Birthday boy

The sail over from Samana to Luperon was a bit exciting. First off, we managed to get out of our slip and the marina pretty much by ourselves with no issues (amazing considering we were surrounded by concrete docks and in a narrow passage for slips. We were still congratulating ourselves hours later when the engine died. Luckily it didn’t take Trip long to figure out all the rolling had kicked up a lot of sludge in the diesel tanks and the filters were clogged, blocking fuel from getting through to the engine. Though it always feels like hours when I’m on the wheel and I’m nervously watching us bobbing closer to shore, Trip had the filter swapped out pretty quickly and we were on our way again. That is, until we watched the Dominican Armada (local coast guard) come around the bend and send a team out to us in a speed boat. We were fortunate – they only asked where we were coming from/going to and if we had a despacho (permit to travel) which I waved from the cockpit praying they weren’t going to try boarding us in big swell. That’s all they needed and we were on our way again.

Hot tub at Putulas – not a bad way to enjoy a cocktail

After 29 hours, our entry to Luperon was uneventful. Despite the high winds and big seas, land and reefs protected us as we moved into the bay. The channel was well marked and one of the local boat guys (Domingo) guided us to a mooring (funny enough the mooring is owned by other cruisers we recently met who are renting it out till they return for hurricane season) just off the docks of the marina. Not long after clearing in we were hailed on the radio and told there was a BBQ setting up on the beach to celebrate the Commandante’s birthday. Good thing we got the call because none of the local restaurants were open – everyone was at the BBQ! Good food, good drinks, fabulous music & nice people – not a bad start to our visit.

Mico

Trip was celebrating his birthday while were down here so we decided to do it proper. He’s always asking for waffles (and I don’t have a wafflemaker on board), so we did breakfast on shore at Putulas complete with lots of bacon and mimosas (thank you Kat & Johnny!). Mico (short for Mi Corazon or ‘my heart’) hung out under the table, hoping for scraps (if we didn’t have Lennie waiting for us at home I’d kidnap this dog and bring him back!) We rented their three wheeler tuk tuk and drove out to the 27 Charcos (waterfalls), a local park. I should have known it was going to be a bit more than a swim and a hike when we had to suit up with lifejackets and crash helmets. We half hiked / half ran up the trail. Turns out we were the last group of the day and storms were coming so the guides wanted us to move along. We got to the top and then the fun began. You jump off cliffs through or in front of the falls into pools. You then hike or swim through gorges to the next set of falls. One jump was 22 feet! Trip jumped but I opted to climb down a ladder instead.  We agreed though that the ladder option was scarier! Some of the falls form natural water slides which beat any waterpark we’ve ever visited.

My only regret was that we didn’t hire an extra guide to film/photograph it all. My iPhone case (less than a year old) is starting to break and I’m not convinced it’s completely submersible. Nonetheless it was a memorable day – I told Trip I don’t think he’s ever going to have a birthday this well celebrated again!

Trip getting dance lessons from a local

Saturday was spent wandering around town and doing some provisioning before we leave for the Bahamas. We topped off water and fuel and sent laundry out to be done. Then it was back to the marina for Mexican night and karaoke. Trip didn’t disappoint and performed ‘Chantilly Lace’ before the drunk renditions of Jimmy Buffett songs started…..