March 05 - 16, 2001 -- Luperon

March 5 - 16, 2001 -- Luperon Bright and early at 8:30 AM AST Immigration came out to the boat and we cleared in. We waited for customs most of the day. However, by 2:00 PM AST, they had not shown up so we went to customs. We decided that we were legal to go ashore, but our boat wasn't. Given all of the shoals in Luperon, we wanted the boat to be legal in case it decided to either come into town, or run aground. Since we figured that we would stay in Luperon for a while, we decided to drop Fido (the large dinghy, we finally gave him a name!) over the side. We all piled in, but unfortunately, the engine appears to have sung its swan song and would no longer start. We had gas at the carburetor and spark, so apparently the computer bit the dust. We launched Spot and headed in to clear customs. This was a fairly painless process, thankfully. We were in and out of the Comandancia quickly. We headed into Luperon to change some money and to get a bite to eat. After dinner, we went to the Marina Bar for a drink. On March 6, we worked on Fido trying to figure out what the problem was. We didn't have any success. We also took a look at our stay sail furling gear, and discovered the big thing we need to do, of course, is obtain a new bearing for it. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do that before Puerto Rico. Finally, we headed to the marina bar to attend a meeting of cruisers headed south, where we met Bruce Van Sant, author of A Gentleman's Guide to Passages South . This is an excellent book about how to move from the east coast of Florida to the Spanish Virgin Islands comfortably, against the trade winds that blow all year around. On March 7, Sue and Leon on Masade organized a tour of Puerto Plata. We headed there with them, as well as Blind Date, Amphrotite (not to be confused with the boat that we were with in San Salvadore), Island Spirit and Sherpa. Touring the town was a lot of fun; however, we do wish that we had had some time to wander around a little bit more. We arrived back in time to go to dinner at the Marina. The Puerto Blanco Marina is really a major gathering place for the cruisers in Luperon. They host special food nights on Wednesday and Friday. On Sunday mornings they allow a swap meet and on Monday evenings they allow a 'Cruiser Potluck' dinner. It really is a great place. On March 8, we didn't do a whole lot. We wandered around Luperon checking out the town and trying to find a few things. Otherwise it was a relax and recover day. On March 9, we headed in to the Internet cafe to check our e-mail. The Codetel, the local phone company, maintains offices that have multiple phones and several computers. The Internet access costs approximately $1.80/hour and phone calls are not much more than that. After that, we headed back to the boat to do a few chores. Sandra and I finished up the screen for our aft door and Mike put additional braces on the coke machine. Finally, we headed into the marina for Paella night and merange dancing. It was a lot of fun. On March 10, Sandra and I decided to walk up to the resort to see what it is like. She is looking for potential vacation spots for the future. The D.R. is very promising in that respect. We wandered around the 'all inclusive' resort for a little while, then headed back to the boat. After the Herb show (12359 at 2000 GMT Herb Hilgenberg runs an excellent weather net), we all congregated at the marina to discuss the weather and options for leaving Luperon to continue our trek south. Bruce Van Sant graciously attended to give his recommendations and to offer his insights from his years cruising the route outlined in his book. On March 11, we checked out with the Commandancia. We picked up some cheap (in cost only, good stuff) rum and Cuban cigars to celebrate once we get to Trinidad or Grenada. At 5:30 PM AST, we pulled up our anchor and headed out. We got about a mile out and turned around as it was just a little rougher than we wanted to deal with all night. Coming back in we saw the flutterbys dinking around with their wings on. The flutterbys are an organization comprised of cruisers who are staying in Luperon for a while that offer services such as freshly baked bread delivered to your boat hot out of the oven (their oatmeal bread is fantastic, and their white bread is great too), boat sitting services, and Spanish lessons for about $1.75 an hour. It is a pretty free form organization that was started by one cruiser a year ago. She brought another woman in to help her, and left the organization to ready her boat to leave Luperon. Thus the flutterbys were born. Since we didn't leave, Tim from Margarita stopped by for us to look at his PC. On March 12 and 13, not much happened. Everyone was still expecting a weather window to develop. No one went far from their boat, or did much. We convened the 'Herb Committee' on Nightwinds. Several other boats came over, we listened to Herb and then compared notes, weather faxes and the off shore report. Ultimately, we decided not to leave and I finally found the reason for the disparate forecasts. On March 14, we pretty much did the same things that we did the previous two days. Sandra went on the Waterfall trip. There is a waterfall that is About an hour outside of Luperon that has 7 levels. Everyone climbed the levels, to the top, then slid/jumped/climbed down again. It sounded absolutely spectacular. Due to questionable holding, Mike and I stayed aboard Nightwinds to make sure that our anchors were holding sufficiently. After the winds laid down, we did attend the taco night at the Marina. On March 15, Sue and Leon on Masade were saying good-bye to Sue's sister Jill, and her companion Marilla who had been visiting for the week from Switzerland. They invited us to lunch with them. We had a great time. Jill and Marilla are certainly a pair of characters! On March 16, we were back to weather again, though we did make time to try Laessa's Chicken Shack. For $6.00 US, all three of us ate well on chicken, rice and beans and salad, we also had 2 cokes to boot. It was excellent food.