Cat Cay diversion

Unlike in the U.S., old homes seem to be left standing. This was a plantation home of a slave owner..Several other smaller homes stand nearby, that long ago, belonged to his sons.

Tried heading off to Conception Island but the winds were on the nose again +/- a few degrees so I expected to tack there during daylight. Winds grew rather than moderate as expected per (Chris'Weather Report) so seas started at 4-5 then went to 7+ by noon at 15-18 true..that meant 20-23 or so accross the deck. The problemo..that we were not used to, was that at this point on the charts, the Atlantic Ocean was running free from Africa and the currents were also adding to our dilema that day. Pushing hard to windward, with rail buried to the point that we washed 2 gas cans and a 4' fender board overboard,

Father Jerome, an architect priest, built a hermitage atop the mountain at Cat Cay.

I decided to turn from the east and make way for Cat Cay-a beam reach north and a good spot to hang out for an evening..or more.
Cat Cay was very friendly, inexpensive and offered a sheltered harbor in the easterly winds. We got together with a number of other boats at a waterfront eatery that evening, bringing our own finger food to share and purchaced drinks from the establishment. The owners and staff were like family. I would love to have time to stay at this island for an extended period. They understood the 'fingerfood thing' as they have poor access to products we are used to.

The views from each one of the small windows within his downsized replica of some famous religious site (?) are all spectacular.

Some photos show us exploring up at a priests hermitage atop the nearby mountain.
Left early next morning to take advantage of shifting and easing of wind which I hoped to allow us to at least motorsail south as the winds were from the SE, then the next day turn East when the wind shifted to the South. It worked.





We again had to slow down and hove to off the island of West Caicos. got some sleep and began running SE for the turning point NE up to Provo around 4 AM. Timing was fine and arrived at Provo early on Sat. to find out that clearing in was impossible as the government shut down till Tues. morning.... Easter in the Islands! Looking around from the cockpit, the scene was sad. half the boats in the harbor were near derelict in appearance and the shoreline was lined with Mansions. At night, 9 out of 10 of these rich man retreats, had no lights on....abesentee owners. Had flown into Provo 19 years ago to crew on a passage to Jamaica and Sapodilla Bay was virgin, with the exception of one 2 story hotel on the point which also served as a cruiser hang out. The road was new, joining the 3 settlements on the island...dusty, crushed rock and a long, hot walk anywhere, but lovely in its simplicity and remoteness. Now, it came off as another beautiful spot destroyed by some with too much money. Enough.


Bought a Whole Grouper from local fisherman, then they cleaned it, fileted it and cut up the rest for a fish stew! $25. for about 10 meals for 2 people.

Motorsailed again, into the wind taking a slightly southerly route across the bank to the departure point for the southern tip of the Turks, known as Big Sand Cay. All went wonderfully, passed a bunch of buddy boaters chatting and waisting their travel time. Got off the Bank of Caicos and on towards Big Sand Cay with wind getting more favorable. Turned south at the remote cay and shut engine down from 1000 rpms. Sailing again it was glorious with a reduced jib and mizzen for power, broadreaching in 11-14 kts. of wind and doing 6+. This was my plan to arrive off Luperon in the Dominican Republic at first light.

Now anchored in Luperon harbor on the north coast of the Dominican Republic and are loving it's Old World flavor.





Farming has been mostly abandoned by the locals, now that inter island transport boats bring in supplies, but although they have been abandoned, the fields still produce. We stepped a few feat off the road to fill my shirt up with tomatoes and a cabbage. The corn was stunted from lack of rain.