April 2016

We anchored off of a small resort island, Cayo Levisa, our last stop before we head the 60 miles to Marina Hemmingway and Havana prior to heading back to the U.S..  This lovely little island offers great protection from the coming cold front that should hit us tonight bring with it strong northerly winds for the next few days.   There aren’t too many spots along the northwest coast of Cuba that provide good protection from such winds and being safe and comfortable is key for us as we prepare for the weather.

Our first night here Brenda made a wonderful pasta dish of bacon, tomatoes and fresh bok choi.  I mention this, not because it was a particularly unique dish as Brenda’s a great cook and we east very well aboard Pandora, but because it’s been 15 days since we have been anywhere to get fresh produce and our stores are pretty low.  I should note, we still aren’t anywhere near a produce stand so that begs the question of exactly where we were able to get fresh bok choi.    Hold that thought for the moment.

I have been struggling for the last few weeks of exactly how to describe the wonderful interactions we have had with the people, especially in the rural areas, here in Cuba and perhaps our “bok choi experience” is a good example.

As we move from place to place in Cuba, our travels are strictly monitored by the Guarda Frontera, a military/police force that check us in and out again from most of the places that we visit with the exception of the most rural cayos.   When we arrived here at Cayo Levisa, I headed ashore with our papers, passports, list of Pandora’s particulars, our USCG documentation and “despacho” or cruising permit to check in.

I was met at the dock by someone from the resort who informed me that I had to return to Pandora and wait there for two hours until the Guarda Frontera officer arrived from the mainland on the 18:00 ferry to check us in.

At the appointed hour the officer arrived on what appeared to be a dive boat from the resort which circled Pandora as it arrived, officer waving, and continued to the dock.  I jumped in my dink and headed to shore.  As is nearly always the case, I was greeted warmly by just about everyone on the dock including the Frontera officer, dressed in his uniform.  Black shoes, slacks and white dress shirt, complete with “official” looking epaulets on each shoulder.

The captain of the dive boat also introduced himself with a hearty handshake and presented me with a perfectly ripe, enormous papaya.  Now, I can’t say that I am a huge fan of papaya but I was very touched by the gesture.  So, back to Pandora I went with the officer and my papaya to complete our paperwork.  Sometimes the officers make a brief inspection of Pandora but in this case he didn’t and just filled out his paperwork.  They almost always ask questions about us and the boat that go beyond the information that they need for their forms so it’s clear that they are just curious about the boat, us and our travels.  It’s pretty clear that they don’t see many cruisers, especially from the U.S.  and are always interested in learning more about us.  Brenda and I always enjoy these friendly exchanges.

Questions answered, we said our goodbyes and I took him back to the dock.  I was still thinking about the gift of the papaya and had decided to give the captain a bar of soap as a thank you.   The captain accepted my gift with a hearty “gracias” and motioned for me to wait a moment.  He retreated to his cabin and emerged with a bundle of fresh greens, bok choi, leafy lettuce and some green beans, delivered with a big smile.  Now it was my turn and he gently let me know that if I had a tube of silicone or perhaps a spare screwdriver aboard he’d be very pleased as it was tough for him to get such things in Cuba.
Now, the more jaded among you might say that the whole exercise was designed to soften me up so I’d give him something, and clearly it was.  However, the process was done with such care and grace that I found it to be quite charming and a good example of our many exchanges where Pandora’s crew received something and so did they.

I told him, as best I could that I’d see what I could do and would see him “manyana”.  We parted with smiles.   The next day I presented him with a “Vicegrip” wrench that I had that was a duplicate in my tool box.  He seemed to be very pleased.

There are so many basics that we take for granted in the U.S. that Cubans just don’t have access to.  As a result, they are always looking for items to check off of their “wish list”.   Razors and lengths of line for boats are always very popular.  I wish that I had known as I have hundreds of feet of extra line at home that I’d be happy to give away.  Perhaps next time.

Another wonderful exchange occurred a few days ago when we were approached in a very remote anchorage by two fisherman that wanted to sell us some lobster.   They approached us in a small rough rowboat and showed us their catch.   They had come over to us from a “fishing station” a sort of “home base” on the water, a number of shacks and docks built on pilings out in the water where they managed their catch and lived between trips to the reef to fish.

