We woke up at 5am and 45 minutes later we were underway, just the stretch along Samana Bay is at least two hours. When we came out into the Atlantic we were faced with big waves and 14 to 18 knot winds This time they were hitting on a slightly better angle but still very, very uncomfortable. Our worst problem is that the auto pilot is a puny contraption on the wheel, (rather than a strong arm on the column underneath) so when the waves are as high as they were yesterday, it does not hold, so we have to steer by hand most of the time. Again not easy because the waves keep kicking you off course all the time. The forecast said it would improve during the day and it did not, it also said waves 4 to 6 feet and they were more like 6 to 8. So as the hours went on and we realized we could not rest or take proper watches, we decided to come into Cap Cana. We had phoned earlier to let them know we would arrive by 7 and asked for instructions. When we arrived they were waiting for us and came out in a runabout to guide us in.
It is a very big marina, a lot like La Romana but larger. And although it has internet and cable we will leave today and make the crossing to PR. We know the conditions will be as bad if not worse than yesterday but at least we will be crossing during the day after a good night's sleep. Hopefully my next posting will be from Puerto Rico...
PS: the good thing about the trip yesterday is that we saw whales, twice. We were told it was late in the season and whales had already left Samana, but this pack was late in leaving, we saw the spray and the tails as they went into the water. We also had a very athletic dolphin follow us for a while, it kept jumping clear out of the water!
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