Domican Republic - What a friendly place!

The sail here was long but worth it. When the sun came up, we still could not see land but when we could, we found the most beautiful, rugged coastline. We were both pretty sure King Kong came from here! The sunsets are not too shabby either....




  We arrived around 10:30 am to handshakes and smiles from the locals at the Ocean World Marina in Puerto Plata. By the time we were checked in with immigration, customs, navy, etc...... we had a mechanic look at a few things then took a walk to get something to eat and sample the local rum (of course) and found the best chicken wings imaginable, and it was 2 for 1 night..woohoo! Day 2 we rented a car and drove to Luperon, an adventure in itself. We got a little lost and stumbled into some "off the beaten path" - literally- marina where we were introduced to "Mamajuana." (a traditional spiced rum served here on the island) and sampled some local food. We were very privileged to meet a gentleman sitting at a nearby table by the name of Bruce Van Sant, who, as it turns out, is the man who wrote the only guide book we had on Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, the book some call the cruisers "Bible". The book was given to us by Anne and Steve Walsh when we met them at the Bight in Norman Cay. Bruce invited us to join he and his friends and we chatted for a bit (he is a veritable plethera of information on cruising) WHAT AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE!!!!! Just the way we like it! Driving back to Puerto Plata we stopped at a fruit stand in the mountains and stocked up on mango, pineapple and bananas for our next journey to Turks and Caicos. Where we will pick up Mitch and Ally on July 5th. Weather looks good so we'll leave tonight!