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The week begins like any other. We work below deck, finish the restoration of our shabby kitchenette and discover more botched construction work. Outside it is raining incessantly because another low pressure system is forming in the Caribbean. It has the potential to be a hurricane. Fortunately, Luperón is once again not in its path. But the heavy rain turns the bay into a garbage dump. A kind of rain retention basin has burst, half a forest is floating on the water and the garbage of the whole city. Then, on a quiet afternoon, a loud explosion shakes the bay. Flames blaze from a fishing trawler, people jump into the water in panic, sirens wail. The burning boat is untied from the jetty and set aground right in front of the anchored boats. It takes almost 24 hours to put out the fire. It is not the first fire of this kind in Luperón. Five of the dilapidated trawlers have gone up in flames in the past year and a half. And there are increasing rumors that the boats are not setting out to fish, but to smuggle drugs.