St. John, US Virgin Islands

Saturday, January 28 - Thursday, February 2, 2012
Welcome to St. John, our first stop in the US Virgin Islands. With over half of the island protected as a national park, St. John is thought to be one of the top spots for pristine beaches, hiking, and snorkeling opportunities in the Caribbean. It also means you're required to take (and pay for) a mooring ball in all but two anchoring spots on the island. To budget-minded cruisers, this means we'll likely limit our time in the park and will make the most of our stay here. Beauty certainly has its price!

We had a gorgeous downwind sail from Tortola to Coral Bay, where we anchored near Island Dream. They'd warned us about the rolling waves that rocked you from side to side, sending dishes crashing to the floor and making sleep impossible. The cure? A stern anchor. Yes, just as it sounds, you can actually tie another anchor from the back of the boat and set it to keep your bow pointing into the swells. You'll still rock from front to back, but it's a lot less noticeable spread over 45' (our boat length) rather than just 14' (Pipe's beam).

Our first order of business in St. John? Installing the wind gen! We'd had the tower installed in Road Town, and were anxious to get the windmill mounted so we could take advantage of the constant winds in the harbor. Free power is gooood! Pat's an electrical/technical guru, and we couldn't have installed the gen without him. He tested all of the connections, soldered as needed, and provided constant guidance. Rene had the unenviable task of climbing onto the top of the dinghy davits to drill holes, pull wires through the rails, and lift the generator into its cradle. Rain squalls and big waves halted the process a few times, but Pat and Rene managed to get everything hooked up by day three. Thanks to the wind gen, we should be able to run our main generator a lot less. That means we use less diesel, have less wear and tear on the gen, and can leave the boat for a few days at a time without worrying about the batteries (or freezer) dying. This was a big day for us!

We also took the local "safari" bus into Cruz Bay to clear customs, and wandered around town getting information on the park, finding a grocery store, and checking out the local hangouts. A sidewalk chalkboard lured us into Castaways with promises of $1 happy hour drinks (dangerous!) and all-you-can-eat hot wings, and we made plans to move the boats here in time for the big Super Bowl party. We anchored outside of Cruz Bay on Wednesday, and returned to Castaways for the "wings" bonanza. They had ten different flavors, from hot-hot to simply delicious (garlic Parmesan, anyone?). Of course, the real highlight of the evening was watching a couple of young guys (college kids, maybe?) attempt the Castaways "hot wing challenge". The test? Eat 15 wings and a basket of fries in 15 minutes. If you succeed, you get a free t-shirt and a $50 bar credit. If you lose? You pay $50. Granted, 15 wings doesn't sound like a huge amount of food to two growing boys, and how can you pass up such bragging rights? Ahem...enter the habanero pepper. The owner and cook showed us the peppers as they prepared the sauce for the wings, and the cook's eyes were watering from just standing over the stove. We don't know how many peppers went into making the wing sauce, but it was enough to cause some serious mayhem. Two orders were brought to the guys' table, and both tore in. The first young man made it through two, maybe three wings before he went running for the men's room. The second guy ate the entire thing, pausing periodically to ask for more ginger ale. He actually finished his entire plate before "giving it all back" to a trash can around the corner. Yuck! He was down for the count for nearly an hour, and when we saw him again, the skin around his mouth was bright red - literally burned from the sauce. Why do people do this to themselves??? True, one of the guys got his $50 bar credit, but as our waitress told us, he'd racked up a $40 tab on Baileys shots before he'd even ordered the wings. Brilliant! We actually felt sorry for both of them, but couldn't help giggling after the owner took our suggestion and put Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on the stereo. Yep, we're cruel. :-)

The only downside to our little adventure was the anchorage. Cruz Bay proper was filled with private mooring balls, and we didn't see any place to drop the hook. Instead, we anchored around the point in not-so-protected Frank's Bay. Just like Coral Bay (without the stern anchor), we rocked and rolled from side to side ALL night. To make matters worse, we heard Darnell screaming our name early the next morning. The cause? A boat that had anchored next to us the previous night was about to hit us. The wind had died, so all boats were swinging in different directions. We were nose-to-nose with Island Dream (but still 50' away), and our new neighbor was within 10' of us. To top it off, the guys on the boat told us that "reverse" didn't work on their engine. There was no way they could back up to get some distance, so we'd have to crank up our engine and hope we still had some stretching room on our anchor chain. We managed to maneuver around them and get our anchor raised, and we and Island Dream agreed that it was time to get out of there. As much as we wanted to spend Super Bowl Sunday at Castaways, it wasn't worth another night (or four) in that anchorage! Where to go, where to go? We idled around for a few minutes checking our charts, and spotted Red Hook on the east coast of St. Thomas just 4 miles away. As tired as we all were, it seemed like as good a destination as any. We'd heard good things about St. Thomas in terms of provisioning and public transportation, and we had a friend anchored in Charlotte Amalie that we wanted to see. So it's goodby to St. John for now, but we know we'll be back to explore the National Park.

