Adios Bahamas, buenas dias Republica Dominica

Our approach to Mayaguana was a very intricate slalom through coral heads to an anchorage inside of a protective coral reef.  Our mouths were drooling at the thought of how many fish were going to be swimming in the crystal clear waters around this reef.  We dropped trusty rusty (the huge rusty anchor that "Eclipse" gifted to us) next to the only other boat in the harbor.  It was an old yellow trimaran that we had seen/ran aground next to while checking into customs at Bimini!  They said they didn't really notice that we were stuck so it wasn't too embarrassing.  It turns out that the yellow boat has four mates our age that are crewing for an old salt named Sterling.  They have had many problems along the way and were ecstatic to meet some cruisers their own age.  

The island of Mayaguana is quite large but only has a population of 250 and is a real Bahamian village with no tourism.  The locals don't see very many cruisers and they all wanted to be our friends.  The first night a local named "Yule" invited us over for dinner.  He said he would cook us dinner if we brought over the mahi-mahi we had caught on the way in.  We showed up with the mahi and some coke's, then Yule showed us the bonfire he had started for cooking dinner.  Turns out he lived in a tiny shack without water or electricity, but he did his best and cooked us up a slightly unsanitary feast in tinfoil.

The next day we met a great guy named Kyle Edwards.  He was from Freeport and was visiting his mom at this tiny village.  At 6' 10" he was a star basketball player for Texas A & M and was excited to see meet some americans on the island.  We invited him to go snorkeling at the reef with us and we each speared a fish for dinner.  Kyle cleaned and cooked the fish and I made some chicken chili for dinner, it was our last supper of the Bahamas.   

After college Kyle played professional basketball in South America.  He takes the cake as the tallest person ever aboard "YOLO" 

Kyle cooked the freshly speared fish for us Bahama's style!  He barely fit into our galley, but the fish turned out perfect.

At o'dark thirty the next morning we followed the yellow boat out of the cut in the reef bound for Turks and Caicos.  As we watched the sun rise the yellow boat fell behind YOLO due to our blazing fast 4.5 knots.  The course was slightly into the wind and after much contemplation we decided to continue the next 2 days at sea direct to Luperon, Dominican Republic.  It was a long trip, but the wind was great and the seas were not too high.  The third night we arrived outside the Luperon harbor at about midnight.  The entrance is a bit tricky so we kept outside tacking back and forth until first light in the morning.  

It rained for only about 15 minutes on the passage, could've gone for more but at least we got this rainbow.

Sunrise upon entering Luperon, D.R.  Beautiful morning, we could feel the warm humid breeze off the mountains, and smell the lush jungle from miles away.

Lance on the bow looking for the other half of our flotilla "Eclipse" 

Hundreds of boats are anchored in the beautiful harbor at Luperon.  As a natural "hurricane hole" it is protected from wind and waves from all directions because of the Lush hills and mangroves.

Repubica Dominica is all we had dreamed it would be!  Lush jungle, high mountains, authentic, friendly locals, and best of all cheap.  Everything the Bahamas wasn't, it's amazing that we are so close to the dry flat and expensive isles of the Bahamas.  The second day here we rented "motorconchos" to tour the island.  It was Lance's first time on a motorcycle so I showed him how to shift and off went went down the pothole covered busy road!  We took it slow to Imbert, and he was terrified so we stopped for a relaxing lunch in the town where we were definitely the only white people.  It gave us a great chance to practice our espanol, which is getting quite good.

Lance found a giant sack of his favorite food.  If he could fit all this garlic into one sailor stew he would!

Lance learned how to ride a motorcycle in the toughest conditions possible!  We found this dirt road without any traffic and rode it into the lush mountains along a hermosa rio.

This tiki bar/art stand was in the middle of the jungle and they made all kind of crafts from petrified wood.

The locals were surprised to see us whiteboys up in the hills.

This narrow bridge was fun to tear across using all 100cc's of power!

We never found the end of the dirt road, it got too rough and we tuned around.

Typical breakfast at Steves place.  Each morning we join other cruisers here for the great food, internet, swimming pool, and shower "all for 100 pesos"