Luperon Week 3 & 4 February 2006

Things are very different in Luperon, at least very different from the Bahamas. First of all, we don't check the weather every morning, because in this harbour it doesn't matter. The fierce fronts we had to prepare for in the Bahamas, rarely have an effect here. If they are strong enough to extend this far south and east, their dreaded west and strong north winds, just cancel out the easterly trades, resulting in the weather window which makes heading easterly much easier. This happens about every week or so, allowing boats to come and go with relative ease. Hopefully this will continue and we will have no difficulty finding a quiet spell when we are ready to leave. When the boats are coming in from the Turks and Caicos, we usually hear them calling on the radio for harbour information and most times Mike from Seacomber goes out to meet and guide them in. Mike provides this valuble service free.
So far, every night has been dead calm, so you get a good night's sleep. It maybe cloudy with a little drizzle, but it isn't enough to stop you from doing anything except dry the laundry. Every afternoon the wind picks up, usually 15-20 kn, but the anchors are all well stuck in the mud. Ross's only complaint is that we aren't getting enough wind power, and the slight cloud cover reduces the effectiveness of the solar panels, so he is having to watch our energy consumption as he hates to start the engine. Another advantage of this protected harbour is that even in the afternoon when the wind is blowing, it is not rough, the distances you need to travel are short, and you don't need to get wet!! We actually changed back to the 4hp, it is lighter to lift up each evening and uses less fuel. Fuel is not cheap $4 a gallon, but we aren't using much.

Most Saturday mornings the cruisers play baseball with the local young men. Baseball in the Dominicans’ national sport, so the cruisers are definitely at a disadvantage….even with the Commodante pitching for our team. But it is a good time, and the local guys try to keep if fun, and the score respectable. After the game, drinks are bought by the losers (US!!). In Canada, kids play road hockey, here it is baseball, using whatever they have. We have seen them playing with a stick, an orange, and a mitt made out of a pizza box. But they love their baseball.