Well, that’s it, I am in home waters again and a winter of sailing aboard Pandora’s finis. Pandora’s voyage down the east Coast, to the Bahamas, around much of the coast of Cuba, back to Florida and then to CT is said and done and she’s tied up at the Essex Yacht Club for a day or two. 
And speaking of Cuba, which I have in nauseating detail for months now, if you haven’t noticed. Did you know that you can fit all of the islands in the ENTIRE Caribbean into Cuba and that island is still bigger? It’s huge, nearly 600 miles long and Brenda and I sailed the entire length of it and then some. You go girl!!!
I’d have to check my log but I believe that the trip put about 4,000 miles on Pandora this season. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, another lifetime though, when it would have taken me several years to make that sort of distance. Such is the grey and colorless life of the retired.
Anyway, it was some winter afloat but it’s done. This is the sight that greeted me as I passed the light at the entrance of the CT River yesterday afternoon as if to say “welcome home Pandora”. She too (if lighthouses are feminine) is showing a bit of wear and tear, just like me, Brenda and Pandora after a winter on the move. She still looks great, present company included. 
I think it’s safe to say that a trip like ours (Brenda’s and mine) was a lot like life in general. There are times when you say “pinch me, I must be dreaming, but in a good way” and there are others when something more akin to “I want to be home in my own bed. Waaaaaa!!!!” And sometimes, when cruising on a small boat, it really seems that the latter wins the day.
So, if you followed my, sort of, daily posts from Pandora’s passage from Florida back to CT over the last week, you got a taste of what passage making can be like. That run had something for everybody including the sort of moments that everybody should experience along with the sort of moments that everybody spends their lives trying to avoid. You know the “into every life a little rain must fall” things?
With so many experiences to recall from the winter and the monotony that comes along with a long passage, I began to feel like “OK, let’s get this over with” as we were near the Hudson Canyon, about 100 miles southwest of Montauk. And, by this point, my thoughts were turning to “just how long is the grass in my lawn?” with the experiences of the winter fading into memory.
So, get this! We were motoring along over an ocean so calm that it looked more like a windless August afternoon in western Long Island Sound than the “big bad ocean” that we had experienced just the day before.
I had decided to take advantage of the calm conditions to make a nice dinner of roasted pork tenderloin and a salad with some of Brenda’s great “Home afloat” made dressing. Me, Dave and Chris had just finished a nice cold beer and dinner and we were congratulating ourselves about what a great passage we had together when a few hundred yards off I spotted a humpback whale. I couldn’t believe it. Sure, we had seen our share of wildlife on this trip, including distant sightings of other whales and I close, if all to brief, encounter with a pilot whale, but I had not seen a humpback whale since our years cruising in Maine and NEVER had I seen one this close up.
I slowed Pandora and turned her around and headed back for a closer look. We could see that “she” and I’ll call her that because something that beautiful has to be a woman. And don’t get into the whole “Bob, it takes two to tango” and make more whales. Just go with me on this for now…
Anyway, as we approached her, and she was going nowhere fast, just lounging on the surface blowing bubbles. I cut the engine and let Pandora’s momentum carry us near. 
Then a lazy wave to Pandora as though to suggest “come hither”.
She started toward us. Yikes! She’s huge and nearly as long as Pandora.
“Calm down Bob, it’s fine.” Let’s all take a deep breath. The moment was absolutely still except the loud rush of air of her breathing. I can tell you that she was all alone with the “whole breathing thing” as Pandora’s crew wasn’t taking a single breath lest we spoil the moment. 
Showing her stuff, warts and all. What a sight. And just so, so close.
So, after perhaps 15 minutes… And it felt like an hour as we gawked in wonder at the sight. She headed slowly off, literally into the sunset.
Her tail gracefully and with complete silence…
Slipped under the oil calm surface…
And, she was gone…
“Holy S%$#. Did you see that Chris, Dave?” Yes we did…
Dave, as I wrote in a recent post, had remarked that perhaps the best reason to make a passage like we did on Pandora, is to be able to have experiences that most will never see and I think it’s safe to say that seeing this whale, this amazing creature, is a perfect example of why I love being on the water.
And, the next time I find myself thinking “This totally sucks” when we are being pounded by a squall, I’ll have to remind myself of this amazing moment and remember that in life, when you come down to it, you just never know what lies ahead. And I for one, intend to make the most of it. So far, so good. Wow!
As I reflect on the experiences of our months afloat this winter, this brief encounter, in the company of one of God’s most amazing creatures, is a fitting end to a remarkable journey. And the next time you find yourself wondering “Are we there yet”, think again, as you may have already arrived.
There’s so much more to tell, and like it or not, I’ll be droning on and on about much more in coming posts, but perhaps I’ll just leave it there for now.
A fitting end to an amazing journey.
But stay tuned. There’s much more to come, much more.
Next winter? The eastern Caribbean. Now that should be a trip.
Time to cut the lawn.
Perhaps not the largest one in the yard but huge. 
Or, to put it another way. Huge, huger and hugest.
His and hers? So hard to choose. No wait, the one on the left must be “his” as it has a large, er… crane sticking upon the bow. Yes, of course.
It is Mother’s day in a few days. All wrapped up. “Honey, I got you something nice…” 
And, certainly the “belle of the ball”. Venus, designed by 
And, if you don’t have as much $$ as you want you can always eat your weight at the buffet table and become part of the “superweight set”. No wait, how about training to become the “heavy weight champion of the world”? “Stop it right now Bob, that’s not funny!! Well, not that funny.”
Anyway, the fact is that somehow waterfront property owners of houses that look like this (not necessarily this owner) seem to have taken a “nuclear approach” to address a complicated problem that has ended up hurting everyone except the few that have waterfront property. Unfortunately, the few that “do not play well together” and have the resources, and “friends in the right places” have now been successful in securing their “saved seat” at great expense to the cruising community. 
Of course, the simple answer is for cruisers to avoid southern Florida and spend time elsewhere. However, as is so often the case, it’s not as simple as it might appear, especially if their cruising plans include the Bahamas. The reality of the Gulf Stream dictates that slower boats need to be at least as far south as Ft Lauderdale, or better yet, Miami, to be able to get a good angle to cross.
I fear that the opening of Cuba in the coming years with greater exposure to the “saved seat” mentality of many Americans, will cause the people of Cuba to be more like us than the other way around. That would be very unfortunate.
Perhaps by living in the “land of plenty” we have become too used to “having what we want, when we want it” without consideration of what that might mean to others.
In Cuba, well, it’s a bit different. The “meat counter”.
Or the produce department. And, that’s all of it.
And, the local deli selling sandwiches. 
There is plenty that we American’s can learn from the people of Cuba but I fear that it’s the Cubans who will learn bad habits from us.
And, that night, we had a wonderful dinner with friends at a local spot a short walk from the Marina. 
Brenda 
Ok, now that that’s out of the way…
Papers signed, they boarded Pandora, in stocking feet of course, to confirm that we were not harboring any additional “stowaways”.
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. 
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.
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.
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.