During the past week we sailed 300+ nautical miles only the two of us from Puerto Rico to Turks and Caicos. It was a rough passage but we made it safely and on our arrival we were greeted by tons of Dolphins. Our first stop in the country was Grand Turk Island where we dealt with all the formalities, went to explore the smaller islands close by and dove a drop off just under the boat. After a couple of days we sailed to the world famous Providenciales to meet our new guests.
Our initial plan was to stop in the Dominican Republic on the way from Puerto Rico to Turks and Caicos, but as we had heard so many horror stories about corrupt immigration officers there we decided to skip the country entirely and sailed directly to Turks and Caicos. This crossing was a bit longer than what we usually like to do only the two of us, but we made it safely. Sarah is a trooper and I couldn’t think of a better person to be doing this with me.
During this trip we were a bit apprehensive not only for being a bit lengthier than what we like, but also because it included the much feared Mona passage and also because the weather was not super easy. At the end we made it safely and as a reward we where greeted by a huge pack of dolphins which swam in front of the Ipanema for a while.
Since we were quite tired from the crossing we stopped a few hours in the small-inhabited Salt Island. It lies just a few miles south of Grand Turk. We heard it had great diving and snorkeling, but the weather was so bad and we were so tired that we just slept and as soon as we woke up, we moved on.
In Grand Turk we dealt with all the formalities and then we took Joana’s advice, a good friend of Sarah’s who lived in the island for many years, she told us to visit Gibbs Cay and it was right on the money: a beautiful secluded island just for the three of us for the entire day. Well, there was us and a series of curious sting rays and trunkfishes.
By the way, if you travel to Turks and Caicos, be sure to check Joana’s blog www.myseastoryblog.com, it is full of great tips of what to see and do around the island!
We had recently got a new SUP from Isle and we hadn’t used it yet. We were excited to paddle it for a while and this was the perfect spot to use it for the first time. Guess who was the first to jump on it?
Talking about the little beast… Feijão loved this place. He ran around like crazy chasing the birds, his tail and his own shadow until he couldn’t move anymore. My impression is that he is getting clumsier by the day.
Turks and Caicos is famous for diving and in Grand Turk we anchored in 10 meters of water just at the edge of a deep drop-off. On one side there was ten meters or shallower and on the other a huge drop-off, almost like a wall that quickly drops to bellow 1.000 meters deep.
Now it is time to move to Providenciales as my father and his wife Annete are arriving and we can’t wait to have them again on the boat.
