vodka.
We then proceded to a jewelery and cigar emporium. The Dominican Republic is one of the worlds greatest suppliers of amber and Kathleen was in her element. In addition to yellow amber there was also latimar and red amber and the prices were fairly reasonable.
The next stop was on old Spanish fort , Fort San Felipe,which overlooked the harbor of Puerto Plata and is the oldest such structure in the new world. .
After stopping for something cold to drink we then went to the cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain Loma Isabel de Torres 2600 ft up overlooking the city. At the top was a statue of "Christ the Redeemer" which was very similar to the statue at Buenos Aires. The view was spectacular and the altitude caused my ears to plug up. From the top the entire city of Puerto Plata could be seen.
After a day of walking up stairs both Kathleen and I were tired so after a small dinner we retired to the boat to rest. Tomorrow will be a laundry day and boat cleanup and hopefully today my navigation lights will arrive. I ordered them shipped FED EX international direct and it looks as though the transit time will be much less than it was in the Bahamas
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