Thursday February 4: Caves and Seashore of Puerto Rico

Inside the outbound terminal

The airport in the Dominican Republic is very different than any US airport we've ever been in. Very open with minimal walls - and a thatched roof!!

Since every flight leaving (Steve pointed this out) is an International flight, we arrived earlier than needed but it never hurts to be early.

The organization of in/out is quite good. Some waiting in line for customs (and the collection of $10 per person entering) but otherwise a very easy entry in and out of the country.

Main terminal building with it's thatched roof

Having bid goodbye to the Dominican Republic, it was a short 35 minute flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico and wasn't long before we spotted San Juan.




It was easy to spot the fort guarding the entrance to the port as well as the large cruise ship in port.

It wasn't long after we were settled into our next airbnb that we tried the local favorite food: the mofondo - mashed plantains (similar to bananas but always cooked before eating) stuffed and/or covered with pork, crab or shrimp.





And of course Steve needed to find a grocery store! This is a huge squash of some sort. Good thing I was with him as we really had no way to cook anything this large! Our place had a well equipped kitchen but no ...... really? No .....

So we ended up with chicken and tater tots - I LOVE those things :-)

It was a pleasant night. Prime time TV didn't start until 9 pm. Who stays up that late???




Plus we were going to up early to drive an hour and a half to the Camuy River Cave park. We had been there quite a number of years ago with friends from Cleveland and knew it was worth seeing again.

Entrance to the cave.

It was a tram ride down (and back) to the entrance of the cave. Nice way to get around as it was quite steep - with lots of switchbacks.


The entrance looks like a giant mouth as we approach.

Exit of the cave

After a 35 minute or so walk through the cave, the exit looks again like a giant mouth.


Weirdest thing was on the way back there was a section that was incredibly warmer than the rest of the cave. It was the body heat from all of the bats that live just below the walkway we were crossing! Don't remember how many bats live in this cave.

For more info about the cave, click here.

On the way back to San Juan we followed the coast to see what there was.

Found a lighthouse - can't remember the name of it :-(



Best though was the beach we found around the corner from the point here.

And of course Steve just HAD to climb on the rocks! Insane waves being squished between the large rocks. Unbelievably he only got a little wet from this wave!!

Best find of the day? A Radio Shack that had a charger that will charge our camera battery!!

Tomorrow: from the coast to the rainforest of El Yunque ..... and the next place we stay: Casa Cubuy.

Tuesday February 2: Horses on the Beach

Having left Samana on the northern side of the Domican Repubic, we thought we were in the "less rural" part when we arrived at Punta Cana yesterday.

It was again an interesting time trying to find our Airbnb place. Seems most places you might want to stay are gated. Which meant that Carlos (our host for the next couple of nights) needed to meet us in order for us to actually get into our place.

Apparently some people are still working and aren't retired because he had a meeting to attend and couldn't meet us until 3:30. No problem. We found a small restaurant with wifi and patiently waited.

He came and we followed him - to the pigs! This is for my brother Tom and his pig PJ + others (not sure if he named the little ones yet). Anyway, this pig's domain was in a fenced in empty lot across from our accommodations. Cute little pigs. Carlos wasn't sure who owned them!

We found a place about 30 minutes north that offered horse back riding on the beach!


It was great fun and Steve finally managed to get what he termed the "best horse ever" as his horse always wanted to be in front and would gallop when given the opportunity!

Bonus? Two of the cutest dogs ever (not as cute as Cricket and Gigit of course .... ) and they just loved being held.

Both of them just fell asleep as they were held. Too cute :-)

The "pet" iguana - not so cute but folks seemed to like it.

Picture opportunity I guess. I'm thinking these people were not from Marathon!

Maybe these are actually native to this part of the Caribbean unlike the iguanas in Florida.

Restaurant experience? Small place right on the ocean. When we asked for a menu, they didn't have one.

