A Cuba adventure

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After several frustrating seasons where weather, health or other circumstances prevented us from making a real ocean crossing to another country....this year we finally made the jump to Cuba, and back!

There is no simple way to describe the experience. The outbound crossing was extremely challenging for us. Wind and wave conditions exceeded predictions considerably...despite checking 3 different sources for weather they all proved to be wrong. The 108 nautical mile crossing took us 24 hours, most of it hand steered as our auto pilot was overwhelmed by the size and strength of the waves (we found a clump of seaweed on top of our dodger when we were cleaning up the day after arrival.)

But we made it and were glad to have achieved a "bucket list" goal. Our buddy boat, Lorbas, with Rick & Donna aboard, was literally our guiding light as we followed her lights through the night passage. They have a system aboard that identifies and tracks the bearing of cruise and cargo ships...so we followed their lead in avoiding close calls.

We arrived in Marina Darsena just west of the resort town of Varadero, early afternoon Sunday and were greeted with a parade of officialdom. Even a vet! All were friendly and welcoming and none packed guns.

We used our boats and the marina as home base and took several side trips into the real Cuba, outside the touristy all - inclusive resorts where the staff all speak English and everything works!

Tap the first pic to get the best look. Then take in the slide show.

I'll let the pics tell the story.

Another installment to follow

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Photos

early morning anchorage
first morning southbound...our buddy boat Lorbas off the starboard bow

Miami
entering Miami is interesting...we looked behind and saw an enormous freighter bearing down on us...fortunately he docked soon after

Marathon
sunset over the moorings...250 boats from all over hang out here...some jump off to Bahamas, Mexico or Cuba...some stay forever

final pit stop
"diesel, pump out and ice please, we are on our way."

a pleasant start
the first couple of hours were idyllic, large schools of dolphins played between our 2 boats and flying fish skimmed from wave to wave

Lorbas at sunset
we stayed together for the complete crossing...it was very reassuring to have vhf radio companionship close at hand

calm waters
no pic evidence of the night crossing of course but this safe haven was a most welcomed sight after the beating we took!

courtesy flag
finally! we could fly a foreign flag other than the Stars and Stripes.

cleanup
everything, including us, was salt encrusted and needed a good cleaning with fresh water

Cuban fishermen
often we would see little fishing boats like this one being towed back in

olympian
the canal we entered to get to the marina is used to train competitive Cuban kayakers, scullers and rowers

a classic
we rented this 1955 Pontiac taxi to take us on a day trip to nearby Matanzas. It has a new Mitsubishi engine!

fish for sale
yes, hung in a shrub in the hot sun in front of the home of a local fishermen...we can only hope they were to advertise that he had good fresh fish inside!

fair trade
I needed a float switch for my bilge pump...Stuart, a Kiwi sailing around the world traded one for 1/2 a rack of lamb! We were both happy with the trade

lunch stop
with Rick and Donna after a long but beautiful walk through tropical forest in central Cuba

the Queen of Darsena
Debbie, a Canadian who has lived here 12 years is an amazing lady..she welcomed us, provided an adaptor so we could get water, sent off a text message for us, gave us 50 Cuban pesos to get us started and every day provided support, information and advice. Her daughter, Heather, was visiting her here from Edmonton..her first trip outside Canada.

Cuban souveniers
these caps are made from local cola and beer cans..they use them to make model cars, planes and animals also

Cody!
What a character!
He arrived just after us and confirmed it was his worst sea experience in 39 years.
Cody in an open shrimper turned salvage boat.
The stick is his tiller, the beer always in his hand...he arrived at 8am with a beer in hand, drank all day and left late afternoon towing a derelict trimaran back to Marathon.
A redneck who ignores the hypocritical US embargo of Cuba

Cuban outlet
so I plug in where?
the men's washrooms in the marina had 3 stalls...2 were locked for the month we were there...the one that was working had no seat...I negotiated with much difficulty to get a seat from a locked stall moved to the functioning one...got it done!
one of 4 shower stalls had handles for the shower...which was lukewarm solar heated. Maybe 1 star, maybe not

market day
Cuba is slowly moving away from state controlled production and now allows farmers to sell produce in markets..for a few cents we filled our bags with tomatoes, veggies, fruit

pork for sale
we passed...looked like it had been prepared with an axe! A guidebook said buy if there are flies...because if the flies don't like it, you won't either!

Russian limo
we rode this beast into the mountains behind Trinidad for our 3 hour hike...the guide described the ride as a free massage.

waterfall
one of the features of the trek

bamboo
this grows to 60 feet in this rainy region

pet rat
these boys were keen to show off their pet rat...we wondered if it might not be dinner..

our dinner
this is more to our liking... a lobster dinner for $12 including 4 courses

Comments

[Sheryl]

Hello from Toronto
Thanks for the blog. Great to hear from you. I am glad you are safe and sound. It looks like a awesome adventure. Toronto weather has been all over the board from 0 to 22 C that is. We launched the boat here on April 8 and been on the boat since tge 15th. All good. Keep in touch. Sheryl, Kevin, Champ and Kitty

[Garry Rasmussen]

Lifetime experience!
Wow! What a great experience ... that you have survived. Wonderful photos, special memories!

[LIN AND RICK]

What an Amazing Adventure
So Where to next? Sounds like you hand quite a wonderful adventure. Did you come back with any good Cuban cigars? We have Michelle and the kids arriving on Monday so we will have an adventure of a different kind. Thank you for sharing yours - loved all the pictures and news. LIN AND RICK

[John Logan]

Glad you made it ok. Sounds as if the passage was the shits but at least you know both you and G o\' W can take it. Hope to see you soon. John L

[anonymous]

Good to hear from you and looking forward to more stories of your adventure. Lou & Ward (Motivation)

[Lorraine Runstedler]

Lobster and hat!!!!!!!!
I WANT TO JOIN YOU FOR LOBSTER!!!!! My fav!! - did you get me one of those hats - want one for Golf!! Loved, loved, loved your pictures - what a life!!!!xoxo to both of you -

[Ian & Lisa]

Hi from Kelowna
The photos are great. Another voyage for the memories. We sold Chardonnay III, so we are a bit sad, but will make it back to Florida to visit. Have a wonderful summer.