Luperon, Dominican Republic
When I awoke this morning I walked out onto the deck with camera in hand, to see what our surroundings looked like…and I wasn’t disappointed with Punta Rucia. Hills and distant mountains were covered in trees, vines and bushes, quaint looking buildings stood proudly overlooking the bay, and a few scattered boats lay quietly at anchor.
The hills called to us to explore, but we knew we couldn’t. We set sail for Luperon, which was only 15 nm away, and though there weren’t many major waves, it was a bumpy ride on the choppy, restless waters. We dodged many hand made buoy lines that local fishermen had set. We wouldn’t want those wrapped around our props!
We are usually really good at stowing everything before we set sail, but for some reason we failed miserably today, and paid for it. Right after the fallen cooking oil was cleaned up off the galley floor, a huge container of coconut oil went flying. Keep in mind that our galley and salon floor is not one big solid piece, because the board sections can be raised up and storage space is below. Marci and Sierra scooped up as much oil as they could, then several of us wiped things down with hot soapy rags, over and over again. It was such a pleasant smelling, messy, slippery situation. We decided we’d deal with the mess under the floor boards later when things weren’t so rough.
The girls had some fun with the rough waters, by sitting on the tramp as waves splashed up and drenched them.
As we reached the inlet leading to Luperon, we made the turn and followed the marker buoys. The Creatures excitedly sat on the bow watching the beautiful scenery.
The anchorage is so picturesque, with many sailboats bobbing peacefully with rich, dense, green mountains as a backdrop.
We even saw a boat with a crows nest on the crows nest.
A sweet little local man named Papo, who owns and manages the mooring balls, came past in his panga to show us which ball he wanted us on. He and his helper checked the mooring and lifted it out of the water for us to tie up to.
They couldn’t quite figure out how to attach it to our bridle, so Jude showed them and once hooked on, we were all set.
The next order of business is always customs and immigration. This is the 9th country we are checking in to since we started cruising. They use Pesos here so Danny jumped on the back of a bike and went to the bank to withdraw some.
While waiting for his return, Marci and I people watched. We saw a man in a pink sweater and womens shoes walk passed with a machete and bamboo.
There is much poverty here, and the sewer is released into the canal leading back into the ocean.
Small boats are tied up all along the shore line.
We met some cute kids that were so excited to see themselves in my camera.
We hope to find a way to do so me humanitarian work while we are here. I’ve asked several people about it today and will be meeting with the new mayor tomorrow afternoon to see if he has any ideas. We have scheduled to go on a hike on Friday to 27 waterfalls, and are so excited for that.
This evening we met our friends, Allen and Cheri, (we met them at Crooked Island) for dinner. A new restaurant that isn ’t open yet but wanted to try their oven out and have a pizza night. 4 Large pizzas and bottled water for all, cost $27 (1270 pesos). Not too bad. While eating, the Navy guys came to Danny and asked him to go with them to Tanda Malaika so they could look at her and see our passports again. I guess they want to make sure we aren’t smuggling drugs or Haitians.
When we returned to the boat, the creatures informed us that while we were checking in at customs, they pulled up the floor boards and cleaned out all the spills coconut oil from underneath them. They are such amazing angels! We are so grateful for their goodness. Tonight we are all snuggled down in our berths and excited to explore Luperon tomorrow.
Adventures of a Tribe 