So checking out of Turks and Caicos took forever. Our 1:00 appointment didn’t happen until 6:30pm. Per the marina staff, the customs agent is known to come whenever he pleases, and sometimes he doesn’t even show up! We eventually got checked out of Turks and Caicos (2 minutes of his time and a $60 check out fee), and spent our last night on the dock.

We wanted to time our exit of the marina close to high tide as it’s a shallow entrance, so bright and early we were headed off the dock. We motored across the bank to our overnight stop at Six Hill Cay. We had a few minutes of some dolphins cruising with us, which was delightful! We could hear the birds at Six Hill Cay, but not see them as the sun had set just before we anchored.

Sun up, but our plan was to leave around lunch time or a bit later to start our longer passage. When we went to raise the mainsail, surprise – the halyard shackle came unattached! It looped around the topping lift, a line (rope) that goes from the back of the boom to the top of the mast. We turned around, anchored, and unwrapped the lines, reattaching the shackle. It was much safer to turn around and anchor behind the protection of the island than out in the ocean waves. And back in action!

We had a beautiful afternoon and overnight passage – there was a sliver of a moon rise, just before sunrise, just next to where the sun came up.

As things on a boat go, during our passage we happened to notice that the shackle that connects our dinghy to our arch had come loose, and the pin was no longer screwed in – this could make the back half of our dinghy fall into ocean! Thankfully we caught it in time, tying up additional lines to hold the weight, and then screwing the pin back into the shackle. Crisis averted.

Passage can get boring, especially when you are 8. We brought some coconuts with us to open on the trip. Talk about a messy business!! The old coconut cracked out beautifully. The new coconut unfortunately happened to be rotten! How awful! That’s a taste I don’t think Wren or I will ever forget. Bleh.

No dolphins this day, but we did get to see two pods of humpback whales! When we pulled up to anchor and check in at Marina Puerto Bahia, it was a shock to the eyes to see jungle and hills. There were also flamingos on the beach!! We dinghied in and checked in with customs, immigration, and the armada. The marina was full, but since we were on the wait list they allowed us to use their facilities, which mean pool and kids!

We arrived on Independence Day for the Dominican Republic, and the following day the marina treated us to a carnival! There was a parade of costumed people and shopping for local goods.

We elected to rent a car and drove up to see El Limón waterfall, and we also went zip lining and got to feed some squirrel monkeys. Pretty epic day.