Hurricane season

Hi to all. I hope you enjoyed the first sailing season of Moondance. Carolyn and I are in Louisiana for the upcoming hurricane season visiting friends and relatives. We left Moondance moored in Luperon under the watchful eye of friends. Later as the hurricane season comes to a close, we will fly back to the DR and ready Moondance for the second season of sailing. We hope to journey from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and then down the Leeward and Windward Islands to Trindad.

Have a great summer and we hope that you will join us again in October or November.

Dominican Republic

The DR is very lush, green and beautiful. A land that is still in the 50's and 60's. All along the roads to anywhere you will likely see burros, lots of motor bikes, cows being herded from one place to another, even bulls laying in the middle of the road in the middle of the day in the middle of a curve. (From experience). In Luperon it is not unusual to have cats, dogs and even goats come walking into a place while you are eating. You quickly learn to bargain for everything. Food is fantastic and the rum is not only good but cheap. A chicken dinner with fried chicken or chicken in gravy with rice and beans and a salad is about $2.80. This is for all you can eat. Rum costs about $4-5 a bottle (700 ml to 1 litter). Unofficial cabs, the transportation of locals are called "guaguas". We took 3 guaguas to get to the airport in Puerto Plata, a distance of about 60 miles at a cost of about $4.00 each one way. The down side is that you will be riding with many, many other people as the guaguas make their money by stuffing as many riders as possible in the vehichle as they can. We like it because you never know whom or what will be riding with you.

This is a meat market. They butcher in the morning and hang the meat for people to buy the parts they want. What is not sold by that afternoon is roasted and sold the next day.

There are too many flowers to take pictures of and mangoe trees, bananas and coconuts trees are everywhere. Papaya trees grow everywhere like weeds or shrubs and start producing when only 3 feet tall.

Typical mode of transportation.

Downtown Imbert.

Vegetable/fruit trucks make their rounds.

Raw amber being shaped and polished in Puerto Plata.

True amber will float in salt water.

The coast line on the way to Sosua.

The hills of the DR.


The pictures do no justice.

Dominican Republic

We made the DR. As soon as we were checked in I tried the internet. Not so great but the beer was cold.

The main street in Luperon from the muelle (dock) into town.

The cemetary at La Isabella, Columbus' first sttlement in the new world.


This is the Casa de Almirante Colon. Columbus' house (what is left) in Isabella. It overlooks the bay of course.

This church near Isabella contains original artifacts brought over by Columbus on his second trip in 1493. It is the site of the first mass given in the new world.

The chuch from the road.

I don't know what this bronze signifies but it was brought over by Columbus.

This is a sculpture of the Guardian Virgin of the Mariners. It was carved in Genoa in 1490 and brought over on the second trip. It is actually made of wood.

I believe this is a Madonna also from the second trip.

Traveling in the DR is done by motor bike, guaguas, bus or taxi. Guaguas are a type of inexpensive taxi or bus.

Provo, Turks and Caicos

Hold up in Sapodilla Bay, Provo. Very OK harbor but can get rolly.

Robert and a new friend watching to make sure he is tying off right.

A hill next to the anchorage which is the highest point on that island has several rock carvings on the top. The carvings date back quite a ways.


Party time at the Shark Bite.

We went with six other boats in on a van to get around town which is about 5-6 miles from the anchorage. We stuffed 13 people into it.

Tierra, Tierra

From Rum Cay we sailed to San Salvadore, the famous "Tierra, Tierra" from one of Columbus' crewmen who first saw land and was paid a bonus for doing so. In fact the picture in the Rum Cay post just before this post is actually a picture of the coast line of San Salvadore. I mistakenly posted it in the Rum Cay section. So that is what Columbus saw after his first trek across the Atlantic.

The church of San Salvadore.

The Columbus and Lucyan Indian Museum. Unfortunantly it was closed when we were there and had been closed for some time with no hint of when , if ever, it will be open again.


This is the Bahamain flag up on the spreader while under sail om Moondance.

It was nostalgic to be in San Salvadore but qiute dissapointing at the same time. A very laid back place as well as beautiful but I wish we could have seen more about the history of the island. We left after a day and a half. Columbus only stayed a couple of days also. On to Provo.