We’re back from Cuba. What a trip!
It’s Sunday morning and we are been back on U.S. soil (well at least near dirt) as we are anchored in a harbor here in Ft Lauderdale.
I should note that this harbor, our favorite in southern Florida, will be closed to overnight anchoring as of July 1st, leaving very few places to anchor going forward. It seems that the Florida Legislator agrees with the property owners that they should control federal waters in their “back yard”. This is a very unfortunate state of affairs and I fear that this “contagion” may spread to other communities if this new law sticks. I expect that we have not heard the last of this.
Brenda flies out on Tuesday and Chris and Dave, my crew, arrive the next day for our trip north. I wish that I could say that they will arrive and we will shove of for the run the next day. However, as of now, it looks like we may run into a delay for a few days due to a big low that’s expected to move off of the coast on Thursday. However, if the guys don’t want to sit still and wait for fair winds, we can always head up on the “inside” via the Intra Coastal Waterway for a few days until the winds shift in our favor. Our strong preference will be to head offshore and make the 1,100 mile run in a single jump which should take about a week.
Anyway, stay tuned as the long term forecast becomes short term. When you get down to it, here’s nothing quite as accurate as a weather forecast for today. Just look out and see what the wind is doing “right now”. Beyond that, well, it’s an educated guess at best. I plan on talking to Chris Parker, the weather router, on Monday morning so, more to come…
Perhaps before I get into our departure from Cuba I’ll show one more photo of Pandora in the marina. And, Brenda relaxing in the cockpit on our last day in Havana.
And, that night, we had a wonderful dinner with friends at a local spot a short walk from the Marina. 
Brenda wrote about this spot, I am sure. Check it out but don’t get lost and forget to come back and read the rest of this post. Right? It was fun to have a farewell dinner with our new Canadian friends.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way…
We left Marina Hemingway on Thursday morning early, just as it was getting light and visited the Guarda Frontera to check out. Even though I had already “cleared out” the prior afternoon and paid my bill, they still wanted to go through the formalities, yet again. Have I mentioned that the Cuban government loves process?
Anyway, we had to call the Frontera as we cast off of the dock and alert them that we were on our way. And that was in addition to confirming, the day before, that we’d be leaving at 06:00. We arrived at the customs dock as directed. They checked our passports and signed our “despacho” for the last time, clearing us to leave Cuban waters. They had each of us sit in a chair to have our photo taken. I snapped this photo just before they waved “photos forbidden”. Got the shot! The Frontera work 24/7 so you can leave at any time, with permission and proper procedure followed, of course. With good weather in the forecast, it had been a very busy morning for them.
Papers signed, they boarded Pandora, in stocking feet of course, to confirm that we were not harboring any additional “stowaways”.
We passed by Havana as the sun rose over the city. A fitting moment to reflect on all that we had experienced during our two months in this fascinating country. Of particular note, the Soviet embassy really sticks out on the skyline (the tower on the right with the odd top) as a reminder of all that has happened in Cuba for the last 50 years. It is fitting that relations between our two countries are finally improving. However, it’s very unfortunate that it has taken so long to make things right. 
The excitement of the Cuban people as they look toward the future made our visit very timely and perhaps nothing illustrates the friendly people of Cuba better than this tiny fishing boat out for a day on the ocean. The crew ,as is always the case, waved enthusiastically as we sailed by. 
And, nothing better exemplifies the changes coming their way than this huge ship heading past us and that little fishing boat as they make their way into Havana harbor.
The Frontera were called out to check on a small sailboat that someone thought was having trouble. They passed right by us however, for a moment, I did wonder if perhaps they would board us for one last look as we headed home.
So, off we headed for the 250 mile run to Ft Lauderdale. About ten miles outside we were visited by a “stowaway”, we thought might be attempting to emigrate to the U.S.. I don’t know what type of egret this was but he stood nearly two feet tall. We have been often visited by birds in the past but never by one as regal as this.
He circled Pandora for nearly an hour, trying to find a good spot to land and rest.