The Beautiful (Booty-full?) BVIs

January, 2012

Woo hoo, we're finally here! "Here" is the British Virgin Islands, the home of our first charter experience in 2005 and a major benchmark for us. Like most charterers, our first visit involved a crazed pace around the islands in order to cram as much as possible in a single week. It wasn't nearly enough time, and we consoled ourselves by saying we'd be back someday in our own boat. It's taken nearly three years of cruising to do it, but we've finally made it. Best of all, the BVIs are everything we remembered them to be and more.

Some of you may be familiar with the BVIs (heck, some of you have probably chartered boats here) as one of the top sailing spots in the Caribbean. There are hundreds of charter boats here, and you can take your pick of a monohull, a sailing catamaran, a power cat, or even a mega-yacht. You're never out of sight of land, and you have to work to go further than 10-15 miles per day. In other words, this is some seriously easy sailing.

We arrived in Soper's Hole, Tortola, just after Christmas. Soper's has a customs and immigration office for easy check-in, along with plenty of restaurants, shops, markets, a fuel dock, a dive shop, and more. The only downer is that it's too deep (40-60') for most boats to comfortably anchor. We grabbed a $25 mooring ball towards the front of the harbor, only to realize we were right next to our old friend Art on Pipe's sister boat, Destiny. Art had done the Caribbean 1500 from Norfolk to Tortola the month before, and was getting ready for a jump to the Panama Canal. We'd known he was still somewhere in the BVIs and had hoped to meet up with him, but we had no idea we'd end up moored 50' away! Old home week continued a couple of hours later, when our Houston friends, Donna and Steve, pulled up nearby on their chartered catamaran. We caught up with everyone over happy hour at the Jolly Rodger and dinner at Pusser's, and spent the morning with Donna and Steve before they left to explore the rest of the islands. That same morning, we spoke to Pat and Darnell on Island Dream via VHF and learned that they'd just arrived in nearby Jost Van Dyke. An hour later, our friends on Ulysses Blue sailed into Soper's Hole to check in before moving to Little Jost Van Dyke to meet up with Ghost. Like we said, the Luperon gang's all here!

Thursday morning we accompanied Art into Road Town for boat parts and groceries. After spending six months in Luperon with the DR's serious lack of marine stores, we were blown away by the selection in Road Town. We should've known - this is, after all, the charter boat capital of the Caribbean! We replenished our much-depleted stock of fuel filters (damn Luperon diesel), found spare parts galore, and stocked up on international foody bits that we hadn't seen since the USA. We were back on the boat in time for a leisurely 3-mile sail to Jost Van Dyke, where we reconnected with Island Dream over G&Ts in Great Harbor. The next day, we SAILED (yep, engine off and everything) the three miles down to Foxy's Taboo to join Runyon and Ivy on Ghost, and Leanne, Harry, and their girls on Ulysses Blue.

As you may recall...during one happy hour or other in Luperon, we all promised that we'd try to meet up at Foxy's Taboo to ring in the New Year together. It looked a bit sketchy when we were stuck in Salinas with the Christmas winds, but the plan ultimately came together. The ten of us enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Foxy's Taboo before hopping aboard an open-air taxi to join the throngs of party-goers (reportedly 10,000-plus) at Foxy's big bash in Great Harbor. We'd heard that Foxy's required a $400 entry fee, but it turns out that that was for the VIP party upstairs. What a night! The harbor was filled with red anchor lights (required for those mega sailing yachts that have 100-foot-plus masts), and the entire beach was lined with bars and kiosks selling food and drinks. We rung in the New Year with our bare feet in the sand, music blaring in our ears. An added perk? At the end of the night, we were able to taxi back to our cozy - not to mention MUCH quieter - anchorage. Happy New Year!