How do we know what we can order? (Remember we're two non Spanish speaking gringos).

So the young man who seated us indicated he could show us what we could order. And he did just that: a platter of 4 whole fish sliced vertically and what looked like a florida lobster (no claws).

Ok. We'll try the fish - grilled please - small one for me, larger for Steve - rice and beans on the side. I'm truly not a fish lover (especially with the head on) but I had to admit it was really good. Score one for Steve!

Next stop a few miles back toward our place was one of the few remaining public beaches.

Very different than the beach near our place in Punta Cana that is surrounded by the all-inclusive resorts that this area is known for. You know - check in - don't leave the premises - leave and go home.

Interesting though as the beaches at those places are packed with people yet the one we went to (Macao) was not the least bit crowded.

The dot in the water to the right of the palm tree stump is Steve :-)  Water is warm!!

Tomorrow: off to Puerto Rico. It's just a 30 minute or so flight to San Juan where we'll spend the next four days. Still warm there as well :-)

Monday February 1: A Whale of a Trip!!

So this is a photo from the internet and is what we would have seen if we were permitted to be closer to the humpback whales that come here to calf. The rule for Samana Bay is 50 meters away and the water wasn't nearly this clear! The white is the whale's pectoral fin, very large.

For more information on the humpback whales, click here.

(This picture is from the internet also but we did see one whale breach 3 times in a row!!)





Seems I have neglected to bring the camera battery charger and can't get any of our pictures of the whales that we actually did see off of the camera, this blog will have to do for a while. Sad about the battery - perhaps I will be able to pick one up at ???

It was a perfect day and we were able to follow a mom and calf for about 30 minutes. First documented calf of the 2016 season. Anyway, will fill this blog in after our return to the boat or I find a charger - whichever comes first!

Sunday January 31: The Dodge' ems

Yesterday, after a nice flight to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, we were off - on our own - in our rental car - driving where no one in their right mind would drive ,,, Santo Domingo.

It was only 2 1/2 hours to Santo Domingo. Seemed like we should visit the capitol of this country if we were going to see it all. Seemed like we would be in well before dark. Seemed like all was going well - and then it wasn't!

OMG - Steve gets the award for the best adaptation to driving in a place where there apparently are no road signs, lanes, speed limits or anything else! All was fine until we were about 20 minutes from the city. Suddenly the traffic was bumper to bumper for the next 90 minutes.

Calling it the Dodge 'ems doesn't begin to do it justice, its the most aggressive driver wins! After trying to find our Radisson Hotel in the dark we finally came upon a wonderful young woman cab driver who led us to it. The hotel was very poorly marked and very hard to see if you didn't know where it was. Our navigator was less than helpful (that would be me). We were very happy to arrive about 90 minutes later than expected, ordered room service and made it an early night.

We left Santo Domingo this morning after a nice stay at the Radisson – what might be our last “civilized” place we stay while in the Dominican Republic. You know – TV, internet, room service, etc. It's Airbnb from here on out. Not sure what we'll find!

Without a GPS and a true map (I was able to use screen shots from the computer) and no usable phone (not sure why our “works everywhere phone” doesn't), it's been a challenge. Plus neither Steve nor I speak any measurable amount of Spanish (where are you Wendy and Tom when we need you??).

Addresses?? Forget it. Road signs? Nonexistent for the most part. Motorbikes, a major method of travel, were whizzing by on both sides while we searched in vain for our turn off for our lodging for Saturday night. 

 No luck and no one to ask because virtually no one spoke English and we're relying on my Spanish from 9th and 10th grade :-( . We decided to go into the town of Samana, where we were headed tomorrow for the whale watch trip, to ask for help, because we thought they likely would speak English.

 Kim (the owner of the whale watching company) was wonderful and we managed to finally find our way to Villa Rosita.  

This place has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Should be large enough for us :-) Right on the water. Must be something that just draws us to the water. Home for 2 nights.

