More on Luperon, DR

Still catching up on Luperon visit.

4/7/12

Mike goint up the carbon fiber mast of Wayward Wind

Yesterday Mike and Sarah from Tanqueray came by to help with the jib box.  Lutz came, too, to help us get started.  All told, Mike spent well over five hours here, most of which was up the mast.  We are so appreciative.  Of course, we paid him, but probably not enough.  Mike is a structural engineer and Sarah is an electrical engineer hailing from Vancouver, Washington.  They are in their early thirties and recently married.  They are on an extended honeymoon and are taking a year out of their lives to sail.  This is as far south as they will come, but they hope to do more.  Sarah works for an electric company and does research on electric consumption throughout the West Coast.  They are a sweet, beautiful couple – a rarity amongst us oldsters – and are sailing with their cat.

Lutz showing Mike how to attach a safety line

I learn so much from Lutz and Krina.  When Lutz came by to help us get started, he showed us how to do a safety line around Mike.  Since Wayward Wind has no stays, it is important to have another line holding the one going up the mast in case the main halyard breaks.  He showed us some good knots for this as well as how to winch a line around the forestay to loosen it without having to remove the jib (foresail).  He also showed us how to take out our starter motor.  One of the other boats back in the Turks and Caicos had their starter motor short out when a piece of aluminum from the insulation fell into the motor.  The down side of these diesel motors is that you cannot jump them to get them started as you can a car motor.  Lutz suggested we get an extra starter motor here in the DR since it would be pretty cheap.  We are thinking about it. 

Even the cows are relaxed in the DR

We'd heard about "The Falls" - a natural rock formation where a series of cascades is cut through the mountain by flowing water.  You can jump and slide down through the cascades and it was supposed to be fun.  Along with two other couples, we decided to make a day of it and tour the countryside, too.  A local woman, Rosa, organized the tour.  We rode two different buses through the mountains and first visited a wood-carving cooperative, a cigar-making site, and a coffee and cacao area.  We enjoyed all of the samples. 

Carving wood figures

Making cigars

Drying shed

As we drove along through the mountains in the bus, the children would shout out "Mentay" (mente) because they wanted us to throw candy to them. 

"Mente!"

Family at roadside kitchen

Carrying a bundle of grass

Animal pen in lush surroundings

Cemetary

Herding cows

After the tourist stops, we had a delightful Dominicana lunch at an outdoor cafe of grilled chicken and pork, rice and peas, green salad, and fried sweet plantain.  We then went to the Falls where we donned life vests and helmets and were herded like sheep with two other groups, UP through five cascades where we then turned around and slid or jumped back down.  It wasn't too organized with log jams of people and hunky guides grabbing and literally picking us up one by one to the new levels.  I came to realize that I'm really too old for this type of "fun." 

Last night we went aboard Plane to Sea to celebrate Don’s birthday with three other couples.  Janis made gumbo with fresh lobster and Sarah had brought homemade bread.  Lots of stories were told and enjoyed by all.  The favorite of the night though was a short one told by Dave.  We were trading  strategies about how we choose a place to drop the anchor.  Janis commented that Dave seems to spend a lot of time tooling around while Linda impatiently stands on the bow with her hands on her hips just shaking her head.  Dave exclaimed, "I'm like a dog circling around three times looking for a place to take a shit!"  That was it - the quote of the night!  Our faces ached with the laughter from all the stories.  So many. 

Today Dave and I went into town to pick up our laundry and use the internet at Cap’n Steve’s Restaurant.  He is an American married to a Dominicana and has two young girls.  He was a commercial fisherman for many, many years and has settled here.  He brought his computer over and showed us photos of his house that he is having built up in the mountains.  There are never too many tables filled at his restaurant so we always wonder how he makes it.  He has his restaurant up for sale.  Apparently there was a large hotel on the coast associated with a British travel group that provided a lot of tourism here in Luperón, but for a variety of reasons, the travel group no longer includes Luperón on the tour, so the hotel has closed, and that has had deleterious effects on the local economy.  And that’s how it is.

Cacao - the source of a delicious cup of cocoa.