Superbowl XLV
Trip Start
Nov 06, 2010
1
76
108
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Puerto Bahia Marina
Puerto Bahia, Samaná, Dominican Republic
Monday, February 7, 2011
We left with not a lick of wind and smooth seas, but as we came out around the protection of the cliffs and the peninsula surrounding Los Haitises, the wind and seas picked up a bit. As is customary these days, we were headed directly into the wind. We set the jib and fell off a bit, but kept the motor running to be able to motor sail a bit closer to the wind than just sailing would allow for. It was a hot and sunny morning and with the three boats from our anchorage plus the three or four boats from the other anchorage, we were quite the fleet heading toward Puerto Bahia.
Eventually, we struck the jib and turned up to motor to the marina. It was a bit of a struggle what with pounding into the waves, but we managed. We returned to our former slip and were settled in quickly (coming into a slip or the dock is always so much easier when you have friends there to catch your dock lines!). As we had neglected to eat before leaving Los Haitises, I quickly got on making some breakfast quesedillas with black beans, fresh tomatoes, cheese, and fried eggs before we returned to the relaxing setting of Puerto Bahia marina. We enjoyed the swimming pools, the fast internet, reading our books and relaxing.
And the Superbowl party was really nice. All the cruisers piled into Cafe del Mar, taking over the couches and lounge chairs. The reception via satellite was sufficient, though it managed to freeze right as a touchdown pass was being thrown or a ball was fumbled so you were caught wondering what exactly happened until the image unfroze itself! It was a great game, with most cheering for the Packers, conch shell horn blowing every time they scored and even one of the cruisers performing celebratory push ups (seriously). Justin, from We Don't Neaux, made sure we knew where his loyalties lay though with a ukelele and kazoo solo with every Steelers score.
As the wind picked up today, crossing back over to the park looked less than ideal, so we've decided to stay another night before making our move. Roz led a few of us in a yoga class this morning by the ocean, and we enjoyed another relaxing day. It came out that a few of the various crew members were relatively obsessed with the boardgame Settlers of Catan, so tonight we're rallying a big game of that with our friends here. Tomorrow, we'll scope out the weather and see how things are looking for the upcoming Mona Passage crossing. We're ready to get ourselves in position for the first weather window to make the move over. We expect our friends Jake and Amy into Puerto Rico a week from Friday, so we want to get as close to them as possible!
Oh, and we've been on the move for three months now.
