Still waiting...

I have not updated the blog because there is just so many times you can say you walked on the beach or went to the pool or the jacuzzi by the sea, right?
But we did get a new GPS antenna, which seems to be working: the light turns green but it loses its fix, probably a connection, we just don't know where.
We have now put the sails up, Juan has touched up the varnish, and we keep looking at weather maps.
While we could not ask for a better place to be waiting in, we want to move. It could be Wednesday or Friday. The weather forecasts change every time we look at them.
The problem with leaving the DR is that we have to go through the hassle of calling in the immigration officials from the airport, who come down and stamp your passports, but if when you go out conditions are rougher than you expected and you have to come back (as we did last time), you have to go through the same bureaucratic rigmarole.

Cap Cana, Home Sweet Home, for the duration apparently...

All weather reports -  passage weather, buoy, windfinder, nooa - say the same: stay put. So stay we will. But we can't complain. The marina is paid until April and we have the whole resort to ourselves. We walk on the beach in the morning and it's just us. The swimming pools, all along the beach are also empty. They have great recliners, tents to sit under, bathrooms, showers, and last night we discovered we also have cable and last but never least, great wi-fi.
In the meantime we are also waiting for a new GPS antenna. Juan worked with the electronics for 8 hours straight and could not make them work. He called his cousin in Miami and got instructions to connect the GPS directly to the chartplotter using NMEA. That is when he decided the problem is the antenna. So now through his cousin's friend in La Romana we are going to have one sent and see what happens.
The marina lent us their air compressor and Juan will start to rid the bottom of the growth, no small job. He started yesterday without the compressor and could only do the propeller, and some of the rudder.
Sweet Tides and Elza are also stuck in Georgetown and have no idea when they will move.

Waiting for Godot - (meaning GOoD weather TO cross The Mona Passage)- forever??

The wind is howling at more than 25kts and it rains on and off the whole day. The forecast does not show any improvement until next week but the truth is I don't think we could find a better place to be stuck than here.
In the meantime there are a lot of boat fixes to be done. The electronics are on strike. Juan has been trying all of his tricks and all he gets is a failure message on the autopilot screen. He has redone all the connections and says he has no idea what could be wrong. Given that to get to Puerto Rico all we have to do is head East,  we may just have to do it Columbus style - or almost.
The bottom and the propeller are also full of growth. The marina will lend us their compressor for Juan to dive, maybe this afternoon to try and get rid of the worst. Then there are the sails to be hoisted, and I am sure plenty of other chores. The worst part is that Sweet Tides and Elza are also stuck in Georgetown, so we can't even say we are waiting for them.
In the meantime, and between chores, there's the beach, and the swimming pool and a sports club where I am going to try the "power dancing" tonight.