The rest of our month in the BVIs was spent wandering from island to island, exploring each of a dozen anchorages. Our little caravan, joined by Alexis, Ryan, and Luma on Ventana, moved to Cane Garden Bay after New Year's. A small anchorage ringed by a gorgeous crescent-shaped beach on Tortola's north side, Cane Garden Bay was a perfect spot to celebrate Pat's birthday, enjoy our kayaks, and try out Ghost's wind surfer and paddle board. Our next stop was Trellis Bay, Tortola, where we arrived in time for the infamous Full Moon Party, complete with sculpted iron fire-balls and stilt dancers known as "Mocko Jumbies". Trellis Bay was also home to the Roti Hut, which was awarded "Best Roti in the BVIs". (If you've never heard of a roti, it's a West Indian specialty of meat or vegetable curry wrapped in flatbread and served with chutney.) With that kind of endorsement, we had to try one. Yep, it was as good as advertised. Yummmmm... Oh, and the "booty-full" part of this blog's title? That came from Trellis Bay. While we were anchored in the bay, a charter catamaran came along side us with a professional photographer and two, uhhh, "models". As they say in the south, those girls were "nekkid"! We ended up spotting the group a few more times at random islands, so the guys all had to come up with a code word to alert each other of the view. If you ever heard "dragging forward" on the VHF, it was time to run topside and look for the cat!

After the Full Moon Party, our group went in different directions with a promise to hunker down together for a cold front expected later in the week. Ghost and Ulysses Blue explored the snorkeling and diving at Peter, Cooper, and Norman Islands, while Island Dream joined us in Virgin Gorda. As the BVI's second-largest island, Virgin Gorda offered plenty of spots to explore. We made the "long" jump (all 5 miles) from Trellis Bay to Spanish Town, where we were able to meet up with friends and fellow Kemah-ites, Chris and Robin, from Toucan Dream. We'd last seen them in Florida over 18 months ago, and just happened to hear them hailing another boat on the VHF while we were in Trellis Bay. We managed to have a quick visit over dinner at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, and hope to see them again as we move through the islands over the next few months.

Virgin Gorda also required a trip to the Baths, a fascinating grouping of massive boulders offering hidden pools warmed by cracks of sunlight. We wedged our way between giant rocks, crawled on hands and knees through shallow pools, and climbed up and down narrow staircases. We had an absolute blast wandering through the boulder formations, and the trail ultimately led to - what else? - a picture-perfect beach. After lunch aboard Pipe, we and Island Dream set the sails for Gorda Sound at the northern tip of the island. We hailed our buddy boats as we got closer, and dropped the hook right next to Ventana and Ulysses Blue. (Ghost was anchored around the corner, and moved into "the neighborhood" the next morning.) We spent the next few days together, sharing happy hours aboard each other's boats, enjoying beach days at "the Sandbox", lunch and window shopping at the Bitter End Resort, and internet/happy hour fixes at Saba Rock.

We said a temporary goodbye to Ventana, Ghost, and Ulysses Blue, and sailed with Island Dream down to Road Town in mid-January. Our friends Carryn, Brandon, and Bella on SolMate, whom we'd met in Deltaville 15 months before, were working their way back to the US after spending hurricane season in Grenada. They'd just arrived in the BVIs, and we were excited to see them before they continued north. We got to spend a couple of hours with them before they moved to Peter Island, and planned to meet up again in either St. John or Culebra. After goodbye hugs with SolMate, we and Island Dream decided to spend the night anchored in Road Town so we could get a few supplies the next morning. Big Mistake! The swells coming in from the mouth of the harbor made sleep impossible, and the changing winds made a swell bridle useless. We met up with Pat and Darnell the next morning, all of us bleary-eyed, and agreed to high-tail it out of there once our errands were done. Crappy anchorage notwithstanding, we have to give Road Town credit for coming through (again) on boater goodies. Ventana had sold us their wind generator in Cane Garden Bay, and Pat had agreed to help us install it. A trip to the shops around Tortola Yacht Services found us a welder for the support tower, marine-grade wiring, a certified Raymarine and I-COM dealer (both our main and hand-held VHF radios had died), and a West Marine-type chandlery. Score!! We picked up most of what we needed to install the wind gen, grabbed a few things at the grocery store, and raised the anchor by 5pm for the hour-long trip to what we hoped would be a calmer anchorage in White Bay, Peter Island.

