sailing from key west

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cooktires

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Jan 21, 2013
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comin your way in febuary 2013
Hi folks,
I'm coming down in febuary by sail boat. I really hope to be able to stay. I'm a marine machanic by trade also air conditioning and refrigeration both marine and residential / commercial. I spent 20 years in the recycling business and hope there is some emerging opportunities there as well. i sent a message to keath R and never got a reply is he still around?
thanks
george
 
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mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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IF you are implying that you are going to sail down here and make a living as a marine mechanic.. I would advise you to have jobs lined up at the yacht club in La Romana or Boca Chica before you come. There are not enough yachts on the north coast to need you.
 
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windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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I can never recommend to anyone that needs gainful employment to come here and try to make a living. The salaries are just too low, in general, compared to back home. Your situation is a bit different since you can sail away at any point in time. Best of luck . Did you want to be on the north coast? The only location is Luperon and that is not doing well these days.
 
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mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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friends who used to be in the charter business investigated the laws here and every time you leave the dock you must clear customs... There is a new marina in Samana at the name of the hotel which escapes me

but in the end, i think that the docking fees will cost you more than you could earn.

there are places to anchor out in Samana bay

but the laws both on the fact that you have to emplou 80% Dominicans and the fact that there is already a Dominican charter catamaran....

best shoot for the US Virgins or Puerto Rico where you can work with no problem.. assuming your vessel will pass the test of an American built hull as in the Jones act.. if you are legal to charter in the States, then you will be legall in Puerto Rico and the Virgins

getting legal here is another kettle of fish
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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I recommend that you go to Puerto Rico instead. There are more boats there, much less regulation, and people pay in dollars

You have at least 2 options: (1) work at a marina or for a marine contractor, (2) go to a busy harbor like Boqueron or Salinas and work as an independent.

I live in the DR so obviously have nothing against being here, but I was a cruising liveaboard for 15 years so have some insight into what opportunities you would have in both places. Puerto Rico is where I would go if in your shoes.

cooktires said:
Hi folks,
I'm coming down in febuary by sail boat. I really hope to be able to stay. I'm a marine machanic by trade also air conditioning and refrigeration both marine and residential / commercial. I spent 20 years in the recycling business and hope there is some emerging opportunities there as well. i sent a message to keath R and never got a reply is he still around?
thanks
george
Click to expand...
 
K

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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Ken said:
I recommend that you go to Puerto Rico instead. There are more boats there, much less regulation, and people pay in dollars

You have at least 2 options: (1) work at a marina or for a marine contractor, (2) go to a busy harbor like Boqueron or Salinas and work as an independent.

I live in the DR so obviously have nothing against being here, but I was a cruising liveaboard for 15 years so have some insight into what opportunities you would have in both places. Puerto Rico is where I would go if in your shoes.
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I'll elaborate a little on my reasons for encouraging you to go to Puerto Rico:

1. You mentioned possibly chartering your boat. In the DR, you will need to flag the vessel, which can be quite expensive. And you will need to clear out with the Port Commander every time you leave the harbor.

2. Getting parts, supplies, etc, from the US when necessary is much faster and cheaper in Puerto Rico than in the DR. Also, in the DR if what you import costs more than US$200 you must pay duty. In PR you can use the US postal service, or if you use UPS or FeEx, they charge much less there than here because they are in competition with the US post office.

3. There are more support services

4. In PR you won't have trouble with locals who think you are taking business away from them like you can expect here if you work as an independent and they feel you are stealing there customers.

I spent quite a bit of time in Puerto Rico doing haulouts and shopping trips and used Americans working as independents there for a variety of things, such repairing and rebuilding my alternator, repairing a cracked block, and installing a new antenna on the top of the mast.They were making a good living.
 
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Olly

Bronze
Mar 12, 2007
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Sailing in the DR !

Cooktires,
You might also want to read this thread http://www.dr1.com/forums/north-coa...thefts-cruisers-other-interested-parties.html It illustrates what can happen here at some of the anchorages. The same type of thing happened in Sosua Bay about 5 years ago. There were about 20 boats in Sosua Bay at one time, they got pillaged and only one or two are left now. Mainly charter fishing boats. Still get the occaisional visitor but they usually go to Ocean World pretty quickly.
I personally know someone who tried the route you are suggesting but it was impossible!

PR or USVI sounds a much better bet or even further down !

Olly and the Team
 
Tamborista

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Olly said:
Cooktires,
You might also want to read this thread http://www.dr1.com/forums/north-coa...thefts-cruisers-other-interested-parties.html It illustrates what can happen here at some of the anchorages. The same type of thing happened in Sosua Bay about 5 years ago. There were about 20 boats in Sosua Bay at one time, they got pillaged and only one or two are left now. Mainly charter fishing boats. Still get the occaisional visitor but they usually go to Ocean World pretty quickly.
I personally know someone who tried the route you are suggesting but it was impossible!

PR or USVI sounds a much better bet or even further down !

