Letter from the Indies: Dominican Republic

6:43 AM Mon 9 Mar 2009 GMT

'Leaving Puerto Rico.JPG' Ian & Andrea Treleaven

Andrea and Ian Treleaven continue with their photo-tales of cruising Caribbean seas in their yacht Cape Finnisterre

The Dominican Republic (DR) port entry is a bureaucratic nightmare and quite expensive. Every port requires reentry and with our timeframe it limits the choices. We also have a short window of good weather and decide to make the most of that opportunity. Our sail of 250nm from Puerto Rico to Bahia de Luperon takes us past some of the most beautiful beachfronts in the Caribbean.

Entering Luperon.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

The Samana Peninsula on the North eastern corner of the DR has mountain ranges covered in thousands of coconut palms. As we sail by we can see from the blue waters' edge the white sand blending into beautiful coconuts palms and then to the lush green mountainsides.

As the sun sets we are gifted with the magnificent sight of humpback whales with their calves spouting around us. This is whale-breeding territory and they travel thousands of miles from the Arctic to be here for the winter months to breed. I don't mind spotting them during the day, but at night I

Getting meat.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

prefer not to think about them and just hope they are not in our path. The first night out there was an awful salty smell to weather of us and after establishing Ian had not been indiscreet, I came to the realisation that a whale had spouted near us. The seawater they spout has a vile stale salty smell. A bit close for comfort!

The only dilemma on our passage was the autopilot failing. This is our 'third crew member' and makes life very difficult if we have to steer manually, especially at night with only two onboard. The bolt attaching the pilot arm to the rudderstock had sheared and with some difficulty in the

The main street of Luperon .JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

confused seas, Ian manages to repair it. Those spares do come in handy after all!

Bahia de Luperon is entered at daybreak, after 38 hours at sea, through a very narrow entrance and shallow bar that opens up to a mangrove surrounded lagoon; the perfect hurricane hole, in fact the best in the Caribbean if you want to live aboard your yacht during the hurricane season. Inside at any one time are 100 yachts; some are just passing through, some staying for a few days and others staying for two years. I think that a lot of the cruisers arrive here after coming south from the Bahamas and become so

Tropical and local - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

secure in this sheltered harbour they are too frightened to continue further east or south. 'Chicken Harbour' I call it.

It takes five uniformed men - customs, immigration, agriculture, tourism, and port control - to complete the entry formalities, all with a hand out (totalled US$105). We did have to restrain from laughing when the customs officer took a long time checking each page and stamp in our passport, only to look up and ask what our nationality was.

Thankful that all the paperwork is in order, we walk into the shanty village of Luperon. A little girl calls out 'hello gringo'; these Spanish-speaking people are poor but

Happy kids.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

very friendly and happy. Small wooden houses line the streets intermingled with shop fronts selling fruit and vegetables, and hanging whole butchered cattle. A very small supermarket sells rum, beer and cigars. Small motorbikes are everywhere; every boy over 12 has one and they are the taxi service. It is not uncommon to see a whole family on a scooter (without helmets of course).

The inland country is beautifully green with cascading waterfalls and roads shared with the cattle and hens. It is amazing that there is such a variety where there is a mix of mostly poor and some wealthy homes.

New cruising friends.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

The border to Haiti is only 100kms to the west and with the immense poverty in Haiti there is much illegal crossing of the border to the relatively better off DR, causing great concern to the locals. The population of the DR is 9 million plus about 1 million illegals, while Haiti has 7 million. This island is huge in comparison to other islands we have visited.

A day is spent in the large city of Puerto Plata to stock up on provisions to take into Cuba. We also load up with non-perishables and luxury items to give away. The nearby Ocean World Marina seems very out of place with its luxury and services, but also very empty.

A tuna for Ian.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

Ian has to visit the dentist (not a good idea untying knots with your teeth) and while being drilled the generator stops with a large bang. no more drilling. An Australian in the next chair is asked to help fix it; still wearing his cape with tools in hand he manages to get it operating again. Medical treatment is always a big worry for us in these remote island countries but thankfully we don't have too many problems. The dentist is a German, Ian is happy with the result and it was very inexpensive.

The joy of having my bench top covered in fresh home grown tropical fruit again at a low cost is wonderful, especially the biggest pawpaw I have ever seen, full of flavour. Meeting a lot of cruisers has made this a very enjoyable place to stop and the locals are among the nicest islanders we have ever met. Maybe it's their Latino heritage coming through. Bahia de Luperon has a mixed reputation but apart from the enclosed water not being suitable for swimming or desalinating, it has much to offer.

Preparing to depart for the Turks and Caicos Islands 85nms to the north we encounter a first ever for us with the authorities. After all documents have been stamped we are denied our departure by the Commandant, as he believes the weather is not suitable for a safe passage. It is only blowing 20knots with 2 metre swell from the east. Returning the next day with several other yachts requesting departure we are finally granted permission for yachts over 40 feet and of course the mandatory $US20.

We are all always very careful with the weather and would never put ourselves in danger. Our main concern is to always ensure we arrive at the next port in daylight hours.