Bahamas to DR

Its been a while since we have had a decent internet connection, and we have been having a hard time getting enough time to write much on the blog. It truly is amazing how much of our time is consumed keeping the boat working, there is no rest from maintenance and repairs.

I planned a slightly alternative route to what is typical of most cruisers. My intent was to take advantage of the trade winds and sail from Great Inagua, Bahamas through the windward passage around Haiti to the Domincan Republic. I had been led to believe that in the lee of Hispanola the winds would be light and variable and calm making for a pleasant trip up the coast. Well this plan backfired on me a bit.

We left Clarence town, Long Island for an overnight sail to Great Inagua. The wind had been cranking at over 25kn for days but was supposed to lay down for a while to make the trip a bit smoother. We had a bumpy but uneventful trip to Great Inagua. I had hoped to launch the dinghy and go ashore to find the Flamingos that Inagua is known for. However upon arrival we found that Inagua really doesnt have a protected anchorage near town when the wind is cranking. We moved over to Man Of War Bay and prepped for our trip to the Dom. Rep. Man of War bay was unique, the water is well over 100' deep all the way to within 300' of the beach where it quickly shoals. In the shoals there are numerous coral heads, and had I had more energy I would have likely found awsome snorkeling in 20' of water.
       The weather was predicted to lay down to 15-20 for a few days and I intended to use this window to have a nice sail through the windward passage. We departed Inagua in the evening with with cranking at 25kn, but I expected it to lay down shortly as the sun set. This did not happen, instead it built to a steady 30 with gusts over. Laura wasnt feeling well, and slept down below while I hugged one of the winches as we roared along with a steady pile of blue water across the decks all night, it was wet and unpleasant at best. It has been a while since I have sailed any distance offshore, and these waves were by far the biggest I could find in my memory. In the morning the wind laid down as we turned westward through the windward passage.

As we approached Haiti's cape we had several small sail boats approach us. We were still 30 miles from shore and these guys were just cruising around. At first I thought it was pretty cool and harmless, but then got concerned when one of them headed right for us. I thought no problem we can outsail this boat, nope, their little boat easily caught up to us. Apparently the just wanted a look, so they stared with wide white eyes and sailed on.

As we rounded the cape the wind died. We spent the next few days with winds between 0 and 35kn making brutally slow progress along the rugged coast of Haiti. This was tough going, no ports for refuge and huge confused seas. We finally made it to Punta Aghuilas in the DR. we collapsed once the anchor was down at 11pm, and slept till the next afternoon. Upon waking up there was a guy fishing from his panga next to the boat. Suddenly Laura shouts the guy has a big fish. We watch as this guy hand lines a decent size sailfish into his boat. I was amazed, this guy caught a sail in 40' of water in the anchorage.

We planned to relax for another night, but the wind clocked around and soon the anchorage had 3' waves in it, no rest for us. We pulled anchor and set off for another brutally slow rough upwind trip to Barahona where we could clear customs.

Internet is slow...more updates soon