Galt has been keeping us busy this week with projects. As we enter into October this next week, we realize how many projects we want to complete before we leave Luperon in November. November seemed like forever away when we arrived in mid-July but it is now just around the corner! We finished part one of the bimini this week which was very exciting! I must give Bill credit….when he initially sketched out the plan for me to see (and Felo the welder to follow), I was less than encouraged. Bill will be the first to tell you that his artistic ability is at about the level of a four year old so I had a difficult time envisioning the final product. It is awesome! It gives us at least another foot of head room on the deck, holds two huge solar panels, two smaller solar panels and shades the entire back deck area. Phase two included the hard cover to replace the dodger (covering over the helm area). We set that new piece in place this week and secured the other two large solar panels in place. We are waiting on the fiberglass roofing to be finished for the dodger and then we will need to figure out the remaining puzzle of the plexiglass installation for the helm station windows. The finished product will include built in benches, places for the fishing rods to be stored, winches for the dinghy and a lot of “oh shit” handles for me to grab. So, kudos to Bill for getting us closer to winning the “deck of the year” award!
Living in Luperon continues to give us daily entertainment. You have got to love a place that has a restaurant that everyone calls “the French restaurant” which only serves Italian food, a beach where the gringos clean their dinghys, kayaks, etc that they call ‘dog shit beach’ and a country that has a national holiday that no one can explain the meaning….they just know they don’t have to work and they can go out to eat. The responses to questions are always a delight and a lesson in creativity. We asked about a deserted building on the hill that looks like a school but so far we have been told that it was an old house or a school run by the American mafia. So, whenever we are with a different local, we always ask what these buildings are because the answers keep getting more and more creative! Sometimes living in paradise, you have to pay the cost….for us, the cost is dinghy day. Cleaning the dinghy is the equivalent of washing the car but imagine washing your car standing knee deep in water using a scraper and a hard scrub brush while people spit on you. Luperon Bay is known as a “nutrient rich” bay. Definition: a lot of crap grows in it and sticks to everything that is in the water. For example, this week, Poppo pulled up a rope that was tied to our anchor and it was so encrusted with “nutrients” that I refused to even allow it back on the boat. So, the dinghy and the bottom of the boat must be scraped every few weeks in order to keep them clean and functioning. We hire a local to do the bottom of the boat because that requires scuba gear. But for the dinghy, we tackle that one ourselves. We jumped in the dinghy and headed for dog shit beach but along the way, Bill spotted another beach across the bay that was deserted and looked like easy access. We pulled in, took everything out of the dinghy and then attempted to flip the dinghy over in order to clean the bottom. Since the dinghy weighs close to 300 pounds, flipping it over generally involves Bill doing all of the work and me pulling a rope to appear as if I am helping him in some way. Once the dinghy is flipped over on the beach, Bill takes the scraper and begins hacking away at the growth on the bottom of the boat. The barnacles are crusty little things that take heavy muscle but today, it was mostly long algae and the mystery pods. The mystery pods are some sort of crustacean and they literally spit at Bill as he scrapes them off! I have to admit, that is pretty entertaining since I am not in charge of that chore. Then, we sprinkle some Oxyclean powder on the bottom and commence with scrubbing the bottom to remove the rest of the gunk. Once that is completed, I ever so helpfully hold the rope while Bill flips the dinghy over and drags it back into the water. Task done. At least for the next 3 weeks. Today’s reward for completing the dinghy task was to go exploring. We walked along the cliffs of Luperon and took some amazing pictures of the bay and the ocean. We met a local man collecting conch for his family and found another mystery resort that was never completed. All in all, cleaning the dinghy was a small price to pay for the reward that followed! Until next week, we look forward to curfew hours in the DR being pushed to a later time so perhaps we’ll be able to eat dinner after 5pm for a change! Enjoy your week and may you not encounter mystery pods that spit!
