Friday, January 29, 2010

Mi viaje a Santiago y Santo Domingo

While in the D.R. we decided to split up and travel into the country to explore, learn, and experience for ourselves and to have some time away from the boat. That way, we all met different people and had completely different experiences. My visit to Santiago and Santo Domingo is one that I won’t soon forget.

My journey into the city began on Tuesday afternoon. I left Luperon, where we are anchored this week and took a car to Imbert which branches off to Puerto Plata and Santiago. The first person I met was an American named Rodger, he is an older gentleman living in Puerto Plata but originally from the United States. I spoke with him on the car ride to Imbert about how he came to be in the Dominican Republic and what it is like living here. He came here on a sailboat which he sold long ago and has been living here for the last 8 years. The advantages of living in the D.R., he says, are that it is cheap (He is living on social security from the government and served in the armed forces), the weather is nice all year round, and the few laws they have here are seldom enforced. Rodger said, "You can drive the wrong way down the street all the way to Puerto Plata and never get stopped," however, this has both positive and negative aspects. If your home is being robbed for example and you call the police, they might show up the next day to see how you did and then ask you to help pay for their gas. Why would they want to come then, there is a ROBBER! In other words, if you have a real problem you are pretty much on your own in his opinion. Rodger's least favorite thing about the D.R. is how it is normal to pack as many people as possible into taxis and cars. It is common for 4 or 5 people to cram into the back of a small car and at least 3 in the front. Just as he told me this, our car stopped to pick up 3 more people and Rodger and I got to know each other a little bit better as we finished the drive with 4 adults now in the back seat.

Seat belts are another example. It is illegal to drive/ride without wearing a seat belt (I am told the fine is 500 pesos) but there are so few police that nobody obeys the law. There are no consequences (unless of course you are in an accident). It is also illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet but hardly anyone has a helmet for the same reason. While I did see some riders wearing helmets, most choose to wear them hung under their handlebars. In my short time in the city even I was in a small accident while riding a bus or "GuaGua" across the city. We got too close to a car next to us and broke his passenger side mirror right off. The bus stopped and the drivers got out but no body else got off the bus and in under 3 minutes we were on our way again. How efficient! In the U.S. an accident like that could take over an hour to call the police, file a report, collect insurance information, etc. Unfortunately in the D.R. it probably means tough luck for the owner of the car.

I arrived in Imbert and bought a van ticket to Santiago. It took about 45 min to get there and after I got my bearings I walked through the city to the Monumento a los Heroes del la Restoration. Along the way I stopped and bought a carton of orange juice and later, a huge slab of pineapple on a stick from a street vendor. You can buy almost any fruit or vegetable you can think of on the street and you can always find a street vendor. There are street vendors for food, cloths, trinkets, DVDs, watches, shoes, anything. It was getting late in the afternoon and looked like it might start to rain so I made my way back to where I knew there was a hotel and got a room for the night. The room had everything you could need including; a bathroom, shower, a bed, and a television! I watched some news in English and the end of a movie with Spanish subtitles. I fell asleep as it started raining. In the morning, it was damp outside but turned out to be a very nice day. I took a bus to the Centro de Leon museum of art and history on 27 de Febrero street. I was one of the first visitors of the day and the museum was mostly empty. There was a very interesting exhibit about the original Indian inhabitants of the D.R. including artifacts and tools found during excavation of burial sites and dwellings. There was also a gallery of modern art by the Dominican painter, Fernando Rena Defillo. Many of his paintings are interpretations of the Dominican lifestyle and culture such as the marketplace but there were also many abstract paintings of beautiful Dominican landscapes. The museum was very modern looking with high ceilings and even an escalator but unfortunately no pictures allowed.

I decided that I would go to Santo Domingo that afternoon and I was able to get directions to the metro station from the receptionist at the museum who spoke English although I tried to practice my Spanish as much as possible. Having studied Spanish in elementary, middle, and high school you might think that I would be right at home in a Spanish speaking country. Unfortunately, having never had the opportunity or desire to practice speaking Spanish regularly before this trip, I have forgotten a lot of what I had learned. I wish I had paid more attention because I sure could use it now. I am learning more every day and hope to be a lot better in just a few more weeks. It also helps that everyone here is very encouraging and many people enjoy the opportunity to practice speaking English.

