Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic

May 21st we leave Emerald Bay, Great Exuma to cross over to Long Island about 40 miles away to sleep a night at Calabash bay, swim in the evening and have a wonderful dinner at a star and moon setting. From Calabash Bay we head south to Clarence town – we had good weather and we decided to go further south, we are in a bit of a hurry – hurricane season is around the corner. So we make the 52 miles and on the way we hear that the weather is deteriorating and is supposed to be bad for at least a week. Just as well we are trying to go further south. We have been trying to call the only marina within 50 miles (which for us a ten hours run) but they don’t answer the radio and so we are heading to Clarence town hoping that they have a docking available.
We finally reach them about 20 miles before we get there just to hear that they are booked solid for the next two months. What to do, I am panicking because the weather report is getting worse and we have no place to go. This has been the first time that we had no plan B and we had to press on or go back for 30 miles not knowing if the marina at Rum Cay has anything available. And it would have meant that we have wasted at least two days towards Antigua; so we decided to press on. The guide book had four anchorages suggested but only one for the conditions we had to expect arriving tomorrow. Well, the weather was getting worse and the wind picked up considerably. When we arrived in Clarence town we went in circles for two hours to see which was the best anchorage. I wanted to the one close to shore so we can go to town and visit the two churches which looked very picturesque and we don’t have to go far with the dog. Of course I had not considered waves or wind that would come within the next ten hours. So Chris decides to go to the one suggested anchorage which looked positively scary. VERY close to a reef and very close to a beach. Just the sound from the reef made me scared to think what is to come when the wind doubles and triples. We spend there the first five days with 40 knots wind and at least 4,5 knots current that held us nicely off the reef but made sounds that went through your bones. Once a day Chris and sometimes me took the dinghy down and went to the beach for a doggy walk and to stretch our hurting bones. We ate fresh green coconuts from the island and made rum drinks with them – delicious. One morning I clean the floors and take all the mats and carpets outside to give them a shake – I loose a mat and scream for help. Help is there and Chris decides to jump right after the mat when the dog decides to throw her favorite ball in the water to play with Chris.
Chris did underestimate the four knots of current and lets the mat go to make some headway towards to boat as I am watching him all of a sudden I realize what is happening. At the same time he shouts that he needs help. Great – what to do – jump also in the water and drown – so I though a line in the water which gets nowhere even close to where he is, try to tie a life ring to a rope which did not reach him either. Our dinghy was tied to the davit loaded with our bikes, fenders, fishing gear and all sorts of stuff, just in case we had to leave from the anchorage in a hurry. Now I had to put the boat in the water in a hurry or loose my husband. It’s hard enough to this task with two people, without legs and arm feeling jell-O from fear and thinking what to wear at the funeral. The dog of course also went crazy not because she will loose her Chris but because Chris did not retrieve the ball in time and its floating very rapidly away.
Chris finally changes his course and swims towards the beach and gets out of the water to wave to me that all is OK. I finally get the dinghy in the water and even manage to start the engine and somehow also manage to drive the boat in the wild current and wind towards the beach where I hug my husband ten times with tears in my eyes. The mat was gone but I did not have to wear a black dress to any occasion and I was very happy and hopefully we have learned a valuable lesson and never do such a thing again.
After five nights in our anchorage we saw a few power boats leave the marina and called them to see if we can have a dockage – they had something available and we went there, happy to have some air-conditioning and a washing machine. I could even use a vacuum cleaner for the mats now, so Chris doesn’t have to risk his life again. We stayed another eight nights at the marina, had a chance to visit the two churches and go to the local packing house where we bought for the first time in the Bahamas, local fruit and vegetables; they were cheap and delicious.