In the meantime, we share the road with some interesting vehicles. Mostly mopeds that ride in the berm on the sides of the road, or on the road, or cutting around in-between the cars – especially in the populated areas.

It's amazing we haven't seen anyone get killed yet. I can't believe the craziness of it all.

The land itself changes from mountains to flat lands as the drive north takes us from the southern shore to the northern shore – in about 2 hours.

Most roads on the north end have homes/businesses - using both words loosely - lining the street. This is a very poor country for sure. And the currency? 100 pesos is worth $2.12 US. Even when we withdrew the maximum of $600 from the ATM it was only $13 and change US. People must have to carry $1000 peso bills to even do anything – like buy food or gas.

We did inadvertently manage to find a nice place for lunch overlooking Samana Bay – where we leave from tomorrow for the whale watching trip. It was good to scope it out for tomorrow.

Right now, Steve is trying to open a can of corn as a part of our dinner – but no can openers in the place. He's using a meat clever …..

Last picture: of the parking lot for the supermercado – a supermarket! The mopeds continue to weave in an out, people are crossing the street, two vans just stop and double park. Crazy, crazy, crazy ….

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

Saturday January 30: Finally - Warm Weather .... In the Dominican Republic!!

 We finally found the warm weather that has NOT been in Florida - it's in the Dominican Republic!!

Way more south than the Keys.

But first back to Banana Bay .....








First the seat on the dinette needed to be recovered. Can't have the seat back be nice and the seat still in need ....












So between Steve and I, the seat bottom (with new foam) was covered in more of the same material.




A good part of our storage is under this seat - access needed to still be easy. I think we accomplished the goal of having it look nice and still be easily removed.

Another project finished - and just in time for Pat and Becky to arrive.

They are headed to the Virgin Islands for a sailing adventure with friends but made the 3 hour detour south (from flying in to Ft. Lauderdale) to spend a couple of days with us here in cool-but-warmer-than-Ohio Marathon.






Staying with us on Yesterday's Dream gave them a good trial for staying on the catamaran they have rented with 3 other couples.

And of course we had to celebrate them finally coming to pay a visit :-)






The Keys experience included a trip to Bahia Honda State Park (with the camera forgotten of course) with a mandatory stop at Key's Fisheries for a seafood lunch.

It may seem like all we did was eat and drink but there was also the always informative tram ride at Crane Point for a bit of history of the area. And of course plenty of just being on the flybridge enjoying our new view of the bay (more on that we we return to the boat).

What a quick couple of days. There were also visits to the pool and hot tub.



And exercise for Steve, Pat and Becky, a kayak over to the mangroves. The water is not very clear though with all of the wind stirring it up but it was still a nice day for a paddle even though the sun never really broke through.




Their visit ended Thursday when we left for the three hour, turned into four hour, drive to the Ft. Lauderdale airport (it rained the whole way and multiple accidents really slowed the traffic). When we arrived the terminal was closed and evacuated (fire alarm had been pulled). What a mess!!!

But Pat and Becky made their flight, we made it to our hotel and flew out early Friday morning for a trip to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. More on that at some point!!

Saturday January 23: Still Blowin' in the Keys

The wind continues to blow through the Keys - today is 30 mph with occasional gusts higher.

Doesn't make me want to ride around on a bike as it feels as though I'd just get blown right over!

Today it's from the west - which is good for us on the boat as the trees in front of us block much of the wind. The worst is the north winds  which create some interesting wave action in the marina basin.

Not sure how that pelican can even fly! Good job Steve getting the pelican in the picture :-)

But it's warm (mostly), sunny (some days) and no snow - unlike the East coast. We've been watching the weather channel lately for it's entertainment value. Some of the boater's here have greater concerns though. At least one that we know of that still has a home in New Jersey - and the power is out.

So we use the time to continue maintenance on the boat - both in and out.

Steve's replacing both swing lights as they are showing both rust and wear. About 3 years old which is actually pretty good in this salty air environment.

