Since we have been living on our boat, we have mostly used our boat to get us from point A to point B, and then stay in that spot for an extended amount of time. This is how we like to travel. Living in a spot for a while, getting to know the lay of the land, the pace of life, completing projects, and making friends with the locals and the other boaters that come and go. We like to feel like honorary locals rather than just another couple of faces passing through. We have been living aboard for four years but have spent most of our time living on the boat in Georgetown Bahamas, Miami Florida, and Luperon Dominican Republic, usually doing at least six month stints in each spot. The PR will be a totally different way of cruising for us.
From this point on we will no longer be staying in a bay for that long of a period, unless we completely fall in love with a place. Our plan is to move along the coast, and then down island, learning and experiencing new places and then moving on to the next. This feels strange to me, against the grain of how we do things, but it is also exciting to think of all the places we are going to get to see. We arrived in Boqueron 10 days ago and already we are prepping for our next jump. The jumps from this point on will be pretty minimal, a couple of hours a day, and so less of a worry as long as we wait for the right weather we should be leaving at dawn and arriving by mid-morning. This has thrown us into what feels like a new whirlwind routine of fix, fill, stow, repeat.
First is to fix the things that have come unravelled from the last sail. This time it meant sewing part of our sail that tore as we approached Boqueron. Yes we managed to tear a sail while motorsailing and reefed. The stitching came undone right at the reef point, most likely due to age and wear of the sail, and so the fix was pretty simple. While the sail was down Eben also took that time to restitch anything that started to show some wear.
Fill all the water, diesel and gas that we consumed during our last crossing. Here in town there is a dock where you can get all three of these fluids for a reasonable price. Water was more expensive than the DR but diesel was way cheaper. It evens out in the end. From Luperon to Boqueron we consumed 50 gallons of diesel. And we were still living off of our one 85 gallon tank of water, not sure how that is possible but obviously we are not drinking enough water.
Stow all the food that we bought for the next jump. And restow all of the stuff that has found its way out since the last trip. It is surprising how in so little time life can take over and undo all the stowing work you had already done. Since I knew we wouldn’t be staying here long I didn’t even bother taking out all of my shell decorations that usually sit on our bathroom counters, and it sort of saddens me to think that those counters may stay bare for a long time if we keep jumping around like this. I will have to get used to the minimalistic look. Clean and practical.
Repeat the predeparture prep of checking weather and planning a course. Even if they are little jumps we still want to make them as comfortable as possible, relieving any stress that any of us may have and hopefully avoiding filling the sand pales with motion induced sickness. Once again we thought we would be heading out this morning but with a shift in weather it looks like we will be in Boqueron for a few more days. One more weekend here to people watch is ok with me. And looking at the weather out there right now I am glad we stayed back because it is blowing harder than anything we have seen since our arrival.
This new routine will give us another perspective on cruising and from there we will be better equipped to discern which way suits us more, life on the move or life a little more stagnant.
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