SolMate enters the Caribbean- Luperon, Dominican Republic

Hello Friends-

We hope all is well and your New Year has been prosperous so far.

SolMate has been putting on the miles and we are now in Luperon, Dominican Republic.  (As a note, we have put about 6500 miles since we left last year-Savannah to Bahamas to Maine to Bahamas to DR).  We blasted back through the Bahamas this year, leaving Miami on Dec 16 and exiting Mayaguana on January 5th.

We had a great New Years eve, celebrating with our buddy boats- Sabbaticus, Southern Bella and Ultra, in Long Island, Bahamas.

We left there on New Years day and headed up to the north end of Long Island and anchored in Calabash Bay, staging for a departure to head south. We spent two days there, spearfishing, exploring some blue holes inland and generally enjoying some beautiful weather.

Dinner for Two- Fresh Lobstah!!

We left on Jan 3rd at 3am and did a 32 hour passage to Mayaguana, the southeastern most Bahama island. We hung out there for a day, scrounged around for some diesel fuel(not as easy as pulling up to the Chevron station) and got some rest. A couple more of our friends caught up to us in Mayaguana- Dance Aweigh and Magic Inspiration

We then left on Wed the 5th for a two night passage directly to the DR. Normally, one would make a stop in the Turks and Caicos, but due to a good W-NW wind from a front passing through, we left the T&C’s to port and rode a beam reach all the way to Luperon, rolling in on Saturday morning around 10am. While the wind was a real blessing, the seas were quite steep and closely spaced, so we really rolled and wallowed around. It was less than comfortable, but we got it done and are now enjoying an extended stay in Luperon Harbor.



Clearing into the DR at the Commandancia's Office

I must say, this place already feels like home. Having spent much of my childhood in rural Texas towns and on our family ranch only miles from the Mexican border, I am really loving this place. The dirt streets, friendly people and plethora of street food and cheap beer will make it very difficult to leave.

Raising the DR courtesy flag

Many of the folks(mostly old cruisers that came for a week and have stayed for years) that we talk to, all contend that this is the most livable spot in the Caribbean- good people, beautiful land and dirt cheap cost of living. I can’t make that assertion yet, but I am already trying to figure out how to make a home here in the future. More on that later.




Dirt streets in a one-horse town

For now we will explore and immerse ourselves in the Dominican culture, trying not to drink too many El Presidente beers(70 pesos:$2 for a 24oz bottle). Yesterday we went with all our buddy boats- Sabbaticus, Ultra, Southern Bella, Dance Aweigh, Magic Inspiration and Vicarius- on an organized tour into the mountains, where we learned about the soap stone carvers, Dominican coffee and cacao, cigars and several other local crafts.

We finished the day with a trek up into a place called 27 Waterfalls, where we climbed up through canyons and crevasses carved by mountain streams.



Geared up for the waterfalls



The water was chilly and blasting down through the cuts.   Quite exciting and a real workout to get up the falls- especially with Bella in tow.



We ascended through 7 of the falls, taking about an hour.  Then we turned back, getting to slide down and jump off into the pools to get back to the base.



Bella's up for the challenge



 It was amazing, and even Bella met the challenge- she had a great time and was the real rock star of the day. According to our guides, she is "perro primero" (the first dog) to go all the way up the falls.



We will work to keep the stories coming.  (We're committed to blogging again, we may or may not do the blogs to fill in the adventures down the East coast).

Remember- you can track us on our SPOT Satellite Messenger page at:
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