A bit of luxury for a few days, we are all crewed up for the trip to Nova Scotia and Mad, Mad, Mad driving in The Dominican Republic.

“19:11.680N 69:21.31W”

5879 Miles since leaving Sandwich.

20th April 2023

It has been a great stay in the Bahia Marina, and we have certainly made full use of all the 5 star luxuries on offer. Some days it has been a tough decision though, do we go to the infinity pool by the beach, or the infinity pool on top of the hotel or maybe we should go to the pool by the tennis courts and then decide what restaurant to eat in for lunch. Decisions, decisions, it’s a tough life especially in 34-degree heat today. We have done all of the above plus Norma has had a damn good pampering at the Spa, but all good things must come to an end and it is now time to move on.

One for the Ladies

And another for the gents

We spent a few days relaxing around the pool and enjoying sundowners aboard Nick and Micheles Najad 511 Malu IV and Fiona and Chris’s Farr 50 Carioca with reciprocal nights aboard Spectra of course before deciding that we would hire a car and explore some of the island. After booking into a boutique hotel in the colonial quarter of Santo Dominico we set of on the two-and-a-half-hour drive. The island is absolutely beautiful and quite unlike other islands we have visited. I’m not sure if this was the film location but it looks very much like Jurassic Park with spacious palm forests over grass fields stretching across the hilly terrain. That is when I got the chance to take my eyes off the road for a second, the driving was atrocious, and I do not exaggerate when I say that I was more relaxed driving though Kabul in the military. Little motorbikes where everywhere and literally drove up the wrong side of the major roads whenever it suited them. Add to that herds of both cows and goats meandering around the verges plus the occasional horse for good measure. As we entered the outskirts of Santo Domingo the fuel gauge slipped into the last quarter, and we began a desperate search for a propane gas filling station. Yes, the hire car was propane and no, the regular service stations, of which there were many, did not sell propane. By the time we reached the hotel we hadn’t seen a single propane station and the dial was glowing a warm amber colour. We parked the car and decided that we would find a station on the internet before we set out on the following day and so rather neatly kicked that problem into the long grass.

The hotel was also known as the OXO hotel but why I have no idea. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was great, but it had a good location near the touristy bits, and it was quirky. They gave us the British suite complete with London bus pictures, telephone box bedroom door and patio furniture made out of old tyres. 

Somewhere to sit when you are Tyred.

Union Jacks all over the place

Bedroom door

Our neighbour across the street

We had a nice meal in the pedestrianised area of the colonial quarter and enjoyed watching some really good street buskers, particularly one lady who was singing operatically under some arches. We were however very conscious of all the warnings that we had been given from literally everyone about pickpockets and street crime so decided to follow their advice and went back to the hotel before it got too late. The next day our plan after breakfast was to find a propane station, fill up and then with that potential nightmare out of the way visit the 3 eyes caves before heading over to the waterfalls in the Samana national park but it didn’t quite work. Well part of it did, the breakfast by the little pool in the hotel was excellent. The fuel light was blinking happily away as we started our 8 Km journey, 20 minutes later we arrived at the station and finally got some gas Phew, but we were both pretty stressed out. We headed back into the chaos that was the traffic scheme and promptly lost the GPS for some reason with the result that the satnav had a hissy fit and then gave up even trying. Some 30 minutes later it burst back into life and positioned us in a very dogy part of town, not that it needed to tell us that a look out of the window and it was pretty obvious this was not an area that you would take your mother for a walk in. After battling for another 20 minutes we manged to get back onto the coast road and as we were pointing out of town we just kept going. Three hours later after some exciting experiences with the traffic we arrived in Samana just in time for a late lunch by the beach.

Of course, the truck will get out of your way.

Back at the marina we found Spectra with a very clean bottom. Toni had done his thing while we were away, and the large hanging tendrils of weed were floating in the current Apparently, he did the whole bottom with a snorkel and no tank, from what I can see he did a really good job.

A nice birdy, make and model unknown that has been hanging about the boat for a while.

And the same birdy hunting from the neighbour’s power cable at night.

On Wednesday we drove to the Las Terrenas beach on the other side of the Samana peninsula. This drive wasn’t too bad, but we still had to dodge numerous motorbikes and the occasional low flying cow before we arrived at a likely looking resort and hit the beach. One very nice lunch with an amazing view later it was time to take advantage of the big supermarket in the local town to stock up for the lean times ahead in the Bahamas. We are now weighed down with another tonne of canned goods and the freezer is packed ready for the trip. On that note I forgot to mention last edition that we have confirmed our crew for the Bahamas – Bermuda – Nova Scotia trip. Tony our son will join us in Nassau on the 15^th May and stay right through to the 19^th June. Jake and Sara will also join us in Nassau and travel up to Nova Scotia before heading onwards. We met Jake and Sara through Crew Seekers and after several messages and a video call we have decided to welcome them aboard. They sent a WhatsApp the other day confirming their flights to Nassau, and we are both very excited to meet them on the 15^th as well.

Who cares what the food tastes like when you have that view.

I set today aside for pre-trip maintenance and while Norma took advantage of this and escaped to the spa I set to with a will.

1. Checked all 6 batteries with a hydrometer plus topped up the acid and checked all of the connections.
2. Worked every seacock on the boat (17) to make sure that they are all working freely.
3. Changed the primary and secondary fuel filters.
4. Adjusted the thermostat inside the calorifier as the shower water could boil an egg at the moment.
5. Checked hydraulic steering level and re pressurised the system.
6. Serviced the water maker and changed all of the filters for new.
7. Checked the steering linkage, gearbox and engine oil.

After that I had a well-deserved cup of tea and admired Norma’s new nail polish. 

I am now fully up to date with my servicing schedule with the exception of an oil change. That was the only job I couldn’t do as I only have 5 litres of oil onboard, and I need 7.5 litres to replace what is in the engine so that will have to wait until Nassau probably.

That’s it really, Norma has cleared us out of The Dominican Republic as far as she can today leaving only the Navy inspection and the marina payment to complete in the morning. The weather reports are rubbish, we have looked at 6 different models and they can’t decide what is going to happen. The important thing is that none of them show wind speeds above 20 knots, so we are safe enough to head out. The problem is that there is likely to be light winds but where and when they just can’t decide. What we plan is to head out and play it by ear, we will either go straight for Mathews Town on Great Inagua or to Grand Turk for an overnight anchorage before pushing on to Mayaguana Island. Whichever we should be there by Monday.

It is 34 degrees today and I am a very sweaty boy so that is definitely it for this one. Next episode, not from The Dominican Republic.