Anyway, we bought their lobster for a few CUCs each.   After our deal was done one of the fisherman took off his cap and retrieved a single playing card, the queen of hearts.  After a bit of back and forth, it became clear that he was asking if we had any playing cards.  I didn’t know if he wanted to play cards with us or if he wanted cards but I “played” along anyway.

One thing led to another, I went below and returned with a deck of cards.  His reaction was amazing.  He and his partner both clapped their hands and let out a “whoop”.   What a great reaction and a good example of our many exchanges over the last two months here in Cuba.  In the U.S. it is so easy for us to get just about everything we need but here in Cuba they are on a constant quest for even the simplest items.  This experience was another example of the very friendly “culture” we have encountered, especially here in rural Cuba where the simplest gesture or “gift” is so appreciated.  I expect that this will be lost in the coming years as Cuba reengages with the U.S. and consumer goods are more readily available to them.

Don’t get me wrong, it is unfortunate that the fisherman had to work so hard to get something as simple as a deck of cards, but it was his approach and the gentle manner that struck me as so “Cuban”.  And I, for one, was pleased to be so appreciated by such a simple gesture of the gift of a deck of playing cards.   (Brenda wrote about this encounter too, but with her own take, and you might want to check it out at www.argoknot.com)

While I am on the subject of fisherman, how about this “boat”,  more of a raft made of a framework of boards on top of what appeared to be truck tire tubes stretched out with the cut ends tied with rope.  I can’t believe that they row miles offshore in these fragile craft.We bought some lobster from them too (our freezer is jammed now) and as they headed away they hoisted a rough sail to help them on their way toward the mainland, still miles away.   What a sight.As we made our way up the northwestern coast of Cuba over the last week we have visited some beautiful cayos with just spectacular scenery.   This shot of Pandora with the mountains in the background was particularly lovely.We anchored in the lee of some remarkable mangrove stands, some of which had trunks that were 18” in diameter and perhaps 60-75’ tall.  I have never seen mangroves of that size and have to wonder just how old they must be.In one of the spots we anchored for the night, we shared the cove with a group of fisherman on a ferocement boat.    The boat was very rough construction of iron bars with a cement coating.   I expect that they don’t last very long but this type of boat is very popular here in Cuba.They waved to me, I visited and was invited aboard.  The captain was very nice but his English was no better than my Spanish.One of the crew was happy to show me some of their catch.The next morning Brenda and I watched as each crew member donned a wetsuit and jumped in the water.  After a while we realized that they were picking up sea cucumbers from the bottom of the bay and filling their “baskets”. I haven’t seen this on any menus here in Cuba so perhaps they export their catch.  I know that sea cucumbers are very popular in Japan.It seems that like so much of life in Cuba, these fisherman are very opportunistic and catch whatever they can.  Fish one day, lobster the next and then on to sea cucumbers.  Their fishing techniques are so low tech that they are easy on the environment as they don’t have access to the sorts of equipment that is the mark of “industrial fishing” elsewhere.   I expect that a more “open” Cuba will lead to overfishing.

Earlier this morning I spoke with Chris Parker about the coming cold front and learned that there isn’t likely to be another “window” to make the 60 mile run to Havana for perhaps a week.  That’s a long time but fortunately, this is a lovely spot and the holding is good so, wind or not, we will certainly enjoy spending time here until we can continue our run east to Havana.

The island is a resort with perhaps 50 bungalows and a nice restaurant along with a great beach so being “weathered in” won’t be so bad.  It will certainly be better than being stuck in a mangrove swamp with 500,000 of my closest “no-see-um” friends, that’s for sure.

After we visit Havana and head home to the U.S., it will be good to be back in “civilization” but we will look back fondly to the wonderful people we have met in our nearly two months of cruising Cuba.    I have never encountered a group of people who are harder working or approach life with more grace and it has been an inspiration to experience, first hand, their pluck and determination.

Cuba will certainly change in the coming years and I encourage you to visit here soon to see for yourself this very unique place and culture of uncommonly nice people.

