Whale ho
Trip Start
Nov 06, 2010
1
72
108
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Samana Harbour, anchored
Samaná Peninsula, Samaná, Dominican Republic
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The morning was beautiful, with some strong sunshine and minimal wind. The cliff faces that greeted us upon the sun's rising were much more drastic and stunning than those that we had seen on the north coast. It is still very refreshing to see such distinctive landscapes as we sail along (or motor, whatever).
I started to take a little snooze on the settee after both of the boys woke up, but I was shortly awoken from a VHF call from Yolo - "Whales! At your 4 o'clock!" I jumped up and let Caleb and Pete know. We got in multiple sightings of whales, some spray from their blow holes, some fluke as they dove down, and even a couple breeches. It was awesome.
We made our way into Samana harbor with no problems (even without charts), and snagged a couple of moorings as the marina we were looking out for was not in sight. We made the transit from Luperon in about 24/5 hours, and given the lack of wind and the abundance of motoring, Pepe made it a pretty easy trip.
We were pretty pooped, but Peter and I were hungry and wanted to check out town. We launched the dinghy (knowing this is a location we need to keep security high - apparently their is a big market for small outboard motors), and scooted on into town. We met Philippe, who was very concerned about the status of our customs forms, but seeing as it was Sunday, there was not much to be done, he showed us to a lunch spot, and was on his way. He was also just wearing a random t-shirt and jeans, so it was hard to be convinced that he was at all official.
The boys from Yolo joined us in town for a beer, and after a while of chatting, the VHF sounded with Caleb calling us about some boat wanting their mooring back. Pete and Andy took our dinghy back out so they could move Hejira and ensure that Yolo was okay where she sat. No problem. Pete, Andy, and Caleb returned to town, and we wandered a bit to check it out. But, unbeknownst to us, this is apparently a cruise ship stop, so the town is a bit more geared toward that subset (ie double or triple the prices we saw in Luperon) and there is a whole section of the town that looks like it was taken out of some Disney resort. We're exhausted, so we opted for an early night.
Comments
It's just too much fun following you guys around!
the whales must have been nice, hope that the giant squid isn't next on the wild life list.
Got some real nice street views of the Samana harbor on Google Maps, It's fun to try and guess where you will be going next by looking ahead for good ports on the maps.
Getting more snow today. Will try to send down some pictures so you won't forget what NE looks like in the winter. I only wish I could figure out how to pass along the feel.
Hope Caleb is feeling better.
PER
Ditto, I couldn't have said it better!