First he tried to perch on the lifelines, right outside of the cockpit, not 5 feet from us. Not too comfortable as Pandora pitched in the short steep chop.
Then, he tried clinging to the bouncing dink on the stern.
Finally, he settled down on the deck where he rested for the rest of the day.
We did what we could to avoid frightening him away until we had to tack near dusk. The banging of sails as we came about, proved too much for him so he headed the 50 miles back to Cuban soil. So much for international travel.
We made a fast trip to Ft Lauderdale helped along by the Gulf Stream that gave us a boost of nearly 2 kts for much of the run. We could have gotten more current but I stayed near the edge of the “stream” to avoid the most confused seas caused by easterly winds against the current. Brenda was feeling pretty “green” as Pandora pitched along in the short steep 5-7’ chop. It was a bit of a wild ride with spray flying over the bow as we drove into the short seas.
I had been wondering what clearing customs would be like after all of the complexities of gaining approval for visiting a “hostile state” like Cuba and was prepared for officers to board us here in Ft Lauderdale. The whole process turned out to be a “non-event” with the clearing done via phone with both the USCG and then customs. However, we were still required to show up in person, within 24 hours, at a customs office near the cruise ship terminal to finalize our arrival.
Expecting to be grilled and be forced to prove that we had indeed followed the “rules”, I was ready. “So, what happened when you cleared in Bob?” Not much. A simple “how was Cuba?” and “welcome home”. I followed with “Great, you should go”.
And yes, you should go. What an experience. What a great country. What terrific people.
Don’t miss it…
And, speaking of “before”, it’s doesn’t seem that long ago when the Soviet Union was such a big deal in Cuba. This was their embassy, or at least the most visible part of the huge compound. 
Of course, what’s a post about Cuba without a few more cars. This is a really lovely convertible.
There are plenty of these funny little taxis. I don’t think that I’d like to be on a busy roadway in one of these. The “pilot” wears a helmet but not the passengers. I wonder if they know something that their customers don’t know? You think? Not the safest vehicles on the road.
It was fun to see these women dressed in traditional holiday garb. They pose for tourists in the most popular places. It looks like they were taking a rest and talking to a window washer. Or was he a mountain climber? 
We have enjoyed visiting various bars in Havana. Here are a few “shots”, pun intended. No, we haven’t had drinks in ALL of them. 
Can you say “dos Mojitos”?One cannot live on rum alone so we visited a pastry shop. It was jammed. Bread here is about $.40CUC per loaf. Very cheap. The sweets look better than they taste but are pretty good, never the less.
Brenda enjoyed buying some perfume in this place. The shop was in an old building with some lovely stained glass and an impressive courtyard.
We also happened on a funny little gun museum. It was a single room and featured mostly shotguns from around the world. A very eclectic mix. They also had a rifle purportedly owned by Che, the revolutionary and one of Castro’s buds. There are more photos of him around than of Fidel.
We never tired of the views down old streets.
Along the way we spied a local “artist” making things out of palm fronds. We were very impressed with his work. We have seen plenty of baskets in the Bahamas made from Palm fronds but nothing like this. Amazing work.
It’s remarkable what he was able to do with just a few fronds. This was his “display”. Amazing.
We loved it so much we got another after we had eaten dinner, just so we could watch him make it.
Then he made a grasshopper. 
Dinner was not as memorable as the location. It was in an old printing factory or at least decorated to look the part. 
All and all, a wonderful few days in Havana but we are ready to “get out of Dodge” and back to the good old U.S. of A.
The foyer leads to a lovely rose petal strewn staircase with candles as you make your way upstairs. 
The dining room is very intimate and appointed with some lovely antiques. 
This is an amusing sign at the top of the stairs. The ballerina sort of reinforces the point, I guess. 
Brenda recounted the experience, and menu, in a recent post. And, as she is much more of a “foodie” than I am, I’ll leave the 
Without this sort of attention to detail, lovely work like this would be lost.
And, wonderful views wherever you turn.