Olly and the Team
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@Olly 'Ole Chap - There were never 20 boats in Sosua Bay 5 years ago, two maybe three big ones and the rest pangas that came out of the water at the end of the day.

Perhaps DR-NY Commuter can pipe in here?
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Tamborista said:
@Olly 'Ole Chap - There were never 20 boats in Sosua Bay 5 years ago, two maybe three big ones and the rest pangas that came out of the water at the end of the day.

Perhaps DR-NY Commuter can pipe in here?
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I had my boat anchored there from 86 to 90 and well before I left the total was way done from what it was in the early years. I understand from another thread that the boatyard is in new, more capable hands, so this might help, especially if the port commander is serious about boat security.

But there are a heck of a lot more boats in Puerto Rico.

I've had boat work done by people like the OP down island. Rigging replaced in Margarita, Venezuela, for example, by a US expat.

But for the reasons mentioned in my previous posts,I would like first in Puerto Rico if I were the OP.
 
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Olly

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Mar 12, 2007
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Tambo ,
I have some photos from 2003 - not digital unfortunately - quite a few visiting sailing boats, a number of Offshore Fishing charter boats and many more tourist boats!
So I DISAGREE with you !!

Olly and the Team
 
K

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Ken said:
I had my boat anchored there from 86 to 90 and well before I left the total was way done from what it was in the early years. I understand from another thread that the boatyard is in new, more capable hands, so this might help, especially if the port commander is serious about boat security.

But there are a heck of a lot more boats in Puerto Rico.

I've had boat work done by people like the OP down island. Rigging replaced in Margarita, Venezuela, for example, by a US expat.

But for the reasons mentioned in my previous posts,I would like first in Puerto Rico if I were the OP.
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I see I made an error. My boat was in Samana from 86-99.

To Olly, you may have a photo from 2003 showing boats, but chances are, if they are sailboats, they are waiting for a weather window to cross the Mona to Puerto Rico, unless they were charter boats. I doubt very much there still were the number of cruising boats staying there for an extended time like up to the mid 1990s. Than Samana was like Luperon after it opened. Luiperon was not an option so cruisers wanting to stay for a time in the DR did so at Samana.

After Lupron opened, many cruisers kept going across the Mona if conditions permitted rather than stopping in Samana do to worries about security.

Too bad security problems killed what was a good business source for Samana, just as it is now killing Luperon,
 
Tamborista

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Olly said:
Tambo ,
I have some photos from 2003 - not digital unfortunately - quite a few visiting sailing boats, a number of Offshore Fishing charter boats and many more tourist boats!
So I DISAGREE with you !!

Olly and the Team
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Make up your mind , is it 5 or 10 years ago???
Your earlier post says FIVE years ago.
I think you may have taken one too many for the team there fellow.
Post your picture from 2003 with 20 boats in Sosua bay for us buddy, I'll even give you a LIKE when I see it. A man of your stature must have a scanner or smart phone to take a picture.
 
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mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
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The only advantage in seeking work here as a yacht mechanic is going to be that there ARE not a Lot of yachts here. And most of the locals who buy them were not raised around yachts or marine engines. So if you got an in with the Marina at la Romana or the new one coming into Samana,. you might have more work and less competition than if you went to PR or the VI.

Sailors.. rag baggers.. are notoriously cheap and can usually repair everything on board their own boats.

It is the big power boats that you want and I suspect that there are more of them than in Puerto Rico.. i mean WHERE in Puerto Rico are the big mega gut bursting power yachts? They are not in Boqueron or Fajardo so they must be in San Juan.

I see the sailboats that are here in SD marina and the little engine boats that are stacked up in Boca Chica.. but La Romana features Class A sailboat races and at least can take pictures with big yachts.

You do not need to be told how very unwelcoming it is getting for live aboard sailors and how expensive.

You can drop a hook in Boqueron, PR and probably get a job on shore, waiting tables if nothing else. I know a tribe of guys who have been living on board and communting to work for years.
 
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Olly

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Mar 12, 2007
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Tambo ,
Actually it was NINE years ago! and even Ken makes mistakes - Tut Tut Ken - (Platinum Member! Does it Hurt?) Quoting KEN- "To Olly, you may have a photo from 2003 showing boats, but chances are, if they are sailboats, they are waiting for a weather window to cross the Mona to Puerto Rico, unless they were charter boats"
That may be so but some were moored here for some long period because I knew the owners. But many of the tourist Fishing boats have gone ,many of the glass bottom boats have gone and visiting sailors very seldom come here any more -just go onto Scuttlebut and have a look at the blogs about DR!!!

And Tambo - I DONT care if you give us a like or not!!!!

Olly and the Team
 
K

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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mountainannie said:
.
Sailors.. rag baggers.. are notoriously cheap and can usually repair everything on board their own boats.
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I can see that you have only limited experience with the cruising community.

But I agree that Puerto Rico, Boqueron or Salinas if he wants to work as an independent, otherwise one of the many marinas on the east coast, is a much better choice for the OP than any harbor in the DR.
 
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