I took a nap on the bus and in about 2 hours I was in Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is a much larger city with a very cool historic district, some large parks, government buildings, malls, schools and an international airport. There are chain restaurants (McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut) just like in the US but street vendors can still be found everywhere. I walked through the city just taking in the sights. I walked around the National Theatre and the National Library inside the Plaza de la Cultura (Cultural Center) and I saw the U.S. embassy. There are some large parks in the city that offer some peace and quiet away from the traffic and honking. I started looking for a hotel around 4:30pm. I had seen a few while walking and checked in with them first. I was surprised to learn that they were all full and fairly expensive otherwise. In hindsight, I probably should have called ahead but in the end I am glad that I didn’t. Finally I stopped and asked a security guard standing outside a bank if he knew of a cheap hotel nearby. This turned out to be a very good thing.

The security guard didn’t really know how to answer so that I would understand and so he led me inside the bank where he introduced me to someone who spoke English. In about 5 min there were three guys in the lobby, including the security guard Carlos, helping to try and find a hotel. They were all surprised that there wasn’t a single hotel with a room available due to all the recent visitors in town to help those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Then Carlos offered that I could stay with his family for the night if I wanted. After I figured out what he was telling me, I very graciously accepted. He called his house and asked his daughter, who spoke a little English, to interpret for him. He said that I could stay at his house if I promised not to leave until the morning. He was worried about my safety at night and of course I agreed.

In general Santo Domingo is very safe he told me and everyone is very nice but it is not a good idea for a foreigner to be walking around alone at night in the city. Bad people can be found in any city of course and it is important to always be careful. That problem can be amplified for someone who stands out or is traveling alone who may look like an easy target.

While I waited in the lobby for his wife and daughter to come to the bank, I spoke with Carlos about my trip to the D.R. and told him about Eye of The World. It turned out that we didn’t have much trouble communicating with just a little effort. Carlos’ wife and daughter arrived in their car and took me across town to their home. They live in a small apartment in a gated apartment complex with an armed security guard. It is common for large buildings, banks and even some residences to have armed security guards 24-7 here. On the way we stopped at their church and I met many people who spoke way too fast for me to understand but they were all extremely nice and happy to see me. I was treated like family and had a delicious dinner of fried yucca (like a potato) before bed. In the morning I had a shower and for breakfast, boiled plantano (like a green banana).

I spoke with Carlos’ daughter as much as I could about her school, about my trip to the city, and about Eye of The World. She is 16 years old and in 7th grade. Her favorite subject is English and she also wants to learn French. Her and her friends all study English in school but she has not had much chance to practice, imagine that. She likes music and talking to her friends on the phone. She is very smart and I could tell she is a hard worker. I saw Carlos again in the morning and thanked him and his family as best I could in Spanish and rode with them halfway back to the city and took a taxi the rest of the way. I could not have been more fortunate than to have met Carlos’ and his family. I walked around the city Thursday morning with a newfound appreciation for the wonderful people who live here.

I walked down to the National Congress building and saw the southern coast of Hispaniola. From the water, I could see how big the city was. It is much too big to see in just one day but what a great inside view I already had.

On the bus ride back to Santiago I sat next to a 7th and 8th grade teacher and medical professor from the D.R. She spoke English very well and was surprised that I was exploring the city by myself and even more surprised that I had managed to find my way here by bus. She was not at all surprised however to hear my story about Carlos’ family taking me in the night before when I couldn't find a place to stay. “Everyone here is glad to help,” she told me. In her travels to the United States she said that one thing she noticed is that not as many people say “HI” and people are not as eager to help a foreigner especially one who doesn’t speak English or one who speaks very little English. She also made a point of telling me that we were both Americans saying, “I am Latin American, and you are North American.” I don’t remember being taught THAT in school, at least not in that way. She was very interested in Eye of the World and we will definitely stay in touch. In just a few short hours I was back in Luperon Thursday evening having dinner with Adam and Trevor.

What an incredible few days I had traveling in the D.R. I would never have imagined that I would meet so many kind and interesting people in such a short period of time. However small, I feel lucky to have seen what I believe is a very genuine view of the Dominican Republic.

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Future Astronomers

This journal post is directed to anyone interested in astronomy and learning about the stars, the moon, constellations, and planetary orbits. Astronomy! To Lisa Palmer's 5th grade class, this is for you. There is a great computer program that you can download for free that is great for learning about the stars and stargazing.

I have been interested in astronomy ever since I was little and had a small telescope growing up that my dad used to show my sister and me comets when they went over. Later I learned about celestial navigation which is navigating using the sun, moon and planets. It's easy to learn but you have to start with the basics.

