It took almost 4 days to reach Barahona in the Dominican Republic from Ile a Vache, averaging approximately 50 nautical miles a day. Not a “Speedy Gonzales” effort, but fast enough to have my new friends (Andy and Trudy in the catamaran “Manureva”), when I met them again in Boca Chica (two days later), wondering about their boats performance.
Well my friends, I was cheating!
Without the aid of my little 10HP Beta Marine diesel, not only would I have taken much longer, but I might have found myself wrecked upon the eastern side of Cabo Beata.
After a night fighting a loosing battling for that all important “sea-room”, I voted on a “special dispensation” to start the motor. Despite the fact that my fuel reserves running worryingly low. While many sailors believe it is a cardinal sin to motor-sail, I’ve never claimed to be one of these “purists” and believe that if I have to lug an engine around in my boat, I might as well get some use from it. Especially when the alternative is running aground on a lee shore.
So you can see why I made such rapid progress and why I decided it might be prudent for me to make an unscheduled stop to stock up on more fuel.
Besides, Barahona is an interesting town and while I only stayed long enough to check-in with the authorities, I’d recommend it to other sailors as an agreeable port of call.
I had fun riding on the back of a motor scooter carrying my jerry-cans to the service station, listening to bachata music and having an informal beer with the immigration officer (out of office hours of course)!