NOT ONLY DOES BOCA CHICA (small mouth) fun to say, it is a fun town:
Rubio proprietor of the fabulous restaurant at Marina Zar-Par. (He’s squishing tostones.)
This is Teresa and Eleana, the chefs at the fabulous restaurant at Marina Zar-Par.
Gene got a kick out of this: the grout is out. Lots of work he mused.
Buns . . .
No rules like USA rules in the DR.
Rowing is a way of life in the DR.
Needle fish.
IN BOCA CHICA, MARINA ZAR-PAR became Moody Blues’ refuge. (The above shot is of the office.)
After all those days at sea it was perfect to discover this beautiful new marina. Not only were we able to is check into the Dominican Republic there at the marina, water, wifi, and electricity were included in the slip fees.
The spaceous docks were so freeing to walk to and fro Moody Blues. The heads were sparkling clean with hot showers !
We especially liked the do-it-yourself laundry. The large washers and dryers gave us a chance to wash all the towel cushion covers and foot mats.
Marina Zar-Par’s staff was exceptionally friendly and with 24 hour security, it would be an easy place to leave one’s boat, if need be, and grab a quick flight back into the states. The International airport is super close to the marina, as is the capital, Santo Domingo. Come dock next to us and check it out:
As I mentioned, spaceous docks and lots of areas to sit, eat, read, email.
We hung out at the on-site restaurant. It was a good place to meet other cruisers and boaters. Frank, co-owner of the marina, invited us to lunch and see what a real DR meal is. Red beans and white rice are the staple. Then usually fish, either fried whole with head and tail still on, or you can order a filet grilled. Tostones, fried plaintain disks, are really tasty and used to scoop up the rice and beans. People eat lunch here like we eat dinner, then they eat tiny dinners. We’re trying to switch our livestyle to match the countries we’re in. It’s hard. But it’s not hard to down an ICE cold Presidente beer after a entertaining hike along the wonderful beach, (fairly topless, lots of briefs) to Boca Chica proper.
Upstairs is Immigration and the Captain’s lounge, downstairs heads and laundry.
Frank Virgintino Co-owner of marina. Raoul, marina manager.
Captain’s lounge. (Not too shabby, heh!)
Oink, oink and oink! (On the left is Dave from the catamaran Cimmaron.) Photo by Frank V.
Hola All, one of our last shots of Cartagena, another boat, day tripping. As a “weather window” seemed evident, Moody Blues took advantage of it and left Cartagena on Sunday, Jan 18th. We knew initially it would be rough going, so we beat into the wind and sea for 33 hours, then tucked into Bahía Guayraca, also known as one of the 5 Bays (of Columbia, approaching the border to Venezuela).
Bahía Guayraca was a lovely, tiny, quiet village. As you can see the Santa Marta Mountains in the background feel “fjordish.” That night at anchor I awoke and smelled a rich, grassy, dirt smell. It was pungent and wonderfully wild and fresh. I took deep breaths. In the morning Gene cleaned Moody Blues’ bottom. It took him over 2 hours, it was filthy from only 18 days in Cartagena.
About noon, Tues 1/20/09, we took off. We decided to blast out across the Sea instead of heading further east along Columbia’s shoreline. Big mistake . . .
The next 5 nights we beat our brains out trying to get across the Caribbean Sea. We had our mainsail double reefed, single reefed, then double reefed again.
We had the engine on, the engine off, the engine on. We had the headsail out, then reefed, then rolled back in and put the sta’sail back out. We kept trying to go east mostly to be dragged west by the strong, up to 1.5 knot, current. We did not want to go to Haiti, which we were rapidly heading for. We even discussed turning around and going to Aruba and then starting over from there to get across the Caribbean Sea! All in all, it was no easy feat. Wind gusting at 27 right on the nose, seas 2–9 feet. Rain, sun, sliver of a moon, no moon due to ominous clouds. It just wasn’t fun, and the reality of it is there is no way out once you are out there and committed. You just have to grin and bear it! Grrrrrrr!
But look what we saw when we arrived in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic on Sunday 1/25. Ah, bliss. With the Q (quarantine) flag flying we dropped anchor and immediately had a Piña Colada! (On board, of course, as we were not allowed off of Moody Blues until the officials arrived and checked us out.) Bring ‘em on.
(This post is dedicated to Chris Edlen, Feliz Cumpleanos today buddy!)