Waterfalls, Carnival and Samana
March 16, 2007
Hello Everyone!
Yes, we're still on our adventure! I know, I know it has been almost a month since the last update. Part of the reason I have not written is that my laptop was dropped into the Luperon harbor and stopped working. In addition, we spent almost a week getting from Luperon to Puerto Rico during which time we had only iridium (satellite) phone access to the Internet. The iridium access is expensive and text only. We use it for weather updates and emergency contact. And once in Puerto Rico, it took a couple of days to replace my computer.
As you can imagine, I was not a happy camper when my laptop got wet. Of course this happened on the one day I did not carry it to shore in the waterproof dry bag. The computer was in my backpack, which we set on the dock. It was a floating dock, and unbeknownst to us, very wobbly. When we climbed out of the dinghy and on to the dock, the dock tipped and the backpack fell into the water. Ken grabbed it right away, but not soon enough. Salt water seeped into the case. We saw how bad it was when we took it to CompUSA in San Juan, PR and had the tech support folks open it up to see if it could be fixed. No. Just a bit of salt water, maybe two tablespoons at most, had seeped into the case and destroyed the motherboard, the connection to the keyboard pad and some other stuff. The HD and memory were salvageable, but that was it. CompUSA was able to copy the data from my folders to a DVD, so I did not lose everything. Still, very frustrating.
As Ken and I were talking about our options, the service guy handed me a note saying he had a MacBook Pro (same as my laptop) he could sell us for considerably less than what a new laptop would cost. Apparently he gets a deep discount and had just purchased a computer two weeks ago. Of course, this was not "good for his company" so we could not discuss with him in the store. However, we agreed to talk to him over the phone. Turns out he had a two week old computer with the receipt and packaging (opened, but all in place) and was willing to make some quick money on an opportunity that presented itself. End of story is that we bought the computer from him. So now I have a laptop again. So nice. Bad news is that in saving the data, CompUSA only saved the data in my folders, not data used in the applications such as iPhoto or iCal or the address book.
We have the hard drive from my old computer. Ken is going to see if he can put my old HD into this new computer. If so, I'd have all of my data back. We'll see.
So now you know the why you've not heard from me. Hope not to have to replace another computer in the near future! Two computers in 6 months is enough!
Back to our travels and what we've been up to the last few weeks.
We enjoyed our stay in the Dominican Republic. In addition to seeing Santo Domingo, we toured the local waterfalls and went to Carnival. Photos below. The waterfalls were located in a park and we were led up the falls by park guides. We climbed up 7 falls and then slid and jumped back down them. The guides were very helpful as they pulled us up through the falls. Some falls looked impossible to climb up, but with the help of the guides we made it. Then it was like a water park going down. Each fall was a slide into a deep pool below.
Like the falls, Carnival was a tour with other cruisers. This time we took a bus to La Vega, about a 2 hour drive, to join in the festivities. The costumes, like the Bahamian Junkanoo celebration, were quite elaborate. Only these were made of sequined and metallic fabrics, not cardboard, paint and crepe paper. Carnival is a street party not just a parade. Everyone walks along the streets, both the participants and the observers. Organized groups of costumed revelers performed dances before judging stands where music was played so loud it pounded throughout one's body. I felt like I was vibrating as I walked by each judging area!
One of the traditions of Carnival is to have the devil driven out of your body or to be cleansed of evil. The devil is driven out physically via a good whack on the bottom with a soft fabric ball that is attached to a rope. Kind of a safe cat-o-nine-tails beating. Anyone can purchase a "whacker" but mostly the revelers carried them as part of their costumes. At first I was unaware of this tradition and was thoroughly cleansed of evil. Devil be gone! But I quickly learned not to leave my derriere exposed. We were all subject to cleansing--men, women, boys and girls. However, it looked like the young men particularly enjoyed this tradition and the young Dominican women were surely devil-free at the end of the day.
Back in Luperon, I took advantage of the hair-cut offering at the Sunday cruiser gathering and had my hair trimmed while sitting out-of-doors under the trees. Also, purchased some delicious homemade bread and English muffins from a woman who runs a bakery for the cruisers. It was a good visit, but I am glad to be moving on. Funny how one gets antsy to move on when living a nomadic life.
