In Dominican Republic, on way to Airport to get Josie
Landfall in the Dominican Republic
Not where we expected to be, but once again making the best of our situation; ie. Strong winds and big seas hampering our progress. Its April 23rd and we are anchored at a beautiful island called Isla Beata, which is the first Point or Cape in the Dominican Republic after the Haitian border.
We first pulled into Bahia de las Aguila (bay of eagles) at 11.30am April 20th having spent the night motor/sailing, tacking back and forth trying to reach the shore (a very long night), during which time we used up way too much fuel.
We were fortunate to find a free cruising guide on the Dominican Republic on noon-site which was absolutely accurate about the beauty of this bay. The waters are as torquoise and clear as Grand Cayman, but the shore is much more interesting, with what looks like low sandstone rock cliffs with red mineral streaks throughout and what appears to be a small fishing village built into the caves which have been carved out of the underside of these cliffs over the centuries.
I’ll come back to describing Bahia de las Aguila and Isla Beata.
April 28th 2009
At time of writing this (4.30am) we are quite unbelievably tied up to the side of a Dominican Republic Coast Guard vessel which is itself sharing a massive bollard at the end of a conveyor belt with a Russian Freighter called the Heron. We first encountered the Heron on April 22nd when she was coming into take on cargo at this Bauxite mine at Cabo Rojo, and here we are 6 days later tied up underneath her bows.
So how did we get to be here? - Now that’s a long story, which I’ll try to cover without boring the reader to death.
We arrived in Dominican Republic on April 20th which was pretty much the beginning of a weather system which has been getting worse during our time here. Bahia Las Aguilas and Isla Beata are very lovely places which most of us would love to be stuck in for a couple of weeks or even months, this is paradise. BUT it is cut off from where we need to be to pick up Josie from the Airport in Santo Domingo tomorrow morning at 11.00am, which I think I can do by bus, which is a 6 hour trip or maybe I’ll be able to get a taxi for a whole day. I’ve yet to find that out. Plus we need diesel and water, particularly diesel in order to get out of here. The first marina is about 150 miles around the dreaded Punta Beata. ‘Dreaded’ because we have tried and failed to round this point 3 times, I don’t just mean 3 quick stabs at it, I mean one whole night of tacking back and forth off the point, sailing about 25 miles at average 2 knots covering an actual distance to the good of about 4 miles, sleep pretty much impossible, so at first light we gave up and found our way back to a fairly safe anchorage off the coast of Isla Beata. That was the first time we encountered Heron coming into Cabo Rojo calling into the Commandancier.
On the 24th we left Isla Beata and headed up a shallow channel between Isla Beata and the mainland, in winds about 15 – 20 knots still blowing north east, heading for a town called Baharona where we knew there was a commercial dock where we could get fuel. We knew we had about 16 hours motoring time left in our aft tank and a little bonus fuel in the forward tank. Unfortunately when we got out of the channel we were faced with the same problem as before – 8’ seas with a couple of seconds in between coming head on with the north east wind, and no chance of sailing north as we would be sailing straight into land, and yes we could have sailed south, but the tack back took us directly along the track we had just made going south. So again we turned back to anchor in the pitch dark against a rock cliff at Isla Beata – fortunately our chart plotter saves our previous tracks.
By now we are beginning to think that we might not get out of here in time to get to Santo Domingo to pick up Josie, plus nobody has heard from us since Good Friday when we posted in Grand Cayman, so I needed to get to a phone or internet to let Josie know what is happening.
Oh – and we hadn’t cleared into Dominican Republic yet so we shouldn’t go ashore.
But we did, we came back to Bahia des las Aguilas, put the dinghy in the water and motored ashore. We were met by a couple of men, Ignacio the Park Ranger and Roberto who had no official capacity but wanted us to use him and his motorcycle as a taxi service. So, my pathetic Spanish, a Spanish/English dictionary in hand we explained the situation and Ignacio was happy for me to use his phone and reverse the charges. Not enough credit – then we went through a painfully long conversation about how Ignacio doesn’t have a house, and has 4 children and God knows what else. Anyway we walked over to a vehicle which was just leaving and asked if anyone spoke English, and yes the children in the car did, and translated for us to their father what the situation was. That I needed very badly to call my daughter in Canada.
The father got his I-phone, told me not to worry about reversing charges and by standing just so on the beach I was able to speak to Josie. Thank God. Many thanks and hugs and kisses later the family left. While I was speaking to Josie the family told us that Ignacio was trying to get us to help him build his house – financially.
We are prepared for this – the Dominican Republican man’s average income is $200 per month, so they do not seem to have any embarrassment when it comes to asking for money.