The computer program I use when I want to know what I'm going to see when I go outside to look at the stars is called "STELLARIUM" and you can download if for mac or for pc at www.stellarium.org . This program shows you what the sky looks like wherever you are on earth in real time. You can even use it to see what the stars look like from another planet. You can track planets and choose to show or hide their orbits. You can show or hide the constellations and the ecliptic or equator lines. You can also "fast forward" in time to see what is going to happen! You can jump 1 day ahead or 1 week ahead. You can zoom in and see nebulas or count the moons of a planet.

One of the best things about stellarium is that if you are able to install it on a laptop, you can take it with you when you go stargazing and use it like a map of the sky to easily identifying stars and planets. If you don't have a telescope, don't forget that binoculars work great too!

After downloading and installing…
Here are some helpful startup tips and hints.

1. Mouse over to the left hand side to "location" to tell stellarium where you are. Otherwise the sky may not match what you see when you go outside. You can search for your city or type in your latitude and longitude.
2. Make sure to check that the date and time is correct.
3. Be sure to look at the help menu "F1" and look at the shortcut keys. J, K, and L for example "rewind", "stop", and "fast forward" the time. If you get "lost in time" just hit the number "8" and you will be returned to the current time and date. There are TONS of shortcut keys.
4. Mouse down to show the menu for toggling on or off (show or hide) constellations, planet labels, nebulas, and grids. I recommend you turn ON "Cardinal Points" which show which way you are looking (North, South, East or West). You can also hide the atmosphere which is what makes it look like daytime. You can show or hide the "ground" so that you can see below the horizon and also turn on or off the "fog of the horizon" which is why it looks hazy just above the horizon.
5. You can "Search" for planets and nebulas by hitting "F3"
6. HAVE FUN!

Here are some activities to try:

1) How to find and check out a planet or a star…. Do it for a couple or all of them. (Don't forget about the sun and the moon!)
1. Find you planet of choice. Use F3 if you need to and the click on it.
2. If it is under the horizon then hit "g" to turn off the ground. If its daytime then hit "a" to turn off the atmosphere
3. Look in the top left of the screen to see important information. Write down it's Magnitude and its distance for comparison to other planets or the Sun. The distance in measured in "AU" which stands for "astronomical unit"
Q: How big is an astronomical unit?
4.Now zoom in to get a better look by hitting "/" backslash a couple of times. Too big? Zoom out with "\" (opposite slash).
Q: How many moons does it have? How many do you see? Which one is the biggest?
5. If it has moons, try fast forwarding with "L" and watch them rotate. Make sure you have clicked on the planet and hit "space bar" to track it or it will move out of the screen. Planets are NOT stationary!
6. Now try to figure out when it will rise. Turn on the ground if it is off and fast forward with "L" (the more you hit it the faster it goes so be careful) until you see your object rise above the horizon. Hit "K" to stop. What time is it? If it is night time then chances are you can see it if you go out side tonight and look in the right direction.

2) Check out the North Star

If you are in the northern hemisphere (North of the Equator) then you will be able to see the North Star at night. It is the special because if barely moves from its spot above the North Pole. All other stars appear to be rotating around it rising in the East and setting in the West.

1. Find the North star and click on it. If you can't find it then don't worry, just make sure you are looking North and….
2. Fast forward using "L" until everything is spinning. Find the star that isn't moving. That's the North Star also called Polaris. "8" to return to current time.

3) Our SUN and the Seasons
The sun is really cool. It makes the earth warm, influences currents in the ocean, creates weather patterns in the atmosphere, and it's the reason we have seasons.

1. Turn on the atmosphere "a"
2. Find the SUN
3. Fast forward to "noon" or until the sun is above South. Stop by hitting "K". Good.
4. Now turn on the Equator line by hitting "." Period. This is just a projection of the equator in the sky. Think about someone standing on the equator with a laser-beam waving it east to west above their head. This is what you would see.
5. It is IMPORTANT to notice that the equator goes through East and West but it does NOT go directly overhead unless you are standing on the equator.
6. Follow the equator across the sky.
Q: Does it appear to be leaning to the north or the south?
Q: Does this make sense for where you are on the earth? It should.
Q: What would it look like if you were on the north pole?
7. Now look at sun again and fast forward this time by ONE WEEK at a time. Hit the "]" and "[" square brackets to go forward by this same time one week from now. What do you see? Hold down "]" so you really get it moving. You should see the sun going up and down up and down above and below the equator.
Q: When is the Sun at its highest? What day and month of the year?
Q: What about it's Lowest?
Q: When is the sun directly on the equator?

