After a few days in Luperon we met other cruisers making their way to Puerto Rico and further to Granada. We all had the something in common…waiting for the winds to subside enough to get out and on our way east. After a week of daily weather conferencing with the folks “in the same boat” we all managed to head out of Luperon with the intent of getting to at least Samona, Dominican Republic, Turks or ultimately Puerto Rico…basically as much Easterly we could make before the very small weather window closed.
Luperon, DR to Boqueron, Puerto Rico
Another into the wind three-day sail. We left Luperon at midnight and had a “Bucking Bronco” windward sail along the North coast of Dominican Republic through the Mona passage into the western coast of Puerto Rico. We first came to the western port of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico only to check in with customs; although this is the proper protocol (the port of call for immigration) it turned out to be a huge mistake. First, we were the only boat on a leeward side of the bay with the wind blowing and poor holding for the anchor. Secondly, there wasn’t a dingy dock, so we beached the dingy in a really sketchy area. Thirdly, it is now noon and blisteringly hot as we walked around town trying to find the immigration office. We met some locals that gave us a rough description on where the office “might” be. They offered to tell us our dingy wouldn’t be safe unattended, so I volunteered to keep an eye on the dingy while Martin and Adrien stumbled around town and were treated rudely by the immigration officer when they finally found the office. Once this clearing in saga was complete we got the hell out of dodge; headed to Boquerón.

Boquerón, Puerto Rico on our approach
Boquerón, Puerto Rico
Once a small fishing settlement, Boquerón is now a popular tourist and college hangout. Boquerón has a bohemian town atmosphere with a beautiful beach. A large shoal in the center of the bay as you approach offers a bit of protection with two easy entrances from either the north or the south.

Cute little “Key West” kind of town; a lot of beautiful murals and folks strolling around town with a drink in hand.
Our first night we treated ourselves to a “real” meal at a popular restaurant: steak, pork, chicken wings and fruity drinks was heaven to our deprived pallets

Adrien in Boquerón, Puerto Rico

Wednesday night we stumbled into the local gay and lesbian bar; the live acoustic guitar, murals in the court yard and super fun company made for a great night out

During the day we made trips back and forth from Club Nautico de Boquerón lugging jerry cans of water because we didn’t trust using the water maker in the bay. We found out days later the water was just fine for making water. S/V Sea Forever our “Buddy Boat” with Deb and Brian arrived the next day so we all went out to celebrate our good fortune…fair winds, safe passage and great restaurants to hang our hats for a few days waiting again for the next weather window so we could head further east along the coast.
Boquerón does not have any of the services we really needed; taxis, phone/ internet or laundry. It was a few days before we organized a car to get us to the next town over to get phone service and groceries. A few days later we all shared in a car rental and traveled an hour out to a town that had a laundry mat. Between us all we had 7 loads of laundry and had to manage getting it done with only 4 working washers and 1 dryer because of the aftermath of hurricane Maria.
South East Puerto Rico has been working on the recovery efforts; the sound of hammering and chain saws are a constant along with signs of massive destruction everywhere. People here are hard working and eager to get back to where they were pre-storm; if that’s possible…the electrical grid is very fragile.

3-day windward sail to Dominican Republic started off optimistically. However, winds took an earlier than expected easterly turn so once again we find ourselves sailing into the wind; very frustrating. Winds light at 5-10 knots until 4 AM watch however, winds picked up off the coast of Turks and we were healing over 20 degrees. We decided to reef the main which is always a scary operation in stiff winds with a wet deck and at night. We managed to get a third reef in which allowed us to continue to sail 6 knots but with a more comfortable angle.

Fishing has been successful: 3 for 3

Luperon, Dominican Republic
We arrived in the morning; a stunning view of the lush mountains of Dominican Republic was a welcoming site after a three-days of uncomfortable sailing. As we arrived in the anchorage we were immediately visited by Mr. Papo; the local that helps cruisers get on a mooring and provides fuel, water, transportation and laundry services.

Dominican Republic as we made landfall

Local mode of transportation is motorcycles; amazing the items that can be transported on motorcycles such as small appliances and large quantities of fish and fruits.

Adrien chilling outside the Cruisers watering hole- Wendy’s…Gringo’s Welcome!

Our second stop after checking in with 5 separate immigration offices: customs, immigration, tourism and agricultural was the local cruising watering hole Wendy’s Bar…Cold Beer and Gringos Welcome!
We met many of the local cruising characters at Wendy’s. Most of them having arrived 10-20 years ago and haven’t left. It took me a while to find the appeal of Luperon outside of it being known as the safest hurricane hole in the Caribbean it is extremely cheap. The anchorage/ mooring situation was a bit precarious as we helped three boats that lost their moorings in the first 4 days we were here; wind blowing a steady 20-30 knots during the day…relentless.

