January 21 – February 09, 2024; 12300 nm and 1786 days after departure from La Rochelle

I was not keen on staying in a marina. Especially when thinking of a crappy one but for sure with our auto pilot issue it was easier and better than staying at anchor. Hell, I can’t remember why I thought it was not a nice marina. El Capitano must have said something that my subconscious had picked up and listed that marina as a terrible one. The more I was surprised and delighted when we entered the marina. A well maintained marina with pretty buildings framed in beautiful nature. What a pleasant surprise ! It did not look crappy at all instead it was awesome! And even better, when docking, the young, sweet and even good looking (yes my dear El Capitano, he was good looking!) port officer Gavi helped us professionally with his well trained staff and welcomed us to his marina. Such nice welcome! Then we figured -well I figured – as Norbert already knew that it was a fancy marina – that we found an extraordinary nice place. It was a hotel with a marina. It had soooo many nice amenities. Next to the normal marina facilities, the hotel offered a spa, a gym, a so called billiard room, different restaurants and more. What I liked best was, that they even offered fresh towels at the infinity pool. Every day we could go there and get a fresh towel! Imagine that! What a treat. I think we sometimes just went there because of the towels. I mean who cares about the nice pool and bar area right next to the sea? Guess what? Yep, I liked it there!

Gavi, the port officer was not just a pretty face but also a very helpful and smart person. Already before arriving at the marina El Capitano had contacted him to ask whether he could help us with finding hydraulic hoses for our auto pilot. As soon as we checked in he told us that he had found a chandler who sells hydraulic hoses. We also asked him about the special fittings we needed for the hoses. Instantly he picked up the phone and talked to the chandler. It turned out, to our happy surprise, that he had as well the right fittings. Yeah! That was a big relief as we have thought that this would be really challenging to get. We were so thankful for Gavi’s help! Without him we probably would still look for a chandler. I can’t imagine trying to explain the fitting differences in Spanish and making sure they were the correct ones …
Anyway we were super happy! Yes, happy, another surprise! At the opposite dock there was the boat “Happy” with its crew Jennifer and Mike. We had met Jennifer and Mike 1,5 years ago in Dominica and haven’t seen them since. What a nice surprise! So in the late afternoon we met in the pool watching the sun setting, having a drink in our hands and catching up the last months.
As the hydraulic hose chandler was located in Santo Domingo (SD), the capital, we had already booked a car for a few days. SD was about a 3 to 4 hours drive, the reason why we had decided to stay for a night or two. The crew of Happy was also interested in visiting the capital so we took them with us in our huge little car and shared a nice airbnb in the big city.

Our first stop in SD was of course the chandler. Boy, it took us some time to squeeze through all the small streets in the neighbourhood where the chandler was located. But it was worth it! The hoses and fittings looked really great and the salesman cut them to our desired size and fitted the fittings. Perfect! After that we were free. We headed to our nice Airbnb which was located pretty close to “Zona Colonial”. And, after a short nap in our fancy big beds we enjoyed the afternoon strolling around and checking out where to find a nice restaurant for the evening. It was not only fun having the crew of Happy with us but also very relaxing. Jenn took the lead and looked after our exploring plans for the next day. She found a “free” walking tour for the next day. (“Free”, I thought that was funny, because the guide told us that it was recommended to pay at least 10US$/person😂.) That was a nice start to explore the old city and get some historical background. I can’t remember much. Only that the city was for once not founded by Christopher Columbus but his brother Bartolomeo. That happened in 1496 as the capital of the first Spanish colony in the New World. It is the oldest permanent city established by Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. Anyhow, we enjoyed the tour and after a small lunch we followed the recommendations the guide gave us. We visited the Museo de la Policía Nacional and the Cathedral of Santo Domingo.

