Wednesday morning, March 19^th, we left for Great Sand Cay to stage for the trip to Puerto Plata.  The deserted island is an ideal stopping place for both north and south bound boats heading to and from the Caribbean or the Dominican Republic.  It is 72 miles to Luperon, DR and 90 miles to Puerto Plata, DR.   Our run to Sand started out as a close haul in heavy seas and ended 5 hours later as a motor sail as the wind shifted back to the southeast.

Great Sand Cay

Great Sand is a desert paradise.  The island is about 1.5 miles long and a ¼ mile at the widest point.  The western shore has a nice sand anchorage that is easily accessible either day or night.  Additionally, the island boosts of another one of those beautiful pristine Caribbean beaches. 

There was still a big northern swell creating large 6 foot breakers on the beach so we are unable to land the dinghy.  Not to be deterred, Stoney and Carla put on some swim fins and grabbed the boogey boards for an afternoon of surfing, beach combing, and fun.  Four hours later when they returned they were engaged, WOW, some days a diamond!  Evidently Stoney had planned this moment and popped the question that afternoon on the beach and even had the ring for the event.  What a guy! what a girl!  Carla is definitely a great catch and will be a super partner for Stoney.

Stoney & Carla mark their engagement

At sundown we departed Sand Cay for Ocean World Marina, Puerto Plata.  The moon is full and bright and we are finally sailing without engine, what a great feeling after slogging 600 miles to windward.  It was a beautiful evening in moderate seas.  It was not until 0400 when the wind shifted back to its usual SE direction and we are back to motoring sailing the last 30 miles to Puerto Plata.

The new Ocean World is a world class marina & resort.  They offer nice restaurants, casino, and a Sea World type entertainment park.  We pulled into the fuel dock where we were instructed to wait for customs and immigration.  After a visit from the Dominican Navy, Customs, Immigration, Agriculture, Animal Control, and Drug Enforcement (yup, 6 different people) and $143 lighter we were cleared in to the Dominican Republic.  Additionally, there was an extra $20 departure and $50 port fee, boy they have figured out how to milk money from visiting cruisers. 

Tonight we are celebrating, our anniversary, Carla’s Birthday, and Stoney and Carla’s engagement.  We went to the Casino for a buffet then upstairs to a Los Vegas type show with all the fabulous costumes.

Showgirls	Showgirls

Early Friday morning we departed for the next leg to Puerto Rico.  The weather looks okay and we will try to play the night island winds that diminish the trades.  During the day the trade winds relentlessly parallel the coast making headway very difficult.  At night when the land cools the air flows down from the large mountains and creates a night wind that generally calms the seas near shore and sometimes creates a south wind (on the north shore) that can be sailed.   The one condition required is that the gradient trade winds are less than 15 knots.  Higher trade winds (above 15 knots) overshadow the night winds.

We stopped at Rio San Juan behind what looked like a nice barrier reef to break the northern swell.  Unfortunately the swell was so large it just continued on after the reef and continued to break making the anchorage untenable.  Oh well it is almost dark and we decide to continue on hugging the coastline hoping the night winds will take over.  By midnight it is apparent the gradient winds have picked up and are still blowing 20 knots or more.  The conditions are very sloppy and there is virtually no place to stop, so Puerto Rico here we come.

Fishing boats at Rio San Juan

I am downloading every type of forecast I can get and although the conditions call for 15 knots we continue to experience 20 to 25 making progress very slow.  Our catamaran with all the high structures and windage make it difficult to even make 4 knots.  At noon the next day off the bay of Samana we turn northeast away from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to get out of the land and cape influence of the Dominican Republic.  We headed out 75 miles before turning towards Puerto Rico.  This typical 36 hour trip is going to take 48 hours, ugh.  The good news is that we hooked a 25 pound Mahi Mahi.  There is nothing like fresh spirits to lift crew moral.

Mahi for dinner

During our passage of the Mona Passage we saw more than 50 large ships, 5 of which were within a mile.  The AIS System we installed last year paid big dividends.   Visually you will not see another ship until they are from 5 to 8 miles away (in good conditions) and less when in rough seas.  On the AIS you get to see the traffic within VHF range (line of sight of the VHF antenna), typically 25 miles.  What this means for the watch keeper is a 45 minute notice (electronic) verses the normal 15 minute notice (sight).  Additionally, the system gives you the closet point of intercept (miles) and time of occurrence, the type of ship (and length), destination, and the ships name.  It makes a big difference at sea when calling another ship if you know their name, you generally always get a reply. 

By the afternoon of our second day the wind finally starts to subside and shifts more towards an easterly direction allowing us to finally shut down the engines and enjoy a close haul sail towards Mayaguez.  This has been the toughest passage we have experienced to date.  The emotions have ranged all over the place, from frustration to even selling the boat.  However once you get the sails up and the sun is shining everything is quickly back in harmony with the universe.

It is with great relief and satisfaction that we finally lower the anchor off the commercial dock at Mayaguez.

We cleared in to the US the next morning and were on our way to a nicer anchorage in Boqueron.  This little town is college hang out on the weekends.  The tiny town has numerous bars, restaurants, and a nice beach.  One of the sidewalk vendors painted our boat on a couple of tee shirts, cool.  Carla and Stoney will be leaving this weekend so we don’t stay long and start heading towards Ponce where they will get transportation to SJU.

A short stay at Cayos de Cana Gorda (Gillian's Island)

We arrived at Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club early Friday morning.  I pulled onto the fuel dock for refueling and slip assignment.  Bad news, even though they had accepted our reservation request there is no slip available, we are told to wait at the fuel dock until the dock master finds out when someone is leaving.   The hours tick on and we decide to rent a car and head to Sam’s Club to do some provisioning while waiting.  Meanwhile Stoney and Carla check with the airlines and find out the will need to leave Ponce at 0400 in the morning.  By 5:00PM there is still no slip available so we overnight at the fuel dock. 

Stoney and Carla are up early and take the rental car to SJU.  When the Yacht Club office opened we are informed that there still is no slip available and that we can remain on the flue dock if we want.  Being that it is Saturday and there is lots of traffic at the dock we decide to anchor out and prepare to leave at midnight to work our way east towards Fajardo where we will pick up our daughter for a short visit.

We are able to get some help from the night breeze here but the trades are still high.  The first part of the night’s journey is relatively calm, but as soon as the sun starts to rise we are into the wind again and by 1000 it is a full 20 knots on the nose.  We continue on until noon where we anchor off the tiny village of Patillas. 

At midnight we are up again and underway heading for Green Beach on the east end of Isla de Vieques