REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Made it to the DR.( Lots of pics from the last few days)

The last week has been a whirlwind of travel. We fished a lot and covered a lot of miles. I think My last blog was from Turks and Caicos. Last Wednesday we left out of Provo, Turks and Caicos after making a trip for lunch to "Da Conch Shack". You can not go to Provo without going to da conch shack. It sits right on the beach overlooking the reef and the conch there is to die for. The Island Style Mac and cheese isnt bad either. So we left at noon and ran 60 miles around to the point at East Caicos. Last year we did well there on big wahoo. This trip was no exception. We caught some nice wahoo up to 90 pounds and lost a few monsters. The seas were calm and we had about 3 hours of non stop fun and catching. There were many times where we could not even get the lines back out before we were hooked up again. That night we made a short run into the harbor at South Caicos. I had never been in there before, but found it to be a great anchorage We dropped anchor to find that the water was clear and calm and the town at the waters edge looked very inviting. Next time I visit there, I will have to make a trip ashore.
The next morning I got the boys up at 4 am to pull the anchor. It was a beautiful morning. The seas were calm and the air was nice. Everyone else went back to their bunks and I found myself alone on the bridge for a fantastic sunrise. The reason I left out so early was that I wanted to get to the Mouchior bank about 30 miles to the South Esat for the morning bite. Soon after the sun peaked over the eastern horizon I saw an enormous splash off the bow. I slowed the boat and ran down to get the boys up. It was a pod of Whales playing. We never got a good picture but we saw whales of up to 40 feet coming all the way out of the water. They would jump at times and splash their tails at the surface. What a way to start a day, seeing that. A short time later, we made it to the Mouchior bank and put the lines in. It did not take long before we were bending rods on wahoo and a few barracuda After that we trolled deep for a while but did not see any signs of life so we picked up and ran the last 60 miles to the Ocean world, Dominican republic.
Ever since we left the Turks and Caicos I had been watching the weather carefully. There was a giant swell coming down from the North Atlantic. I knew that We could get to the DR, But the swell would reach us soon after. When we arrived at ocean World Marina, the swell and surge was not bad. The Marina is a big semi circle break water. It breaks the waves but the surge of water from each wave still pushes into the marina causing the boats to surge back and forth in their slip violently. We went into town and had some adult beverages with Pablo Santos. Hes a great guy that owns a dive shop on the beach in Sassua( a little town just east of Puerto Plata0. When I arrived back to the boat that night the surge was getting worse. It was not horrible yet but I knew it was going to get worse.
Just when you think everything is running fine on the boat Something goes wrong. I awoke at 5:45 am to the dock lines creaking and stretching hard. That was NOT the problem though. I found that all the ships service batteries were completely dead. At some point in the night one of the batteries on that bank had fried. So I spent the morning driving into Puerto Plata getting new batteries and changing them out. Needless to say, I sweated out some of the adult beverages from the proceeding night....
When you travel from one town to another in the Dominican Republic by boat, The law says that you are suppose to depart and/or arrive after 6am or before 6 pm. So I kicked my son and the boss off the boat a few hours to early before their flight so that we could make the run around the northeastern tip of the DR before 6PM and to get ahead of the coming big swell. By the time we were off Cabarette, 50 mile east of Puerto Plata, the swell was building to 7-9 feet. It was not a rough ride though. The swells were giant ocean swells. The period between them was long so the ride was great. It was kind of a cool ride as we would race down each swell coming from our port quarter. The northern coast of the Dominican Republic ( DR) never ceases to amaze me. At a quarter mile off shore we are in a few thousand feet of water and the shore line is shear rock cliffs shooting up thousands of feet in places. It is brilliant jungle green and the relief is dramatic. My old mate kyle once said that some places along the coast look like King Kongs island. or something from Jurasic park.
We made the turn into Samana Bay at 5 pm and ran the short way up into the marina. The bay was calm and we were tied to the dock by 6pm. The marina here is very nice. It is still very empty of boats. I was told last night by a local captain that the fishing here is good at the end of May. I think we will come back here and give it a shot. The view out the back of the boat is beautiful this morning. The jungle covered mountains seem to come all the way to the waters edge broken only by the resort located here. The number of palms is staggering.
We have caught a bunch of Wahoo to this point in the trip. Most of it has been given away to locals as we make each port. It is a pleasure of mine to share our catches with locals. Hell. I think we half of Confressi DR when we arrived in the Dominican.
I think Tyler and I are going to spend a night or two here and just relax as that north swell peaks at 15 feet tomorrow. After that I plan to fish my way the rest of the way around the eastern tip of the DR and around to Casa De Campo.
For the last week I had the pleasure of having my son and the boss aboard.Having my son ride along was great. I can not think of a better way for him to have spent his spring break. I cant wait to have him back aboard again. I have said this before, but I will say it again. most crews on boats cant wait for the owner to leave. We cant wait for ours to come back and dont want him to leave. Thanks boss for an awesome week.