ZARPAR, BOCA CHICA, DR........................................

ZARPAR MARINA is one of the best marinas we have ever seen........Not only is it exceptional for its facilities, but outside the gates, the Dominican world is the Dominican world........ What makes it so special is really the work of some very dedicated people who have a vision for what future yachting will bring them......One of the masterminds is a Mr Frank Virgintino, who has written a beautiful "Cruising Guide to the Dominican Republic" giving alternative strategies for heading south to the rest of the Caribbean against the prevailing trade winds........... This is what we have followed, nothwithstanding our torn sails, the passage has been way less arduous than taking the other side of DR........ And at the end we are tied to a mooring ball here in ZARPAR, with free showers, free high-speed WIFI, new washing machines and driers and free delivery and pick-up to the supermarket in town compliments of the Marina.............It doesn't get any better than that after a long journey if you are sailors...........And in the back streets we found this artist hard at work painting beneath a make-shift awning out in all weathers, for it certainly rains here............... a half-dinghy full at a time..........



Motorbikes are the go in DR...... Motorbikes everywhere and if you need to go somewhere just stick you finger in the air and there will be one there in no time at all..... tell him where you need to go and give him 50 pesos ($1.50) and you get taken in grand style............And not just you alone...... time again we have seen as many as five people on a bike.......... no helmets.....no fear, just smiles. Then again the roads have so many bumps and potholes, you are not exactly doing the ton.
.......Had to laugh when this guy came along and his wet slippery dolphin fish took a dive onto the road. The car behind him swerved to avoid the fish in the roadway..... I held his bike while he picked it up off the road and put it right back behind the handlebars........... 'C'est la vie"......



An assortment of seafoods in the 'OLE' Supermarket....... Including full size squid and octopus and lots of shell food................ Very interesting stuff....... always hoping that this was not 'road-kill'.............Excellent prices when converted to understandable currencies.......... You have to do that, you know until you can do it blindfold by which time you are in the next country and you start all over again..............$ 595.00 for a pack of 50 blank DVDs,....... Which is actually $ 17...... Not bad at all..................



El CAPITANO hard at work trying to frustrate himself by attempting to repair the mainsail with a sewing machine incapable of sliding such a huge sail under the sewing arm...............Give it up Robbo........... Give it up, mate........... Now with only 40 registered sailing yachts in the whole of the Dominican Republic, sailmakers are non-existant............... But an upholsterer can be found....... And we did................. Sail fixed.......... Frustration gone. Meantime our bosom buddy, Tommy White at 'www.winddancersailmakers.com' is making us a brand new mainsail for the rest of the journey to Australia..............



Street hawkers selling land crabs all neatly tied together............ Not sure how long they had been tied up, but we are being careful with food purchases.......... Particularly after buying a large block of cheese in a store when we first arrived in the DR, in order to change some money and pay Customs and Immigration........ Turned out that the cheese had the same effect as biting into a tube of 3M 5200, smooth enough to begin with, but it soon sets..............No need to go further on this issue............. The cheese on the fridge mat as a 'message' speaks for itself.........The cheese that was left was given away..............Which brings us to the photo below on the left.......... What do you do when you run a little bar/ restaurant on the end of a pier............. Well you convert a yacht to a bathroom of course, complete with vanity basin and towel rack................ Subject closed...



Lynette, Richard, Don and Mary



For those that have been following our blog you will know that we had a most wonderful time last summer in Vero Beach, FL, tied to a magnificent dock with swimming pool attached............. And the people were a delight and so they had decided to come see us in the DR by booking a hotel suite two miles from the ZARPAR Marina........... sailing down in one of the Hotel's 'Sunfish' and all of them joining us for dinner on board "ARITA"........... Our signature Bahamian Mango rum served in conch shells (small ones) and a main course of Lobster and Wahoo steaks........ What a way to live............. We join them again later today to see the city of Santo Domingo..........

IT IS HOT AND STEAMY AND WE ARE BACK IN THE TROPICS AS SEEN FROM THIS GINGER FLOWER IN FULL BLOOM....... BACK TO WEARING INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH DEODORANTS.............



Oh, and before we forget, today marks the official start of the 2010 'HURRICANE' Season..........

Double-click on the picture if you really want to see some devastating "silly string"..........