So you know how we always talk about how small the cruising community is? As we were approaching our anchorage at Peter Island, we recognized one of SolMate's buddy boats, Jo-Jo. (She's a 70' dark-hulled steel boat - kinda hard to miss!) Rene grabbed the binoculars and spotted a group of people on the beach, complete with Miss Bella, the wonder-dog. Perfect! We jumped in the dinghy and joined SolMate, Jo-Jo, and their other buddy boat, Seabatacus. We managed to stay for the lighting of the bonfire, but the previous night's lack of sleep soon began catching up with us. We bid our adieus, promised to check in in the morning, and hit the sack. Sleep turned out to be elusive, thanks to 40+ knot winds that kept us all awake for half the night. SolMate and Jo-Jo drug anchor, Island Dream swung close to the rocks, and our stern swung well into the swim area...on top of one of the swim buoys. Nothing like hearing a loud "bang" amidst the howling wind at 3am!

We spent two more nights at Peter Island, taking a day trip back to Road Town to drop off our VHF and the pattern for the welder. We motored to the Bight at Norman Island the next morning, only to realize there were so many mooring balls installed in the bay that it was nearly impossible to anchor with any swing room. Island Dream found a spot, but we decided to grab a ball for the night. We stayed for two more days, checking out Pirate's Bight restaurant/bar and the famous Willy T's party barge. What a place! We had a fantastic time, and the bartender, Dillon, took great care of us. Thanks, Dillon!

We wrapped up our BVI stay with a two-night trip to Jost Van Dyke, followed by an overnight at Village Cay Marina to have the wind generator mount installed. We'd really wanted to get back to Foxy's Taboo for dinner one more time (it was even better than New Year's Eve), and to go to Sandy Spit. Sandy Spit is a tiny island (think 2-3 acres) next to Little Jost Van Dyke. It's the quintessential deserted island, with a white sand beach, a few bushes, crashing waves, and a lone palm tree. It must be one of the most photographed places in the BVIs, but that doesn't take away any of its charm. If you ever get to the BVIs, it's definitely a must-see!

It's time for us to say goodbye to the BVIs for now, but we know we'll be back soon - we still need to pick up our VHF radio once it's repaired! In the meantime, we're off to St. John in the US Virgin Islands, where we'll meet back up with Pat and Darnell on Island Dream. Apparently you can anchor in Coral and Cruz Bays, but you're required to pick up a mooring ball around the rest of the island (it's been designated a National Marine Park). We're all anxiously awaiting word from Deana and Troy on Storyville that they've got a weather window to leave Luperon. Once they're en route, we'll head to Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands, to meet up and see the islands we skipped on the way here. Til next time...

If you'd like to see more pictures of the BVIs, please click here.

Adios Luperon, Hola Puerto Rico!

December, 2011

So...how do you begin a new blog chapter when you haven't written a thing for nearly three months?? As we warned earlier this summer, as much as we loved spending hurricane season in Luperon, it wasn't exactly exciting blog fodder. Oh, don't get us wrong - "As Luperon Turns" was an ongoing source of entertainment for those of us living there. We just can't share the details...protecting the not-so-innocent and all that! Suffice it to say, our six months in the DR became mostly routine: yoga three times a week (which fell by the wayside after Stacy's July visit to Seattle), Spanish class twice a week (which went to once a week with a third of the original attendees mid-way through the summer), movies at Wendy's Bar on Monday and Tuesday nights, the veggie market on Tuesday mornings, trivia night at JR's every other Wednesday, a weekly lunch/pool/internet day at Capt. Steve's Place, Troy and friends performing at JR's on Saturdays, monthly full moon parties at Marina Tropical, an occasional motorcycle ride to the beach or Puerto Plata, a cold cerveza at Rafi's, a cold cerveza at Steve's Place, a cold cerveza at Jerry's...you get the drift. Not that everything was routine... A few highlights:

-- We welcomed a new family member in October: Maggie May, a 3-month old calico. At first, Tux wasn't too sure about being a big brother again. Wouldn't you know, Maggie won him over in less than a week!
--Texas Larry threw himself a huge birthday shindig, complete with TWO roast pigs and all the trimmings, at Rafi's bar. The entire harbor was invited, and we had a fantastic time. The general consensus? Best pork EVER!
--We hiked up to the top of a mountain, only to jump (30' at times) or slide down the 27 waterfalls of the Dominican Republic's famous Damajaqua Cascades. What a rush!
--Fred threw Margie a big 6-0 party at their home on the hill, and we were thrilled to be able to share it with them. JR's supplied the yummy buffet, and of course there were plenty of beverages to go around. (But why were we the only ones who got into the pool??)
--We sipped umbrella drinks while lounging in curtained beachside beds at Lifestyle's all-inclusive resort on two separate visits in three months (at $11 per-person-per-day, how can you say no? We've already booked for 2012.). What a perfect way to take a break from boat life!
--We rode the motorcycles up to Lisa and Cade's (Sand Dollar) mountain property to enjoy their company, soak up the views, and bring home fresh-off-the tree oranges, chayote, and avocados.
--Just before we left, Jerry organized a baseball outing to Santiago to watch the home team beat rival Santo Domingo. The noise-makers were cranking, the crowd was on its feet the entire time, and the last few minutes were as nail-biting as any major league game.

As much as we loved Luperon (we're already planning to spend next summer there and look forward to seeing our old friends), we were more than ready to drop the mooring lines and cover some new ground. We began looking for weather windows to cross the "dreaded Mona Passage" (queue scary music: duh-duh-DUH) to Puerto Rico in mid-November. Stacy had the 15th imprinted on her brain, but weather-guru Chris Parker nixed that one with reports of high winds and seas. (As we keep saying, we may not always like what Chris says, but we certainly abide by it. That guy is GOOD.) We finally got another window the day before Thanksgiving, and eight boats left Luperon bound for Puerto Rico. The only downside? Storyville wasn't one of the boats since Deana and Troy decided to leave the boat in Luperon while they had a family visit in Houston. (D&T, get here already!) We expected to make the 250-mile trip in about 48 hours, but our engine had other ideas. Five hours out of Luperon, our engine began losing power. Rene spoke to Patrick on our buddy boat, Island Dream, and they agreed that it sounded like a clogged fuel filter. Rene tried to rev through it, but no luck. Our planned 5-1/2 knots of speed became 4 to 4-1/2, and we began wondering if we'd even make it across the Mona. Rene changed the primary filter somewhere along the DR coastline, but the secondary (read "much harder to get to") filter clogged up as we entered the Mona Passage. By the way, just how do you know when the secondary filter is clogged? Your engine dies. Completely. In the dreaded Mona Passage. 70 miles from your destination. $%&#! Fortunately the winds were in our favor, and we were able to raise a sail while Rene fought with the engine. After an hour and a few choice words, Rene had the new filter in place. The engine came back to life, and we bumped up the RPMs. 6.8 knots, baby! We managed to make up some lost time, and were just outside of the reefs near our anchorage in Boqueron when...NOOOOOOOOOO! The engine died. Again. Yet another fuel filter was clogged, this time the primary one (which Rene had just replaced 24 hours before). Rene grabbed the filter from the generator as a temporary replacement (thank god both engines use the same ones), and cursed the guy in Luperon who sold us dirty fuel. We managed to coax the boat through the deep water between two reefs - did we mention this was in the dark? - praying the engine wouldn't die at a very inopportune moment. Our friends on Island Dream had arrived earlier in the day and had radioed us their entry waypoints, and they met us on deck with a spotlight to signal us into the anchorage. Never had an anchorage looked soooo good!

We managed to get temporary clearance from Customs the next day (Friday), and spent the weekend enjoying the sights and sounds of Boqueron, Puerto Rico. Boqueron has been described as a funky, Bohemian sort of place, and it was the perfect spot to unwind after a two-day crossing. We wandered among the Thanksgiving-weekend crowds, enjoying the sights and sounds of Boqueron. Because there were so many boats arriving at the same time, Customs and Border Patrol wouldn't green-light us with a simple phone call (as they had done with friends who'd passed through earlier). We were extremely greatful, however, that they agreed to send a couple of agents to clear us in instead of making us take a costly and time-consuming taxi ride north to the "official" entry city of Mayaguez. Thank you, CBP! From there, we were free to continue along the PR coast en route to the British Virgin Islands. We made what turned out to be a two-week-long stop in Ponce with Island Dream, where we rented a car and went crazy at Sam's Club, Walmart, Home Depot, and all of the other stores we hadn't seen in a year. Cha-ching! Talk about wallet fatigue... Ponce even had a mall and a Macaroni Grill. Heaven! We also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary (a bit late) at an amazing churrascuria. Rene's steak was so massive that it had to be served on its side in a spiral!

