Breaking News... No More Beans and Rice At Least For Awhile ..

Our freezer is packed with the gargantuan lobster that the Capt speared (see Mayaguana post for lobster pics), tuna and wahoo that he also caught while trolling and the snapper that Andre gifted us in Mayaguana.

Dominican Republic… this has been quite an event for me. My eyes are beginning to open and reveal how my perception of the world is starting to grow into one that is more expanded and well rounded. Our sail started out a bit more peaceful than my last. The initial day was beautiful, temperature was tepid and comfortable, barely a cloud to be found in the spacious sky, gentle breeze of 15-20 knots just off the stern, the spinnaker flying full and unvarying. What more could we ask for? How about 2 days of this weather?? Apparently that was asking too much! The next day we spent dodging squall after squall. We had rain, winds (incompatible with sailing of course) which resulted in more engine time than we prefer along with much cooler temperatures. Once again out came the fleece and foul weather gear. The remainder of our 54 hour sail went along those lines except the addition of our close encounter of the massive type. During my watch of course, I noted a blip on the radar screen approximately 12 miles out, I jumped into action grabbed the binoculars and searched intensely for the object that was causing the commotion on the screen. I explored the horizon attentively without avail. This went on for the next eight miles.. blip.. blip.. blip and still no break receiving any visual on this object. When it approached the 3 mile mark and continued to bear straight towards us I decided to awaken the Captain for guidance. About the time he scrambled out of the companion way .. there it was climbing out of the setting moon, bearing down straight for us! A giganitic commercial ship without any obvious navigational lighting. The Captian called for us to tack as to change our heading just as the massive beast passed astern to Mary Rose. whewww! How I love night watch!! Yes, we are thankful for the one perfect day! Once we began to approach the island our noses picked up a whiff of scents of burning wood and fresh hay. It was not long after we come upon these aromas the island germinated up from the horizon like a blooming flower. What a wonderful sight it was, the land lush and green flowing over the mountains. The aroma in the air bursting with an assortment of scents. We finally made it,up went the quarten flag! First stop was at customs, immigration, and agriculture and port authority. Yessss all of these had to be done but it was Sunday no one available to check us in so we spent the following 8 hours as illegal world travelers! The next morning after a tad bit of paperwork and 3071 pesos later we were legal. Then we went in search for a true Dominican meal to only find out the main staple here is …you guessed it BEANS AND RICE. We ended up at Shaggy’s where we consumed a good trustworthy American meal.. steak and seafood. The food and company was excellent as the bugs flew around in abundance biting and frustrating us constantly. Subsequently we collapsed into a restful well deserved sleep. We awoke early the next morning and headed towards town to complete our chores aka laundry and shopping for boat parts. Yes that is our laundry hanging on the line. Amusing huh!? The rest of the day was spent wandering through town, contacting our loved ones via Skype as well as updating the blog. Today we went to the produce market and meat market, yummy huh?

Tomorrow we are going to continue our visit with the wonderful friendly people of this island as well as taking the bus to jump off a waterfall yes there will be pictures to follow!

Peace and warm hugs wished for all.