The week began with a trip to the Immigration Office and Navy in order to get our departure papers to move the boat to Ocean World. Much to my surprise, the initial response from the Navy was, “You are not allowed to move the boat”. When I inquired why we were not allowed to move the boat, the officer responded, “If you have been in the DR longer than 3 months, you may leave the country on the boat but you can’t move the boat in the DR. You can stay in Luperon, though”. As I puzzled through this statement, I put on my quiet voice, smiled and calmly threatened, “Well, you are going to have a lot of trouble in the next few weeks then. Every boat in the harbor has been here longer than 3 months and they are all getting ready to leave Luperon now that hurricane season is over so I think you had better figure out a solution that works for us all”. I saw his eyes widen as he realized the truth behind my statement and envisioned a large number of Gringos banging on his office door with pitchforks and torches. A few phone calls later and all was good. It turns out that people do not need a visa extension to stay in the country but a boat does. So, we hired a local man to handle all of the details and Galt is officially on his way to having a Visa which will allows us to take our time and see even more of the DR. The next step was to get the departure paper approved. The officer asked when we were leaving. “Friday morning at 4:00am,” I said. He looked at me in horror, “No, you leave at 6:30am and I can do”. My response, “No, we leave at 4:00am and you will do. We must leave early to travel safely.” His response, “Why so early? It only takes one hour to get to Puerto Plata.” I sighed, “It is one hour by CAR to get to Puerto Plata. It is 3 to 4 hours by boat to get there.” Once again, his eyes widened and he said, “Whoa. That is a slow boat. I give you paper now so you can leave.” I am pretty sure I heard him cheer as I was leaving his office….
We planned on departing Luperon on Friday which meant that every minute of the week was booked with final preparations. At least, until it rained. It hasn’t rained in Luperon for three months but the weather suddenly decided that it needed to bless us with mass amounts of rain. When you live on a boat and it rains, there is really not much you can do. We did all of our indoor chores in about 3 hours and then sat and watched it rain. And rain. And rain. We awoke on Thursday to cloudy skies but no rain so Bill began working like a madman. He completed the deck work while we waited anxiously for the benches that were made in town to arrive. Alas, Poppo was spotted in the distance delivering the benches from Felo’s workshop. As Poppo’s boat approached, Bill said, “Well, the benches are here….but they have no seats”. We are not quite sure how “seats” on a bench got lost in translation but evidently it did. Luckily, we had some plywood leftover from a previous deck project so Bill quickly manufactured a seat for me so I would have a place to sit when we started our move. In Luperon, the best time to set out on a boat is early in the morning to avoid high winds and rough seas. Much to my horror, that time was indeed 4:00am. Those of you who know me well can imagine how chipper I was at that ungodly time of day. Thank goodness I was only in charge of pulling up the mooring lines and searching for crab pots to avoid on our way out so chipper-ness was not a required trait. The trip to Ocean World went very smoothly and Bill did a great job steering us safely into port. Galt is now happily installed at his new home for the next month while we fly to the States for Thanksgiving. He won’t be lonely when we are gone because the Ocean World Marina is adjacent to the Ocean World theme park. It is similar to Seaworld and they have a water park and animal performances. The performances are at 11:00am and 2:00pm daily. How do I know this information? I know because the trainer who does the show is on the loudspeaker throughout the show singing and cheering on the crowd. It sounds as if he is standing on the bow of the boat. I believe I will learn more Spanish from him each day than I have from my Rosetta Stone language program! We have figured out that the show starts when they play “who let the dogs out” and the show is almost over when he sings, “Heidi Heidi Heidi Ho!” Thank goodness we are going to be in the States for a bit or it would be a really long month! As we depart for the States, I wish you all well! I am not sure if I will have time to blog while on the trip so if you do not hear from me, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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Lists, lists, lists! This week has been a week of all kinds of lists…..honey do lists, shopping lists, prepare to move lists and even one bucket list. The week began with an unexpected trip to Santo Domingo. Bill has sold his property in the States and the title work was supposed to take two to three weeks to complete. Therefore, he was planning on finishing up the paperwork in the States when we arrived. Leave it up to him to find the only lawyer in the world that gets something done way ahead of time! So suddenly, we were in need of a US notary. Enter one of my bucket list items...we had to visit the US Embassy! The Embassy is in Santo Domingo so we packed our over night bag and headed out. Knowing that it would be the final trip via car from Luperon to Santo Domingo, we threw in a shopping trip to Santiago for much needed project items. We finally found the plexiglass that we need to complete the boat deck upgrades so that was very exciting (I am sure you are all just breathless with excitement as well!). When we reached Santo Domingo, the first rain that we have seen in months decided to fall all at once. Santo Domingo evidently has a drainage system designed by the same people who did Charleston because we found ourselves driving up on the sidewalks to avoid flood waters that came up to the car door. Once we reached the hotel, we checked in and then realized that while the hotel was convenient for the Embassy trip, it was not convenient for eating dinner. The hotel was in a residential area so there were no restaurants within walking distance….not to mention it was still pouring down rain. So, back in the car we went….bad idea. Ninety minutes later, we had managed to get about 3 miles in the traffic. Starving, we finally gave up on the restaurant idea and went to the deli at the local grocery store for dinner. Luckily, the grocery store was not far from the hotel and Bill managed to find some back roads that were less congested so we could get back to the hotel. Not one of our favorite adventures that we have had!
