Escondido, Dominican Republic

After leaving Rio San Juan about 11pm and sailing through the night, we arrived in Escondido at 9am.  This was a beautiful little cove, with sandy beach and locals fishing from their dugout canoes but again, we were both too exhausted to appreciate it.  Larry slept a few hours during the night but even with the utter fatigue I was feeling, I could not sleep.  Again, holding was shit!  As we waited to see if the anchor would finally hold on the 3^rd attempt, we watched as the local fishermen did their work for the day.  A group of about 5 men came along side our boat.  Four guys rowed the boat and one guy stood on the bow and gave directions.  They waved as they passed but were obviously on a mission.  Then we noticed, they towed a long line (actually, many lines all attached together) behind their boat.  We visually followed the line to shore and there was one man on shore holding the other end.  We watched as the guys rowed way out into the harbor.  Then they started laying out netting as they rowed across the bay and back into shore.  It was cool to see.  Like something you’d see on National Geographic or something.  Once back on shore, they all got together and dragged the long line in.  It was like Tug-of-War but the sea was the opponent instead of another team.  They pulled and pulled and pulled and eventually, the net was back on shore.  Not sure if/what they caught but it was still cool to watch.  We had laid down for a “nap” and as Larry slept, I watched the GPS (mounted in the bedroom).  Finally, I confirmed we were dragging again.  We decided, screw it, we were leaving.  We pulled anchor and headed out of the bay.  This was about 2pm.  Our original departure time of midnight was put aside and off we went.

This was not an ideal time to leave.  The trade-winds are highest between 3-6pm.  Also, shortly after leaving, we needed to round a cape (a point of land that sticks out further in the ocean than the general land and causes havoc with the wind/waves/current).  Well, we’re quickly learning a lot about weather and currents and the affect this can have on our cruising.  As we rounded the cape, our speed dropped from about 5 knots, down to 2 knots.  We were fighting wicked winds, current and waves … all head on.

We were hoping to be able to follow the coastline and use the lee of the island but the currents were so strong, we didn’t have that option.  For the next MANY hours, we beat into the wind, waves, current at between 1.5 and 2 knots.  URGH!!!  Very Slow.  Damn that anchorage for not having good holding and allowing us to leave at a better time!

It was a very long night!