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I am guessing that some of you may be wondering why I did not post a blog last week. It is a little difficult to post a blog without a computer….thus begins the story of the big “whoops”! When we go over to the marina to do work in the shade and cool breeze, we always take our computers and phones and sometimes my ancient Ipad (just in case I feel the need to completely avoid work altogether!). We load everything into a backpack and Bill keeps it securely on his back. Due to my natural grace and balance, I am not encouraged to carry anything that might be dropped into the water. We also have what is called a dry bag but we have not had much luck with keeping things very dry in the dry bag so the backpack has always been the sturdier choice for the safekeeping of all items…electronics, passports, money, useless masks, etc. Friday began just like every other day but it was exceptionally still with no breeze on the boat so we voted to head over to the marina to sit under the fans for a bit. Once we had cooled off, eaten lunch, paid some bills online and had more than a few boat conversations with other boaters, we decided it was time to head back out to the boat. We loaded ourselves onto the dinghy and with the backpack securely on Bill’s back, we made our way home. In order to get off of the dinghy and onto the boat, we must step onto the swim platform. It is usually a straightforward process without much excitement. Not on Friday. On Friday, the front of the dinghy slid under the edge of the swim platform and would not let it go. We did not want the dinghy bouncing under the swim platform all night so Bill decided to push the front of the dinghy out with his foot. Good plan, unexpected execution. Bill was hanging onto the rope that holds the dinghy onto the davits (davits are the mechanism that lifts the dinghy out of the water when not in use). He put one foot on the front of the dinghy and just as he pushed the dinghy away from the platform, the clasp that was holding the dinghy rope let loose. Galt stayed right where he was supposed to be…with Bill’s right foot on the platform. The dinghy, however, broke free and floated away from the swim platform….along with Bill’s left foot. It was at that point that Bill, the backpack, two computers, two phones and one ancient Ipad went for a swim! Bill survived with a vicious rope burn under his arm and one cell phone that somehow survived. Everything else was immediately fried and no amount of dry rice was going to bring them back to life. Thus, no blog last week! Now, for the next fun. Buying a new phone and new computers in the DR. For the phone, it was pretty easy. Go to the phone store in Luperon, look over the selection of two phones and then buy one of them. Next step, try to get into Google account on phone that I set up several years ago….no luck remembering the password so do a password reset request….Google decides that I look “suspicious” so wait 5 business days for them to send an email giving me permission to access my Google back up account for the phone. I believe the Pony Express could have accomplished the password reset more quickly than Google did! Next step, search on phone for computer stores in the DR. Call Junior and rent the car again. Drive to Santiago. Wait outside the computer store until the security guard deems that enough people have left the store (there did not seem to be any count or order to it…just whenever he waved his hand, people entered). Go in store and find the refurbished computer area. Make selection from the two computers available. There were four selections in the new section but we figured if our computers were going to swim again, it would be less painful to have them be refurbished swimmers. Then, we point to which of the two computers we want, hold up two fingers and give the floor assistant our name. She hands us a ticket and we go to the counter to pay. The cashier takes our money and hands us another a receipt. She points to the counter next to her. That seems to be the “fetching” counter. The fetching guy looks at the receipt, points to another area for us to wait and then disappears into the storeroom. We wait. We wait some more. The fetching guy comes out of the storeroom with one box and takes it to the fetching desk. Fetching man one and fetching man two argue for a minute then both disappear. We wait. Fetching man two comes out with two boxes and waves for us to follow him. He then points to a door around the outside of the building for us to go have the computers tested before we leave. Computers tested and ready to go! Now, I know what you have pictured in your head for this store….Best Buy, Office Max, Costco…..try again. The entire store was about the size of the Gap store in the mall. Thank goodness the security guard was there to control the masses! The next stop in Santiago was one of the two hardware stores on our coast that actually carried stainless steel hardware. Bill had been looking for several weeks for stainless steel screws, nuts and bolts. He finally had a store email him back stating that they had the supplies we needed. When we arrived, Bill pulled out his translator app and began trying to explain what we needed. We have figured out that Google translator may translate words into Spanish but it does not translate meaning. We get a lot of confused looks and this day in the hardware store was no exception. Finally, an associate who spoke some English came to assist us. He took Bill’s list, told us to wait and disappeared. I swear we don’t know where all of the workers in the DR go when they disappear but it must be quite the place because they always come back exactly 20 minutes later with what you needed. We have even had a couple of times when we were told they did not have items but then they appear 20 minutes later. With stainless steel in hand, we headed over to a burger place called Venezuelan Burger. The fact that there is a Venezuelan burger place in Santiago, DR entertained us. We, of course, ordered a burger. Bill noted another column on the menu that was “perro caliente.” He asked, “Why is there dog on the menu?” It took us a few minutes to figure out it was a literal translation of a “dog that is hot”. According to our not so reliable Google Translator, a hotdog is supposed to be a “pancho” in Spanish. I am guessing the menu maker had a worse app than Google Translate on the day he made the menu. From Santiago, we headed over to Cabarete for a couple of days at the beach. Instead of going the usual route, we voted to take a different route through the mountains so we could see an undiscovered area of the country. What we did not realize is how undiscovered it was going to be! The road was very curvy like the mountain roads in Georgia but about half the width. Bill did an excellent job dodging the ditches and potholes. I did an excellent job keeping my eyes closed and not throwing up. So, for me anyway, that part of the DR is still undiscovered… Our Airbnb in Cabarete was directly across from the beach so it was perfect. Cabarete was definitely made for tourists. All of the restaurants had tables set up directly on the beach and it would have been perfect if we did not have the curfew to work around. The Airbnb also had two pools and a pool bar and they were allowed to be open until 10pm so we swam every night. Since we were the only tourists in town, we had top notch service from the locals. We heard story after story about the struggles they have faced during the Covid shutdown. None of them had worked in four months. In the States, we can usually live on savings or credit cards if we have hard times for four months. In the DR, those are not options. It is amazing to me how entrepreneurial the Dominican people are in the face of all of this nonsense. One man was selling cigars to feed his family, another offering to be a tour guide and the pool bartender had started selling spices to the grocery stores in the region. The owner of one restaurant was from Australia and had lived in the DR for over ten years. He told us that he had kept his restaurant open during Covid and had managed to keep and pay all of his employees even though he had no customers. He stated that it was his responsibility to do so. Hard to find that dedication these days. If you have an opportunity to travel to any of the tourist based cities in the States or in the Caribbean, please do so. People are hungry and that is how you can help! Guilt free, feel good vacation! Here is hoping you have a wonderful week and that none of your electronics go for a swim! Our week began with a trip up Gringo Hill to Bob and Sue's Hotel in Luperon. Our generator injectors needed to be reconditioned so that meant no power for the night on the boat. So, instead of sitting in the dark with no fans, we voted to go to Bob and Sue's Hotel for the night. Bob and Sue were previous sailors who came through Luperon twenty one years ago and fell in love with the DR. For the next few years, they dreamed of returning to Luperon to live full time. Their dream turned into Bob and Sue's Hotel and it is quite the dream! The rooms are simple and quiet with an amazing view of the ocean and the mountains. The pool is surrounded by beautiful gardens that look effortless but I am sure take great effort! Bill and I sat in the pool for at least three hours on Monday and we only got out because our feet were beginning to peel! Our night went smoothly until a huge thunderstorm came through and the electricity shut down....so we had a night in the dark with no fans anyway which was rather humorous!
