Here at last. ( and good news from Turtle Cove)

Good news,  I received an email from Carol at Turtle Cove letting me know that they finally got their permits to dredge the entrance to the marina. Thats great news for the marina and all the businesses there.
When I last posted we were in Samana. We sat there for two days waiting for the giant north swell to die down. On our down day in Samana Tyler and I rented a car and did a road trip. We drove HWY 5 up to the northeast point on the Samana Peninsula. Our destination was the town of Gallera, which sits between Cabo Cabron and Cabo Samana in a wide bay facing north. If you have ever been to the Dominican Republic but have not yet been to the Samana Peninsula... It is a must. The mountains and hills are lush with beautiful Jungle and amazing rock formations. The views from the road are staggering.  The road itself was good. With the exception of the fact that there were a number of man hole covers missing in the middle of the road.  We went thru one small village after another as we followed the winding road along the coast line. at one point, we were driving right next to the water when We saw an amazing Blow Hole. These occur when the ocean swell pound into the rocks and force water aways underground before it is forced upwards and into the sky. The force of water coming up is mind boggling. Tyler and I dodged cow pies and one unhappy bull to get close to the blow hole and get some pictures.
After getting some pics we went the rest of the way to Gallera. Its a must see. The beach is nice and the people are friendly. We had some amazing chicken and plantains. .
The following day, we had all intentions to fish our way to Cap Cana on the eastern tip on the DR. But after running for an hour, we encountered 10-12 foot swells. We decided that it was not worth putting lines out. We made Cap cana and got to bed early in hopes of fishing the next day. We awoke yesterday to calmer seas and headed south to fish our way around to Casa de Campo. For a better part of the morning the seas were calm but we saw nothing except sperm whales. Finally around noon, we Had a marlin knock a lure out of the rigger clip but to no avail. I made another pass where we got the bite, but the fish only tailed behind one of our baits. At that point the wind started gusting hard. The light chop became a sea of cotton. As the seas built, I pointed the boat at Casa De Campo and slowly worked our way there. Out of nowhere, a small blue piled onto a lure. As tyler scurried to clear lines, the fish peeled line and cut across the other lines before just spitting the hook. By then the seas were down right shitty. I decided its best not to break anything so we headed to our destination for the near future.
Upon arriving, Tyler started washing the boat while I did the paperwork for the navy and the marina. Tyler had nearly washed the entire boat when a black snow started falling from the sky. The air was sweet yet acrid. at first it was just tiny pieces of black ash. Then it began coming down hard. The 25 knot winds from the east were carrying sugar cane ash from a field that was being burned several miles east of here. It lasted for an hour and made one hell of a mess and we had to wash the boat twice.
There are already 6 American boats here. Not many are fishing yet. Most like us are waiting for the next full moon to near.

Next three pics are beautiful coves along the coastal drive to Gallera

Tyler by one of the Blow holes we found

The quart of Presidente in my hand is strictly for medicinal purposes

The beach at Rincon 12 foot waves breaking a half mile off shore

Tyler seems to make friends everywhere we go 

Cool shot of the local commercial boats ( Pangas)

While eating lunch on the beach, Santa came tooling up on his red ATV

Departing Cap Cana

Take me out of the shot and its a pretty picture

Departing Cap Cana

A FAD we passed along the way to Casa De Campo ( Fish Attracting device)

It is kinda weird after traveling for the past two weeks , to know that we dont have to travel any more. But it is nice to know that we can nest down here and get settled for a while.
The boss wont be here for a week so we plan to spend the time waxing and getting the boat in order.