An Unexpected Stop in Turks and Caicos

As sad as we were to leave the Bahamas, we were equally excited to visit the Dominican Republic. We couldn’t wait to hike up the mountain side, explore waterfalls, and devour cheap street food. We pulled up our anchor at 12:50am on April 8^th. It would take us 32-36 hours (our longest sail yet) to get to Luperon. Leaving in the middle of the night would ensure a morning arrival on April 9^th. The pups were confused why we were up moving around so much at such a strange hour, but once we turned on the motor, they assumed their passage positions. Jaela took the cockpit floor, while Baxter settled into the side cushion.

We sailed into the dark, once again relying on our instruments and spotlight to guide our way. Once underway, Rob took the first night shift (2am-4am) and I tried to sleep. The key word here is TRIED. I didn’t sleep a wink. The boat was rocking so much that rest was impossible. We were expecting 3 foot seas with 11 second intervals, but the loud banging of the hull onto the water surface every few seconds told us it was much choppier. We knew it would be a long night. After being tossed onto the floor while I was “resting” on the salon settee during a particularly bad hull-banger, I knew there was no point of trying to sleep. I took the next night shift (4am-7am).

Sailing in choppy seas is different at night than during the day. Since we can’t see the waves coming, we were constantly tense with anticipation. On the other hand, it’s impossible to steer into them, so our only task at the helm is to ensure the autopilot kept us on track. This made for a very uncomfortable, but boring night. Thankfully our fuel supply issues did not reappear (is it safe to say that we might have fixed it?), so we only had to concentrate on keeping course.

After a very colorful sunrise, Rob took over at the helm and we began discussing our course. The last 7 hours were pretty miserable for all four of us and the thought of another 24+ hours of the same was disheartening. That’s when we made the call to bail out to Providenciales (Provo) in Turks and Caicos.

We previously decided to bypass Turks and Caicos, because of their expensive fees and pet import requirements. T&C requires dogs to have a Lyme disease vacation and to be tested 10 days prior to arrival. Considering we were in the Exumas 10 days ago where there is ONE vet clinic that is open ONE hour a week, this was impossible. They also have breed restrictions and Baxter’s fierce pitbullness could prove troublesome. However, we decided to chance it, thinking that worse case the dogs would be quarantined to the boat.

We pulled into South Side Marina around 1:00pm on Friday (April 8^th). They called Customs and Immigration for us and we waited 3 hours for them to show up. We kept the pups below deck while Rob checked in with Customs in the nearby gazebo. It was Friday afternoon and the officer had her son with her, who was anxious to get to soccer practice. I’m guessing we were the last stop on her way home. Rob was prepared with the pups’ Rabies certificates, health certificates, and FAVN titer forms; but the officer never asked about pets and Rob never volunteered the information. That was it. Our passports were stamped and we were cleared into the country. All that worrying and they didn’t even ask about pets.

After being isolated in the Bahamas for the last 5 weeks, we were excited to go out to dinner. A taxi took us to the Grace Bay area, where we experienced culture shock. Just 24 hours ago we were in Mayaguana with one small bar and a “restaurant” (really just Reggie’s house) and now we were surrounded by a plethora of posh restaurants, ice cream shops, gourmet groceries, and boutique clothing stores. It was difficult to wrap our sleep deprived heads around the sudden change. We ordered the foods we had been craving and stocked up on fresh produce and quality meats. One thing is for sure—we ate well and a lot in T&C.

We stayed at the South Side Marina for 5 nights waiting for the next weather window to cross to the Dominican Republic. During our stay we rented a car and explored the west side of the island with the pups, found an isolated beach all to ourselves, had drinks with our new dock neighbors (Sailing Delancey), played boccie ball at Bob’s Bar, and went downtown to a local Spanish bar. It was a relaxing and fun stay. Despite our rough passage, we were happy that we got a chance to experience Turks and Caicos. We were reminded of the convenience of the Western world and it felt like a vacation. But we were ready to move onto new experiences.

To really do this country justice, we would have to visit multiple islands and do some diving; however, if we were to stay more than seven days, then we would need to purchase a cruising permit for an extra $300. This was not in our budget. So when a nice clam weather window appeared, we jumped on it, even though it meant we would be traveling on Rob’s 30^th birthday.

We said goodbye to Sailing Delancey on Wednesday (April 13^th) afternoon as we left the marina. We anchored nearby and prepared for our early morning departure. We pulled up our anchor at 6:50am the next day. It was Captain Rob’s birthday and we were bound for Luperon for a second time. We both knew this would be a birthday to remember, we just hoped it would be for good reasons.