Luperon Navy/ Cruisers to the Rescue
One particularly gusty afternoon the locals decided to tow a powerless derelict “barge” when they lost control of the vessel in the crowded mooring field. The barge had no engine and was swiftly floating through the mooring field bumping boats along the way. Some local cruisers released an unoccupied sailboat from its mooring minutes before the barge slammed into it only to find out the sailboat’s engine wouldn’t start. An emergency call went out to the cruisers in the area to get in their dingys to assist with the sailboat. Once the sailboat was securely moored we made it back to Shenemere just in time to see the barge careening toward us. We were quite helpless standing on the deck with a few fenders out to fend off the approaching barge…not like we would have had a chance against it’s bulk hitting our fiberglass hull. Thank goodness it passed us without incident and continued toward two more boats before it was finally tethered and tied to the mangroves.

Twenty-Seven Waterfalls of Rio Damajagua
27 Charcos the best adventure tourism site in Dominican Republic was only a 40-minute ride with a local taxi from Luperon. Nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of the Northern Corridor mountain range. 27 awe-inspiring pools etched in limestone can be enjoyed with a “guided tour only” so, for $10 each Martin and I hiked 12 of the 27 falls and jumped, slid and swam our way down in the refreshing clean water. The 12-waterfall tour was about 3 hours round trip. Super fun… I’d highly recommend.

After a few days we rented a three person/ three wheeled motorcar and headed into the country to explore until we found a local beach before returning to Luperon

Life is Good!

There is no doubt that George Town is the best stop in the southern Bahamas particularly when heading south because you’ll be in the Bahamian boondocks after George Town. It’s a good harbor in prevailing winds, particularly on the Stocking Island side. It was a great place for us to restock and again hunt down a marine store for needed filters as we still are struggling with a sluggish fuel tank. George Town plays host to a seasonal floating population equivalent to a small town. A permanent “transient” population generates its own dynamics with their own Cruisers Net at 8:10 each morning. Each morning you’ll be invited to the ARA- Alcohol Research Association of cruisers that meet in the afternoon at different beaches and bars to fraternize over your adult beverage of choice.

George Town, Bahamas-Plenty of beach activities

Shenemere in George Town

Black Point Settlement is the largest center of population in the Exumas after Georgetown. We asked the locals why they don’t leave as it appears there a lot of people that stay here; we were told by a many that “it’s good here” so they stay. You can anchor anywhere in the large mostly empty bay.

Black Point Government Dock

Black Point Settlement

Black Point Settlement

$4 Guinness; we used to gauge the cost of living by the cost of a gallon of milk or gas…lol

This paints a picture of the Nassau to Exumas passage…foul weather gear set out to dry and an exhausted wayward bird taking a rest up front after a rough night crossing. We were rewarded by the gin clear waters our approach to Staniel Cay

Staniel Cay has long been a cruising mecca of the Central Bahamas because it’s central, it has an airstrip and easy access to have anything you need shipped easily directly from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Good Facilities, two marinas, adequate stores. Very attractive settlement, neat, compact and is home to the legendary Thunderball Cave…Amazing!
It has the coolest laundry mat…convenient, new machines, a beautiful view and it has a bar with wi-fi so you can easily surf the net, drink a beer and chat with fellow cruisers all while washing your laundry and troubles away.

Thunderball Cave
A dramatic dive! Be sure to go when there is plenty of sunlight; ideally strong overhead sun works its magic. Inside the cave you have surface airspace, a high dome above your head with shafts of sunlight slanting down into the water; the effects are enchanting. Best time to dive is low tide. Take some bread in a plastic bag to feed the fish.

Susan and Adrien snorkeling in Thunderball Cave

Why do most Cruisers go to Nassau? How about West Bay? West Bay on the western end of New Providence (Nassau is on the eastern end), turned out to be a perfect anchorage for us on our journey to the Exumas. If you don’t need to check in or re-provision in Nassau, West Bay provides a comfortable anchorage with a state park on the one side of the bay and wealthy residential homes dotting the rest of the Bay. It was a bit tricky getting in, but we were able to eyeball the shallow spots, so we crept in and found clear water with no surge. The bay is wide open to the west, and even northwest but, well protected from the south, north and east. Fellow cruisers hailed us to see if we wanted to join them in the morning for a trip to Whole Foods. Whole Foods provides a shuttle service from West Bay to their store so even if you need to provision this would be a “whole paycheck” option.

We only stayed one day at Bimini before we set sail to Andros Island. Andros wasn’t necessarily “the” destination as we were crossing the Tongue of the Ocean in SE 15-20 knot wind with 6-foot seas; our choices for safe anchorages in SE winds were limited to Chub Cay or Morgan’s Bluff; the latter being a better choice as the weather continued to deteriorate.
On this particularly difficult passage the seas had us tossing about and so the fuel tank was being sloshed about as well. We can only guess this is the reason for the fuel pick-up to get clogged. The engine was temporarily disabled before Martin was able to blow the gunk out of the fuel pick-up tube. Now we were motor sailing with an unreliable engine. Martin was able to rig a jerry can of diesel however that became a problem as we approached Morgan’s Bluff and the 5 gallons of diesel had run much faster than we had anticipated, and the engine died as we were trying to anchor in howling winds on a lee shore. We quickly got another jerry can in place and were able to start the engine and anchor just in time. The approach into Morgan’s bluff has a steep cliff with breaking waves; it is an intimidating entrance made more terrifying should the engine had failed only a few minutes earlier as we entered; we would have surely been tossed into the angry rocky cliffside.