Leaving Luperon was not as easy as expected. We needed a three-day weather window to get to Puerto Rico. One finally came up and we left. But once we were on our way, the engine started running hot and would not run over 2000 RPMs. In addition, it started spewing blue smoke. So 50 miles out of Luperon, we ducked in to an anchorage at Rio San Juan. The next day we decided that our safest option was to return to Luperon, a known place, and see if we could diagnose the engine issue and get if fixed. If you've read Ken's journal on our blog, you know that a dirty prop that was the culprit. The prop was covered with barnacles and could not turn as quickly as the engine could run, thus overheating and smoke. We had the prop cleaned. Viola! the problem was solved! A relief that the fix was so simple. Ken had imagined much worse.
So we waited two more days in Luperon for another weather window, and headed out again. This time we made it to Samana, the peninsula at the northwest corner of Hispaniola. Awesome scenery. Rugged, palm tree covered mountains that dropped steeply into the ocean. Strange to see palm trees, not evergreens, silhouetted along the mountain ridges. I understand some of the Jurassic Park scenes were shot on the Samana peninsula. It has a prehistoric feeling to it. From Samana we made the 140 passage to Puerto Rico. It was delightfully uneventful. This passage is the last of the long passages we have to make while sailing south in the Caribbean. From now on we have day hops or night passages of 10 hours or less.
Puerto Rico is like the states. It's referred to as the 51st state, and is the most affluent of the Caribbean Islands. Quite a change from the Dominican Republic. So nice to have the conveniences of well maintained roads and infrastructure as well as marine markers! We rented a car for two days and were able to get to San Juan for the needed computer repair mentioned earlier. The island is only 35 by 100 miles. We drove around the entirety of it on our trip to and from San Juan yesterday.
We also provisioned. We found a Costco in San Juan! And the Pueblo market is just like your local Safeway. I know, this kind of provisioning is not so exotic, but it is very convenient! Ken has his Thomas' English Muffins in the cupboard. I was able to buy a variety of fresh fruit including pears and provolone cheese.
So strange to see the difference a 70-mile passage can make. It is amazing that islands so close in proximity are so vastly different in geography, economics and culture. In the Dominican Republic the electricity went off almost daily. The water was a hit or miss situation. More than once I had to wait to pick up my wash from the laundry service because the electricity or water was not on so they could not complete the job. In contrast, the coast of Puerto Rico was lit up like a Christmas tree when we arrived. Businesses here could not survive with an on-and-off-again utility provider. These differences are the most surprising experience of our journey so far. The Bahamas are as different from the Turks and Caicos as Hispaniola is from Puerto Rico.
We are in Boqueron and planning to leave this evening to begin our trek east across the waters that border southern Puerto Rico. Next anticipated anchorage is Isla Caja de Mueros, know better as Coffin Island. From there we head to Salinas, located mid-way across southern Puerto Rico. We'll stay a few days in Salinas as we hope to have our mail and packages delivered there. We might also rent a car again and go see El Yunque, the Caribbean National Forest. Supposed to be great hiking. Then it's on to the Virgin Islands--Spanish, US and British. I'm looking forward to island hopping down to Trinadad.
March 18, 2007
It is now Sunday. We sailed through Saturday night from Boqueron to Ponce where we filled up with diesel. Then headed out to Coffin island where we anchored for the night. We weighed anchor at 4:00 this morning and motored the three hours to Salinas where we dropped anchor around 7:30 this morning.
As always, check out svAurora.com to see what Ken has to say. He posts more often than I send out updates.
As promised, photos:
Here we are in our waterfall gear! Life vests and helmets were required for the waterfall tour. Unusual precautions in the Dominican Republic.
And here are the rest of the cruisers who went on the waterfall tour. Fun day.
The bottom of the falls. We had climbed up and jumped/slid down 7 falls. Ken jumped in to this pool, I slid in.
This shot was taken at the "botanical" garden, a stop on the waterfall tour. A European couple had built a home and lovely garden that is now a park. Not sure it was a"botanical" garden, but it was a beautiful place to visit.
Another botanical garden photo.
Carnival in the Dominican Republic is a big event.
Carnival was a street party as well as a parade. Both the participants and those watching walked the streets together.
One of the side streets at Carnival. The umbrellas provided shade. It was a hot day.
Judges stand.
A carnival mask!
As you can see, everyone walks the streets at Carnival.
Many of the Carnival revelers were young men, and like this guy wore sunglasses instead of masks.
Feeble protection from the whacks delivered by the Carnival participants.
More Carnival.
Back to Luperon. A shot of the harbor. Lots of cruisers!
We were at the front of this line up of boats. Several left Luperon when we did and we have seen them again in Puerto Rico.
