We’re part of the joke
Someone let us in on the secret that there is a bit of a longstanding joke in Georgetown about people arriving here, looking for charts for the Dominican Republic. I guess we’re part of that joke. We, like many people perhaps, were under the impression that finding charts, either from other travelers or from stores while on route, would be easy to do. Perhaps when people are heading north again from their travels south of here, that may be the case but at this time of year, it seems like it’s a non-starter.
Although many people have offered us computer charts, we have been unsuccessful in getting any of them to work with our current software. Additionally, we really want to have some paper charts and we need the chip(s) for our Garmin chartplotter. Having them shipped directly here from the US is possible but we have heard that 40-50% duty will be added to the price. Right now we are looking for someone who is in the US or Canada who will be coming here (by plane?) in the very near future who could ferry them to us. Anyone want to come for a visit?
Of the three couples we have spoken to who plan to head south to the Caribbean, each of them are planning on transiting the Dominican Republic along the southern coast. This is contrary to that which is described in Van Sant’s book but Frank Virgintino’s Cruising Guide to the Dominican Republic makes a very compelling argument for doing so.
Follow up: I wrote this post before the morning cruisers’ net and in spite of the “joke,” I got on there again today (for the third time) and let it be known that we were STILL looking for charts. Apparently my mentioning the joke on the net must have done something because we had 4-5 people call us in reference to charts! Fingers are crossed.
Christopher Columbus did not use charts…..
Nice..haha. You know, John makes a good point 🙂
and Columbus did it three+ times. Good luck on the chart finding. Hopefully you won’t have to emulate Columbus or accidentally wind up in Colombia.
🙂
Reputedly, he also had a bad sense of direction!
🙂
Will you still be charged duty if the package is marked as a gift? I mean I mail things to friend in other countries all the time, and they don’t pay duty on it…
ponder.
I really don’t know.
I just returned from Cuba, we could have done a hand-off as you were sailing by! Back in Picton for now and will be going to the hot sauce competion this Saturday at the Brew Pub where Dave has enterered some of his killer hot sauce. May go back down south for 1 last week before opening the business April 1. I’ll let you know where I end up going….Mark
I love his hot sauce. When you the chart hand off you could also bring us some more of his Hell’s Fury!
Haha john thats nasty good mind you & so true so Come on Mike & Rebecca you only need them for “justin” !!! 🙂
hehe
Yeah, but Columbus had the King and Queen behind him, and wasn’t sailing his home! And he did have charts, they just weren’t accurate!
Yes, perhaps if we had some royal sponsors.
I haven’t ever seen the Van Sant book, but my guess is that he details the basics pretty clearly.
North around the DR requires going through the Mona Passage, a notoriously rough way to go that requires “window shopping” similar to crossing the Gulf Stream. It is typically all beating. The primary port for cruisers along this passage is Luperon which has a pretty tricky entrance. Most cruisers we have spoken to either rave or rage about Luperon, not much middle ground. The rest of the northern coast is pretty inhospitable until you get to the eastern side of the island and you can go into Samana Bay, but there have been some reports of theft from late 2009, early 2010.
South around the DR requires passing Haiti, which is typically not a great place to stop and is even less so given the current continuing crises there. It is also a much longer distance. The big advantage is you get to bypass the Mona Passage (the sailing is easier). There are several places to stop along the southern coast.
Check-in fees seem to be pretty steep and “negotiable” (I’ve never been good at this concept).
Fair Winds,
Mike
I assume you went the northern route? Did you stop in Luperon?