4 Ways of Checking in For Cruisers

Checking in for cruisers is a different experience than when you fly into a country. Every country is different. Every check in has been different too. So far, we have sailed to 4 different countries and had 4 completely varied experiences checking in.

Often when we arrive in port, we are led around like dazed children, not knowing where to go next or what to do. The basics are the same: have passports and boat ownership papers on hand. And money, or credit card.

It’s all been good – we’ve ultimately gotten in everywhere – and we’ll continue to jump through the hoops for the pleasure of visiting these intriguing new places.

Checking In – The Bahamas

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Food and Drink of Dominican Republic

In our few weeks in the friendly and wild Dominican Republic, we had a lot of good meals. Here’s some of the highlights of the food and drink of Dominican Republic.

Rum

The rum in the Dominican Republic is plentiful and inexpensive. The main local brand is Brugal and it’s fine. The base rum is less than $10, and there are a few varieties. But we were introduced to something we like better in Luperón. It’s called Columbus – his name is all over the place here since he claimed to “discover” the island – and it’s delicious.

Columbus rum is smooth and good for sipping. And the bottles we bought in Luperon cost $275 pesos, about $6 US so its good for mixing too.

Columbus rum bottle
Columbus Rum

The rum drinks here varied: my favorite so far has been the piña coladas served in pineapples. One at a time though, of course.

 

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Sailing Overnight Alone (and together)

Part of the reason we hired Jeff, the captain who came with us from Provo to Luperón, was that we were nervous about our first night sail. While that passage was not easy, and a few things went wrong, we made it fine. Next up: getting to the south of the D.R, by sailing overnight alone.

Long Passage For Two Sailing Overnight

The next passage, from Luperon to Samaná, was almost the same distance. And we knew we had to do it with just the two of us. Sailing at night is challenging, especially when the auto pilot isn’t working, which ours wasn’t at the time. Someone has to be at the wheel the entire time. So shift work is required.