As soon as we put our dinghy together …(after a long passages, we unfold it completely so we can make use of our stay sail), we noticed that the right side was not holding air anymore…and it took a while before we find the leak. We were not at all excited when we discovered where it was either…It took several patches to fix the leak and thank God, Stephen form s/v/ Jemangia had an excellent glue (from France) that he graciously offered us…in addition to their dinghy while they were away in Santo Domingo. Very generous people, Karine and Stephen…merci beaucoup! PIX STEPHEN ET KARINE.

During the same period, we found out that fuel was leaking out of the fuel pomp…so began the saga of having to find a part for our old Volvo MD 11 AND have it it shipped to us in Dominican Republic! Stephen had met a French speaking group of cruisers who had spent quite a bit of time in Luperon and so, we made use their input and experinces. Nathalie on board P’tit Louis, a huge 53’ steel boat, had been in Luperon since June. She gave us a couple of suggestions as to how to go about the problem, i.e. using the services of a local Mail Service linking the USA and the DomRep: CPS Mail. While investigating the shipping avenue, Heiner had found out that the French Creek Marina of Clayton on Lake Ontario (yep! Just across our home port on the US side) had the part ! Wilburt, the owner, did a great job and sent us the part right after Heiner’s call.