The Catch Everyone Up to Speed.

Ernie, Me and Kenny with the Limon Falls Behind

The Anchorage in St. Maarten

The 3 of us on our very skinny horses going to the falls.

The last blog I wrote about Dominica and Guadeloupe. We were told by our weather router Herb that we should head to Antigua as this would give us a better angle for much of the rest of the trip. So off to Antigua we went. The seas were not kind again putting much tension on Genesis and her crew.

We however found a couple of nice anchorages, recovered and the following day headed on to St. Maarten/Martin.

FINALLY nice seas. I think we were all ready to abandon ship.

St Maarten/St Martin is a very unique island. It is all but 7 square miles. Half  being Dutch (I would say American) and the other side French. The French side very much retains it identity.

The whole island is a tax free haven thus to see mega yachts both power and sail is common. I would have to say there were at least 4000 boats in the small area. To add to this madness the Heinikien Regatta was on at the time. 1000's of drunken sailors having lots of fun. It was fun to watch.

We had a great meal on the french side then left in the early hours to continue on to the BVI's. Another wonderful calm crossing. Thankfully.

We stayed at an anchorage called The Bight on Norman Island. There were many other boats and now with the US flag.

We motored out of the anchorage at 0600 hr bypassing the US Virgin Islands and continuing on to Puerto Rico. We have traveled through many countries and now the joke begins.

The USA Border Security requires that you phone in as soon as you are in US waters. Unless you are American one tends not to have a US cell phone that works.

 We anchored in Bahia Honda for approximately an hour when the US navy came to tell us we must move as it was an abandoned navy base. We continued on for another 2 hrs to a beautiful bay. We left the next morning to get to Ponce. This is where the shit show began. Ponce is the 2nd largest city on Puerto Rico. It is where we would go to Immigration, Homeland Security and Customs. This is where we began to make mistakes. We took our garbage to land and disposed of it in the garbage bin. We walked up to Customs.

The Immigration guy asked right away if I had phoned in. I said no I had just gotten here and we came straight in. Wrong answer. You must phone before you come in. That would be a $3000 fine. Next he asked if I had garbage. I said yes and that we had disposed of it in the garbage reciprocal. That would be a $1000 fine. I send Kenny back to put it back into our dinghy. Then the insensitivity began and hit him back in the face. He looked at my registration papers and asked why I and not my husband was filling out the paperwork. I informed him that my husband had died, Kenny and Ernie were helping me get the boat back to the Florida to be shipped home. He had tears in his eyes then appologized told me that he would get things done quickly for me and if I needed anything I was to call him. The fines were dismissed.

We continued on to Cabo Rojo and went inland to phone Homeland Security then left at midnight to continue on to Dominica Rebublic.

The Mona Passage is reknowned for its adverse currents and winds. Well back to the aweful weather again. We arrived in Punta Cana where we thought we would rest for several hours get the engine working right again (air lock) and continue around midnight. The Navy had a different idea. The DR also wants to know where you are. The boys came aboard checked out that we were not smugglling either people or drugs then told us to continue on and say we did not stop there. We continued all night luckily to great weather. We arrived in Samana at 0900 hr. 35 hrs of steady cruising. We had maybe 10 mins. before the navy was on its way to check our dispachio and registration. We then headed into shore to do Customs and Immigratrion. No problems but very expensive.

 Arriving on shore I felt like we must have a bullseye on our foreheads. Instantly the dock boys are dragging you around to where you need to go. (Could have easily been done ourselves) It all comes at a price.

The next day we headed out on a tour that seem to be reasonable in price. No mention off all the extra costs. Anyways we toured a little of this penninsila. We took horses up to the headlands of a waterfall then had to climb further. We were in company of at least 100 people. No skinny dipping for Kenny this time.

We climbed over the mountain range to the beach area. Yep typical tourist area. Had a lunch on the beach then went to Sanchess were we visited with the local fishermen. This is not a tourist area and we paid real prices for the camarones. I bought 4 pounds and that will give us 5 meals.

We continued back into Samana and toured a church and a marine museum. This was very interesting. Just around the corner several ships from the 1700's are being recovered. A river has been running over the ships and much of the artifacts are intact.

So far, of the islands we have visited I like the DR. It seems to have a lot to offer. Eco, suntanning and it is Spanish. I am enjoying speaking the language again and I am sure that when I get home I will try and immerse myself in the language and do the ESL somewhere.

I would like to thank all those that have email or skyped me. My friends are helping me get through this.

I am trying really hard to focus on not what I have lost but what I gained from Ken in my life. When I see a butterfly I remind myself to look at the beauty and he tells me to keep being strong. It is all going to be fine and we are making good progress. Unfortunately the weather is changing and we will have to stay for a few days but I believe there is a reason. Catch up on sleep and get ready for the next step. Until next time.

Sanchess where the camarones are from.