The next morning we walked over to the Embassy (no way were we getting back in the car!). Even in a small country like the Dominican Republic, the US Embassy was quite a sight to see! It spanned at least 2 to 3 blocks and was a beautiful white structure with large gates (They would not allow phones or cameras so no pictures!). We had no trouble checking in and made our way through the complex to the notary’s office. We were surprised by how many locals worked in the Embassy and how many businesses the Embassy supported in the surrounding area including parking lots and guide services. It all reminded me of a sports facility in the States with people selling local goods and trying to outdo each other with parking deals. The entire visit only took us about half an hour and went far more smoothly than we planned. The funny part was when we left, several locals stopped us to ask who had won the election….it was Wednesday morning at 8:30am….they must count votes far faster in the DR than we manage to do in the States! On the way back to Luperon, we noticed several things that still have me pondering. In each small town along the way, there would be one ware that was being sold on the side of the road. It reminded me of the sweet grass basket sellers in the South Carolina low country but far more impressive. For example, in town number one, they all had stands that sold large (and I mean large!) wooden spoons. Some spoons were painted with beautiful scenes and some were just plain wooden spoons. They were interesting but does one actually need a dozen stands selling the same wooden spoons? Town number two presented us with rugs. A dozen stands selling the same dozen rugs. The third town was evidently the peanut and peanut butter capital of the region. The next three towns were the fruit and vegetable stands. However, it seems that one main fruit was sold on each day. For example, on Tuesdays, all of the stands had dozens of watermelons. On Wednesday, they all had dozens of pineapples. Again, I am not sure why one needs dozens of stands all selling the same exact item. Seems to me like they would get together and have each town have a wooden spoon seller, a rug seller, a peanut butter seller, a pineapple seller and a watermelon seller….but perhaps that’s just the capitalist in me…. Back in Luperon, the week went on as most weeks do. We watched the local fisherman move a huge catamaran that was broken down. They just put their small fishing boats around it and pushed it into the marina much like a tugboat would do. Those guys are certainly amazing problem solvers! I watched a Dominican little league baseball game and I tell you, obnoxious parents in the stands is a universal thing. Bill stumbled across the local motorcycle gang that obviously meets on Sunday mornings in town for a ride. Each week, we never know what we are going to see and learn in this crazy place that has been home for the past few months. We will be sad to leave all of the wonderful people and places when we sail out at the end of this week but we are looking forward to the next adventure around the corner! Have an amazing week and be sure to mark something off your bucket list! I have 100% figured out the difference between first world countries and others. I am calling it the Duct Tape Principle. In the States, duct tape can be found in every color and pattern that some duct tape geek could produce. There is Batman duct tape, Minions duct tape, rainbow duct tape, holiday duct tape and even duct tape with jokes written on it! In the stores, there are complete aisles dedicated to duct tape. One could spend hours browsing the duct tape aisle. There are contests for who can make the most amazing things out of duct tape. There was even an award for the high school student that could make the best prom dress out of duct tape. When I broke my wrist at work, the therapists used duct tape, a hair band and a ruler to get me stabilized prior to the EMTs arrival. In fact, it was so impressive, the EMTs just left my wrist set that way until I reached the hospital. The reason second world countries have not reached first world status is obviously their lack of knowledge of the Duct Tape Principle. This past month, we ran wires for the solar and wind controllers down the mast. The mast is white. Therefore, I logically needed white duct tape to hold the wires in place to make sure they blended flawlessly into the boat décor. Bill headed into town to the local hardware store only to find that there was no white duct tape. Okay, no problem. We were headed to Santiago for supplies so I simply added white duct tape to the supply list. Four hardware stores later….still no white duct tape! In fact, they barely had regular duct tape. Each store had 3 to 4 rolls of duct tape….in the entire store! So I ask you, how is a country supposed to achieve first world status under these dire conditions! One certainly cannot construct a prom dress with only 4 rolls of duct tape! First world problem, you say? That is my point! I rest my case of the Duct Tape Principle….
In Santiago, we finally found a hotel with a casino that was open! Bill loves to play craps and Blackjack but no casinos have been open since we left the States. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the casino actually had table games and not just slot machines. Well, 4 table games at least! There were two Blackjack tables and two roulette tables. My favorite thing to do in casinos is to watch roulette. I don’t generally play roulette anymore because I am far too cheap but I do enjoy the excitement of a good wheel spin! So, while Bill played Blackjack, I ventured over to watch the roulette action. First, gambling with peso chips looks much more impressive than gambling with dollar chips (current exchange value = $1.00 is 58 pesos). The folks at the roulette table had stacks upon stacks of chips and it took me awhile to realize that they were not losing their house when they recklessly threw chips everywhere on the board….it was actually probably about $2.00. However, the Dominican way of playing roulette was definitely a win for the House. In the States, people will generally place chips on red/black, a couple of numbers and maybe a few on a number group. Not in the DR. In the DR, they literally put chips on just about every number on the table. When the number hits, they all cheer loudly about the fact that they won 36 pesos on that number…..all while the dealer is sweeping hundreds of chips off of the table into the House wins pile. The folks at the table always looked a little stunned when they ran out of chips. I don’t think they have studied the odds of roulette but they certainly had fun for the minutes that their pesos lasted! The speed of the roulette game was also very island-like. In Vegas, the roulette spins occur at least every couple of minutes. Not so in the DR. By the time the House chip pile was sorted, bets paid out and more chips cashed out, I think there were about 4 spins in twenty minutes. I am pretty sure I saw one of the players catching a quick nap waiting for the next spin. Caribbean Maybe Time at its’ very best! This upcoming week will hopefully be a productive one. We are trying to finish as much of the deck cover refit as possible before we leave for Ocean World marina. The benches are almost completed (Felo says “manana” so we shall see!) and we found the acrylic for the windows in Santiago. Once Felo finishes the frame for the windows, we will figure out measurements and how to transport the acrylic from Santiago to the boat….one catastrophe at a time as Bill likes to say! So, hoping for a busy week that will not be filled with Caribbean Maybe Time! Have a wonderful week and remember to vote! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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