Leaving Provo the weather looked perfect. The six foot seas from the day before had settled right down and the wind was a reasonable speed from a good direction. Chris Parker, the weather guru, did predict some squalls for later, but the cold front was to stall just near the Turks and Caicos. We sailed for hours under clear skys and then these clouds moved in. Since we could see the edge, I thought that this was the end of the front. Beautiful sunset.
Conditions still great 12 hours into the 24 hour trip. Roy had time to have a nice nap in the cockpit. But. Soon things began to change. Winds and waves picked up and up. Of course this action began at dusk and carried on into the night. By the time we were 6 miles off the DR coast the squalls really kick in. Lots of gusty wind and by now the waves were building into an impressive swell. Impressive and really uncomfortable. We bashed and banged through until dawn when we could finally enter the harbour at Luperon. We were in position right at first light. Surfing down the swell into the protection behind the headland we motored into the mirror calm anchorage. The last of the rain disappeared as we picked a spot to drop the hook. The washing machine ride was over and we were glad to jump into the shower and put on some salt-free clothing. By the time the customs guys woke us up by knocking on the side of the hull, the day was calm and clear and beautiful.
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