 

 

It’s Sunday morning and Pandora is clipping along at over 6kts on a broad reach and as we are being helped by a favorable current, our speed over the ground (SOG) is nearly 8kts.  That’s good as we have a long way to travel today as we make our way from Cayo del Rosario to an anchorage on the western tip of Isla de la Juventud, a large island on the south side of Cuba.  I should note that the “bottom” here is 13,000 feet below us and we are, amazingly, only 5 miles from shore.  Actually, even if we were less than a half mile from shore it would be over 3,000 feet to the bottom.   That’s deep.

Our destination today will put us more than ¾ of the way along the south shore of Cuba and will bring us to the point to where we will “turn the corner” and head NE toward Havana, our last stop prior to heading back to U.S. waters in early May.

Today’s run is nearly 80 miles so we had to get off to an early start, leaving by 07:30.  We plan on anchoring on the ocean side of the furthest tip of land on the largest island in Cuba, the nearly 100 square mile, Isla de la Juventud tonight.  The southern coast of the island has no harbors so we have to be sure that we can get all the way prior to nightfall or we’ll have to keep going overnight to the next anchorage which is about 100 miles further to the west.  However, as we are making good time so far, we should be able to arrive this evening with some daylight left.

After that, our next port will be Maria Cabo San Antonio and will mark our arrival at the most western point of Cuba.  To get there from Isla de la Juventud will require an overnight run as it’s over 100 miles and we can’t make that much distance during daylight hours.  Our plan will have us leave in the late afternoon so we’ll arrive the next morning.  And, with the best winds for sailing commonly occurring in the overnight hours here, we should have a good sail. Interestingly, as we round the western tip of Cuba, we will be only 100 miles from the Yucatan in Mexi co.  Amazing.

To that point, it’s been very interesting to meet fellow cruisers recently who have been to Guatemala and all over the Caribbean.   The “cruising horizon” for folks we have met here as much broader than anything we have found in the past with many having crossed the Pacific and a good number having been all the way around the world.   And, they talk about it as casually as though they had just gone “to the grocery”.  “Oh yeah, the snorkeling is great here but compared with Polynesia where we were last season…”.  It’s a very different perspective than anything Brenda and I have ever encountered.

The two couples that we had aboard for dinner the other night are good examples.  Monique and Garth, aboard Heartbeat began their travels in New Zealand, crossed the Pacific and have been all over the Caribbean.  They are making their way to Northern Europe and, after leaving Cuba may not stop until they reach Bermuda.   Another couple, Martin and Lisette aboard L’Eau-Dace came to Cuba from Honduras, where they had become friends with Garth and Monique,  They will be heading to Guatamala soon where they plan to spend the hurricane season.

The perspective of these cruisers couldn’t be more different than the folks back home “Oh yeah, we cruise a lot.  We cross The Sound most weekends to Greenport LI and go to The Vineyard for a week each summer”.  Both are fine perspectives, but WOW, these folks are HARD CORE and different in every way.

Our run yesterday, to Cayo del Rosario was not particularly long and we arrived there by mid-afternoon.   I had heard that the snorkeling was terrific there so after dropping hook, I headed off to a small reef nearby.   And as has the been the case in other areas I have gone, the fish life was remarkable, and much more substantial than anything that I ever saw in The Bahamas, even in the protected areas.

As Cuba is so lightly traveled and fished, the reefs are much like you might have seen perhaps 50 years ago in the Caribbean with abundant life of remarkable variety on the reefs.  The water isn’t as clear as it is in the Bahamas but it’s clear enough, with perhaps 50 foot visibility, to make for quite an experience.

After touring that spot, I headed off to another nearby where I saw a group of swimmers from one of two catamarans anchored nearby.  I prefer to snorkel with others but as Brenda doesn’t like to, I try to tag along, or at least be in the water near others.  As there are so few boats sailing around Cuba, it’s been tough to find others to tag along with.

The second spot that I tried was a larger reef that came within a few feet of the surface and then a 20′ abrupt drop-off to a sandy bottom.   The reef was quite dramatic, particularly so as a result of a wrecked boat that had foundered on the reef years ago.  It was a heavily built wooden boat with huge timbers and it’s “bones” were scattered over a wide area.  I have to say that I found the scene quite intimidating and decided to cut my visit short.