Adrien and Martin safely on the hook in Morgan’s Bluff

Morgan’s bluff had a fascinating shipwreck that we enjoyed snorkeling around and meeting the fellow cruisers.

Adrien snorkeling on one of the two ship wrecks in Morgan’s Bluff

There is really nothing at Morgan’s Bluff but a small “marina” – place were boats are docked but no facilities outside of access to reasonably priced diesel we took advantage of and there is a local bar we visited twice as they did have Guinness

We met some hilarious locals; Tito and Norman and they picked us up every day for three days and drove us around the island showing us the sights, helping us find parts for the fuel tank and getting us set-up with phone service. The third day they arrived a bit late and explained they were out parting the night before; it was a holiday on the island everything was closed but no one could tell us what the holiday was for. Norman explained to us that the cops don’t enforce drinking and driving laws and might only pull you over to see if you had beer to offer them. Norman tells us there is nothing to do on the island so there is a lot of drinking.

The Gulf Stream is not to be underestimated; it is a 45-mile-wide river. You can’t see it’s speed, but it is always there flowing northward at an average speed of 2.5 knots. The Gulf Stream can be a hazardous stretch of water, so we patiently waited and watched for days before we left at 2 AM on the heels of a low-pressure system that had passed the day before. We made good time in relatively calm conditions arriving in Bimini by noon.
We tried to anchor off Big Game Marina, but it was too shallow so, we went up the channel and unsuccessfully attempted to anchor 2 more times because the bottom was grassy the anchor wouldn’t dig in. Finally we docked at the Marina.
Super nice cruisers from England and Argentina caught our lines and stayed around talking with Adrien and me for the 2 hours it took Martin to clear in with immigration.

Adrien on the dock at Big Game Club- Bimini

Fellow cruisers headed to Abacos after a harrowing ordeal getting off the dock as the wind wedged them between the pylons as they tried to leave

Martin’s catch of the day

“Shamie” loves fresh fish

“Shamie” on watch

How a 15 year old cat spend 20 hours a day

After all this planning; on the day we are set to leave we are still were running around loading up the boat, closing on the sale of my car and cleaning up the rental house. The weather is good to venture across the gulf stream to the Bahamas and its now Midnight. We are happy, excited to leave and saddened by the aspect of leaving our 19-year-old son in Miami. Justin will fly out to meet us in August before he starts the fall term however, there is little to console me from the notion of us leaving him behind. It should be your children leaving home and us dealing with the empty nest syndrome not the parents selling your childhood home and getting on a boat …. leaving the “child” behind.
Justin meets us at the boat for the final goodbyes; its awful. We cry and hug and cry. We are proud of him and trust he will be fine. I know I will miss him so much.

Justin, Martin, Adrien and Susan

The saying goes…the happiest day of boat ownership is the day you buy the boat and the next happiest time is the day you sell it. We have for the most part enjoyed taking a 1986 Beneteau and making it our own. We spent huge sums of money getting her ready for the trip and tried to prioritize what was most important. We didn’t want to be the people that talked about cruising but still had “another” something to do on the boat before they left the dock which is sadly what happens to many.
We / “Martin” updated two of the three heads on board with Vacuflush systems and holding tank. He built a new refrigeration and freezer box in the galley. We spent many hot weekends replacing most of the hatches. Martin re-fit and installed new propane lines that are much safer and easier to use than what was initially onboard. We purchased a state of the art life raft on the deck and installed safety lines / “life lines” and bolts in strategic places allow us to conveniently tether ourselves in the cockpit and on deck in bad weather conditions.
Safety is a number one priority for us so, we ended up spending more money to upgrade the “EPIRB” Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon is used to alert search and rescue services in the event of an emergency.
Some of the more expensive items are a new foresail, mainsail and all new rigging and a new C-9ft Caribe dingy. New technology for navigating and self-steering were paramount. The self-folding Max Prop was upgraded to give us more efficient sailing.
A boat doesn’t appreciate and at best a few boats “hold their value”. As I log the money spent on this older boat it’s clear that this is the worst financial investment yet, hopefully the best spiritual investment!
Critical before heading out was the Haul Out. We spent a week grinding, filling and sanding the bottom of the boat and installing new folding Max Prop

Finally, the most difficult yet the most well spent time, money and energy was investing in a new hard dodger cover for the cockpit. Martin built a hard dodger in our backyard over the course of three months. Working with his buddy Enrique on evenings and weekends he built a reinforced fiberglass hardtop for the cockpit. Sanding and grinding many layers of fiberglass was a tedious and dirty job. I am sure our neighbors weren’t to happy to have the fiberglass dust on their cars over those months. The result is a solid, well insulated and reinforced top over the cockpit.

Initial frame of the dodger

The final product!

Martin enjoying the benefits of the dodger underway