Hello to all!! Thank you for visiting the Free Spirit blog to revisit our adventures & fond memories 💙
Log of SV Free Spirit and ships company
The chronicles of the schooner Free Spirit and her crew, embarking on an open ended journey upon the great rolling heap. Free Spirit is currently pursuing humanitarian and commercial goals in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. Working under the Ocean Reach USA and Paradigm Research banners, she is serving as logistics headquarters, workshop, and development laboratory for many ongoing projects. This is the log of her journey.....
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Books and more, at the Schooner Free Spirit Chandelry
Clothes and more, at the Free Spirit Logo Shop!
Books and more, at the Schooner Free Spirit Chandelry
Clothes and more, at the Free Spirit Logo Shop!
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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.
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...
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.
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!
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.
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.
A local veggie truck that travels around the town of Luperon and other close towns selling their farms' vegetables.
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!!
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!!
Turks & Caicos ~ May 2009
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!
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!
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.
Drake, Christina, Kashara, and Bretton riding in the back of the truck with 'I think' 5 other people...
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!