Ile a Vache Haiti 1

We decided to take a short detour on our way to the Dominican Republic and stopped at a protected harbor on the south coast of Haiti.  While the country is in turmoil and the presidential elections are being contested, this little island is set apart.  It is 6 miles from the mainland, but worlds apart.

Fast Passage South

Taking advantage of some unusual Northerly winds, we quickly made our way from the Exumas to Rum Cay, Mayaguana, then finally Great Inagua where we checked out of the Bahamas.  Just needed to check out, get our dispatch papers from customs then take on a little fuel.  No simple trick when you have to side tie to a bare concrete wall, have the fuel truck in the back of a pickup, then siphoned into the tanks through another filter.

This was just a morning stop, and we were back into the Northerly winds.  Normally cruisers head to the Turks and Caicos on their way to Luperon on the north coast of Hispanola, however, we decided on a different route which took us through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti with the indention of cruising the South coast of the Dominican Republic.

After reading some favorable reviews of Ile A Vache (island of the cows) on the South coast of Haiti, we decided to make a stop.

It is just magical place, like a chunk of sub sahara Africa drifted over to the Americas.

Gypsy Queen Under Sail

So, just what does Gypsy Queen look like when we are sailing.  I have posted several pictures of life aboard, but in Rock Sound, our good friends aboard RuAha took some pictures as they overtook us in their Bristol 45.  So I guess I should post at least one photo of what we look like from a distance.

Skipping WAY Fast Forward

So much has happened since our last blog post.  We made our passage to Eleuthera island, visited Spanish Wells, made our passage through the Current Cut (exciting with currents as high as 6 knts), then onto Glass Window then  Rock Sound before our passage to Georgetown.  Georgetown is a final destination south for many cruisers from the US East Coast, but just the jump off point for those headed for the Caribbean.



Nothing like a bit of Bud Light and Conch Fritters at Georgetown.  We said our goodbyes to Mason here and he jumped on a plane back to Oregon.  What a wonderful month of cruising, boat repair, and just plain good times.