Walking towards town with Hugo and Victoria from "Namaste" and our guide Emmanuel
A garden of Laaambi (Conch)
Alberto and his new friends...
STRICKE A POSE!
Just adorable
At sister Flora's orphanage
Market girls walking back home
Hand made wood planks...
and the process
Last diner al Ille a Vache with:Finally
on March 13th we left the busy Caribbean side departing from Guadalupe after a
two day stay which purpose was to provision, do major cleaning, and fill up H2O
and diesel. Initially our intention was to cross directly to Ille a Vache but
instead, after four days at sea and a few nights of light/uncomfortable sleep we
decided to do a quick rest stop at Isla Beata (National Park) which is located
on the furthest south cape of the Dominican Republic - as suggested by Andrea
from Maistrac.
ISLA BEATA...LEI...VERAMENTE!
A few had suggested this stop as a good place to rest but they hadn't mentioned
its peaceful beauty which can actually classify it as "Paradise" in
the Dominican Republic, later on, while speaking with the local fisherman we
came to know that even for them Isla Beata is considered paradise, a place
where there are little problems compared to the main island and where
everything is reduced to the minimum...sort of like a sailing boat.
Immediately
we fell in love with its crystal-clear water - seen last in Tobago Cays, fine
white sandy beaches and las but not least, 3 fishermen's companies where one
could buy fresh fish and lobster at local price. The great thing about the
island, as informed by the military marina is that due to common drug
trafficking in the area, fishermen are not allowed to approach one’s boat
unless suggested otherwise; this meant peace at last, no one knocking
unexpectedly while eating lunch or taking a nap...the little things that make a
difference. The local fishermen were very nice, specially one of the companies
run by Don Ramon which was Bernie Mac's double in every aspect and by another
man whose name escapes me, but we'll call him Christiano since he was often
referred by that name since he did not drink alcohol. Our last day there we
organized a BBQ at the beach with the company mentioned before where I prepared
rice, salad and rum punch, and Alberto showed them how to grill lobster and fish
- apparently a style completely foreign to them, they normally fry fish or cook
it in coconut milk, and the lobster is boiled.
Company "Karina" with Christiano and Pochon 
Marina Military playing dominoes
Iguana Time! 
Always dominoes...
Bernie Mac
BBQ with the boys
While
returning to the boat after the BBQ we saw a catamaran approaching the
anchorage and being that Alberto is very friendly and curious he swam over to
say hello, I followed a bit after and met a woman around my age swimming near
the catamaran; happy to meet other cruisers, they gladly invited us on board
for a beer and to look at their wonderful deck catamaran (a Wharam) called
"Two Ticks". Not long after the local Navy arrived and after
assisting them with translation, we invited Liza and Adrian over to
"Tobago" for a pasta diner with local Conch in tomato sauce, they happily
accepted. After diner the boys settled on meeting in a couple of days at the
next bay called Bahia de las Aguilas. It is always nice to share adventures
with other boaters...
BAHIA DE
LAS AGUILAS
This
anchorage was recommended to us by the local fishermen at Isla Beata, they had
suggested stopping there before leaving the Dominican Republic since among them
it was considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean due to its
length, wilderness and clear water. In fact, in other conditions one could say
all of the above except due to local conditions with southerlies during the day
the water lost its clearness and the stay was a little rhythmic.
But in
the end, as we know "everything happens for a reason", we met two French
boats one owned by Yvan and the other by Pierre. Both of them came over to
"Tobago" for aperitivo and to gather useful information for their
passage from Jamaica to Cuba. The morning after they were heading to Ille a
Vache and since we were also making a stop there they invited us for aperitivo
ahead of time. It was settled...we had friends awaiting upon our arrival.
The
second day at Bahia de las Aguilas was closed with diner on board "Two
Ticks". Liza prepared an oven baked yellow dolphin with potatoes, we
finished it off with two bottles of chilled wine. We left together on March
2oth us with a few hours ahead of them since their cat needs more wind to sail,
giving them heads up via VHF when we were far enough to determine stable wind
conditions suitable for them.
Chaguaramas, Trinidad
Después de un...aún más largo vuelo desde San Diego-Chicago-Miami, donde hemos dormido la noche del Lunes 10 de enero, nuestro vuelo de la 9,50 fue cancelado y hubimos de esperar el vuelo de las 19,00. Ante mi sorpresa, mientras en el aeropuerto de Miami supongamos que de las 20 personas con quien intercambié palabra solo con una fue en inglés y por los altavoces siempre se anunciaba primero en español y después en inglés??? No puedo imaginar la misma escena en San Diego. Ante mi sorpresa, mientras en el aeropuerto de Miami supongamos que de las 20 personas con quien intercambié palabra solo con una fue en inglés y por los altavoces siempre se anunciaba primero en español y después en inglés???
