Another mix - up at Budget marine in Tortola meant that the Admiralty chart we had ordered did not arrive in time so we were reliant on our electronic charts. However, the coordinates for the Ocean World marina seemed to infer that the marina was several hundred yards ashore,  and the electronic charts were overlaid with a message that indicated that the information they contained was unreliable, so we were reliant on "eyeball navigation" for the entry.  The electronic charts did have detail for the nearby commercial port of Puerto Plata itself, so we were keeping a possible bail out into there as an option.

As in all interesting landfalls, the situation was aggravated by the fact that we were arriving at dusk, that the wind increased from 20 to 30 knots and that the steep shore….from more than 8000 metres deep to under 15 metres in a distance of about half a mile, meant that the conditions were great for surfers, less attractive for yachtsmen.

The marina boasts a casino, and the casino has mounted on its roof, a huge white beacon light, which made it very difficult to pick out the leading lights to the channel, but eventually it started to make sense and we were safely in the harbour, to be greeted by the Dominican Republican navy.

They politely guided us to a waiting pontoon where we could stay the night, before a formal inspection and reception at 0800 the following morning. The concrete dock, however, was more suited to a superyacht, and by 3 am we were awoken by a loud bang, as Persephone had slipped down on the tide, and then passed underneath the concrete pontoon! We were in an impossible situation…the boat was too low for us to climb onto the pontoon and release the lines (which were long enough for the fall in the tide, , so for a while, it looked as if we would spend the remainder of the night fending off the concrete above us.

Eventually, Karen attracted the attention of the Navy security guard, and he untied the lines and escorted us to a berth less suited to a 100 foot superyacht, and more in tune with our diminutive presence!

The next day, Manfred and Annalise arrived from the BVI's in their splendid Amel 64, Tulasi. We had first encountered them on the ARC, and again in Grenada, before spotting them at various points in the BVI's and snatched a short conversation in Village Cay marina, Road Harbour.

Quickly, a plan emerged, over a few glasses of wine, to join up and explore the DR together. Annalise and Manfred's daughter in law comes from these parts and they had a degree of inside knowledge which was worth having…and we were all getting on very well so we organised some excursions together.

First, a visit to Puerto Plata, the huge rum factory, the cable car to the National Park and other delights in the town. 

Next, a "jeep safari"…travelling in the back of a flat bed truck, up country to see something of the culture and village life in the island, then explore the array of waterfalls about 25 miles from Puerto Plata. 

The Dominican Republic is absolutely beautiful. Travelling around, one gets the feeling that things here are similar to sub - saharan Africa. The main mode of transport is the 2 stroke motorbike, and bikes outnumber cars by 5 or 6 to 1. The bikes are locally made copies of 1960's and 1970's Japanese designs…so it seems that  what goes around, comes around!

The national sport is baseball and the country is mesmerised by the sport. Houses are very basic, mostly wooden shacks and lack most services we would take for granted, like running water and drainage, but they do have electricity and satellite TV to watch the game!

We are told that it is dangerous to travel at night, that we should use taxis with blacked out windows so that the criminal fraternity cannot tell if the passengers are white, because there is an issue with crime, especially robbery and kidnap. However, the tourist areas are very well protected and it seems that the income tourist provide is respected in some small way. Everyone is very polite and friendly, and many locals have several languages to augment the natural spanish which is spoken here…loudly, as in Spain!

Our trip to the waterfalls was huge fun. We were not quite sure what to expect as we arrived and were supplied with buoyancy aids and hard hats. Essentially we were guided upstream along a rock and boulder strewn watercourse for half an hour or so until we came to a sequence of 27 waterfalls through the sandstone rock of which this part of the island is made. Then, we climbed up the first 7 waterfalls, swimming through the little pools and lagoons between the vertical sections. All very exciting, but nothing compared to what we became aware was in store for us!

The return trip downstream involved the departure from our comfort zones. We were required to leave our inhibitions behind and literally take the plunge…sliding down the watercourses we had worked hard to climb up. The final one was a 12 to 15 foot drop and each of us made it down safely. The talk between us during the half hour walk back to base camp was of our mutual surprise and delight that we had engaged with the spirit of the adventure….great fun!

After a couple of hours recovery, the four of us reassembled to enjoy a rather splendid supper in the Casino restaurant on the marina…check out the pics for a look at the striking architecture the marina favours!

We like this island, and will take a little longer to explore it. We are off to San Domingo tomorrow to see something of the south coast…and stay in a proper bed in a real live hotel!