Perhaps the deciding moment was when I happened on a large ray, similar to one that had “stung” a Russian on charter boat a few days ago.  I understand that he had approached a ray and ended up with a “barb” that entered his upper arm and came out the other side of his arm.    It was a very painful experience and he ended up being flown back to the mainland for surgery to remove it.  We had enjoyed meeting him and the rest of the crew on that boat on the dock in Cayo Largo prior to his accident and were sorry to learn about what had happened.

Anyway, I was in no danger as I wasn’t “playing” with the ray but, never the less, that combined with the wreck, kind of freaked me out, alone in the water.  Ok, enough of that for now.  How about a walk on the beach?

And what a beach it was.  I had heard that there were many conch on the beaches there and I was stunned to see literally hundreds of fully mature conch everywhere in the shallows near the beach.   These conch had clearly not been bothered for many years as their shells were worn smooth by the surf.  In the Bahamas, most conch are harvested when they are barely mature, perhaps 6 years old, so their shells have quite sharply defined contours.  These, by contrast, looked like they had been abandoned by their owners years ago.   However, in nearly every case they were still occupied.  It was an amazing sight to see conch spread out as far as the eye could see and in such abundance.

I also found a few “helmet” conch with their dramatic brown markings and took them as the shells are amazing.  I also passed an area with snails on rocks, literally thousands of them.  However, unlike the Bahamas, where they tend to be about 1-2″ around, these black and silver shells were as large as an orange and they were everywhere, with perhaps 20 in a square meter.  It was quite a sight.

This is the “haul” and I only picked a few shells.  A remarkable discovery indeed.   The largest in this group are a foot across.   Clockwise, beginning upper left, conch and helmets.  In the middle, very large turbans.  In front, a small tulip and a lovely piece of coral.  Not sure about the names of the others.   Really nice shells and more “gems” than I normally find in a single day on the beach.

To see so many shells in a single area was a sight that probably hasn’t been seen in other areas of the Caribbean and Bahamas in over 50 years.   With improving relations between Cuba and the U.S. I fear that this won’t last long though.

The winds here in Cuba follow a pattern, as is the case in other areas of the Caribbean, where the trades tend to blow about 15-20kts and higher  from an easterly direction during the day and then shift to a more northerly direction overnight as the nearby mountains cool and the wind cascades down toward the ocean.  These “diurnal” winds occur near the larger islands so the wind direction changes at night and, in Cuba, you often have more wind at night than during the day.  It also means that finding an anchorage that is protected from both the trades and night winds can be tricky.

There are plenty of anchorages that are protected from the trades but few that are also sheltered from the diurnal winds and our anchorage last night was no different.  To make matters worse, we were anchored in turtle grass, a particularly tough bottom to get the anchor to hold well.

So as the wind piped up to over 25 knots last night, we began to drag ever so slowly with each gust which peaked at nearly 30kts.   I stayed in the cockpit until nearly midnight, with an anchor alarm set, and didn’t finally settle in until after the plotter track confirmed that we had finally stopped dragging backwards.  All and all, we probably dragged a few hundred feet and never actually broke completely free.   With several miles of shallow water behind us, we were never in any real danger of hitting anything.

There were three other boats in the very large anchorage so I was able to also watch the relative position of their anchor lights to see how we were doing.   It turns out that one of them, the one without an anchor light had some troubles of his own and this morning, when it became light, I saw that he was at least a mile from where he was when it got dark last night.  As he had dragged so far, I expect that he had no idea he was moving and was probably shocked when he woke up today.  Better him than me.

This post is the first in a month that I have been able to do when we didn’t have WIFI as my SSB e-mail modem (Pactor IV) is working again.   I have been having trouble with the unit since December and it’s been very frustrating, to say the least.  That combined with no cell services in Cuba for American phones, and we have felt very out of touch.

However, yesterday morning a fellow cruiser, Martin from L’Eau-Dace, came over to have a look at my installation.  After about a half hour he determined that the problem was likely centered on the USB plugs on my laptop along with the “old” cable that ran from there to my modem.  The good news is that I had another cable that had come with my new printer so after trying that one on the modem it worked perfectly.  I had predicted that the problem would likely turn out to have a simple fix but after fussing with it for weeks, I had run out of options.  Thanks Martin, for setting me straight.