We left Ponce on Dec. 17th with the intention of getting to the BVIs in time for Christmas. Our friends from Houston, Donna and Steve, were chartering a boat with some other couples for the holidays, and we were excited to meet up with them. We'd also arranged to spend New Year's at Foxy's Taboo on Jost Van Dyke with our Luperon friends aboard Island Dream, Ghost, Ulysses Blue, and Ventana. We certainly couldn't be late for that! Our grand plan had us working our way along Puerto Rico's southern coast, staying in a marina in Palmas Del Mar to check in with Pa'la O'la and do some much-needed boat cleaning, and then crossing to the BVIs after an overnight stop in the Spanish Virgin Islands. Well...those of you who've been following us for awhile know what happens when we're on a schedule. We managed to get to the southeast corner of Puerto Rico before learning that the weather was about to turn ugly. As Chris Parker said on Monday morning, "wherever you plan to spend Christmas, get there TODAY." Hmmm...get to Palmas Del Mar and spend a week or more paying for a marina, or backtrack 20 miles to Salinas and spend Christmas with our friends? So...back to Salinas we went! We met up with Island Dream and three other boats from Luperon. Patrick and Darnell from Island Dream and Carl and Riva from Three Belles joined us aboard Pipe for a Christmas Eve potluck, and we all spent Christmas Day enjoying a buffet dinner served by a local restaurant. Best of all, Chris Parker gave us a little Christmas present: a weather window to the BVIs! We and Island Dream hauled up our anchors and made our way to a staging spot five miles east of Salinas after Christmas dinner. The alarm clock went off at 5am, and we headed out of the cut along the southern coast of Puerto Rico. Squalls followed us for much of the morning, and yet another fuel filter began to clog as we left the protection of Puerto Rico. We decided to forego a nonstop trip to Tortola and instead anchored in Sun Bay, Vieques, for dinner and a brief night's sleep. We got up at 3am and were again on our way to the BVIs. We passed St. Thomas Tuesday morning and arrived in Soper's Hole, Tortola, by 2pm. We plan on staying in the BVIs for the next month, and should have plenty of stories to share in a future blog about this beautiful part of the Caribbean.

We hope you all had very happy holidays, and we were with our family and friends in spirit, if not in person. We miss everyone and look forward to the visits that are planned for next year. As always, there's plenty of room on the boat and we love to have visitors!

Help yourselves to more pictures: Larry's birthday; Lifestyles Resort; 27 Waterfalls; Maggie May; Boqueron & Ponce

Paradise within a Paradise?

Lifestyles Resort, Confresi Beach, Dominican Republic

Tuesday, September 6 – Saturday, September 10, 2011

Yes, we know. We have a pretty spectacular life. We were fortunate enough to be able to give up our jobs for this cruising lifestyle, and obviously don’t have the same pressures as someone with a 9-to-5 job back home. Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy a few days away from the boat sometimes!

Our Luperon friends who’ve spent a year or more in the DR have been telling us about an all-inclusive resort near Puerto Plata that often offers super deals during the low season…as in “$10, $20, or $30 per person per night” type of deals. The first time the resort offered $10 pp/pn deals, ten cruisers went. The second time it happened, the group got up to 14 people. This time, the offer was $19 if you booked early enough, $29 if you waited. We ended up with 19 people in our group - 17 cruisers, plus two friends of Deana's and Troy's from Houston. Just think of it…for under $160, Rene and I were able to enjoy as much air conditioning, hot showers, a “real” bed, food, and drinks as we wanted…for FOUR DAYS! It was incredible. Seven members of our group took the motorcycles to the resort (a 45-minute ride), and the others squished into a van with all of the luggage. We arrived at the resort around noon, were greeted by froo-froo drinks at the bar, and got our white wrist-bands that allowed us to enjoy the all-inclusive part of the vacation. From there, the group split into those who wanted the full buffet lunch, and those who wanted to try the sushi at the VIP beach. Big surprise, we went with the latter. We hadn’t had sushi since our Houston trip in December; this wasn’t as good as Redfish in Houston, but it wasn’t bad!

