23 Dom. Republic « LILY'S LOG

Rounding Cabo de Samana, on our 130 mile

Rounding Cabo de Samana, on our 130 miles to Luperon on north west of Dominican Republic, about 20 hours sail.

shopping in St.Barbara

Little tuk tuk kind of thing and friendly Dominican takes us to the market

Tuna sandwiches on the way.

Tuna sandwiches on the way. Basil is growing away.

Rod goes for a morning swim in the murky

Rod goes for a morning swim in the murky waters after the longest most impressive downpour. We say goodbye to our fellow american sailors and head back across the bay to Santa Barbara de Samana to get our clearance papers.

Ride through the Mangroves in Samana Bay

Pouring Rain in our Dinghi through the untouched Mangroves of Los Haitises National Park. Watch the movie!

Park Los Haitises

With our dinghi, in pouring rain we explore the mangroves between the cliffs

Under way

A little trip in the mangroves.

A little trip in the mangroves. We got hit by a passing storm, drenched and our eyes happily swimming in the endless shades of greens, we return to Lily. The rain made the place seem all the more wild and remote. This was not to be missed!

National park of Los Haitises

National park of Los Haitises of mangroves, humid subtropical forest, caves once used by the Tainos and later by pirates.

A booby bird

A booby bird comes to have a curious look at us having breakfast.
Booby means clumsy in spanish, although excellent flyers they are indeed very awkward on land

Rod cooks the delicious tuna

Rod cooks the delicious tuna we caught sailing, we go to town of Santa Barbara de Samana for port duties check in bureaucracy so loved in this country, try hard to find something attractive with the chaotic dirty place, and decide to leave once paperwork completed.

Thundery weather

Thundery weather accompanies us to a beautiful anchorage all to ourselves.

Nearly 12 hours at sea today

Nearly 12 hours at sea today,motoring most of the time as no wind except the last few hours sailing with the genaker on the fringe of huge purple thundery storm. The scenary in Semana Bay is stunning with dense green forests mostly of palm trees. This large protected bay will keep us busy exploring for [...]

First time fishing in a long while

First time fishing in a long while and we catch a 15kg big eye tuna. A real beauty, and bleeder! Rod’s perfecting his fileting skills learnt from our dear kiwi sailor friend Steve.

Rod gives kite surfing another go

Rod gives kite surfing another go at Punta Cana but lack of wind frustrates the effort. Very hot today with barely a breeze.

Lauras birthday trip to Santo Domingo

The day before Laura’s birthday we rent a car a drive to Santo Domingo the capitol of the Dominican Republic. A four hour drive through fields of sugar cain, still cut by hand and crazy villages, poverty and wild traffic. From the hotel “Nicolas de Ovando” in the old [...]

Mail from Geneva

> Von: roy galantay > Datum: 2. Mai 2009 05:57:19 GMT-04:00 > An: Laura Le Gré >

> Uh Oh!, > > It’s the big O!!! > > Happy Birthday to you, Laura!! > > Hope all is well out there. Watch out for the N1H1 flu. > As you can see, both the [...]

The birthday Girl

Laura jumps the 40th with ease in Santo Domingo in a beautiful hotel in the colonial old city

Under way

Arrival in the Dominican Republic

After a fast crossing with 8kts average we arrive at the marina of cap cana and are immediatly inspected by Customs, Immigration and navy.

Under way

We failed to make it in

We failed to make it into the inner bay. Too many shallow rocks. But our morning swim was delightful!