Luperon The Beginning ~ June 2009

The beautiful animals that greeted us as soon as we came of the Government Dock (muelle in Spanish).

The boys playing foos ball at Steve's Place with the son of the owners (Steve & Annie), who's name is Joshua.

The busiest corner in Luperon, Motoconcho (Motorcycle Taxi) corner, as it is informally known as..

Tamer, getting a ton of attention for his incredible bicycle with a motor... Something they have never seen here!

Tamer, Nathalie and Christina overlooking the balcony at what used to be known as Andre's Place, but has since been closed down...

A new take on the 'Chocolate Truck" :-)

A tree growing out of the roof.. Hmmm... A new thing for us!

Splash is the Ice Cream Company here in the Dominican Republic. This truck drives around and sells ice cream sandwiches and Popsicle's. Generally, they power the little freezer with a small generator to provide power.

A beautiful picture of Lori and David off of Ubuntu, crossing Motoconcho corner headed to Andre's.

Nathalie, Christina and Lori enjoying good times and smiles with friends at Andre's.

Olivier and Tamer, in what appears to be a DEEP conversation!

A common sight in Luperon...

Christina leaving on a journey to explore 'the rest of' the Dominican Republic'.

Our favorite pig in her abandoned house cellar, she still lives here a year later with more babies than you can imagine over the course of the last year!

Drake and Valin climbing the rocks at Dog Walker's beach, just outside of opening of the Harbor.

Dylan from Ubuntu, jumping from the little cliffs on the same beach.

Have you ever seen a Motorcycle Driver haul a full sized washing machine? I challenge you to visit the Dominican Republic :-)

The women here, and especially the Haitian women, carry everything on their heads... Amazing if you think about how most of us have someone to carry even our grocery bags to/from the car!

The baseball field here in Luperon.. They take the game VERY seriously and are very good at it! The boys go in and play almost every Saturday with the locals and all the Gringos here in the Harbor.

Blayde and Bretton taking a walk...

This has to be the littlest lizard that I have ever seen! It is crawling up Drake's sleeve while we were eating with Bretton and Christina. We found a nice little roadside food stand that sold a plate of chicken (pollo), and plantains for 50 pesos ($1.40)!

Christina and Bretton hanging out for the weekly Jam Session at Shaggy's Barstool Sailor Bar, here in Luperon.

Raoul, jammin' with the locals!!!

A local veggie truck that travels around the town of Luperon and other close towns selling their farms' vegetables.

Bretton, on his way to another adventure, after his experience on Free Spirit! Thank you Bretton for all your energy, and time with us :-) We still miss ya....

"The Walk Of The Future Awaiting"

Coming Into Luperon ~ June 2nd, 2009

In the distance here, you can see P'tit Louis's sails heading into Luperon Harbor... We were SOOOOO excited to see green topped mountain's!!

Land Ho!!

~Heading In~

Our first view of "Gringo Hill"... More later....

P'tit Louis waiting for us to enter the Harbor flying what we call their Apostrophe Sail.

The land around the entrance to the Harbor...

More land masses...

Our very first view of all the boats in Luperon Harbor! We were excited to be here for Hurricane Season :-) We never thought that we would have to wait out not only one, but 2 seasons.... Everything happens for a reason!!

Just a lil' birdie welcoming us to Luperon!

Ubuntu, waiting at anchor for us to enter the Harbor :-)

P'tit Louis, doing the same as Ubuntu... Waiting for us... Mind you, we were allowing them to both come in first :-)

Our first sunset in Luperon Harbor!

Turks & Caicos ~ May 2009

P'tit Louis and Ubuntu bringing up the rear of the fleet coming into Provo, Turks & Caicos.

The shoreline near the port of entry...

P'tit Louis off the rear of our dinghy..

Bretton, keeping a constant lookout off the bow, for the many reefs and coral heads that litter the Turks & Caicos Islands.

The HUGE mud swirls left to the aft (rear) of Free Spirit after we got 'just a lil' bit stuck' heading to the Annex to tie up or anchor for our stay here in Provo.

Free Spirit ended up tying off to the concrete walls, so we could have our first SHORE time in a few months. P'tit Louis and Ubuntu ended up anchoring really close to us here in the Annex. The Annex was a Marina construction project that was halted due to permits/financial reasons. We were all able to stay here for free, and then we could take a 15 minute dinghy to Southside Marina for our shore needs.

Here is Olivier, taking a little spin on Tamer's awesome electric powered bicycle!

Simon and his wife at Southside marina, who manage the establishment took great care of us while we were there. Our major provisioning trip was a total of 5 grocery carts between the 3 boats. We had to all load into the back of a small pick up, along with all the provisions! What you need to keep in mind, is that the 5 carts of groceries had to all be labeled correctly so that we could sort it out and deliver it all to the proper dinghy's :-)

Olivier, David and Tamer... All Smiles!

Christina sitting with Kashara from Ubuntu at Southside Marina, probably waiting their turn to get on the internet! Factoid entry... The fabric that is on the cushions of that bench, is the same that I bought in Florida a year ago, to redo the cushions and curtains in Tamer and I's cabin.

Southside Marina, offering great cruiser support, dinghy dock, showers, laundry and internet....

The dinghy dock at Southside Marina; check out the color of that water!

Drake, Christina, Kashara, and Bretton riding in the back of the truck with 'I think' 5 other people...

Oh yeah, here are the 5 others... David, Blayde, Dylan, Valin and Tamer on the other side ;-)

After being in the Bahamas, where EVERYTHING is so expensive... For example, Cheeseburger $12, Loaf of bread $6, Cheese $5/lb, Beer $5 each... We treated the whole crew to a Chinese Restaurant dinner and a movie. Here is Christina "In True Awe" of the screen :-)

Christina, still learning the ropes (literally), with Tamer at the helm leaving the Turks & Caicos and headed for Luperon, Dominican Republic!