Turf to Surf

Easy Rider

Before arriving to the Dominican Republic, my experience with motorbikes was limited to a singular weekend of touring Block Island on a rented motor-scooter. That, and listening to my friends’ tales of motorcycle crashes, which mostly ended in “I had three operations to fix my knee,” or “…and he died.” This didn’t do much to … Continue reading »

Picture Escapade: Allens Cay, Bahamas

After anchoring for a night off Highborne Cay in The Exumas, we decided to head 5 miles north to Allens Cay where an unusual species of iguanas are the islands’ main inhabitants. We’ve been known to get stuck in places to do boat repairs, but in the case of Allens Cay, we decided to stick … Continue reading »

Picture Escapade: Cumberland Island, Georgia

Just a few miles from St. Marys is Cumberland Island, a state park that was once home to a Spanish settlement, slave plantations and Dungeness, a mansion owned by the Carnegie family until 1925. The mansion burned down in 1959 with rumors of the arsonists’ identities varying from scorned girlfriends of some Carnegie sons to … Continue reading »

Overcoming fear at Laguna Dudú

As I approached the ledge guarded by a skinny Dominican kid in an orange vest labeled “Rescate,” (Rescue, in Spanish), I wondered if this place called Dudú was comically named for the doo-doo I was about to get myself into. I mean, how the hell was this kid’s orange life preserver ever going to save … Continue reading »

Life after the Bahamas

Sometimes it takes a drastic change of scenery to refresh your perspective on a place. Which is exactly what happened when we arrived to the lush, tropical expanse of the Dominican Republic after 3 months in the quiet, secluded, picture-perfect islands of the Bahamas. I was thrilled to have arrived to the D.R. after deciding … Continue reading »

7 Self-help Tips (from one cat to another)

Dear New-to-Cruising Kitty, Let me first assure you, I know what you’re going through. Your “owners” have decided to give up their land lives and move onto a boat. With you. And, of course, they didn’t ask first what you thought. They just plucked you from your large, comfortable home and dropped you onto a … Continue reading »

Travel Detour: Visiting the ER in the D.R.

As I flew through the air Superman-style, arms outstretched and legs trailing behind me a good four feet off the ground, a frantic stream of panicked messages streaked my consciousness. “Shit, don’t land on your knees, your knees are for running, not the knees, this is not good…” then SLAM! I was buried face-down in … Continue reading »

Ocean World: To go or not to go?

Having traveled for over a decade, I’ve always felt that traveling was more like an occupation requiring dedication than some frivolous form of escapism. Though I’m sure my parents didn’t exactly see it that way as I boarded a plane to Russia, citing my “fear of cubicles” as reason enough to flee the U.S. I … Continue reading »

Picture Escapade: Ocean World, Dominican Republic

When I flew back to New York for my grandmother’s funeral, Ryan’s sister Carina and her two boys had just arrived to visit us in the Dominican Republic. And since I had no choice but to leave my visitors, I left Ryan behind to fulfill his role as Chief Entertainer and Favorite Uncle. When I … Continue reading »

Boat visitors: managing expectations

When we first heard from Ryan’s sister Carina that she and her two boys, Henry and Xander, wanted to come visit us on the boat, my first thought was, “Yay, visitors!” My second thought was, “Crap, where will we put everyone?!” Having visitors on the boat can be a lot of fun if the location … Continue reading »

Family visitors & the art of gurning

My sister-in-law Carina may not agree, but definitely one of the best things about her annual visit with the kids is I get to practice pulling funny faces with my nephews in different, exotic locations every year. So far, we’ve pulled funny faces in Spain, England, parts of the U.S. and, now, the Dominican Republic. … Continue reading »

Losing an anchor, remembering my grandmother

Sitting aboard Hideaway at Ocean World Marina in the Dominican Republic, I stared across the water at a lavish pool and octopus-shaped bar with little interest. I was lost in a reverie, imagining myself as a six-year-old girl standing inside the door of my grandparents’ bulbous Frigidaire, stuffing candy-red maraschino cherries into my mouth before … Continue reading »

The Comandante of Luperon

As soon as I arrived to Luperon, I discovered why so many cruisers heading towards the Dominican Republic come to Luperon and Luperon only. One word: Bureaucracy. Entering any port in the D.R. requires a lot of paperwork and sitting around sweating while trying to figure out how to pay the non-English-speaking bureaucrat before you … Continue reading »

Kiteboarding in Cabarete

If there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I have a passion for throwing myself into extremely expensive sports that require years of practice, tons of gear and very specific geographical conditions to master. So, imagine my excitement when I discovered that just down the road from where we were in Luperon was … Continue reading »

Picture Escapade: “27 Puddles” of Damajagua, Dominican Republic

It’s amazing how drastically the demographic of cruisers can change between leaving the Bahamas and arriving to the Dominican Republic. Cruisers who’ve sailed beyond George Town (aka “Chicken Harbor”) told us this would happen but, even still, we were surprised when we arrived to Luperon to find a harbor full of sailors in their twenties … Continue reading »

Captain’s Log: Little Inagua, Bahamas to Luperon, Dominican Republic

Unlike most of our passages so far, where we’ve hoped for light winds to make for calm sailing, we found ourselves waiting in Little Inagua for the winds to increase and come from the north so we could unfurl our sails and cut through the prevailing easterlies to sail to the Dominican Republic. Studying weather … Continue reading »

Weather, SSB and the 21st Century

We’re lucky that our French buddy boat, Senara, wanted to travel with us from the Bahamas to the Dominican Republic for a few reasons; (1) Captain Morgan was great company, and (2) he had a satellite phone. And if it weren’t for Morgan’s sat-phone, we wouldn’t have had any access to weather reports in Little … Continue reading »

Spear fishing in Little Inagua, Bahamas

With absolutely nothing on the island of Little Inagua to entertain us, we entertained ourselves by exploring the water around it and trying out our pole spears to see if we could catch some dinner. We were inspired by our last fishing trip to Hooper’s Bay, where we watched our friend Brian spear two lionfish … Continue reading »

Captain’s Log: Long Island to Little Inagua, Bahamas

For me, there’s a certain rhythm to traveling by boat; an ebb and flow of movement that requires periods of stillness to balance out my universe. Whenever we’ve stayed too long in any given harbor, I start itching to unfurl the sails and make headway towards the sights, sounds and smells of a distant, foreign … Continue reading »

Picture Escapade: Long Island, Bahamas

Since Long Island has a relatively large population (4,000 people) compared to other islands in the Bahamas, we expected to see a string of developed townships as we drove through in our rickety rental car. But we were surprised and delighted to find that Long Island was as remote and sleepy as most of the … Continue reading »