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Passage from Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic

sailawayblog
May 24, 2016
5 min read

In mid-March, Wanderlust had used up all her time in the wonderful Caribbean country of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Our 7 day cruising permit was about to expire, which means we needed to plan our next passage, a 100+ mile trip to our fourth country, the Dominican Republic.

The end of our permit was approaching in South Caicos Island, and the weather was clearing, which means it was time to plan our next leg of our voyage on the Thorny Path to Windward. Over 100 miles lay between the TCI and our next entry port of Luperon, in the Dominican Republic. This would be Wanderlust's longest passage to date, because generally, we try to keep our legs short and easy, for our dog's sake and our sanity. Plus, we've never been in a hurry, so island hopping was really enjoyable and we were able to see all the sights. But there was no avoiding this long, open ocean leg, and it would be our first overnight sail, considering would need to be underway for more than 24 hours.

We were excited to take on the challenge of the voyage, and also very thankful to have found a buddy boat, S/V Basta, to make the journey with us. Mike and Marjo are a young couple of modern-day hippies from Quebec, Canada, who have a similar story to us. They quit their jobs, bought a sailboat, and haven't looked back. We met initially in George Town, Bahamas, then caught up again in Mayaguana. They're low-key, friendly and fun. We became quick friends and travel buddies.

Mike and Ben passage planning in South Caicos:

Buddy boating isn't for everyone, and in fact, we hadn't done it at all in the past. We enjoyed the autonomy of sailing alone, and learned a LOT this way. Basta had been our first buddy boat, and we found that it was very useful to share ideas on passage-making and tactics. Also, it is assuring to have another boat close in open water, in case of some serious boat issue. Although pirate attacks are extremely unlikely in this part of the Caribbean, it was also nice to know that pirates are less likely to attack boats traveling in pairs.

We realized just how grateful we were for our buddies when we realized our navigation system lacked charts for the Dominican Republic... one day before departure... Ooops! Basta came to the rescue with an extra tablet loaded with navigation software, and lent it to us for the leg. Whew! Manual navigation is possible, but its not something we're experts at, by any means! We felt a lot safer with GPS on our side.

About mid-day on our 8th day in the TCI, we lifted our sails and started our 100+ mile passage to the Dominican Republic. Ben and I decided on having dinner together, then 3 hour shifts to get some sleep. We'd wake up together again for breakfast and the approach into Luperón. The plan was to keep a good visual on our buddy boat throughout the night, follow the same heading and waypoints, and sync up in the morning. We'd approach the bay together, with a guide from Luperón, since we'd heard of many boats grounding in the poorly charted channel.

Out at sea, sunset approached, and I took the first, and in my opinion the best, shift. I watched the sun set over the open ocean, then the moon and bright stars appear in the unobstructed sky. It became completely dark and the milky way shone brighter than ever before. It was completely quiet, aside from waves splashing on the hull, and peaceful. I watched for lights on the horizon, and for spots on the radar, indicating other boats or cargo vessels, but we were all alone out there.... an eerie, but serene feeling.

Ben came up for his shift at 9, then woke me up at midnight for another round. We both grinned like little children when we realized the Caribbean sea was full of bio-luminescent plankton! Watching Wanderlust's wake throughout the night was like watching nature's fireworks show. We could see fish darting around us, and each drop from our boat slamming into waves created a green glow. But of course, I couldn't get any of it to show up in a photo... :) As my friend Tara would say, sometimes its better to take pictures with your mind, and it is surely something we'll never forget.

Ben got the honor of watching the sunrise, likely just as gorgeous as our sunset, as Ruca and I snoozed below deck. We ate breakfast together, which consisted of cold pancakes and coffee for Ben and me, and rice, boiled eggs and carrots for Ruca, since she'd run out of dog food back in Turks and Caicos!

After breakfast and a few groggy hours, we could SMELL the Dominican Republic before we could SEE it! We saw Ruca's nose start wiggling in the air, and a couple miles later, Ben and I could smell it too! The smell of dark earth, trees and rain filled the breeze, and we were still 15 miles away, out of sight of land. Then, we could begin to see the mountain tops at about 10 miles. The jagged green mountains jutted out of the ocean in a way very unlike the low and smooth islands of the Bahamas or TCI. It was super beautiful, and a really nice view after hours at sea.

We approached Luperon Harbor around mid-day, and were immediately met by a pilot boat to help guide us into the harbor (thank goodness!). We'd heard the entrance to the harbor was poorly charted and shallow, which was absolutely true. We had to stay far to the starboard of what our charts mapped, a little too close to land for comfort.

The pilot boat guided us through the channel entrance, to our mooring and we secured Wanderlust to her new home.

We later came to know the guide boat driver as Papo, a local who services the entire Bay of Luperón. Papo guided us into the harbor, assigned us a mooring ball for $2 per day, sold us fresh water to fill our tanks, took our laundry for washing service, and filled our propane tanks. Although Papo was professional and friendly with us, his reputation proceeded him, so we made sure to get a receipt with his signature for all services, especially mooring rent.

Nestled into our new temporary home in Luperón, we could smell the rich earth of the island, hear cows mooing on the hillsides, and hear birds chirping all around us. The air was hot and humid, with a little breeze, and we felt like we were where we belonged - in the tropics! We sat on deck and gazed out at the beautiful countryside, took in the smells and heard all the sounds of this beautiful new country.