Tuesday, December 21, 2021 Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
Over the last month and a half we’ve been enjoying Las Terrenas. There hasn’t been a lot of excitement. In mid November, one of the catamarans moored inside the reef somehow broke free and ran aground on the beach. After 10 days of arm waving and shouting, someone finally figured out how to float it off the underlying coral and get it back out to its mooring. They eventually placed a lot of sealed steel drums under it but it’s still lying low in the water so it must have a damaged hull. However, it’s still afloat.
Our son Zack and his family got a ride up from Santo Domingo for the long American Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately they had had a car accident a week before so they’re waiting, perhaps months, before parts are available to fix their car. Nothing happens quickly here. But they got here and we enjoyed a long weekend together including watching some CFL football. With a VPN subscription and a TSN subscription it’s possible to watch any sports here.
At this time of year, when there’s no moon, apparently the eels are running. Easily over a hundred local people with metre square nets are out in the surf in the bay as soon as it’s dark, scooping up tiny eels. The fishermen have a headlamp and a plastic bottle hung around their necks. After each scoop, they examine the net and slip any of their catch into the bottle so they’re quickly ready for another scoop. Apparently all these small eels are exported to Asia.
Most evenings, especially Sunday, many local people gather by the fish market to have a few drinks and socialize for a few hours.
On December 8th, our son Dylan’s birthday, his second son and our 4th grandchild was born to he and his wife Kasumi in Nagoya, Japan. We are so pleased that both mother and son, Luka, are doing well.
Last Saturday, we left our apartment at La Fenice and moved into the top apartment of a house near the beach while Zack, Annie, Maia and Noah have the bottom apartment. We have our own private pool and yard and are about 80 metres down a little side street from the beach. It’s a great spot except for the house construction going on right next door.
We’ll be here for Christmas and New Years before flying home on January 3rd. Our son Josh was supposed to join us but, after much discussion, we cancelled his flights due to the sudden rise of the COVID Omicron variant. He doesn’t have time to even be mildly sick, due to his work schedule. We’re missing him but glad that he’s safe in his apartment in Toronto.
We had scheduled a vaccine booster shot in Barry’s Bay for a few days after our return home. Then we discovered that there are ongoing vaccine clinics in most little towns throughout the Dominican Republic, including in a sports centre in Las Terrenas. There are no line-ups, there is no cost and they have no problem vaccinating non-residents who happen to be here. It was a bit of a walk to find the little sports centre at the other end of town but we eventually got there. We felt a little awkward about accepting vaccines in a developing country but nobody else seemed to care. With the rapid increases we’re reading about in Canada, we’re glad that we got over our hesitation. By the time we fly, we’ll have had 2 weeks to build antibodies. Being here doesn’t seem as dangerous as being in the Montreal airport.
This morning Annie, who is becoming very fluent in Spanish, helped me make an appointment for PCR tests for Anita and I on December 31st to make sure we get the results before we fly. There is a lab in town here that sends a technician right to our house to administer the test. It will cost us about $150 Canadian each but we have to do it. Apparently, we’ll also get tested when we arrive in Montreal.
We’ve rented a hotel room in Montreal overnight and an Avis car the next morning to drive home. Then, if it’s allowed, we’ll return the car to Renfrew the following day. We’ll see how all this works out when we get to Montreal. Until then, we’re going to enjoy Christmas with at least part of our family.
How not to moor your sailboat