"Tobago", "Tobago", "Tobago"...mucho mejor de lo que esperábamos. No es por nada pero la prevención es muy importante; buena limpieza con vinagre diluido en agua y como segunda mano cloro diluido en agua, quiere decir mucho. Dejar todo aireado, colchones en vertical, almohadas pendulando, ropa en bolsas de tela y todas pero todas la puertas abiertas. También ayudo mucho un ventilador de PC que Alberto dejo conectado al panel solar, así que hubo circulación de aire todo el tiempo. Los trabajos casi a punto: soportes del motor-check!, limpieza completa interior y exterior incluyendo lavado de todos los artículos de textil (que acumulan olor a humedad)-check!, reparar la nueva zodiac que nos han regalado-check!, repara una grieta en la quilla http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/quilla (donde se une el acrílico con el plomo) causada por los años, movimiento y agravada por infiltración de agua-check!, lijar carena y pintar el anti fauling-check!,pasar polish y cera al casco y puente-check!, montar generador eólico-check!...casi todo hecho, aún quedan algunos trabajos que continuaremos a hacer en estos días. El Lunes al agua y previsto permanecer en Trinidad hasta el Jueves.
Trinidad lindisimo. La gente agradable y bastante disponible. El varadero se encuentra en Chaguaramas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaguaramas,_Trinidad) que geográficamente se localiza en la parte noroeste de la isla- cómico que una zona industrial se encuentra dentro o propio vecino a un parque nacional pero bueno, así funcionan las cosas en éste mundo. Mirando hacia el norte un panorama espectacular y al amanecer ni se diga, nos despiertan las melodías de aves, al abrir los ojos testimoniamos espectáculos acróbatas, el resto del día es trabajar, trabajar, trabajar y escapar de los mentados mosquitos que me traen frita - he probado todo: citronella, autan y off, y nada funciona... no cabe duda que soy irrrrrrresistible!
Y bueno, comienza una nueva aventura. El 2 de Febrero nos vemos en Tobago Cays con los amigos del "Black Sheep" y el 7 a recoger a Moreno y Alessandro en Saint Vincent. Quien quiera apuntarse bien venido. El 17 estaremos de nuevo en Saint Vincent, después empezaremos a subir hacia Saint Lucia, Martinica, Dominica de donde haremos la travesía hacia Cuba (intención estar allí la primera semana de Marzo y permanecer tres semanas) parando tal vez en República Dominicana, después Península de Yùcatan (Lizette!!! Hay que vernos en Pascua) y por último Houston.
Come un elastico si allunga o ritrae a seconda delle mie volonta’, come una pasta per bambini assume le forme che desidero; scatta veloce nei momenti di massima eccitazione,scorre placido come un fiume d’estate in quelli di relax. Posso appoggiarlo al suolo e lasciarlo aspettare fino a quando non mi ritorna la voglia di giocare con lui oppure gustarne lentamente i piaceri, riveverli, avvolgere e svolgere i miei ricordi sopra un foglio bianco in un continuo stato di pace, di calma,lentezza. E’ questo per me il primo gran piacere di un lungo viaggio in mare: la detemporizzazione della vita. A volte soffermandomi sul mare, sui suoi colori mi chiedo quale possa essere la differenza tra ora e mille anni fa, cosa sia cambiato da allora. Inganno il tempo e me stesso lasciandomi trasportare da questi pensieri, immaginandomi a bordo di un antico veliero oppure cercando di dimenticare per un attimo chi sono e da dove vengo, vivendo semplicemente l’ambiente, il mare, e cosi’ scopro l’eternita’. Capisco che la sua dimensione non ha nulla a che vedere con la mia, che io potrei morire e rinascere per altri mille anni ma non riuscirei mai a raggiungere una continuita’ come tale, nonostante i diversi venti,correnti,mesi dell’anno. Il mare e’ il sangue del nostro pianeta, non ha capo ne fine, e’ il collegamento tra tutti i continenti, tra tutte le specie, l’origine della vita; e’ un ciclo continuo che dura da milioni di secoli ed io uomo dagli anni contati ci galleggio sopra, inebriato dai suoi vapori antichi.
Appena scapolato il capo orientale di Fuerteventura la grossa onda da Ovest della burrasca appena passata entrava con prepotenza sulla nostra rotta... Ma il Creuza de Ma galleggiava sull’acqua con l’armonia di una ballerina, mantenendo una rotta stabile, movimenti mai troppo bruschi e un buonissimo equilibrio alla barra. E’ stato veramente un piacere iniziare a conoscerla cosi’, se in quella situazione, onda di bolina stretta e vento al lasco, riusciva ancora ad essere comoda, beh non ci aspettava altro che una piacevole navigazione... Il Creuza de Ma e’ un bellissimo Swan 65 disegnato da Sparkman e Stephensen (ndr), perfettamente mantenuto dal suo adoratore-proprietario e amico Andrea. Mi sono ritrovato a Lanzarote il 23 novembre, dopo 3 mesi di inattivita’ marittima e con una gran voglia di riprendere il mare.In realta’ Andrea non lo avevo mai visto prima, ci siamo conosciuti via radio l’anno prima e fin da subito abbiamo avuto un buon feeling, cosi’ che a settebre e nata l’idea di un bel viaggio sul suo Creuza.A bordo eravamo
