REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Blue Heaven at Blue Haven. and FLASH

The past few days were spent sitting in Blue Haven marina. The weather was a bit rough to make the jump to the Dominican Republic. But I have to say there are not to many better places to sit and wait. The impromptu dock parties were epic.

Kurt and Tyler laying out a sushi spread

Adam and Portia have done great things with this marina. Only 2 seasons ago, this marina was abandoned and nothing more than a place for seagulls to poop. By Last spring IGY marinas had its soft opening and now the marina is fully open. I highly recommend stopping in here. Even if only to fuel up at their high speed pumps. If you can spend a few days here you will find that there are full amenities. ( and open to the crews as well as guests). There are sand volleyball courts, And outdoor pool table, A great dockside bar and a full restaurant at the hotel. There is a full gym, and internet that reaches the entire dock. The pool with a swim up bar stands out as one of my favorites.
The dock attendants are constantly present and very helpful in anything you need.
Probably the best thing about the marina for sport fish boats is its easy of access. From the reef, you have at least 8 feet of water at the shallowest, but most of the channel is deeper. It is well marked and there is no navigating coral heads.
Upon arriving here, I had a few mechanical issues I needed dealt with. I called ahead two days before arriving to a friend of mine here on the island. I asked her if she knew of a tech on the island that could work on my Eskimo Ice machine. She said she would get on it. She called me back the day before I arrived and told me she had the tech lined up and that she had reserved a rental car for me. Belinda Martine runs PTS, and equipment services business on the island. But she also does conceirge work with yachts and sport fish boat. She is an invaluable contact on the island of Provo. She also has become a great friend. Anyone coming to Provo TCI on a boat needs this number Belinda 649-331-7944. I swear she is like the mayor of this island.

Me Belinda and Tyler at Da Conch shak

With the weather window opening up tomorrow, We will depart early tomorrow morning. It is looking like a great crossing for us.
I will have to say that I will miss being here. But the friends we made on the dock are long time ones. There were some awesome dock parties and some great times had just sitting around in chairs late at night chatting. This is one of those weird places where the crews from the yachts mingle with the crews from the sport fish boats. For some reason they seldom mix well together. But the Mega yachts that are here right now have very nice crews on them as did the sport boats. Good times for all.

Tyler driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car

While writing this, a new boat pulled in right behind us. The " Who Dat" came in on its way to Dominican Republic as well. And Low and Behold Who should pop their head out of the cabin But " Flash" from the " Gandy Dancer" Had not seen him in years. Its a small world. It looks like they are planning on using the same weather window that we are tomorrow. It will be nice to have a boat to travel with. Its even nicer to run into an old friend.