Recovering the dinette seat bottom and back as well as the bar stools is also an ongoing project.

Same material that I used last year to make the new cushion covers for Guppy. There is still tons of the material left from our $35 bargain at the fabric store in Cleveland. 

Seat bottom is for another day ;-)

And as I was working on recovering the bar stools - I decided owning these bar stools for 16 years and one recovering was enough! They made the move through 3 homes and one boat. Time for new ones!

So, armed with Amazon Prime, the new pair arrived in a very quick 4 days.

Ten minutes to assemble and we're good to go. Smaller and lighter but not as comfortable.

No one really sits on them unless we're eating so no issues there. And taken apart they are much easier to store.

Most fun over the past week? Joining the marina community in a "Pierogi Night" put on by Randy and Cindy (I Think I Can ...), and George and Pat (Reflection). 

Cindy

Lots of work cleaning  up the 'work room' next to the laundry (too cold and windy to have the gathering outside) and then hand making close to 100 potato/cheese pierogi. 

George and Pat

Plus Cindy made dill pickle soup - which sounds weird but was incredibly good! All in all a great time :-) Steve will definitely be getting THAT recipe!

Wildlife spotted around the marina: a green heron taking a break from the wind on our neighbor's swim platform. These birds are very skittish and it's unusual to see one just hanging around. 

And wading around just off shore is a white heron. 

These birds are quite a bit larger than the smaller green herons. It's always fun to spot them!

Well, that's all the educational stuff I can muster today :-)

My brother Pat and his wife Becky are due in Monday from the northern tundra of Ohio. Hopefully the wind will decide to play nice when they are here .....

Wednesday January 13: What's With the Weather?

We've now been here in what is supposed to be the sunny, warm Florida keys. You know - where you sit at the point in a t-shirt and shorts to watch the sunset?

Only lately (about half the days we've been here) it's been jeans and a jacket. VERY windy. I know - it's not like at the Vikings game where they played in temps of below zero - to say nothing of the wind chill factor. But really?

This kind of weather keeps us in the boat with the heater running. Of course the other days, we're in the boat with the air running as the humidity has been out of control! No happy medium this year .... so far. We're hoping for better ....

The biggest project for the season is the removal of our 1978 Onan 7.5 kw diesel generator. Anyone need a generator?

The plan was to take it apart to get it light enough to lift and maneuver it sideways and up from under the floor.

Even with stuff removed, it still weighs 350 pounds. On to plan B: have Billy the general mechanic bring in an A frame hoist, get it up out from under the floor and hoist it to the dock.

We'll update the progress as it happens ......


In the meantime, we have lots of parts :-)

On a 1978 boat, there are always other things that need attention so the cold weather has given us time to do a few.

All miniblinds removed and scrubbed (they REALLY needed it from the long summer as the boat sat). Waterproofing the flybridge canvas is still on the list due to the rain. Did I say the weather has not been very nice?

Last Friday the weather settled down long enough for our boat neighbors Randy and Cindy (with crew of Gigit and Cricket) to return from their 9 month journey around the Great Loop route!

And this 6,000 mile journey in their 25' Ranger Tug! Left from Banana Bay last March, traveled counterclockwise up the East coast, up into Ontario, down Lake Michigan, down the central rivers, across the Gulf of Mexico and finally returning here to Banana Bay.

Nice job!!

And now we get the occasional visit from Cricket and Gigit both. Well, Randy and Cindy too ....









There was a day and a half of really nice weather - nice temp and no winds.

Time for a trip 45 minutes up the coast on Jenna Star (our next door neighbors George and Nancy) for a relaxing lunch and ride.

Best was that Dave and Joyce (formerly from Joysea) were down here for a week and were able to join us!

They were traveling with us when we completed the loop in Rome, NY on the Erie Barge Canal in 2011.

Once Looper friends, always Looper friends :-)