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January, 2004
We left the Abaco Island, Bahamas, on Sunday, January 25th, made a brief stop in San Salvador, Bahamas, for fuel and a quick nap and arrived in Providenciales (Provo), one of the islands in the Turks & Caicos chain, on Thursday, January 29th. It was a fairly nice four day trip with wind and seas in our favor for most of the journey not to mention that Rankin caught a dorado dolphin.
Upon our arrival, we contacted a pilot boat to escort us through the winding coral path which leads into Turtle Cove Marina. Provo is, of course, beautiful and is very popular for diving expeditions though we didn't go diving (this trip). The islands are part of what is left of the British Empire and their claim to fame is no imposition of taxes although they charge significant fees for many things such as becoming a resident. We spent some time cleaning the boat and performing maintenance jobs and then it was time for some fun.
We met and spent more than one evening with Ric and Anne aboard Wind Borne from Key West, Florida. They're a very nice couple and we hope our paths will cross again in the near future. We then rented a car and explored the island a bit trying to visit some of the tourist "hot spots" like the Conch Farm, but unfortunately, it was closed. Maybe we'll get to see it next time. We did manage to get a few beautiful shots of the marina and banks during cocktail hour at Magnolia's restaurant.
During our stay, we also took a semi-submersible boat around the coral and happened to see a local celebrity -- Jo Jo, he's a dolphin ... a very unique Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. He is one of the few dolphins around the world who voluntarily interacts with human beings in his own natural habitat and he's quite a flirt.
After spending about a week in Provo, we headed to Sapodilla Bay (south of Provo) and anchored. Guess who greeted us ... that's right Jo Jo. He's a character. As you can tell, I was very taken by Jo Jo. Anyway, we anchored at Sapodilla Bay for two days, motored all day across the Caicos Bank through many coral heads in 9 to 20 ft. of water, and anchored at Six Hills Cay. We had a beautiful island to ourselves. Unfortunately, it was only for a night because we had to find more protection from forecasted high winds. So, we motored two hours to Cockburn Harbour at South Caicos to wait out the weather and boy did we wait. Five days at anchor in 10 to 25 knot winds without getting off the boat. On Thursday, February 12, we eventually motored five hours across the Columbus Passage between the Turks and Caicos to a small, uninhabited island called Great Sand Cay and spent the night, exploring the island the next morning. It didn't take us long to find out we weren't alone after all ... click here to find out what we found on this island. The afternoon of February 13th, we set off for Luperon located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic (DR). Take a look at the Dominican Republic page for the latest activities in the DR or go to Way Points.
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