Luperon Dominican Republic

Typical Housing. Wooden homes with just bedrooms.  Motorcycles are the typical transportaion.

Wheres Waldo? Wheres the Iguana? Our Gecko has reappeared on the boat so I guess he didn't bail in Grenada. Poor guy must be freezing now.

A typical DR beach on the North Shore.

We all know that life has its bumps and potholes in the road but sometimes they feel more like craters and ditches.  What we worry about frequently never happens and if it is going to happen it just makes us unfit to deal with the problem at hand. Ken was the non worrier between us bringing me down to reality telling me not to worry. When he did worry he sure didn’t show me. Example the pirates.

This week I must thank many of you that have given me encouragement. As strong as you think I am I have a lot of moments when I am worried possible scarred.  I am not scarred of the sea more the time will pass and we do not make it to Florida in time. As one good friend said if you don’t make it in time it is just money. We can help you get it on the next boat. Immediately it reminded me of my grandfather saying the same thing. If money can fix the problem it is really not a problem.  I seem to have a lot of time these days to think of things in my past I have been shown and told.

So I find myself trying to realize if when you want something, don’t let yourself think what could go wrong. Be positive and think about the good things that could and will happen. Your attitude makes all the difference in the world. If I was negative Ken would just scowl and tell me to think positive. So now here I am doing mind games.

We are anchored in our last Dominican Republic anchorage before heading out across the Atlantic to Turks and Caicos then the Bahamas. We are and will be here probably until Wed. as the weather window slammed shut on us and so it is a waiting game.  We will not take any chances. Our weather guy said we could take a run yesterday but the seas would have been 12’ on the beam and the winds are howling at times here in the lagoon. SOOOOOOOOOO We wait.

The towns name is Luperon. It is a very poor town compared to what we have seen of the DR so far. The roads are made of dirt no concrete here. There are sidewalks. Most homes are made from wood that barely is standing. The homes have maybe one or two rooms for sleeping. The cooking is done outside generally using gathered wood. The towns people are so friendly non aggressive not trying to get dinero from the foreigners. Nice. The kids come running up to you with their holla and shaking your hand.

Luperon though a small rural town boasts markets and hardware stores, discos (can’t have enough of them), hospital, police, dentist and all the other amenities a civilized place needs. This town has everything you would want, including a gringo bar/restaurant with a pool and showers and free internet.

The anchorage is chock a block full of boats with depths of no more than 20’. It is in the mangroves keeping the winds and the water quite still.

There are now more American boats than any others  with Canadian boats following close behind. The flags of the world are less noticeable.  A shame really. We started to see this trend after St. Maarten when we headed into US waters. I do not believe this is a reflection on the Americans,  St Maarten  tends to be where boats leave from to head  to Europe.

The boating is changing as now talk is about heading home for so many of these boats. Most must be north of Hurricane Alley by Jun 1. So in a few weeks (2 – 3) one will see a real exodus from the Caribbean Islands. There are those that stick around going from Huricane hole to Huricane hole. Not unlike us in Mexico. 

We pass our time reading, playing Mexican Train and card games. The boys are doing a good job (most of the time) at keeping my mind occupied. Last night we had movie night on the Genesis which I think could have been the first since we started this trip. We may have had a movie one other night but it is not a common occurrence.

Ernie and I have just spent time going through charts to figure the route to Florida. It should be 8 more stops we think. That makes it seem much more manageable. Realistically doable.

Waiting for weather windows is always difficult but when you need to be somewhere by a certain time it naws at you a little.

We are taking walks surrounded by many butterflies to remind me to look at the beauty. I am sure once this trip is over I will have more time to reflect on the adventure we are having. Again thanks for all the encouragement.