With no form of communication available to us without the SSB e-mail when we were outside of WIFI, which has been just about all of the time, Brenda and I had been feeling like we had spent the last month in Cuba going around with a brown bag over our head.
Anyway, fingers crossed that the “fix” continues to work.  It will be great to be able to communicate more easily.

I should also mention that the easterly trades, which have eluded us for the last month, have finally filled in again.  This is good as now we have been sailing much of the time instead of motoring.  It is a very welcome change.

And it’s also a treat to be able to write this post underway and send it off to our son Christopher so he can put it up for me.   Of course, as the SSB is a VERY SLOW way to send messages so I am unable to include more than one picture.

I guess you will just have to forgive me and just read along.

Of course, every cruiser has heard of Key Largo, in FL but how many American cruisers have visited the “other” Largo, Cayo Largo, on the southern coast of Cuba?  Well, that’s where we are and it’s a remarkable place indeed.

I have to say that it is a treat to be here as we don’t usually tie up at marinas and it’s the nicest of the marinas that Brenda and I have seen during the month we have spent in Cuba.  Cayo Largo is an interesting island, some distance from mainland Cuba as is totally devoted to tourists.   The only Cubans that are here work in the hotels and marina and all of them only live here while they are “on duty” for their 21 day (I think) cycle.  While they are here they live in housing provided for them on the island.  After their “tour” is over, they move home to the mainland for a week and then begin the process all over again.

There are many buildings that make up the marina complex but clearly the bar is the center of activity.  It’s a nice spot. And, there is a great view of Pandora right out in front.  Interestingly, a cerveza (beer) is $1CUC if you buy a single can or a case in a grocery and the price doesn’t change if you purchase a full case.  And a beer in the bar is also $1CUC, the same price as in the grocery.  Go figure.  To that point, we have found that most consumer goods seem to be sold at set prices regardless of where you purchase them.   For diesel, it’s always a pretty high $1 CUC/liter as the price is set by the government.

It’s also interesting to see how prices compare to the U.S. as some things are much more expensive here than in the U.S. and other things are less.  Beer in a bar wins the prize as the low cost item.  The last time I paid the equivalent of $1 for beer in a bar was many, many years ago.

On another topic, a “cold” front came through the area the other night bringing with it, a temporary break in the humidity, a welcome change for us.  We have been in the marina for a few days now and to be able to run our AC, well at least one of our two zones, has been great.  Unfortunately, the electricity on the docks isn’t quite strong enough to handle both zones, but cooling the main salon during the day and our cabin at night has been a real treat.  Another benefit is that the prices at marinas here in Cuba are considerably less than in the U.S. at less than $40CUC per day and that includes electricity, such as it is.  One consideration though is that the water on the dock is brackish, at best, so you don’t want to put it in your tanks.  However, because the harbor is so clean, with about 20’ of visibility, even at the dock, we have been able to run our watermaker each day.  When was the last time you were in a marina with that kind of water clarity?

How about 5’ long tarpon swimming near the bar?  Not something that you see every day.This area of Cuba is known for spectacular diving and I have to say that the amount of sea life, even close to the marina is remarkable, especially compared to The Bahamas, where we have spent a lot of time.

When you get about a mile from the marina the water is even more amazing and I was surprised to find literally dozens of conch, both mature adults and smaller juveniles nearly everywhere.    In the Bahamas, where they are heavily fished, you would never see such a sight.  These are the little ones, about 3-4” long.  Brenda and I were fortunate to find a few shells that had no occupants.   What a find.  Believe it or not, this shot was taken trough the water.   Gin clear.If you didn’t see the ripple on the water you’d never know that this starfish was even in the water.   This one measures a foot across. And, just above the surf line there is a very healthy population of iguanas.  This big guy was looking for a handout and was pretty intimidating at over 4’ long.  There are some like this in the Bahamas too but they only populate a very few islands.  Here in Cuba they are on many islands.   A few years ago one of the Bahamas colonies was wiped out in a hurricane and some “stock” from here was used to repopulate.   They are pretty fearsome looking creatures.I expect that once Cuba is “discovered” by folks from the U.S., there will be much more pressure on the environment.  Yes, there are a lot of tourists from all over the world here but I expect that an “American Invasion” is going to have a big impact.