The town of Samana.
Hello Everyone!
Yes, we're still on our adventure! I know, I know it has been almost a month since the last update. Part of the reason I have not written is that my laptop was dropped into the Luperon harbor and stopped working. In addition, we spent almost a week getting from Luperon to Puerto Rico during which time we had only iridium (satellite) phone access to the Internet. The iridium access is expensive and text only. We use it for weather updates and emergency contact. And once in Puerto Rico, it took a couple of days to replace my computer.
As you can imagine, I was not a happy camper when my laptop got wet. Of course this happened on the one day I did not carry it to shore in the waterproof dry bag. The computer was in my backpack, which we set on the dock. It was a floating dock, and unbeknownst to us, very wobbly. When we climbed out of the dinghy and on to the dock, the dock tipped and the backpack fell into the water. Ken grabbed it right away, but not soon enough. Salt water seeped into the case. We saw how bad it was when we took it to CompUSA in San Juan, PR and had the tech support folks open it up to see if it could be fixed. No. Just a bit of salt water, maybe two tablespoons at most, had seeped into the case and destroyed the motherboard, the connection to the keyboard pad and some other stuff. The HD and memory were salvageable, but that was it. CompUSA was able to copy the data from my folders to a DVD, so I did not lose everything. Still, very frustrating.
As Ken and I were talking about our options, the service guy handed me a note saying he had a MacBook Pro (same as my laptop) he could sell us for considerably less than what a new laptop would cost. Apparently he gets a deep discount and had just purchased a computer two weeks ago. Of course, this was not "good for his company" so we could not discuss with him in the store. However, we agreed to talk to him over the phone. Turns out he had a two week old computer with the receipt and packaging (opened, but all in place) and was willing to make some quick money on an opportunity that presented itself. End of story is that we bought the computer from him. So now I have a laptop again. So nice. Bad news is that in saving the data, CompUSA only saved the data in my folders, not data used in the applications such as iPhoto or iCal or the address book.
We have the hard drive from my old computer. Ken is going to see if he can put my old HD into this new computer. If so, I'd have all of my data back. We'll see.
So now you know the why you've not heard from me. Hope not to have to replace another computer in the near future! Two computers in 6 months is enough!
Back to our travels and what we've been up to the last few weeks.
We enjoyed our stay in the Dominican Republic. In addition to seeing Santo Domingo, we toured the local waterfalls and went to Carnival. Photos below. The waterfalls were located in a park and we were led up the falls by park guides. We climbed up 7 falls and then slid and jumped back down them. The guides were very helpful as they pulled us up through the falls. Some falls looked impossible to climb up, but with the help of the guides we made it. Then it was like a water park going down. Each fall was a slide into a deep pool below.
Like the falls, Carnival was a tour with other cruisers. This time we took a bus to La Vega, about a 2 hour drive, to join in the festivities. The costumes, like the Bahamian Junkanoo celebration, were quite elaborate. Only these were made of sequined and metallic fabrics, not cardboard, paint and crepe paper. Carnival is a street party not just a parade. Everyone walks along the streets, both the participants and the observers. Organized groups of costumed revelers performed dances before judging stands where music was played so loud it pounded throughout one's body. I felt like I was vibrating as I walked by each judging area!
One of the traditions of Carnival is to have the devil driven out of your body or to be cleansed of evil. The devil is driven out physically via a good whack on the bottom with a soft fabric ball that is attached to a rope. Kind of a safe cat-o-nine-tails beating. Anyone can purchase a "whacker" but mostly the revelers carried them as part of their costumes. At first I was unaware of this tradition and was thoroughly cleansed of evil. Devil be gone! But I quickly learned not to leave my derriere exposed. We were all subject to cleansing--men, women, boys and girls. However, it looked like the young men particularly enjoyed this tradition and the young Dominican women were surely devil-free at the end of the day.
Back in Luperon, I took advantage of the hair-cut offering at the Sunday cruiser gathering and had my hair trimmed while sitting out-of-doors under the trees. Also, purchased some delicious homemade bread and English muffins from a woman who runs a bakery for the cruisers. It was a good visit, but I am glad to be moving on. Funny how one gets antsy to move on when living a nomadic life.