The day passed by super fast. After a refreshing nap and shower in our airbnb we had a nice last Mexican meal with our friends. We had also planned to visit the cooler areas, Constanza in the mountains of the DR. Jenn and Mike had already explored the mountains on their last trip to the DR. So the next morning they jumped in a bus to Samaná and headed back to the marina.
The fun part of our trip up the mountains were the streets. We read that the roads up to Constanza might be a challenge to drive. It was often recommended to get a 4 wheel drive when driving some roads in the mountains and in the national park where we wanted to go. Well, we had a very small car with only very limited space between car and ground. But to our excuse, we had asked Gavi if it would be ok with that car (he rented it to us) to go all the way up to Constanza and the national park. He loved and knew that area and had been there only a few month before and said it was doable with our car. He also explained how to cross the many bumps on DR streets. Many means a loooot, like every 5oo m a bump in busy areas. Oh and they can be pretty high too. Diagonal was the only way to pass them and with the loaded little car we still sometimes hit the underfloor. Anyway, the trip to our airbnb was beautiful and regarding street condition better than expected. Of course you had to be careful and highly concentrated not to miss a bump or a big hole in the street but we got used to it. On the other hand driving was also very entertaining. Most of the people in the DR seemed to use a motorcycle to get around. That makes totally sense as it is much easier to dodge holes, bumps or whatever kind of obstacle you might find on streets. But they also transport everything on their bikes. It was hilarious and dangerous at the same time to see how skilled they transported items. In Samaná we saw a guy riding his bike and pulling an 8 m long pole behind him. One end in his hand the other end on the street. I could have just watched all day long their amazing crazy transportation. Oh and three people on one bike is just normal(see feature pic). The most we counted were 5 people or were it 6?

We only had two nights in our super nice, cosy accommodation. It was so cool being in a big house with a chimney and a heated pool and a super nice bathroom. Yesss! A chimney and a heated pool I couldn’t believe it. And the location was stunning too. The house was right next to a small stream in the middle of the woods. So so beautiful. Just a pity that we also wanted to visit the national park. I could have just stayed there and enjoy the luxury. Still, the next morning after a cool night in a very comfy bed with nice, warm and clean linen we started our trip to Constanza and the park. Well, what can I say. Gavi’s memories were either not quite correct or the streets have suffered a lot in the last months. Up to Constanza and a bit further the roads were still ok but then they started to get really challenging. Again like in St Croix we kept on going further and further hoping that the streets were getting better and the car not getting harmed🙄.
The nature in contrast was just stunning. Boasting an average elevation of 1,200 m, Constanza is the highest altitude town in the Caribbean region. With those impressive heights come of course cool temperatures, those covered some fields in a mystical fog that morning. So beautiful! We passed rolling valleys blanketed in thick pine trees and an agricultural landscape full of vast fields of vegetables. Yes, yes, yes the nature was again more than pulchritudinous (still can’t pronounce it). No wonder why the area was described as the breadbasket of the country. We saw corn, cabbage, carrots…and even strawberries!!! We didn’t have any strawberries in years. We were very excited to try some. Its mountainside villages showed off with magical views over these fields that we thought we had been transferred to the alps.
Intense for my driver and the car but fortunately without any damage we finally made it to the entrance to the national park. Hoping for a good answer I asked the lady whether the road would be better inside the park but she denied. Well, hell we made it up to here why not give it a try! We shouldn’t have! I think we made it perhaps one km and then we resigned. The road had many flashed channels. Definitely not doable with our poor little car. So instead of exploring the park we turned around, kept sitting in the car and headed all the way back to our nice airbnb. Not too bad as we were excited to get in the heated pool.

Our original plan was to leave the DR when we came back from our trip. Unfortunately the weather was kind of upside-down those days. Instead of easterly winds which are usually normal at these times of the year we had constantly west winds due to strong low pressure systems. No way for us to leave. In fact it would have been dangerous as the system brought heavy winds in the southern part of the Bahamas where we would have been then with no protection. And even in the marina we got very heavy winds for two days. So we stayed put, enjoyed the marina amenities and finished a lot of tasks of our never ending to do list. The main task was of course the repair of the auto pilot. That worked out well until a tiny plastic bearing broke. That bearing was super important as it holds the ram in place. There was no chance to get this part anywhere. Not even from the company itself as the auto pilot was not built anymore. What a bummer! A piece worth maybe 1$ but so important that the auto pilot wouldn’t work. So what to do? Well, El Capitano glued the bits and parts (of course it broke into 100 parts) together with his super glue and we were hoping for the best. It worked out!! Lucky us the bearing held and the auto pilot worked again. Ready for leaving!!!! Yeah! Oh no we still had to wait for the weather to pass. Damn!
On our way back from Constanza we had already stopped at a supermarket and had provisioned as much as we could fit in our car. So all in all we didn’t have much to do anymore but waiting for the weather to get favourable for us. A good thing we have been in such a nice place! We waited almost two weeks before the wind decided to be back in line with the times. Friday the 9th of February we finally left the DR heading to the Bahamas.