But Why?
The earth is tilted on its axis (23.5 degrees to be exact) which is why the sun appear to "wobble" up and down above and below the equator. The seasons follow a regular pattern with the wobble of the earth.

Think about it…
Now think about what time of year it is. When I wrote this is was January and that means Winter in the USA. Where is the Sun in January? Below the equator right? It should make sense to you now why there is winter and summer! When the sun is below the equator and farther away from YOU, you don't get as much warmth from it. When it is above the equator or closer to YOU you get more warmth and it is summer.

Bonus questions:
Does the Sun always rise exactly in the East and Set in the West?
When is the longest day of the year for where you live?

4) The Moon (the earth's moon that is)
1. Find our moon.
2. Click on it.
3. If it's daytime hit "a" to turn off the atmosphere.
4. Hit space bar to "Track" it.
5. Zoom into it with "/".
6. Now watch the moon's phases by fast forwarding by one day forward or backward by holding down control key and hitting " + " or " - " plus or minus.
Q: What phase is the moon in now?
Q: When is the next full moon?

5) Check it out for yourself !
Don't forget that this is just a computer program and you should go outside and double check it to make sure that it is correct! Go see if the sun sets where you think it will. All you need is a compass. Figure out when Saturn will rise and then go see if you can see it. Look for other bright stars around it to help you find it in the sky.
Hints for star viewing:
1. Go somewhere dark away form a city if possible or on a rooftop if possible. Turn off any bright lights.
2. Check the weather and make sure it will not be cloudy.
3. It you want to see stars, go when there is no moon out. It will make it a lot easier.

I hope this guide to Stellarium was helpful to you. If so let me know by sending us an email to crew@eyeotw.org. Tell me what you learned and ask questions!

-Alan
Captain, Eye of The World.

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Our Beloved Dinghy

On board the WTP we have everything we need to eat, sleep, work, and go to the bathroom. But when we get cabin fever and want to travel ashore to explore the local town market or culture, we need a dinghy! Why? because the sailboat cannot sail in water any shallower than 6 feet (which means if you don't carry a smaller boat with you, you are going to be swimming to shore).

---STORY TIME----
"The day we almost lost the Dinghy" (lets hope its the last)
Date: Jan 16th 2010
Time: around 6:00pm (after sunset)

We had sailed all day from sunup to sundown upwind. The boat was heeled most of the day and we had tacked a number of times while keeping a close watch for coral heads (to make sure we avoided them) while crossing Sapodilla bay. It was blowing around 18 knots and we had one reef in the mainsail. We were making good progress, but the sun was setting and we were about 5 miles from our anchorage. On our next tack (around 5pm) we dropped the headsail and the mizzen and motor-sailed (sailing with the motor on) the last stretch to make it through a narrow deeper section into the anchorage. I had jumped into the dinghy that was being towed behind us and bailed out the water that had splashed into it while we were sailing. The dinghy was secure.

Sunset was at 5:25pm. At around 5:45, the sun was under the horizon and there was just a hint of yellow orange glow behind us illuminating a small island to our south. Adam looked back instinctively like checking your rear view mirror while driving and something was a little off.
"ALAN! Where is the Dinghy"? He shouted into the wind (where I was keeping watch on the bow at the time). "You mean it's gone"? i asked. It was pretty unbelievable. I had seen the line secured to the cleat not more than 45 minutes before and it had been secure almost all day long. We immediately made an about face and headed back toward the dying glow of the sunset. Adam carefully backtracked over our same GPS track to give us the best chance of spotting our beloved dinghy. In that 45 minutes we had gone about 3 and a half miles. We just hoped we could spot it in the darkness.

Trevor and I went quickly down below and gathered the binoculars and night-vision scope. We started scanning the horizon from the bow. It was getting very dark and hard to see and we were still 3 miles from where we made the turn and the last point at which we know we still had the dinghy attached. It had to be somewhere between here and there. We figured it had drifted downwind too and were looking mostly in that direction. About 20min went by (although it felt like an hour following our track). It was just plain dark now. No moon, only starlight. We were sure it had to be close. We were all very engaged in the search, but in the backs of our minds we were thinking, 'man where in the world are we going to find another dinghy? this stinks.' Then all I could think about was how our poor little dinghy was just bobbing out there in the cold and what an awful feeling he must have had as he lost his grip and watched us motor away without even noticing. It must have been like that feeling you get when you miss your bus ride home from school and think that there is no way for you to get home. "What is That"!? shouted Adam over the wind. I turned to light it up with the spotlight and sure enough, there was our little dinghy sitting there, sadly hoping we would come back for him. He was floating just yards from our track but we almost motored right past him in the dark since we were all looking far off in the distance.

