Monday, February 16 – Wednesday, February 18
| Start: Cockburn Town, Grand Turks, Turks & Caicos (anchored) | Miles: 215 nm |
| End: Puerto Bahía Marina, Samaná, Dominican Republic (dock) | Time: 37hr 54m |
| Weather: Caribbean Warm, light to moderate winds | Waves: 2-4 ft behind |
| Wildlife: Humpback whales, longtail tropicbird, flying fish |
Recently, it seems like every good weather window opens after sunset. Leaving Brunswick at 4 pm, crossing the gulf stream leaving at 6 pm, leaving at 5 pm to cross the Exuma Sound, and 1 am to head to Turks & Caicos. Leaving in the evening means you start the trip tired, and tiredness can lead towards worse seasickness or bad decisions. But the weather comes on its own schedule, and we’re trying to make the most of it.
All that to say, we left for this trip at 9 pm because the waves looked like they would settle after sunset. We were in talks with a few other boats who were taking this same weather window from further west. Their weather windows opened sooner than ours, and they said the waves were even better than forecasted.
We left in the dark with totally still wind. There was some lightning off in the distance that we monitored for the first few hours, but it was otherwise an uneventful start to the trip. Waves gradually grew as we left our protection, but the light winds made for gentle waves.
The first 24 hours were motoring. The second day, I put up the sails when the wind started to come from behind. But they were mostly decoration. An 8-kt wind when we are moving 6 kt doesn’t leave much for the sails.
Starting the afternoon of the second day, the winds started picking up on the breeze. We were sailing on the thorny passage in an easy sea-state. This is life!
The passage from Turks to the Dominican Republic has a few banks too short to call islands. From 13,000 feet deep, these banks climb to sea level with uncharted rocks that have claimed many ships. We steered clear of these, and I was surprised at night to see a light marking our turning point around the Mouchoir Bank.
By our second sunrise, the wind had grown enough to turn off our engine and enjoy the wind. The wind continued to grow around sunset (while I was unsuccessfully trying to sleep at a 15-20° heel), so we put a few reefs in and slowed our approach. We didn’t want to beat the sun to the DR because we heard there are fishing traps, fishermen, and lost fishing gear to avoid. By 09:00, we were approaching the DR’s east coast and got to see some of the daring fishermen in 12-foot aluminum boats jetting from buoy to buoy checking their traps.
We were greeted to the bay by humpback whales putting on a display for us, breaching and splashing within half a mile of us. Such magnificent and astonishing creatures! The waves slackened as we approached the Puerto Bahía Marina, our home for the next several weeks.
