Yesterday the exhaust fan for the Onan Generator decided to die so this
morning Sam took apart the starboard aft lazerette and replaced it. It took
him about an hour and a half. But interestingly enough someone posted on
the local cruisers messages an exhaust fan for sale about a month ago. I
didn't really need one at the time but I decided to pick it up and so I had
a spare to replace it!!! I love syncronicity!
Last night we had friends over for dinner and talked till about 2 am!
so this morning we were all a little groggy (but work needs to be done
anyway) We love sitting around in the evenings talking and enjoying friends.
We talked about everything. Politics, Religion, News, Boats, future plans,
told sailing stories and eating Hannah's shortbread.
I'm really worried about the state of the world. We are closer to
nuclear war than I think ever in my life time. It's very disturbing.
Please folks be safe, get prepared, and don't take this life for granted.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring.
Mom is doing fine and is doing excercises every day but her balance is
starting to deteriorate so we are trying to make sure she can continue to
cruise with us.
It's time for dinner soon so I'm going up to the deck for watermellon
and Pineapple before beans and rice.
Love and Peace to everyone! Be well.
Date:Sat, 21 Sep 2024 12:12:00 GMT
New Club
Night Life
Thursday night we went to a new night club in Luperon. It's across
from the main town square and it's called Ashley Bar. It's kind of an 80's
night club feel with a DJ, a Bar, lots of lights and lot's of lounge
furniture. The floor is all black marble tile and it's got a second floor
the overlooks the dance floor. They had an opening just a week ago or so
and tonight was a Gringo night. The first drink was free and there was no
cover charge. Normally drinks are 150pesos and cover is 1000pesos. There
were all the usual suspects from the harbor there but it was not very well
represented because it was on the same evening as "captians table" at Las
Velas where most cruisors go for dinner and drinks every week.
Last night we went over to So Much More and ate dinner and spent the
evening together on their trampoline in the cool breeze and listend to music
and talked. We have been doing this regularly and we are becoming really
good friends.
I don't normally put anything on here but boating however it is good to
mark the time and the world, so I'll just quickly mention this: The EU gave
Ukraine permission to use long range military weapons to attack deep inside
Russia, and Israel just started launching an attack into Lebanon. They
started by blowing up like 4000 beepers and radios and followed up with a
bombing in Beruit. The Stock market is at all time highs and and many think
it's about to crash. I'm afraid that the world is about to go into WWIII
and it's like the elephant in the room that none of use in the harbor talk
much about. There have been 2 and perhaps three attempts on a presidential
candidate and it feels like we're having drinks while the world burns. Be
safe folks and don't be lulled into sleep as if nothing is going to happen.
This is, I believe, by far, the most dangerous time globally anyone has ever
known. I pray for the world...
Date:Tues, 18 Sep 2024 21:24:00:00 GMT
Ruins
exploring an old resort
Hi everyone! Sam has been exploring the beach area and there is an old
resort here that is abondoned. So he and a friend went exploring and
filming it. It used to be quite the place years ago with fancy rooms and
pools and even a swim up bar right on the beach but now it's an overgrown
pile of rotting concrete. Its almost like walking into another world. Like
a post apocolyptic seen in a movie.
Lilah has been a little different of late. She is turning into a lap
cat. We're not sure why. She has always been so independent. She needs us
for food but would largely keep to herself. Now as she is getting older she
seems to want to lay on our feet or sit next to us more than ever before.
We've been talking to some of our friends back in the states and it
looks like they might sail here. We have been telling them how much we
enjoy it here in Luperon.
Hannah made shortbread cookies that last few days and tonight with our
beans and rice we had fresh sourdough bread. We have finally started
digging into our stores from the states and are eating well. Typically,
however we eat lots of beans and rice, soup, cabbage and carrots and cookies
for desert.
It's starting to get a little cooler and it is much more comfortable
at night. This summer there has not been much rain and at night the wind
tends to die down so the lower temprature is really nice. We often stay up
late at night and sit in the cockpit in the cool evening. It's too hot to
go to bed early.
Date:Sat, 07 Sep 2024 13:22:00 GMT
COWS?
Only in the DR
Well something pretty funny happened this week. We were sitting in
Astrid's resturant playing cards and though typically people bring their
dogs today was different. A Cow just walked right in the door, wandered
around for a bit and finally left. Then down the road she wandered. I've
seen lots of cows on the roads from time to time but this is the first time
I've seen one walk in a resturant!
As to other news we've been sitting around chatting with friends,
eating beans and rice, trying new fruits, and enjoying the harbor, so
nothing much is going on.
If anyone is interested in coming here, We love it. So drinking water
is $2 per 5 gallons delivered, a mooring is $100/month, Diesel is $6.00
per gallon, Bottom cleaning is about $2.00/foot, Eggs are fresh and about
15cents each Raw milk is available for about $3/gal. Fruit and vegitables
are fresh local and cheap. Meat is not terrible cost wise and is local from
local butchers. There is not much fish. Resturants are plentiful and the
food is good. A typical dinner is about $10-15 and lunch about $7.
Drinks are also very resonable. If you look around you can find lunch for
$3 for a plate of meat and rice with vegis.
Internet is difficult but possible with local
wifi and cell towers. You can buy a plan for reasonable but it's not fast.
However most people have starlink. If starlink knows you are in the DR it's
about 2/3 the price of the US so that's a deal. Cell service is good but
super expensive so keep your phone on airplane mode and use wifi calling.
Most people use What's app to communicate.
Date:Mon, 02 Sep 2024 12:02:00 GMT
Apology
All is well, sorry
I have been very remiss in not writing in the blog. I apologize.
As to updates: To all those who have donated! Thank you so much! The
end of last month was Wanda's 87th birthday and we went to a resturant/club
called Astrid's here in Luperon and spent the day with other cruiser friends
of ours. Astrid is from Austria so Mom had Gulash and Spaetzle We also had
Schnitzle and Cordon Blu! I know that's an odd thing to get in a resturant
in the Dominican Republic but if you ever come to visit it's excellent and
extreemly authentic. It's the best german food I've had outside Europe.
As to Rum Ration. The boat after purchase has been worked on. The
engine was been repaired and it is now back at anchor. The engine required
a complete rebuild. Raymond and Sonja are staying here in Luperon and have a
little apartment. They are trying to start a business here with the money
from the sale of the boat. I'm not sure if they will ever go back to
boating. I think the entire experience was just too much for them. But
they are putting the pieces of their life back together. It's going to be a
long road I'm afraid. Thanks again to all those who helped them.
We have been relaxing and enjoying the harbor, friends, the weather and
the town. The weather is starting to cool just a little bit. The highest
temprature we saw this summer was 93 and there's most always a breeze, but
the wind dies at night so it can be pretty warm in the v-berth and Sam and
Wanda sleep in the cockpit. Still, it was not nearly as hot as Marathon in
August. We are making a lot of new friends here and we play D&D on
thursdays, we play Yucher with So Much More, we go to variety shows at a
club called New Amsterdam where Sam and Hannah go swimming in the afternoon
as we have pizza. We spend Thursday evening at Las Velas at captians's
table for drinks and dinner with the entire cruising community, and we do
quite a bit of reading.
We have settled into living aboard and it's going to be a chore to
prepare the boat for sailing but current plans are to start heading back in
November. Once again I'm sorry for not keeping the blog up better and I
will get back on a regular schedule again.
Have a wonderful labor day! It's also VJ day, programmers day, and
International Chocolate day!