Make no mistake about it, there are plenty of tourists here now as witnessed by this beach scene on the other side of the island but somehow things are still pretty pristine.This huge catamaran makes the rounds between here and Cienfuegos as we have seen her several times including blasting by us on her way back toward Cienfuegos as we made our way here the other day.  Catamarans are clearly the popular choice verses monohulls here in Cuba and there is a busy charter community, both bareboat and crewed.Every day dozens head out for snorkel trips here at the marina and to head to some of the nice reefs nearby.  The crowds aboard those boats are a bit different than what Brenda and I experience aboard Pandora where the mantra is “six for cocktails, four for dinner and two (that’s us) sleep on board”.  While there only a handful of boats here it’s a very international group including France, Luxembourg, England, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and even Russia.  And then there was little old Pandora with us Yanks.  Here’s some highlights from just the last two days.

Our friend Lars and two of his buds from Norway relaxing on the bow of Luna.A group of guys chartering a boat here on holiday from Russia.  Did you know that there is a branch of the “Rotary” in Russia and one that’s focused on sailing?  It never occurred to me.  it’s the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians.  No kidding and Oleg Karpeev, is the president.  They posed with me and Brenda near Pandora.  One of them was even named Igor (the first real live Igor we have ever met) and their English was WAY better than our Russian.   Everyone had to get into the shot.  They were a lively group.We also enjoyed cocktails with a young couple Monique and Garth, barely 30 years old, who have been sailing for three years, beginning in New Zealand aboard their boat Heartbeat.  They have made it all the way across the Pacific, “up hill” against the trades and if that’s not amazing enough, they both suffer from “mal-de-mer” for the first few days of every passage.  Tough “kids”.   After Cuba they will be sailing to Europe or “wherever”.  Monique keeps a blog, which I have not yet checked out, at svheartbeat.blogspot.com.   I understand that they post about weekly.   I look forward to following their travels.  We tried to convince them to visit us in CT but were unsuccessful.  Oh well, perhaps we’ll visit them in New Zealand someday.  That would be great fun.Firmly secured in the “It’s a very small world” department, this SAGA 43, sistership to our last Pandora, Discovery, was recently purchased by a Swiss couple was on the dock next to us.  They had looked at our old Pandora last winter while we were in the Keys and then decided to purchase my friend Carl’s Discovery instead.  Bumping into them here is further proof that it is indeed important to be on your best behavior wherever you go as you just never know who you are going to run into.   The folks in the sailing group SSCA call this “leaving a clean wake” and we are sure glad that we have.  Well, as well as we know, anyway.One of the most beautiful beaches in Cuba is on this island and each year thousands of sea turtles agree and visit here to lay their eggs.   In order to ensure the future of these magnificent creatures, the island has established a turtle “nursery”.  They dig up the eggs and transplant them to a protected area and then raise the hatchlings in pens so that they can later release them into the wild.   This way the survival rate is much higher. This little guy was about 15’ long.  A beautiful creature.Several pools were full of little 6’ long juveniles.   The patterning on their shells is remarkable.  I was amused by how the placed their front flippers while resting.  “look MA, no hands”This area is also the first we have seen since entering Cuba that has nice beaches.  Much of the coastline is very rugged east of here and there is a healthy collection of lighthouses.  The designs are all over the lot.  For sure, most of them are quite utilitarian and seem to shout, “stay away”. Oddly, this one on the NW corner of the island is on a craggy point perhaps a mile from deep water.  We have seen quite a few marks that are placed a good distance inside the shallows so you have to pay very careful attention to the charts lest you get into shallow water where you don’t expect it.  We have heard a number of cruisers who know of friends who have lost their boats.Pix

Good charts for Cuba are a fairly recent development.  Don’t plan on coming to Cuba expecting to use Raymarine Navionics charts as you will find that what you see on the plotter has little relationship with what’s here.

Just about every Cuban that we have spent time with has expressed excitement about the improving relations with the U.S. government (Brenda and me too, BTW) including the manager of the marina here.  Pier (Peter) has been very friendly and agreed to pose with Brenda and me behind Pandora.  Notice that he’s holding our Essex Yacht Club Burgee. Later I visited with him in his office and he showed me that he has both American and Cuban flags on his desk. With things changing in many ways, perhaps there will be an opportunity for Pier to visit us in the U.S. to talk about visiting his homeland.  That would be terrific.  I am sure that there would be lots of interest on our end for sure.