We motored close and hooked the bow line, I led it back and reattached the tow line with the most secure knot I know. Relieved, we congratulated each other on a job well done and headed back for the anchorage. What a relief it was too. Without a dinghy, we are "boat locked" and unable to get to shore. Thank you dinghy for patiently waiting for us to return and collect you - and don't do that again!
-THE END

More about our dinghy:
Our dinghy is about 8 feet long and quite seaworthy in all but the nastiest choppy sea. It can be rowed with oars (which we use mostly) or sailed with a small sailing rig. It can hold 3 people + gear max or 4 people very carefully and only in flat water. We usually store the dinghy on-deck in mounts made specifically for it. When we are at a destination or just making small day hops in relatively calm protected water (not offshore) we tow the dinghy with a tow line.

When we go to shore, we lock the dinghy to something permanent like a tree or dock cleat with a bicycle cable lock so that it is sure to be there when we return. We also keep a bailer made out of a gatorade bottle in the dinghy for bailing it out if we ever get some water over the side.

Things we use the dinghy for:
Most importantly, traveling from shore to the boat. It carries: our laundry, our computer, our water jugs, our shower sprayer, our food from the market, our bicycles, our scooters, and us but not all at the same time so many times more than one trip is necessary.

Our dinghy is also well suited for snorkeling and diving. You can throw your gear in and row out to a coral head and drop a small anchor. The dinghy will wait right there for you while you enjoy the underwater wildlife. If you see a shark you can jump back into the dinghy! And no, I have not seen a shark yet.

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Food from the Sea

While my lobster dinner is still eluding me, there are other food items that the sea has been providing the eye crew recently. We have been catching fish at least once every time we sail over an underwater "shelf" (a spot where the water depth changes significantly).

On a more recent snorkeling (hunter-gathering) expedition, I found a large Caribbean King Crab that we boiled for our first crab dinner. Today I brought back 3 large conch (which are legal for harvesting in the Turks and Caicos, long as they are 7 inches long and weigh at least 8 ounces). Conch are more difficult to clean than lobster, crab, or fish in my opinion, and can be an acquired taste. The raw meat (yes, I tried it raw) tastes a little like chewy, under-cooked chicken meat. However, fried and tenderized it's quite good.

Trevor told me that he thinks I am forming a deep bond with the sea and the animals I have been catching, preparing, and eating. Maybe so; maybe I'm just hungry; maybe both. I hope the sea continues to be so generous ... and that I catch some lobster soon.
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Monday, January 11, 2010

Alan's Birthday

Last friday was my birthday the big 24. I think that if 5 years ago you told me that I would be living on a boat in George Town, Bahamas on my 24th birthday I would say you were crazy but here I am.

We have a Birthday Banner aboard that I brought from home and that we used for Liz's birthday party in New Bern, NC and I slipped it to Trevor on Thursday for him to put up so that I wouldn't have to decorate for my own birthday. He did and we had a great time on Stocking island across from Georgetown hanging out with local cruisers and playing some volleyball. Then we cooked a huge dinner of pasta and chicken cheese steak and Adam even baked a cake for the occasion. It was technically a pineapple right-side-up cake and it was delicious. We even had eggs to put into the cake (a real treat). We didn't have any candles aboard but a few matches stuck in the top and of course the birthday song made it as good a birthday as ever. We also enjoyed the company of a new friend Doug and his girlfriend who are also headed south to Panama. Doug has lived in Panama for quite a few years and we had plenty to talk about. I hope we run into them again somewhere down south.

So what did i get for my birthday? I was finally able to open the birthday gifts given to me in Hampton, VA that I have kept under my bunk (thanks Mom and Dad) A tin of chocolates, a new quick drying long sleeve sun shirt, and a harmonica! And of course thanks to my girlfriend, a BANJO! That's right, a shiny new banjo. We have been having some impromptu band practices on the boat and I am catching up with the banjo parts. Seems like we could have a pretty good run as a bluegrass band after all.

We have been waiting out a front that blew though on Sat. and plan to leave tomorrow morning for Turks and Caicos when the winds and seas are forecasted to die down.

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