One week in the Dominican Republic

It took only a couple of days for us to address three of our four technical issues - the generator needed a new belt, but a bearing had seized (which probably caused the belt shredding, JP guesses) so the mechanic here fixed both and the gen is now fine. We MAY have identified the cause of the engine not charging the batteries (intermittently); only time and another voyage will tell. With the gen working, that is less of a worry. JP and Susan labored to fix the davit support that had come out for the second time, and feel pretty confident that it will hold for a while. They also made some adjustments to how the dinghy is attached, making it a bit shorter and reducing the torque on the cross-straps.

SO - with only the compass left to be fixed (and that seems to require the ability to turn the boat in all directions in very calm waters) - we set out in our rental car on Sunday to explore a bit of the Dominican Republic. We drove first to the capital, Santo Domingo, in the south, for an afternoon, evening and overnight. We enjoyed a bit of people watching in the Zona Colonial, on the Parque Colon, strolled a bit of the old city (too hot for much of that - mad dogs and Englishmen and midday and all that), and had a nice dinner in a restored colonial house near our hotel in the old city.

After breakfast on Monday, we headed for the mountain area that is north and west of the capital, to a town called Jarabacoa, to stay in a very nice resort hotel called Hotel Gran Jimenoa. It is right on a bend in the river Jimenoa that absolutely roars - lovely, lovely spot - and though May seems to be off season, the staff was very friendly and the rooms comfortable. The location is the main draw, and there are many activities in the surroundings, from white water rafting to climbing the highest peak in the Caribbean (Pico Duarte, 3,400 metres), to hang gliding...we elected the rather tamer visit by car to two of the waterfalls that are nearby, Salto Jimenoa Dos, and Salto Baiguate.

I am finding it hard to write concisely about our impressions of the DR. Susan said today that there is a 100-peso economy (about 36 pesos = $1 US) and there is a 1000-peso economy - meaning, you can get a meal for 100 pesos or so that is delicious, plentiful, served in a safe and friendly environment - and then you skip from that to the more standard $20 and up entree type restaurants (at or near the hotels, for example). We saw brand new high-rise condo buildings in Santo Domingo on the Malecon (waterfront) that could be in Miami, and plenty of very nice vacation houses both near the beach here in Playa Cofresi and near Jarabacoa. We saw lots of people clearly making subsistence incomes selling produce, breakfast foods in the town square, flowers by the side of the road. We were greeted warmly nearly everywhere (the hotel in Santo Domingo was an exception that we can't really explain) by nearly everyone; music is played in what to our ears is a nearly relentless fashion - everywhere, all the time, and at full volume - and if there isn't music playing, someone is usually singing. I guess what I would say is that it is very apparent that this isn't a place you can understand quickly or easily, but it is easy to see how people fall gradually in love with the DR and want to stick around to see and understand more.

You can see a selection of our photos by clicking on:

2011 05 Dominican Republic

We are back at the marina now, and have spent today provisioning in Puerto Plata, returning the rental car, topping off the water tanks, cleaning the boat, checking on the weather, and generally preparing to head out again tomorrow. We are going to try again to make a long passage; our target is Boqueron, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. It's about 250 miles, so we should arrive there sometime early on Saturday...though I am NEVER supposed to say such things.