He also showed me a photo of him, a bit younger I’d say, when he met Fidel Castro.  I expect that Castro looks more “mature” now too.All and all, being in the “other” Largo has been a treat and it’s going to be tough to pry ourselves loose from here as we continue our journey west.

Today looks to be a beautiful day and I hope to spend some more time with Brenda doing a bit of beach combing and snorkeling so that’s it for now.

Stay tuned…

It’s now early April and we have been in Cuba for nearly a month and our visa was due to expire in a few days.  Until recently, Americans were only allowed a single month in Cuban waters until they had to leave the country, clear in at another, and then return to Cuba to begin the process all over again.

However, like everything else we thought we knew about Cuba, the rules seem to have changed, but in this case, in a good way.  Now there’s no reason to leave and come back.  We can simply renew!  Yahoo!!!   Brenda is particularly pleased about this change as it avoids the need to sail overnight to the Caiman Islands and back again.  Saving two overnight sails is something that Brenda is always happy to give up andwe still have at least one overnight to do before we get to Havana do so avoiding two additional nights underway is a good thing.

Interestingly, Graham Copson who is the owner of Copson Migration Partners, is an migration agent in adelaide notes that it seems that here in Cuba, renewing a visa can either be very easy or very hard, depending on where you do it.  I guess that’s true of just about everything in Cuba and we are finding that each port seems to march to its’ own drummer.   As an example, our friend Lars, had to renew his visa while he was in Cienfuegos and it took him the better part of a day spent running between government offices down town and at the marina to get it done.  And, to make matters worse, he had to delay his planned departure from Cienfuegos by a day to get it all done.

And, speaking of hard, now about these guys cutting the grass with machetes and sythes? It gives new meaning to the term “weed wacker”.   No shortage of worker and workers to do it here in the “worker’s paradise”. Here in Cayo Largo, an island far from the coast and a major tourist spot, the process is much simpler and here at the marina it has proven to be very simple indeed..  The official responsible handling such things actually came out to Pandora, took our $50CUC renew fee along with our passports and said that she’d take care of everything.    And, as promised, she did and delivered our “new” visas back to the boat this morning.  How great (and simple) is that?

We have seen, first hand, that Cuban officials just love “process” and as long as there are plenty of bureaucrats nearby to handle things, everyone wants a piece of the action and with that many folks involved, the “action” can get pretty intense.  I guess that makes sense as if they simplified things someone’s job might be eliminated by “Uncle Fidel”.  I actually heard someone refer to him by that name yesterday.  I guess if we have an “Uncle Sam”, Cubans should have an “Uncle Fidel”.  It’s only fair.

We had heard that here in Cayo Largo things were simpler and happily they are.  As this is an island and one that caters exclusively to “touristas”, they do everything that they can to make it simple to be here.  Interestingly,  I have been told that no Cubans live here full time.  They work here on the island for, I think, 21 days, while staying in government managed “dorms” and then head back home for a week before returning to the island again.

We have experienced a lot of “how about a tip/present” from just about everyone we came in contact with east of Cienfuegos but there an here the “requests” are much more subtle, thank goodness.  We were prepared for this and stocked up with plenty of bars of soap and some t-shirt but it got a bit old as it happened nearly every day as we cleared in and out of any given port or anchorage.  That got a bit old so it’s been nice to have a respite from all that for a bit.  I expect that we have not seen the last of this but for the moment…

Anyway, enough of that for now.  How about some photos of our lovely visit to Trinidad?  “Of course Bob, forge ahead.”  “Ok, ok, if you insist.

We left Pandora in Cienfuegos for a day and headed the 1.5 hour ride to the historic city Trinidad a few days ago.   Trinidad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for architecture and that a lot of work had been done to bring the buildings back in recent years.  The plan was to catch a 8:30 bus in Cienfuegos so we hailed a cab and headed to the bus terminal. Oops, there wasn’t an 8:30 bus, the first one wasn’t until noon.  Oops.  Bad information.