Lunch was followed by a lounge on one of the beds and a dip in a hot tub at the VIP beach. Picture this: over fifty beds arranged in the sand on a spot above the beach – some stationary on stilts, some swinging from cables – all complete with white canopies and curtains on all four sides to block out the sun as needed. Amidst the beds were unheated Jacuzzi tubs where you could cool off while sipping on a drink brought to you by one of the many waiters milling around. Hungry? If you didn’t want to leave your bed to go to the sushi bar or the buffet, you could order a sandwich, burger, salad, or chicken wings and have lunch right in your beachside bed. This was the sort of place we’d only seen in magazines. It was amazing to experience it in person!

So how many of you figure there must have been some kind of a catch to such a terrific deal? Well, you were right. Lifestyles, besides being a luxury resort, is a timeshare property. Our friends who had been here before warned us to beware of the runners in white shirts and radios poised on their hips. These were the guys who would shanghai you after breakfast and escort you to the timeshare office, where you would then be turned over to one of the turquoise-shirted sales staff. We’d heard timeshare-presentation horror stories from friends on other vacations, and dreaded the thought of losing half of a beach day sitting in a conference room listening to the spiel. Us? Skeptical? You’d better believe it. Still, we figured we could be polite, especially when our salesman-slash-tour-guide, Harold, introduced himself and led us to a golf cart for a tour around the property. We got to play “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, as we were shown one of the four-bedroom villas (complete with chef and private pool), a presidential suite, the super-exclusive “Serenity Beach” (complete with hammocks, 10’ canopied, pillow-strewn beds, and a slew of cute wait staff), along with a bar and restaurant for members only. We had to admit, while we certainly didn’t consider ourselves resort or timeshare people, we were curious. At the end of the property tour, Harold asked us if we wanted to talk more about it or be on our way with a polite “no”. To our surprise, we found ourselves following him back to the office for a chat. We talked about the different options, and realized that their program might actually be something from which we could benefit. There was no “one or two week per year” restriction, no tie to a single property, and no annual maintenance fees. Pay one start-up fee, and use it as much or as little as you wanted to at any of their 4500 destinations. You’d pay when you used a property – the equivalent of one to two nights’ rental for a week at the property – and that was it. Now you all know how analytical Rene’s mind is; he crunched numbers and looked for any possible downside. We even walked away for 24 hours to talk more and think about it. In the end, we decided that it was a great fit for us. With so many properties in the Caribbean, our families and friends could come down to visit us and not be restricted to the boat. We’re all too aware what hotels cost down-island, and this offered a much more affordable alternative. And when we give up the boat someday to RV around Europe and the US? More places to stay! Bottom line, consider this an invitation. We keep telling everyone to come visit us, and now we have an option for those of you who aren’t comfortable staying on a boat. No more excuses! :-)

So we only thought we were getting royally spoiled before we signed the papers. Once we became official members, they cut off our white bracelets and gave us gold VIP bracelets that let us into the restricted-access beaches, pools, bars, and restaurants. Better yet? They upgraded us to the two-bedroom presidential suite and gave us a golf cart to get back to the rest of our group. We even got two extra gold bracelets so we could bring another couple with us to share the suite. Decisions, decisions… We knew that Deana and Troy wouldn’t want to leave their friends who were visiting from Houston, so Pat and Lucy from Illusions moved over with us. What a blast! We checked out the local pool and private beach, and toured around on the golf cart before joining the rest of the group at the VIP beach. Dinner that night at the Mexican restaurant was so-so, but our dinner at Simply Gourmet the next evening was fantastic. There's already talk of trying to get a bunch of couples into a villa for a few days. We are soooo coming back to this resort next month!

Enjoy pictures here.

Good Night, Irene...

Saturday, August 20 – Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Luperon, Dominican Republic

Stacy’s great-grandmother, Irene, used to sing that old song, “good night, Irene…good night, Irene…I’ll see you in my dreams.” This week’s “Irene” could’ve been a real nightmare! What is it about us and hurricanes that begin with the letter "I"? Most of you probably know that we went through Hurricane Ike in September, 2008, while we were still in Kemah, Texas. That one was "only" a category 2 storm, but had a cat 5 storm surge. What did that really mean? Our marina suffered an 11+ foot storm surge (the parking lot was under 5’ of water), and hundreds of boats were lost when their fixed and/or floating docks rose higher than their moorings would allow. Our 12' dock pilings barely survived, and we were lucky enough to come away with only minor damage to the boat.

