The Bermuda-Dominican Republic Passage

And so the first leg of our Caribbean passage making comes to a close with our arrival in the Dominican Republic! Monday afternoon saw the Eastern Coast of the DR growing through the haze and by the evening we had docked Llyr on a short stretch of pier at Marina Casa de Campo. Our boat was soon host to half a dozen officials, including immigration, the Navy and the Office of Agriculture. After 8 days at sea it was strange to be so over-run with people; that being said, we managed quite well with out spotty Spanish and their minimal English.
The first 3 days out of Bermuda were a hard push to get below the 25th parallel by Thursday, May 10th as a front and gale were going to develop along the eastern seaboard. This would mean that winds above that latitude would be pulled into strong Southwest headwinds. we needed to average approximately 6 kts,or 150 miles per day in order to do this and so kept the motor on to augment the sails in relatively light winds. The water and air around us warmed the further South we travelled and we commonly sailed past Portugese Man of Wars These small irridescent jelly fish which cruise with their “sail” along the surface of the sea like small ships. Sargasso became as common as grass and commonly fouled the fishing lines; Gavin would rush up the stairs multiple times a day as he heard the line go out and would return dejected with a clump of Sargasso. Luke’s birthday also came and we celebrated with a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and bacon and a blueberry crisp for evening dessert. Heath blueberries and BSGFarm maple syrup had us thinking of home as we sailed along, east of the Bahamas. Able to average 130 miles per day we cought the SW headwinds for 12 hours of rough building seas. With our arrival on the morning of the 5th day at the 25th parallel the water topped 80 degrees and the wind finally turned more favorably to the East. We turned the engine off for the last time until the Mona Passage. During this passage a large pod of 20-30 dolphins, some 8-10 ft in length, swarmed Llyr for around half an hour. Four or so would cluster tight right under her bow keel and ride that wave while others zoomed in and around. We were just above them and could hear their talk to each other!
The coming days were absolutely perfect sailing. Initially we modified our course to bring us to Samana, Dominican Republic, a port further West than our original destination, in order to catch a better reach with the wind. But as the wind backed from SouthEast to East, our course was corrected back to the Mona passaged and we continued on at 5-7 knots.
At one point off the Bahamas we found ourselves on a near-miss course with the cargo ship Overseas Maremar. After correcting our heading to pass to their stern, we were hailed by Second Mate, Andi Burttschell, as a courtesy to verify our path and recognize our presence. We fell to talking and learned she was a marine biologist and talked about the project and were excited to get an e-mail from her on arrival in the DR!
The night before the Mona Passage was certainly the roughest, 25 knot winds grew beam seas which rolled the boat as she plunged along at approximately 7 knots under only sail. Frequent thunderstorms and almost constant lighting had us dodging squalls throughout the night. The Mona Passage itself was easy, despite the many warnings we received about conflicting currents and winds. We reached our port of entry, Casa de Campo, Monday evening.

Marina Casa de Campo is located in the world’s top rated Golf Resort. As high season has ended, the place was empty and had a somewhat odd, theme-park feel. We cast off next morning and spent all day sailing along the Dominican coast. Lucy spotted a turtle and we saw many schools of flying fish (forgot to mention that on several mornings of the passage, we’d find flying fish on deck, victims of nights flights that landed them on dry deck.) At last we arrived at our final destination, Marina Zar Par in Boca Chica. Brooks, who has become quite the master behind the wheel, deftly piloted Llyr in a 180 degree spin around a mega yacht and into a bow-in slip in a feat we all thought impossible. The feeling of stepping off the boat onto solid dock is one that, after 8 days, feels pretty good and we sat down to a traditional Dominican dinner and celebrated the conclusion to the first big step of our cruising careers!
We’re faced with continued work though, as a major ocean passage has left Llyr ecrusted with salt and with stiffened rhodes. Corrosion on a steel boat is always an issue and small dings in the paint become rust stains with continuous salt water exposure. Additionally, one triple block serving the main sheet broke en route, the mizzen outhaul chaffed through and we sadly lost our Universal Power Sail to flogging as it tangled on deployment. So a full boat bath and tune up now as Connor and Brooks prepare to undergo training to become Reefcheck trainers while Janis returns to do our Spring market in New Paltz,NY.

20120517-131515.jpg

20120517-131524.jpg

Bermuda

Bermuda May 3-6th
The winter layers finally began to fall off as Llyr crossed the Gulf Stream and into 70 degree, light blue Caribbean waters. Like all good things, the calm seas and open ocean swimming in 17,000 ft of water came to an end and gave way to building winds and by Wednesday we were in 12 ft confused seas with wind gusts just under 30kts. The majority of the crew split their time between watch duty and being nauseous, save Luke who either had an iron stomach or was just good at acting.
Our passage to Bermuda took 6 days and when we arrived we stumbled around the docks for a couple days before we finally got our land legs back.

Bermuda is a lovely country with sparkling blue waters and white beaches that we’ve been too tired to thoroughly explore. We’ve spent a majority of the time re-provisioning and preparing for the next leg of the trip. Thankfully, our relaxed adventures have left us energetic and excited for the passage ahead! Our plan is To travel along the eastern part of the Dominican Republic and along the Mona passage, a stretch that is notorious for strong currents, the alternative however is an extra 400 miles of sailing along the southern coast of Hispaniola.
We set sail for the Dominican Republic tomorrow morning!
Until then!
The Llyr Crew