Bay of Eagles - by Geert

I am very happy to be in Haiti. We had many challenges and some serious problems along the way, and we reached our first goal. Much more on Haiti later, I'm sure, but I first have to write about the extraordinary beauty of the Bahia de las Aguilas, our last anchorage in the Dominican Republic. Rounding Cabo Beata was tough, and getting past Cabo Falso, to the Northwest, even tougher. As soon as we were in the lee, Bahia de las Aguilas opened up like an immense zone of peace. The water was flat, there was a white sandy beach several miles long, rolling hills to the east offered protection against the trade wind, the north and south corners of the bay were dramatically marked by high cliffs.

It is an extraordinary anchorage because it is completely open to the west. Looking in that direction you have the feeling that you dropped anchor in the middle of a calm sea. Obviously, if the wind ever turned west, like during a tropical storm, you'd have to get out of there very quickly. But hurricane season is still many months away. We had splendid sunsets, while feasting on the lobster and octopus a local fisherman brought in every afternoon.