Of course, we also found the Cheeseburgers for lunch!As the morning approached, we made the decision to keep going instead of ducking out.
Our departure time was 5:00 pm. Either way, we were thankful to have a little bit of light. It was time for a splurge! The next day, we headed to Ponce. It was the perfect afternoon.Neither Nick or I were in the mood to cook. Luckily, we went on Friday and Saturday.
We ventured to the Mall and also caught a movie at the local theater. How can you go wrong? If you know me, you only have to say pizza once! While we didn’t indulge too hard in the party scene, we checked out a few spots and even danced in the street to the famous Puerto Rican salsa music. Die Meerenge verbindet den Atlantik mit der Karibik.. There we all were, sitting in this beautiful pool with gorgeous scenery having a few laughs. In this episode, Nick and Kelly cross the Mona Passage. We did, however, make it to the grocery store via Uber.
Sailing the Northern-Coast of the DRNick, Kelly, and King Arthur leaving the DRTrue to Satori style, we were running an hour late.
We slept like babies!Kelly and Arthur taking a nap on the Mona PassageAt 7:00 am the next morning, we pulled up anchor and headed for Marina Pescaderia in Puerto Real. Do we stay in Samana or do we make the dreaded crossing of the Mona Passage? If you want to go to Home Depot, hardware store, marine store, or just any store in general, it’s best to rent a car for a day or two. Before we set off for the Mona, a stop at the fuel dock on the way out was a must.Our night was a bit rough. Locals and cruisers were welcoming and very kind to us. It took them 29 hours of dodging canoes and an incident with a fishing net.
After breakfast, we spent a couple of hours cleaning the boat and stowing away everything in sight. Not terrible for the first time we hear. We turned on the engine and plowed forward. Die Mona-Passage ist eine wichtige Schifffahrtsroute zwischen dem Panamakanal und dem Atlantik. The fisherman was in a canoe and was super friendly.
We started with breakfast at McDonald’s. Although Nick and I do not frequent fast food restaurants very much, there’s something magical about going to a place from “home” that you haven’t seen in months. Jose is delightful and the most helpful guy we’ve ever met in this cruising life. As we rounded down along the top northeast corner of DR the sea state became horrific. It was also late in the season, and it was getting harder to reach the Virgin Islands. Many of the businesses and homes surrounding the Bay were severely damaged. He is willing to help with just about anything, even bringing a package to you after you’ve left the marina or even Puerto Real!
It was a huge difference. Try it — you can delete it anytime.There are three islands in the Mona Passage:The 80Â mi (130Â km) stretch of sea between the four islands is one of the most difficult passages in the Caribbean.
He offered us some fish for our troubles, but we kindly said “no thanks.” It would have been too difficult to try and grab his fresh catch, as much as we wanted to.About an hour after we started towards Puerto Rico, the conditions became almost perfect. The infinity pool sits at the edge of the marina with a backdrop of the beautiful Dominican Republic mountains. Salinas is a protected mangrove bay much like Luperon.
The next stop was about a 45 minute motor around the corner to Boqueron. Renting a car from Marina Pescaderia is convenient and affordable.
Unfortunately, there were no waves that day. Otherwise, it could have been a disaster.The next day was “prep” day. So, most cruisers heading south to the Caribbean stop in the Dominican Republic (DR) to wait for a good time to cross the Mona Passage.. We tried to sail from Turks & Caicos to Puerto Rico directly, skipping the DR and quickly discovered it wasn’t possible. If we stayed in Samana, we knew we would be “stuck” there for a good two weeks. *Processing – Check back later for the full Audio transcriptWe finally arrived at the edge of Puerto Rico around 11:00 pm.
They came out of nowhere! It is fraught with variable tidal currents created by the large islands on either side of it, and by sand banks that extend out for many miles from both coasts.Surface tides, internal tides, internal solitons, inertial currents and the low frequency water mass transport between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea make the Mona Passage a very dynamic environment. The Mona Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Kareena already scoped out the best pool, and we agreed! It was cool to see Uber was available in Puerto Rico, only in certain areas though.In this episode, Nick and Kelly cross the Mona Passage.
As soon as we were settled into our slip, off we went to catch up on some sleep. Since this was new territory, the decision to drop the hook outside of the channel was obvious, in about 30 feet of water. Instead of bashing straight into the waves, we tried tacking back and forth to ease our ride.