We have met two couples from France and Belgium who just purchased boats in the US and are on their way to St. Martin where they live since a few years. We decide to buddy boat to the Turks and Caicos and go all the way – 188 miles – our longest trip ever. We would have made a few shorter trips, but we had to run to get away from the ever threatening hurricane season. One of the boats had an engine problem and we decided to pull into a Harbour about 50 miles way but then after a few hours they told us all is good and they decided to head towards the Turks – on the way we lost radio contact and we thought we would see them on the way – they never arrived and a few days later somebody told us that they had seen them about 100 miles north at an anchorage. Well at least we know that they are OK. We stayed for three nights at the Turks and Caicos Shipyard and Marina – which was more or less an old rundown boatyard with not much comfort but out of the weather and it was good to get some A/C and some sleep. We met a guy from Australia with his Japanese girlfriend who took us in their rental car to town. We had a nice lunch and a great few hours at a very well stocked supermarket. A nice thing after the Bahamas – food is not very high on their priority list, especially if you are not too fond of conch and white tasteless bread.
From there we went to a private Island called Ambergris which was a giant development with an airstrip, lots of nice houses and a Marina to be built – lots of investment money there. We had a nice snorkel before sunset and enjoyed the anchorage after a ride across the Turks and Caicos banks in very shallow water. I spend the better part of eight hours standing in the heat looking out for coral heads. My head was hurting like I hit a coral head. Not one of my favorite days. The next day I said to Chris it’s an easy ride of only 32 miles. No big deal. Well how wrong was I – the Turks Passage to Big Sand Cay was absolutely horrible. We were pounding into the waves and very strong winds for eighth hours, our windows decided to let the salt water in whenever and wherever they pleased. We had every available towel out to catch the water so we had a dry mattress. The dog was terrified and sat under the table not moving for the entire time. I was not much moving because my body was so stiff from the bad ride and fear that I sat mostly in one spot; praying that it will be over soon.
It was over at 3:15 p.m. when we arrived at Big Sand Cay, which was just that, a big sandy Island covered with green scrubs and thousands of nesting birds. What a site – it was beautiful. We went to the beach and stretched our legs (after we hang all our wet towels outside and washed the salt of the cushions as best as we could. We turned on the generator and cranked the AC down to 72 degrees. What a luxury; we are almost smiling again. The next day we go swimming naked at the beach and go for a long walk. We have a fuel problem and the engine doesn’t like it. Chris tries to find the cause of our air in the fuel line problem. We think we fixed it. Let’s hope… We leave at 5:30 p.m. for a long 90 miles run to the Dominican Republic. About half way through the engine plays up again and we use our sails only to save the “good tank” which is almost empty to get into the Marina in the D.R. The trip takes forever but we had a wonderful sail and the weather was pleasant – we turn the engine on for the last hour and make is safe to Ocean World Marina at 2:00 p.m. the following day.

It is a very nice and quite expensive (for D.R. standards anyway) Marina. The people there were exceptionally friendly and helpful, including Customs, Navy and the Health department people who were efficient and friendly. Ocean World is a water park where you can swim with dolphins and play at a casino that looks like it’s out somewhere in Las Vegas in the 80’s.
We have purchased some provisions which were very reasonable and the supermarket had a good selection on French cheeses and GREAT Sorrano ham that is made in the mountains of the D.R. The “ham makers” were originally trained in the mountains of Spain – and the result is fabulous. We bought mangoes, fresh pineapples, big hands of bananas, green beans and a few snack items for our night sails. We only bought little meat since our freezer is still full from our Florida Costco shopping six month ago. We substitute our meals a lot with fresh caught fish but we’ve heard that the meat is very good here – so we got a nice beef filet for US$ 3.00.
The mountains in the D.R. are picturesque and we wish we could stay a few months and enjoy the country. Instead we hire a driver for a day and see some of the interior.
When we leave on the 20th of June it is midnight and pitch dark when we are making our way out of the marina – no moon, no stars, a very eerie feeling. We head east towards a place called Rio San Juan – the country looks even prettier and we have a nice long walk at the beach and a lot of naps during the day. We leave that night at 9:00 p.m. to sail to place called Escondido – again pitch dark – where is the moon when you really need it? We arrive in Escondido at 8:00 in the morning very tired but happy to be there – it was an absolute wonderful place with mountains and cliffs, a great beach and a few fishing huts and fisher man in their skiffs. Everybody was very friendly and we enjoyed our day napping and a long walk at the beach where Jackie met a new boyfriend who seemed to have liked her just as much – he walked with her (and us) the entire time and seemed sad when we headed back in the dinghy to Lucky Star. He seemed a little like us every time we have to leave a nice place where we meet new friends.