January 15, 2015

We were up at 0600 with the alarm aiming to travel to the west side of Puerto Rico, the marina at Puerto Real. When Jorge started the engine, it did start but then quit. When trying to start it again, it was a no go. Oh, oh! After 4 hours and tearing the boat apart to get to the engine, Jorge realized that he put the gasket on the fuel filter in the wrong spot, starving the engine of diesel. Okay, so we were onto Plan B, which was changed to Plan C. At 1600 we decided to leave Salinas and sail to Isla Caja de Muertos (Coffin Island). We had a wonderful sail and arrived at 1900, setting anchor just before total darkness.

January 16, 2015

We were up at 0600, (the engine started and purred like a kitten) weighed anchor and were underway shortly before 0700 heading to Ponce. We arrived there at 0830 after a wonderful sail again, tying up at the yacht club so Jorge could go ashore and clear us out at customs. We topped up with diesel and water and were underway by 1300. By this time, the wind had died and it was a motorsail to Gilligan's Island. We had set anchor by 1630 and Clay, an American solo sailor, who was anchored next to us, joined us for happy hour. He had been sailing since he was about 6 (now in his early 60s) so he had some awesome stories which he shared.

January 17, 2015

The alarm went off again at 0600 and we left Gilligan's Island by 0700. Absolutely no wind so it was a total motor trip to Puerto Real. We arrived there at 1130, topped up with diesel and ordered two pizzas to go. My thinking was pizza is good hot or cold and not knowing exactly what the conditions were going to be for the next two days for cooking, I thought well at least there was pizza to eat, lol!Today was the day to start crossing "the Mona". We left the marina at Puerto Real at 1400 in a heavy rain storm. It continued to rain for a good hour before the storm turned one way and we headed the other way. Phew! At 1600 Jorge and I got really excited as the wind was picking up and we actually shut the engine off to sail. Unfortunately our excitement last only 15 minutes as the wind really died! We ended up motorsailing in 16 kts of wind, against a northerly swell and a 2+ kt current against us, making the going slow. However the wind was steady in direction all night. We had some good sized swells for a few hours but all in all the crossing was extremely good. She (the Mona) is behind us once again!

January 18, 2015

At 0800 we were on the DR side of the Mona. The winds were of a sufficient speed and angle that we were able to put up full sails and we sailed for 8 glorious hours! The conditions were perfect and we made excellent time, averaging 5 to 5.5 kt. We debated on whether to stop in Samana, DR or not but as the going was so good, we decided we could always catch up on our sleep so we continued to sail to Ocean World. By the time we got to the northeast side of the DR, at 1600, the wind was less than 8 kts so we only left the genoa out for the night. We were dead tired, not having slept well the night before and only catching a few hours of sleep during the day, so when our shift at the helm was over and we laid down, it was lights out within minutes. We had calm weather conditions so that really helped with the sleep. Jorge and I did 3 hour shifts and each of us got about 6 hours of sleep.

January 19, 2015

At 0200 we brought the genoa in as the wind was only 2 to 3 kts! And the swells were about 2'. We would have liked to have had some wind to sail but at least we weren't getting beat up by nasty conditions. We arrived at Ocean World at 1130, pleased with ourselves that we had completed a 46 hour trip from Puerto Real! We cleared customs and took a slip. Showers were the next order of the day as well as a short siesta. We emailed Rett and Bob to say we had arrived. They rented a car and were at the marina around 1830. We had happy hour onboard and then left to go out for dinner in Puerto Plata. The plan was to stay at their condo with them for a couple of days. We had a really late dinner and arrived at their condo and didn't get to bed until 0130. I can't believe Jorge and I stayed awake until that time!

January 20, 2015

I was surprised that we got up at 0900, I really thought we would sleep in until noon! We had brunch and a lazy morning visiting with Rett and Bob. We finally got our act together by 1230 and left the condo. We took a road trip to Luperon, stopping at Ocean World to check on CS'ta Time. Jorge was thinking of pulling the boat out of the water due to a constant slow leak around the rudder bolts that he replaced in St. Martin. We checked out the marina in Luperon and then looked for a restaurant for lunch, not realizing it was already suppertime - 1730! We had a drink and a small bite to eat at a restaurant and then headed back to Sosua/Cabarete (where Rett and Bob's condo was). I made a pasta dinner for the four of us and then we sat around chatting the night away, 0030 before we got to bed. So much for the boaters' midnight being at 2100.

January 21, 2015

We got up a bit earlier today, 0800, had breakfast and vegged out for most of the morning before heading off to Cabarete for the afternoon. Again it was 1230 before we got out of the condo. We had lunch at a restaurant before taking a walk along the beach. Afterwards we drove for an hour west of Cabarete through the countryside with some beautiful lush green fields on both sides of the road. Back to Cabarete where we did a bit of bar hopping, enjoying happy hour at one bar before heading off to another for dinner. Back to the condo by 2130.

Tomorrow we are going back to Ocean World to get ready for making the trip to the Turks and Caicos the following day as the weather forecast is looking promising. We are contemplating going right to South Side Marina, TCI, about a 30 hour trip.

UPDATE: The weather is looking better for making the crossing to the Turks and Caicos on Saturday, not Friday, so it looks like another day in the DR with Rett and Bob. Not too hard to take!

Pictures are not downloading ??? Will try to post them later.