The minute we left the terminal, such as it was, we were immediately offered a ride in a taxi for about $35CUC, more than we wanted to spend.   Not a problem, we could do it for $20CUC if we shared with someone else.  Our “handler” the person who finds patrons for the cabs parked around the corner, then rounded up some others to fill the cab and off we went.  It was a nicely maintained vintage 1952 Ford.The ride took us through some beautiful country with miles of sugarcane fields and mango trees.  Along the way we also happened upon an amazing site, thousands of land crabs, pretty big at about 8-12” wide, making their way across the road, some with limited make that VERY LIMTED success, in making the crossing,  Ie: crushed by passing cars.

Each spring literally millions of these brightly colored purple and red crabs march from the woodland areas where they live the six or so miles to the ocean where the females lay their eggs.  As these crabs can’t live in water, the females go to the surf line and lay their eggs all the while trying not to be swept away. The eggs hatch soon after and the newly hatched crabs have to crawl out of the water while they are still fairly small to begin their “land life”.  It sounds like a lot of effort, the whole ocean, crossing roads and woods thing, for a “land crab” to go through.  However, we are in Cuba and it fits that it would be complicated.  Right?

It’s a tough journey and nothing, short of being crushed on the road, which happens to a lot of them, will stop the migration. We have heard that these crabs will even crawl over a house or any other obstruction that gets in their way to complete their journey.  It’s quite spectacle.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos.  However, you can check out this link for more information.   I could almost imagine David Attenborough, the guy who narrates nature films, telling us all about this spectacle as our cab dodged among the thousands of crabs as best as he could.

Anyway, the ride was quite a trip in itself.  So,now Trinidad.

The city has a real rural European feel.  There is a lovely town center with beautiful buildings surrounding it.On the balcony of one of the buildings on the square there was a young girl posing for a photo shoot.  She looked lovely in her ball gown. As a contrast, how about this donkey and cigar smoking old guy?  I sure hope that nobody ever refers to me with that phrase.  “Yeah, that’s Bob, you know, the old cigar smoking guy.”   So far, so good.There were many craft stalls on the side streets.   Brenda purchased a lovely hand finished table cloth.  Those who know here are aware of her “linen problem”.  Good place for Brenda to visit to “scratch her itch”and scratch she did.For me, we purchased a “guayaberia”, a traditional Cuban cotton wedding shirt.  Sorry, no picture but you’d recognize it if you saw one.

We would have loved to bring flowers back to Pandora but alas, they wouldn’t have lasted the day. As always, cages with exotic birds most everywhere.  It’s not uncommon to see cages hung in windows along the street with little colorful finches.As just about everyone is in Cuba, Trinidad is very focused on “touristas”. However, there are plenty of Cubans going about their daily lives here and it was nice to see a group of students on an outing.  In Cuba all students wear uniforms. It’s a nice touch.  The color of the fabric tells you what grade level they are. We were “invited” to climb up to a rooftop to view the city.  Only $1CUC each.  Such a deal!  Such a view!!!How about a panorama?  Click the photo to make it larger if you wish.The highlight of the day was lunch on the balcony of this quaint restaurant.  And, the food was good too.It’s been a few days since we left Cienfuegos to make our way here to Cayo Largo.  As we left the harbor we saw this lovely fort.  It was certainly a very different world way back when such a fort was needed to protect the city from invaders.   I expect that those entering the harbor at that time probably weren’t “touristas”We stopped at an uninhabited cayo for two nights.  It was a bit rolly with a wrap-around swell from the ocean.  Brenda didn’t like that, even a little bit.  Pretty rugged coastline with some nice reefs for snorkeling.

In a few spots, there were holes in the limestone where the waves spurted up quite dramatically.Well, I guess that’s about it for now as I sit here in Pandora’s salon enjoying the cool AC.  However, it’s not that great as we can’t run it very cold or we blow a fuse.  The electrical power at marinas in Cuba is suspect at best but “sort of cool” is better than hot. It’s a nice change of pace and I am not complaining.

Relentless heat aside, Cuba is a very unique place to visit and each area we come to has It’s own personality.  And while Cuba is still Cuba, it’s definitely changing and we are glad to be here to see it first hand while it’s still Cuba.

Perhaps I’ll close with a lovey sunset shot from the other day.  Love those sunsets.  But, then you knew that, didn’t you?