Fast forward to August, 2011... We'd been watching "tropical wave 97", a system that threatened to pay a visit to our part of the Caribbean. Sometime over the weekend, #97 was reborn as "Tropical Storm Irene", with a projected track that came over Puerto Rico and right into our back yard. Mind you, we weren't too worried given Luperon's reputation as a hurricane hole, thanks to the surrounding mountain range and the harbor's protective mangroves. Still... By Saturday, we knew there was a good chance we’d feel some effects of the storm, but initial tracks brought it over the center of the island across the mountains. The good thing about that? While the mountains would likely get 10-20 inches of rain (triggering possible mudslides), they would also break the storm apart and significantly reduce Irene’s wind speed. We prepped Pipe for tropical storm-force winds (30-50 mph expected), taking down the bimini, clearing out the cockpit, and lashing down the kayaks and any other potential projectiles. Unfortunately, by Monday morning, the forecasted track had Irene paralleling the DR’s northern coastline…heading straight for us with no protective mountain peaks to intervene. Suddenly we were facing hurricane-force winds (75+ mph), and had to re-examine our preparations. We’ve probably mentioned this before, but our mooring ball places us less than ten feet from the mangroves at certain wind angles. While it can be quite buggy, this placement is quite a comfort when we’re threatened by bad weather. Apparently it’s also comforting to the entire Puerto Plata fishing fleet, who stormed into the Luperon harbor all day Monday. Half a dozen fishing boats plowed into the mangroves, bow-first, a hundred yards from us. Given our lack of swinging room, we figured things could get a little too cozy if more boats decided to line the mangroves around us. Enter my brilliant husband…Rene decided to back our stern into the mangroves and tie up, while our bow would remain on our mooring ball. This was initially planned as a temporary move to reserve some swinging space; once the fishing fleet got settled and the winds started piping up, we’d cut loose from the mangroves and allow Pipe to swing with the wind. Four lines and a conversation with Storyville later, we all decided that maybe staying anchored to the mangroves wasn’t such a bad idea…did we mention that the powers that be were now forecasting 80-100mph winds? Rene got us secured and then helped Deana and Troy tie Storyville to another cluster of mangroves. With five anchor points, as well as making ourselves a much smaller target for dragging boats, we felt pretty good about the upcoming storm.

One thing people don’t tell you about hurricanes…it’s downright boring waiting for things to happen. All of those stories of hurricane parties? Getting loaded isn’t such a great idea when your “house” can break free and hit (or be hit by) another boat. (We’re such party poopers!) We finished our prep work by lunch time, and sat on the deck watching the fishing boats tie up. Weather.com had projected 60-80mph winds by 6pm, but with the exception of a couple 30mph squalls, the harbor was dead calm until well after sunset. The wind picked up to 30kts around 10pm, and we had our first dragging victim of the night: a 50’ catamaran pulled its mooring out of the mud and drifted down half the length of the harbor. It passed within 15’ of an anchored boat, but finally settled undamaged near the town pier. We tried to get a few cat-naps overnight, but spent most of it awake listening to the boat chatter and weather updates on the VHF. The best news came when we heard that Irene was slowly veering offshore, and was expected to be 30-60 miles out as she passed us. The mangroves certainly lived up to their reputation, and we heard more than felt the gusts that came with Irene’s bands. Although winds near the eye exceeded 100mph and 10’ waves crashed outside the mouth of Luperon harbor, there was rarely more than a few ripples around us.

Tuesday morning was a bit more exciting, as the eye passed north of us around 10am. Winds picked up to 25-35kts for the better part of two hours, and a number of boats began dragging around the harbor. Dinghies went zooming to offer assistance whenever possible, and the crew at Marina Tropical helped a number of dragging boats. Fortunately no one was hurt, and none of the boats suffered any major damage. For the most part, Irene was, thankfully, a non-event for us. We were free of the mangroves and swinging back on our mooring by Wednesday morning, and were looking forward to going into town to see how Luperon itself fared. Jerry hosted a "Good Night Irene" post-hurricane potluck party on Wednesday night, where the Barcelo rum flowed all too freely, and everyone brought some tasty treats.

We also know that Irene hasn’t finished her journey yet; she’ll likely be a category 3 or possibly 4 hurricane as she bombards the Bahamas on her way to the East Coast. Our thoughts are with the many people we met in the Exumas and Abacos, as well with our cruising friends in the Carolinas. We’ll keep an eye on the weather sites over the next few days, and hope everyone stays safe and sound.