Tag: Luperon

Puerto Rico here we come

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Well we had planned on staying in the Domincan Republic for up to 3 weeks but as always when an opportunity for good travel presents itself we must take advantage.    We have a great weather window for making the normally difficult crossing of the infamous Mona Passage from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.   The seas and winds are predicted to be fairly minimal and being that it will take us almost 48 hours straight to get there I welcome a calm passage.   We will be buddy boating with David and Trudy on SV Persephone as we travel south for as long as it works out that our plans coincide.    We spent Sunday doing Laundry and purchasing a few more fresh provisions for the journey.    Mike filled the extra 2 diesel jugs in the event we will need the additional fuel to make the crossing.  Our engine burns approx 1 gallon per hour and we have a 50 gallon tank but of course that we can burn more or less depending on the sea and wind conditions.     We planned on obtaining our despacho papers on Sunday and leaving first thing in the morning on Monday but of course, best laid plans…..etc.   It turns out Immigration is closed on Sundays and we had to check out with them before we could get a despacho from the commandante.   Monday morning we had an American breakfast special in town and the Upper Deck Restaurante and then walked back down to Immigration.   The officer we were told was not expected until 9:30am that day.     We finally completed our paperwork for a dispacho to Samana, DR in the event we would need to stop along the way due to unexpected weather or any boat problems.  Having the dispacho issued for Samana, DR would allow us to stop there without having to pay too much in additional fees to reenter the country.    After paying our dispatch fees of $20.00 and having a couple of soldiers accompany us back out to our boats for inspection we were able to leave around 11:00am.   It was nice having Persephone as a buddy boat, we would check periodically even when we lost sight of each other.    Mike was a little stressed when we ran into some current in light winds on a close reach and occasionally on the nose and it looked like we might not have enough fuel to make the crossing even with the extra 10 gallons.    We opted to change course slightly and check in at Mayaguez which shaved an additional 12 hours off our crossing.   It was a long but uneventful passage which was really appreciated by me after the last couple of rough overnight passages.  We ended up sailing and motor-sailing through comfortable seas and gentle swells, I was able to read on my watch the entire time (Books Read: A Thousand Splendid Suns & The Help).   After 44 hours we dropped anchor in Mayaguez Harbor, Puerto Rico around 7:00am.

Mona Passage Sunset

Shaggy’s, Luperon, DR

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We have chosen Shaggy’s Bar www.barstoolsailor.com as our favorite Luperon hangout.    The Cervezas Grandes are always cold and at the ready and the food is excellent and reasonably priced.    It is referred to by its many loyal patrons as Luperons Livingroom.   After you have been there a few times you may be able to serve yourself  which is just what you would expect if you were at home.     Shaggy, whose real name is Sean,  is the owner, bartender, cook, etc.  He caters to the Cruising & Tourist community and he and David have become good friends in the short time David and Trudy have been here. (I encourage you all to read David’s Blog of Shaggy’s for an even more elaborate and colorful description of our experiences there)    Shaggy’s is named after the Scooby Doo Character and Sean looks a lot like Shaggy, don’t you think?   The bar is even painted yellow, blue, and green just like the Mystery Mobile.   His food is great and his beer prices reasonable.   Mike has been able to barter with him for food and drink in exchange for a quart of bottom paint that we had onboard.  His beautiful girlfriend Camilla is an accomplished Musician.    One evening in particular after returning from our day in Puerto Plata, we stopped to have a nightcap…..we ended up closing the bar and got to hear not only Camilla play her guitar and sing also were treated to a performance by Trudie, who is a trained Opera Singer.  She stood and sang Ave Maria accapella.  She has an incredible voice that was not only appreciated by all of us but also appealed to Shaggy’s dog Willow who at was asleep under the table.   When Trudie began singing Willow got up, walked across the bar and sat in front of her and joined her with a long howling bark.  Trudie finished her song and we all cheered.   She told us she thought that might happen.  She said that many times when she sings both birds and animals of all kinds join in.

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A Day in Puerto Plata

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April 13th, 2010

David, Trudy, Michael & I took a day and traveled by gua gua (public taxi) to Puerto Plata about an hours drive away.   Costs for transportation for the 4 of us came to about $24.00 round trip.  The countryside outside of the towns is just beautiful.   At one point during our drive we passed a large group of people walking along both sides of the road, all wearing black pants or skirts and white shirts.   I was able to ask and understand from the driver that there was a funeral and the immediate family, were the ones in black and white.   We also got to listen to some great Dominican Music along the way, so we were introduced to the music of Rubby Perez.    We were dropped off at the city center and were immediately met by a tourist host.  These kind gentlemen are provided by the office of tourism and are available to assist tourists in seeing the sights in and around Puerto Plata.   Rafael was our guide for the 1st hour or so of our visit.  He took us into the beautiful San Felipe Cathedral and then walked with us out to the San Felipe Fort that overlooks the Town and Harbor.   We walked around the fort and took some pictures, we then stopped for a cold drink.  We tipped Rafael and thanked him for his assistance but told him we wanted to explore on our own.   He looked very disappointed but left us in peace.

We wandered around a bit more and found the post office where David was able to get his taxes postmarked and mailed(we of course had to take a photo of that monumental occasion as well).   Since we paid Uncle Sam we figured we would continue with giving money to another Sam here in Puerto Plata.   We walked over to Sam’s Bar & Grill in the Hotel Castilla,  just off of the main square where we enjoyed an early dinner.

We wandered back to the main square and took a taxi out to the Teleferco, a cable car that takes visitors up to the top of the mountain at 7500ft. We purchased our tickets and boarded the Cable car that carried us up into the clouds at the top of the mountain.  During our ascent we enjoyed the spectacular views over the town and port.  At the very top we were delighted to discover a scaled down statue of Jesus, similar to the one that stands above Rio de Jainero that we could not see previously because of the clouds covering the mountain top.    It was surrounded by a beautiful botanical garden.  We walked around for a bit enjoying the gardens and the cool air at that altitude along with the clouds that drifted atop the mountain.    We took numerous photos and I, being the graceful person that I am, went to pose for a picture atop a wall and promptly lost my balance and fell off the opposite side.   The steep slope on that side was fortunately covered in dense foliage that I grabbed onto and so I only fell about 4 feet down the 75 ft slope.   I was able to climb back over the wall with only my ego bruised.   Michael had rushed to my rescue but seeing that I was uninjured could only repeat over and over how he wished he had taken a photo of me on my back with my eyes wide and a death grip on the shrubbery.   We rode the cable car through the clouds back down the mountain and headed back to Luperon after a terrific and almost exciting day exploring Puerto Plata!

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