Dominican Republic

We left the south coast of Puerto Rico with 20kts behind us with the 2 headsails up sailing very well......until we got to Cape Cabo Rojo. There had been a fair bit of wind and swell around for most of the week and as soon as we passed the Cape into Mona Passage we got a slight headwind as we were in the lee of the mainland so on went the engine, no worries it won't be for long, well it ended up being on for 25nm! With a decent swell from the north coming from the Atlantic and then waves also from the Caribbean Sea coming from the SE we have never seen Sunflower roll so much, everything was going everywhere!!! It really wasn't good until bang.....the wind. Our 20+ kts was back and we had a very fast overnight passage to the SE corner of DR to an island called Saona where we anchored for a night. The wind flattened the seas off so it ended up being a pretty good sail after all.

Saona Island is a nature reserve. Think beautiful beaches, palm trees swinging, just perfect.....We anchored there not long after day break and then around 10am the serenity was over, an armada of tourist fast boats and sailing catamarans hit!! Was a sight to see alright, pure chaos but they were all friendly enough and by mid afternoon they were gone. Then we sailed 10 odd miles to Bayhibe were we are getting married. My heart sank, I knew this place would be touristy but sailing past these massive resorts (the biggest we are booked in) and then into the bay with a million boats anchored I thought what have we done?!?! I think we had just been away from the touristy parts for a few months too long. After a few beers in town, finding a possible beach bar to have our wedding party things cheered up and then the next day we sailed to Casa De Campo Marina to check in and do the official formalities. This joint is amazing, has to be seen to be believed. Owned Im sure by Italian Mafia and just dripping with money, super yachts and massive mansions, it's not for people like us. The DR is famed for corrupt officials and doing the formalities causes a problem with cruisers so this place provides an easy option....you pay probably three times the price but no bribes and is done in an hour. Yep $175  later we were out of there, bitter but out of there. We have a lot of things to do so it was either this or sail 40nm west and then back to here, but like I say we have a LOT to organise with the wedding and pile paperwork they ask for here.

We have been anchored here for 5 days now and really are liking this place. My inicial shock is over and it's really good fun. The locals are great, most of them a little crazy in a funny kind of way but really good fun. It's going to be a great place for the wedding with something for everyone of our guests that are coming from all over the planet :)

Goodbye Puerto Rico

3 weeks I've been back in Puerto Rico and they've flown by, we love this place. For me it's the one place we have stopped so far on our travels that I think I could live in. It's safe, beautiful, people are all super friendly/love a chat, great sailing, civilised, you can work and most likely make half decent money and sail relatively easy to anywhere in the Caribbean Sea....it's a good place.

When I arrived back from working in Aus to Isla Culebra we fixed the autopilot and a few other things then headed over to Vieques Island for a couple of nights then onto Salinas, both are very nice places. In Salinas we hired a car for 3 days and headed north to San Juan then around to the west coast spending a Saturday night in Boqueron, great spot. Had a fun night out with good live music and lots of cheap beer seeing how the locals live and enjoy life here. After Salinas we sailed to Coffin Island where we hung for a week, fishing and doing boat jobs. We built a new awning for the cockpit which turned out great and managed to do quite well fishing from the dinghy so had a few fish BBQs with our friends on "Ever After" which was great fun also. From there onto Ponce which is a big city, not a bad anchorage but not so nice a place to be, so we just did a big stock up at the supermarket then checked out with the Authorities and now we are waiting for the weather to change at Punta Ballena on the west coast of PR. Hopefully tomorrow we will cross the Mona passage and leave for Dominican Republic. All good aboard Sunflower :)

We literally have taken 3 photos in the last few weeks so nothing too exciting to show!