Leaving Luperon was not as easy as expected. We needed a three-day weather window to get to Puerto Rico. One finally came up and we left. But once we were on our way, the engine started running hot and would not run over 2000 RPMs. In addition, it started spewing blue smoke. So 50 miles out of Luperon, we ducked in to an anchorage at Rio San Juan. The next day we decided that our safest option was to return to Luperon, a known place, and see if we could diagnose the engine issue and get if fixed. If you've read Ken's journal on our blog, you know that a dirty prop that was the culprit. The prop was covered with barnacles and could not turn as quickly as the engine could run, thus overheating and smoke. We had the prop cleaned. Viola! the problem was solved! A relief that the fix was so simple. Ken had imagined much worse.
So we waited two more days in Luperon for another weather window, and headed out again. This time we made it to Samana, the peninsula at the northwest corner of Hispaniola. Awesome scenery. Rugged, palm tree covered mountains that dropped steeply into the ocean. Strange to see palm trees, not evergreens, silhouetted along the mountain ridges. I understand some of the Jurassic Park scenes were shot on the Samana peninsula. It has a prehistoric feeling to it. From Samana we made the 140 passage to Puerto Rico. It was delightfully uneventful. This passage is the last of the long passages we have to make while sailing south in the Caribbean. From now on we have day hops or night passages of 10 hours or less.
Puerto Rico is like the states. It's referred to as the 51st state, and is the most affluent of the Caribbean Islands. Quite a change from the Dominican Republic. So nice to have the conveniences of well maintained roads and infrastructure as well as marine markers! We rented a car for two days and were able to get to San Juan for the needed computer repair mentioned earlier. The island is only 35 by 100 miles. We drove around the entirety of it on our trip to and from San Juan yesterday.
We also provisioned. We found a Costco in San Juan! And the Pueblo market is just like your local Safeway. I know, this kind of provisioning is not so exotic, but it is very convenient! Ken has his Thomas' English Muffins in the cupboard. I was able to buy a variety of fresh fruit including pears and provolone cheese.
So strange to see the difference a 70-mile passage can make. It is amazing that islands so close in proximity are so vastly different in geography, economics and culture. In the Dominican Republic the electricity went off almost daily. The water was a hit or miss situation. More than once I had to wait to pick up my wash from the laundry service because the electricity or water was not on so they could not complete the job. In contrast, the coast of Puerto Rico was lit up like a Christmas tree when we arrived. Businesses here could not survive with an on-and-off-again utility provider. These differences are the most surprising experience of our journey so far. The Bahamas are as different from the Turks and Caicos as Hispaniola is from Puerto Rico.
We are in Boqueron and planning to leave this evening to begin our trek east across the waters that border southern Puerto Rico. Next anticipated anchorage is Isla Caja de Mueros, know better as Coffin Island. From there we head to Salinas, located mid-way across southern Puerto Rico. We'll stay a few days in Salinas as we hope to have our mail and packages delivered there. We might also rent a car again and go see El Yunque, the Caribbean National Forest. Supposed to be great hiking. Then it's on to the Virgin Islands--Spanish, US and British. I'm looking forward to island hopping down to Trinadad.
March 18, 2007
It is now Sunday. We sailed through Saturday night from Boqueron to Ponce where we filled up with diesel. Then headed out to Coffin island where we anchored for the night. We weighed anchor at 4:00 this morning and motored the three hours to Salinas where we dropped anchor around 7:30 this morning.
As always, check out svAurora.com to see what Ken has to say. He posts more often than I send out updates.
As promised, photos:
Here we are in our waterfall gear! Life vests and helmets were required for the waterfall tour. Unusual precautions in the Dominican Republic.
And here are the rest of the cruisers who went on the waterfall tour. Fun day.
The bottom of the falls. We had climbed up and jumped/slid down 7 falls. Ken jumped in to this pool, I slid in.
This shot was taken at the "botanical" garden, a stop on the waterfall tour. A European couple had built a home and lovely garden that is now a park. Not sure it was a"botanical" garden, but it was a beautiful place to visit.
Another botanical garden photo.
Carnival in the Dominican Republic is a big event.
Carnival was a street party as well as a parade. Both the participants and those watching walked the streets together.
One of the side streets at Carnival. The umbrellas provided shade. It was a hot day.
Judges stand.
A carnival mask!
As you can see, everyone walks the streets at Carnival.
Many of the Carnival revelers were young men, and like this guy wore sunglasses instead of masks.
Feeble protection from the whacks delivered by the Carnival participants.
More Carnival.
Back to Luperon. A shot of the harbor. Lots of cruisers!
We were at the front of this line up of boats. Several left Luperon when we did and we have seen them again in Puerto Rico.
The town of Samana.
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