I'm still having chart problems...my
Raymarine chartplotter isn't working quite right and I'm afraid that my
laptop is headed for a serious
rebuild. But, if I'm not mistaken there are several other shoals near the Silver Banks and it'd be like threading a needle to get through there without crossing them. With
wind and currents, my understanding is that they are going to be really rough, if not dangerous. If it was like the Caicos Banks, it'd be interesting to dink around and dive...but I've been in
Puerto Rico for several years and it seems like the
wind always blows around here. It is the Trades, after all.
We ended up navigating inside the Hourglass shoals (see Van Sant's book), which I think is counter to most sailing methods of getting from Samana to Boqueron. But we wanted the shortest time in the Mona and the run from Punta Cana to Boqueron is about as short as you can get. We ended up waiting in a marina in Punta Cana for several days for
weather but eventually got SE winds, which allowed us to sail across rather than motoring. But the winds were pretty high...25 kt +
Our friends, who were about 6 hours ahead of us decided to take the more traditional Zig-zag tack across the Mona and hit pretty bad
weather. They said it was one of the worst crossings they'd ever done and they had sailed from
Europe to the New World. It's really a weather dependent trip!!
As for our successes along the North Coast of the DR...there were a few
ports worth seeing, we skipped Luperon, but it was mostly a slog. And we didn't get the kind of katabatic wind that you are supposed to see. There is a problem with Van Sant's technique: You have to check in with the DR Marina de Guerra (Navy) at every place you
anchor. They want to check your despacho from the last port and then they have to give you one for the next leg. They don't want to give you a despacho until the day you leave, i.e., after 8:00 AM. So you don't get to leave at 4:00 AM as recommended. But in many
anchorages there were no
Navy guys to report to so we just snuck in and out. I understand that there is a movement afoot to minimize or eliminate the despachos and accompanying bribes but I don't know what has happened.
Why would I take the Southern
Route? Well, there are a few nice
anchorages along the North but it's mostly a chore. I really liked Monte Cristi and might consider making an even longer trip by crossing from the TCI to Monte Cristi and then heading around the Windward
Passage. My experience in
Puerto Rico is that the North (Atlantic) coast is pretty rough while the South (Caribbean) is much mellower. I suspect that the DR will be similar. The weather seems to come out of the North and East. I think it would be a long run from the TCI to Ile a Vache so it'd be useful to have at least three people for the watches. Although there seems to be a bit of paranoia about sailing the coast of
Haiti, I've not heard of any
piracy if you stay a ways
offshore. But, I haven't done a careful check.
Also, the Dominican National Park at Les Haitises (near Samana) is really outstanding. Samana is an interesting town but the port
captain and local
Navy were a pain in the neck when we were there. Perhaps they've been rotated out and new people are running things.
I guess I have an opinion that the southern coast would be more fun...no data though!
If you are in a hurry, then the
offshore route to Fajardo, PR or the USVI is the way to go. But you'd better leave from the Central
Bahamas or farther North or you're going to find it difficult to get the weather to sail East.
Just to reinforce what ausaviator noted. The winds and weather are everything on this trip. In the
winter it tends to blow pretty hard so you need to pay attention to weather and be prepared for weeks of sitting and waiting. We waited in the TCI, then in Puerto Plata, then in Samana, and finally in Punta Cana.
I strongly recommend getting some weather
service either
internet or
SSB.
Bill
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