Speaking of money – we don’t have any. The marina at Grand Cayman did not take credit cards, so the cash we had just got out of the bank for traveling money was gone – but we didn’t think that was a problem because we were checking in at Boca Chica, Dominican Republic where there are banks, and water and fuel and showers and – Boca Chica is looking a lot like the illusive Shangrilah right now.
On the 26th there was a change of wind – more like east south east – which we knew we could sail, even though it was still quite strong. This time we make for the point off Isla Beata as we have a good line and tacking up the shallow channel doesn’t look too safe. As we reached the point making our first tack in, the wind blew up to about 25 – 30 and turned north east. Bloody unbelievable – we came back to Bahia Aguila and slept a few hours.
There is a town on the chart right at the border of Haiti and Domnican Republic called Pedernales, which shows an anchorage on the charts. We had also heard that the town has a bank and that busses go from there to Santo Domingo. So we got up at 0730 and set off sailing to Pedernales hoping to get there in time to clear in, get to the bank do the internet stuff, fill our jerry cans with diesel, find out about transportation to Santo Domingo and basically get it all done.
By the time we reached Pedernales the wind had again blown up to over 30anchorage’ was wide open to 4 – 6 foot waves. Because we were desperate to get ashore we actually dropped the anchor against Tony’s wishes. It didn’t hold of course, not to mention we almost ripped the windlass off the deck, the bowsprit platform is now falling apart.
A fishing boat came out to see if we needed help and advised us to go back to Cabo Rojo.
BACK, through this wind and waves.
We headed back and by about 1530 things were looking pretty grim, we didn’t think we would get to Cabo Rojo before dark, so I called the Commandancier on the VHF, hoping that we could ask him to wait until we got there for us to check in.
The person who answered me was the Dominican Republic Navy Coast Guard. They asked if we needed assistance, so I told him our situation and asked if we could tie up to their boat when we arrived – whenever that might be. Yes we could and we did, and here we are ever so grateful for a safe night.
The Commander of the Coast Guard vessel is Brian who speaks perfect English, has a cell phone and had promised to help us as much as possible. So this morning we will find a way to get to Pedernales and I will get to Santo Domingo to meet Josie.Then – not sure. Brian tells us this is not typical weather and therefore we believe it must change and we’ll get to ‘Shangrilah’. And tomorrow I will see my daughter.
Not where we expected to be, but once again making the best of our situation; ie. Strong winds and big seas hampering our progress. Its April 23rd and we are anchored at a beautiful island called Isla Beata, which is the first Point or Cape in the Dominican Republic after the Haitian border.
We first pulled into Bahia de las Aguila (bay of eagles) at 11.30am April 20th having spent the night motor/sailing, tacking back and forth trying to reach the shore (a very long night), during which time we used up way too much fuel.
We were fortunate to find a free cruising guide on the Dominican Republic on noon-site which was absolutely accurate about the beauty of this bay. The waters are as torquoise and clear as Grand Cayman, but the shore is much more interesting, with what looks like low sandstone rock cliffs with red mineral streaks throughout and what appears to be a small fishing village built into the caves which have been carved out of the underside of these cliffs over the centuries.
I’ll come back to describing Bahia de las Aguila and Isla Beata.
April 28th 2009
At time of writing this (4.30am) we are quite unbelievably tied up to the side of a Dominican Republic Coast Guard vessel which is itself sharing a massive bollard at the end of a conveyor belt with a Russian Freighter called the Heron. We first encountered the Heron on April 22nd when she was coming into take on cargo at this Bauxite mine at Cabo Rojo, and here we are 6 days later tied up underneath her bows.
So how did we get to be here? - Now that’s a long story, which I’ll try to cover without boring the reader to death.
We arrived in Dominican Republic on April 20th which was pretty much the beginning of a weather system which has been getting worse during our time here. Bahia Las Aguilas and Isla Beata are very lovely places which most of us would love to be stuck in for a couple of weeks or even months, this is paradise. BUT it is cut off from where we need to be to pick up Josie from the Airport in Santo Domingo tomorrow morning at 11.00am, which I think I can do by bus, which is a 6 hour trip or maybe I’ll be able to get a taxi for a whole day. I’ve yet to find that out. Plus we need diesel and water, particularly diesel in order to get out of here. The first marina is about 150 miles around the dreaded Punta Beata. ‘Dreaded’ because we have tried and failed to round this point 3 times, I don’t just mean 3 quick stabs at it, I mean one whole night of tacking back and forth off the point, sailing about 25 miles at average 2 knots covering an actual distance to the good of about 4 miles, sleep pretty much impossible, so at first light we gave up and found our way back to a fairly safe anchorage off the coast of Isla Beata. That was the first time we encountered Heron coming into Cabo Rojo calling into the Commandancier.
