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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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

 Hello to all!!  Thank you for visiting the Free Spirit blog to revisit our adventures & fond memories 💙

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.



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!



Introducing Propcalc 4.0

Use Propcalc to easily match your hull with your engine, transmission, and propeller
Put the known data in the top fields, then hit the Update button to get the answers.
Results, of course, should be verified by a Naval Architect or qualified surveyor.
Data is provided for three bladed propellers of average type
For two or four bladed props, use the modifiers shown below.

Fill out the fields as follows:

Vessel LWL (ft) = Waterline length
Vessel Disp (lbs) = Vessel displacement
(max) HP = Rated Engine Max HP
Engine RPM max = Engine RPM at Max HP
Engine RPM cruise = Desired or estimated cruise rpm
(Cruise or Max) Kts = Speed to work the calculations for
Slip = Propeller efficience. 45% is average for a displacement cruiser.
Gear ratio = 1: Gear ratio of transmission
SL Ratio Adj. = This value will be added (or subtracted, if a negative value) to the calculated S/L ratio.

Key information:

If the "hp required" is greater than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too low for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is significantly less than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too high for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is greater than the "Max HP", then your target speed is too high for your engine/hull parameters.
The S/L ratio is calculated automaticaly based on your input. It can be adjusted if necessary, but normally it should be left alone.
If the calculated S/L ratio exceeds S/L MAX, then the results are likely to be non-predictive. Try a lower speed requirement.
SL Ratios of 1.1 - 1.4 are typical of displacement hulls. Semiplaning or planing hulls can go higher.

Typical propeller slip values:

Sailing auxiliary, barges, etc less than 9 Kts............45%
Heavy powerboats, workboats 9 - 15 Kts....................26%
Powerboats, Lightweight Cruisers 15 - 30 Kts..............24%
High speed planing boats 30 - 45 Kts......................20%
V bottom race boats 45 - 90 Kts...........................10%


Note:

it is possible to get irrational answers by irrational input , I.E specifying excessive speed for hull type and length
Any attempt to exceed hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet) with a displacement hull are likely
to fail unless the hull is extremely fine (multihull) or otherwise exceptional. In such cases, an S/L adjustment would be in order.

2 and 4 bladed props:


For two bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by 1.05, and the pitch by 1.01
For four bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by .94, and the pitch by .98


PROPCALC
  Inputs:
Vessel LWL (ft) =
Vessel Disp (lbs) =
  (max) HP =
  Engine RPM max =
  Engine RPM cruise =
  (Cruise or Max) Kts =
  Slip =
  Gear ratio = 1:
  SL Ratio Adj. =
   
    Solutions:
  Prop rpm max =
  Prop rpm cruise =
  Pitch =
  Diameter =
  Static Thrust =
  Cruise HP =
  Cruise HP% =
  SL Ratio =
  DL Ratio =
  SL Max =
  HP Required =