Luperon, Dominica Republic

We arrived in Luperon yesterday morning about 9:30. Luperon is located on the North side of the Dominican Republic.

We are moored in a very well protected bay which is surrounded by mountains, covered with lush vegetation. This is by far, the prettiest place we have been. There are 100 or so other sailboats scattered in the bay.

As soon as we arrived yesterday, two men, Papo and Andy came by in their little boat and hooked our line up to the mooring ball, offered to bring us water, diesel, gasoline or anything else we might need. They also said they could arrange any side trips for us and would keep an eye on our boat while we are gone if need be. We had already heard great things about them from other cruisers we have met along the way.

Just as I had our lunch ready, they were back, but this time they had the Port Captain with them. 5 men boarded the boat to check our passports, boat papers and look through the boat to make sure we had no drugs or other illegal items on board. Once they left, I took down the quarantine flag and put up the Dominican Republic and Texas flags to fly during our stay. Then back to eating our lunch.

I heard a familiar voice calling us on the VHF radio. It was Jimmy who said he and his wife Donna wanted to go into town with us to show us where Customs & Immigrations were and to walk us around town. Customs & Immigration went with no problems. Town is wonderful with very friendly and helpful residents. They speak English and Spanish, so now I am having to remember what little Spanish I once knew... It is fun trying and the person you are trying to talk to does a lot of laughing, but it is all in fun. (I think...)

Papo just delivered us 13 gallons of diesel and is coming back with 15 gallons of drinking water. It is nice to have it delivered to the boat and not having to lug around jerry jugs in the dinghy.

Today's big plan is to go into town and have lunch with Jimmy and Donna. Wish Eric and Debbie were with us, but they had to go into another port that had a marina, as they were having some boat issues and need a mechanic. Hopefully they will get their problems corrected and join us in Luperon soon...

Rainbow 

Rainbow, while waiting on a squall to pass so we could enter Luperon

The mountains of Luperon

Luperon

The protected bay

Been awhile.....

Sorry that is has been so long since my last update...

Let's see, after we finally got propane, we waited for our friends, Eric & Debbie aboard Bound for Glory to return from their side trip to Wardrick Wells. Once they got back to Georgetown we both provisioned and headed off to Conception and then to Rum Cay. After a few days in Rum Cay, we took 2 1/2 days to get to Provo in the Turks & Caicos. Our plans are to leave here on Monday or Tuesday and sail to Big Sand Cay, spend the night, get up and sail to Luperon in the Dominican Republic. We will probably spend awhile in the Dominican Republic, as we hear there is lots to explore and experience...

WooHoo, finally got propane....

I guess I forgot to say that just because the Propane truck was supposed to have been on the Island Wednesday, does not really mean it was here on Wednesday.... It finally arrived this morning at 11:00.... Oh yea, I forgot to tell you that Tim must carry our tanks through the streets to the parking lot where the truck fills the tanks. Once there, you must wait your turn for your tanks to be filled....

The line as seen from the dinghy dock.... Now remember this is about 10:15 and the truck is not due until 11:00...

One of the streets you must carry your propane tanks down to get to the parking lot where the propane truck will be....

Everyone waits in line with their propane tank for their time.....

The Not So Easy every day (or whenever) tasks...

When you just put your trash in your trashcan and take it to the street for pickup or just turn on your faucet for fresh water, I hope you realize how easy you  have it... Not that I am complaining, but living in the Islands opens a whole other chapter that you just don't think about....

In order to get rid of your trash, you must take a 10 minute dinghy ride to the government dock. Now this is not so bad now that I know there is a beach to pull the dinghy up on. (see, the first time we went over there all I could do was climb a concrete wall (the wall, the supply boats tie to...) to get up to the land where the dumpster is) We had not been informed about the beach. Climbing the wall would not have been quite so bad, had I NOT been in a dress. Tim found it humorous, especially since the fright boat had just docked a few hundred feet from us... Gonna hurt him one of these days!

Dumpster Beach

the 'Dumpster'

Walking back from the 'Dumpster'

Now, here is a picture of the local market... It has been closed for the last few days, due to New Years... We will have to go into town tomorrow for Diet Cokes and other groceries....

The Market...

The bridge you must go under in order to get into the lake 

where the dinghy dock is located...

Once you get to the dinghy dock you can fill your jerry jugs with fresh water. The Exuma Market Place keeps a R/O unit running in order to supply the cruisers with fresh water at no charge, This is awesome because we have paid as much as .50 cents/gal for water along the way... 

My Captain, taking care of me and the pups, making sure 

we don't run out of water...

The walkway from the street to the dinghy dock...

We were entertained by a couple of dolphin on the way

 back to the boat after filling up on water

We might try to go to town tomorrow when the market is open to do some grocery shopping(weather permitting...) We WILL go to town on Wednesday to

meet the propane boat. We ran out of one tank about 3 weeks ago and I am sure our 2nd tank is getting close to being empty.... Tim must be eating

real good. It is amazing how much you love to cook when you don't have to WORK!