On Tuesday, John the German (I swear I don't make these names up!) showed up with our injectors and our generator is no longer drinking diesel fuel which is a huge positive given that diesel fuel is $3.60 a gallon in the DR! Our new solar additions arrived and we are currently getting them wired and programmed to hopefully support the microwave and coffee maker soon....I tried coffee this morning and killed the power on the boat so I can't report success quite yet but getting closer.... Mid week, our friends, Lisa and Eric, invited us to go to Santo Domingo for the weekend. Santo Domingo is the capital of the DR and one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean and has been on our list since we arrived. We packed up the car for the 4 hour drive, strapped in and held on tight as Eric maneuvered through the crazy drivers of the DR. The actual drive to Santo Domingo was probably only about 3 hours but it took at least another hour in traffic to get to the Airbnb. The Airbnb was located in the Colonial Zone and was marketed as overlooking the Colonial Zone....weeelllll......if you say so.....our view consisted of two deserted buildings that look like they had suffered some sort of explosion and a herd of cats that meowed loudly day and night but the Airbnb itself was clean and comfortable so we just didn't look out the window! The next day, we went to Tres Ojos (the Three Eyes) which are a set of 4 cenotes (underground lakes in caves)....yes, it is called Three Eyes but there are actually 4 of them....welcome to the DR logic once again.....The lakes were so clear that Bill stepped onto the top stair of one of the lakes to take a picture and found himself ankle deep in water. Reportedly, several Tarzan movies as well as several scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed at Tres Ojos so Sally the movie buff enjoyed that fun fact. We also enjoyed the entrepreneurial spirit of one man at the lakes. He offered everything from tours (which started at $30 and then quickly went down to $10 the more we said no) to DVD sets of the lakes "for our family and friends". No surprise to those of you who know me....you aren't getting a DVD set for Christmas..... For lunch, we had planned to eat at a Brazilian Steakhouse in the city. Since Santo Domingo is a real city, we were all looking forward to some different food choices on the trip rather than our usual choices of chicken, rice and beans that are the standard fare of the more rural areas. Alas, our dreams of meat on large skewers were quickly dashed. We arrived to a small establishment of about 3 tables (which was fine, just not as metropolitan as the website led to believe). Lisa went to the restroom to wash her hands. Then, she came running out, grabbed Eric by the hand, dragged him back to the bathroom and they both came out quickly and told us that there was no running water in the bathroom and the pitcher of water that had been placed to wash hands was full of bugs...needless to say, we did not have Brazilian food this day. So, we headed down to the Colonial Zone for lunch which was an adventure since it seemed that every Dominican girl under the age of 18 was celebrating a birthday on Sunday. After much ado, we found a place to eat, took some lovely pictures and headed back to the Airbnb for a long siesta! The next day, we needed to run our errands to resupply for the boat. We found a boat store in the city that had more boat supplies than we had seen since we left the states so we stocked up on quite a few necessities. Then, John the German had told us about a chandlery (aka fancy name for a marine supply shop) in Haina so we set the GPS and went on our way...only our way ended up taking us up streets that were never intended for cars much less an SUV. At one point, we had to wait for a man to come down off of his ladder in order to be able to squeeze by....needless to say, when we ended up at a dead end and had to come back the same way, the ladder man was glad to see us go. We never found the chandlery. At that point, we were all tired of the big city and ready to escape back to our little quiet town of Luperon. On the way back to Luperon, we heard a loud thumping noise and discovered we had a flat tire. We pulled over on the side of the road and prayed that the spare tire had some air in it. "Some" air is the key term but it got us to the gas station to fill it up with air and we finally made it home! I hope that you all have a wonderful week full of dreams of meat on skewers and tires full of air! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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