On the 24th we left Isla Beata and headed up a shallow channel between Isla Beata and the mainland, in winds about 15 – 20 knots still blowing north east, heading for a town called Baharona where we knew there was a commercial dock where we could get fuel. We knew we had about 16 hours motoring time left in our aft tank and a little bonus fuel in the forward tank. Unfortunately when we got out of the channel we were faced with the same problem as before – 8’ seas with a couple of seconds in between coming head on with the north east wind, and no chance of sailing north as we would be sailing straight into land, and yes we could have sailed south, but the tack back took us directly along the track we had just made going south. So again we turned back to anchor in the pitch dark against a rock cliff at Isla Beata – fortunately our chart plotter saves our previous tracks.
By now we are beginning to think that we might not get out of here in time to get to Santo Domingo to pick up Josie, plus nobody has heard from us since Good Friday when we posted in Grand Cayman, so I needed to get to a phone or internet to let Josie know what is happening.
Oh – and we hadn’t cleared into Dominican Republic yet so we shouldn’t go ashore.
But we did, we came back to Bahia des las Aguilas, put the dinghy in the water and motored ashore. We were met by a couple of men, Ignacio the Park Ranger and Roberto who had no official capacity but wanted us to use him and his motorcycle as a taxi service. So, my pathetic Spanish, a Spanish/English dictionary in hand we explained the situation and Ignacio was happy for me to use his phone and reverse the charges. Not enough credit – then we went through a painfully long conversation about how Ignacio doesn’t have a house, and has 4 children and God knows what else. Anyway we walked over to a vehicle which was just leaving and asked if anyone spoke English, and yes the children in the car did, and translated for us to their father what the situation was. That I needed very badly to call my daughter in Canada.
The father got his I-phone, told me not to worry about reversing charges and by standing just so on the beach I was able to speak to Josie. Thank God. Many thanks and hugs and kisses later the family left. While I was speaking to Josie the family told us that Ignacio was trying to get us to help him build his house – financially.
We are prepared for this – the Dominican Republican man’s average income is $200 per month, so they do not seem to have any embarrassment when it comes to asking for money.
Speaking of money – we don’t have any. The marina at Grand Cayman did not take credit cards, so the cash we had just got out of the bank for traveling money was gone – but we didn’t think that was a problem because we were checking in at Boca Chica, Dominican Republic where there are banks, and water and fuel and showers and – Boca Chica is looking a lot like the illusive Shangrilah right now.
On the 26th there was a change of wind – more like east south east – which we knew we could sail, even though it was still quite strong. This time we make for the point off Isla Beata as we have a good line and tacking up the shallow channel doesn’t look too safe. As we reached the point making our first tack in, the wind blew up to about 25 – 30 and turned north east. Bloody unbelievable – we came back to Bahia Aguila and slept a few hours.
There is a town on the chart right at the border of Haiti and Domnican Republic called Pedernales, which shows an anchorage on the charts. We had also heard that the town has a bank and that busses go from there to Santo Domingo. So we got up at 0730 and set off sailing to Pedernales hoping to get there in time to clear in, get to the bank do the internet stuff, fill our jerry cans with diesel, find out about transportation to Santo Domingo and basically get it all done.
By the time we reached Pedernales the wind had again blown up to over 30anchorage’ was wide open to 4 – 6 foot waves. Because we were desperate to get ashore we actually dropped the anchor against Tony’s wishes. It didn’t hold of course, not to mention we almost ripped the windlass off the deck, the bowsprit platform is now falling apart.
A fishing boat came out to see if we needed help and advised us to go back to Cabo Rojo.
BACK, through this wind and waves.
We headed back and by about 1530 things were looking pretty grim, we didn’t think we would get to Cabo Rojo before dark, so I called the Commandancier on the VHF, hoping that we could ask him to wait until we got there for us to check in.
The person who answered me was the Dominican Republic Navy Coast Guard. They asked if we needed assistance, so I told him our situation and asked if we could tie up to their boat when we arrived – whenever that might be. Yes we could and we did, and here we are ever so grateful for a safe night.
The Commander of the Coast Guard vessel is Brian who speaks perfect English, has a cell phone and had promised to help us as much as possible. So this morning we will find a way to get to Pedernales and I will get to Santo Domingo to meet Josie.Then – not sure. Brian tells us this is not typical weather and therefore we believe it must change and we’ll get to ‘Shangrilah’. And tomorrow I will see my daughter.
Comments
Keep your peckers up and safe voyaging, we all admire your resolve immencely.
Captain Pedro and the Mich
You are our companeros and our heros!
May the wind be at your back
Love you lots Anne & Dic