Months ago, when we were planning our trip to Cuba, Brenda happened upon a blog post from an artist that had visited Havana a few years ago about a women who teaches bobbin lace here. Brenda’s hope/goal was to find this one woman in all of Havana when we got here and amazingly, she did. I enjoyed the interaction between the “ladies”. 
Even though there was a significant language barrier, they clearly shared the language of “fiber”. Brenda has written about this and it’s 
The printing press, in the back of the shop was donated by Unicef, we learned. 
We loved this little piece and will hang it aboard Pandora as a reminder of our visit. The crescent shapes represent Cuba and the “people” figures, well they represent the people of Cuba. Having it aboard Pandora will be a tangible reminder of our wonderful time here in Cuba and the friendly people we have met along the way.
So, today we will book a flight for Brenda to get home from Ft Lauderdale next week and then head into Havana to visit the forts that line the harbor. I look forward to reporting on what will surely be a wonderful day.
However, we really don’t have time to sit around as there is just so much to do in Havana. And yesterday, we “did” plenty.
She has a nice looking neighbor, a lovely trawler. I don’t think that the owners are nearby right now as she looks vacant. 
Actually, there are plenty of yachts in the marina that appear to be in storage waiting for their owners to return. Perhaps that’s because staying here is a lot less expensive at about $1/ft than the Keys or southern FL , only 100 miles away where the rates are 3-4x that. Like so much of Cuba, the marina is “mixed” with some parts very nice and others, well not so nice. Happily, Pandora is in a very nice section and she should be as I specifically asked to move here yesterday after scoping out the area to find the best spot, being the “shy guy” that I am.
And, unlike so many so called “historic districts” people still live and work in these areas and I don’t just mean in T-shirt shops selling stuff to tourists. These magnificent buildings are still occupied by families, as they have been for hundreds of years, as witnessed by the laundry hanging on many balconies. And, of course, the constant parade of beautiful old “Detroit iron”. 
There are lovely public squares, green spaces, surrounded by magnificent buildings, some dating back to the 1500s. 
I particularly loved this coffee shop doorway.
Of course, there are the cars, many in amazingly great condition. We happened upon several areas that have been claimed by a group of convertibles. This lineup looks like a car show but they are actually working taxies ready to hire.
Everywhere you look, beautiful cars.
How about this beautiful T-bird on its’ way for a tour of the city?
They come in every color of the rainbow. I doubt that any of these left Detroit in the colors that they sport these days.
You don’t see many Sunbeams these days either. 
Not sure the interior is original. NOT, for sure but a show stopper. 
In addition to the cars, everywhere you turn there is something colorful to see and hear. A group of minstrels paraded through one of the squares, complete with two on stilts. No missing them, that’s for sure.
We went to dinner in a beautiful paladar, a private, family run restaurant. Unfortunately, I mistakenly deleted those photos. We’ll have to go back to day to take them again. Such is the power of computers and clumsy operators, moi, made more so by a bit too much vino.
In the balmy “summer” evening air, it was a wonderful trip. The driver said that he had never delivered anyone to a “yacht” before and was quite interested in having his car parked near Pandora. Sorry, but even an i-Phone won’t take good photos in the dark. I guess you had to be there to appreciate the moment.
Earlier in the day we walked through this lovely square where they were setting up for some sort of tour dinner. The tables looked beautiful in the afternoon light. 
The entertainment was “angelic” as witnessed by this group of entertainers and like everyone else we have encountered in Cuba, they were very friendly and were happy to pose for a “Kodak moment”. 
After dark, the square really came alive. What a beautiful sight.
I asked one of the “party goers” who was attending the dinner and learned that it was a group of architects, members of the American Institute of Architects. Of all the groups that I might have encountered in Havana, I couldn’t believe it was a group of architects as my Dad was publisher of a magazine in that field for many years. He passed away two years ago and hardly a day goes by, especially during our tour of Cuba, that I haven’t thought about how much he would have loved to “follow along” with us.