129: OVERNIGHT PASSAGE BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES - Dominican Republic and the Bahamas

Luperon was a stopping point to prepare entry documents into the Bahamas, but it turned out to be a wonderful place to visit. We especially loved the people who were kind and generous. And, we learned of the rich history that connects Luperon to Christopher Columbus dating back to the late 1400's and his three stops on the island of Hispaniola. Entry into the Bahamas requires jumping through a lot of hoops. First, you have to determine a good weather window for the 30 hour journey. Then, you have to take a taxi to Puerto Plata, a small city about 1 hour from Luperon to have a PCR test. This is only offered during weekday mornings. While we were in Puerto Plata, we walked around the old town and beach front to see the famous sites like Fort San Felipe, Puerto Plata Cathedral, the Malecon, and the open food markets. It was a fascinating and successful day. The PCR test results are emailed to you the next day and then you have to apply online for a health visa, uploading the results to the site. Once they approve your results, you then have to pay a $60 fee which gives you the privilege of a nasal swab 5 days after arrival and limited insurance coverage. Then you wait until you have a final approval code. Once this is obtained, you are free to leave for the Bahamas. You have a 5 day window to arrive at an entry point. As a private vessel, we also had to apply online for our crusing and fishing permit. The cost of this is $300. This covers us for up to 6 months in the Bahamas. The online application is long, but fairly straight forward. The Bahamas requires all vessels to complete the online Click2Clear application and those who arrive without this done, will have to complete it in the customs office. The last fee is $40 for immigration and covers up to three crew members. It's a long process, but well worth it to be able to cruise Bahamian waters. #sailing #sailboat #sailingprojects #luperon #dominicanrepublic #bahamas #matthewtown #greatinagua NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia. So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too! As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures! HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US? If you wish to support our video efforts, all we ask is that you SUBSCRIBE, give a THUMBS UP, SHARE our videos with your friends, AND COMMENT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW US MORE DEEPLY? It would be an honor and pleasure to deepen our relationship with you as a Patron. Please click on the following link to see how: https://www.patreon.com/sailingblownaway WOULD YOU LIKE TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY? https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6040796987916288 WHERE CAN YOU FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Instagram - @sailingblownaway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingBlownAway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eileen.dietrich/ YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/sailingblownaway