When Brenda and I were cruising the south coast of Cuba last winter we heard that the Rolling Stones were giving a free concert in Havana.  Yes, I have written about this a number of times, most recently yesterday.  However, today it occurred to me that there might be something on YouTube worth sharing about that amazing night in Havana.

Before I get started though, this post tells the story of our bus ride there and the concert.   You will just have to forgive me to putting this link in two days in a row.  Just skip it if you saw yesterday’s post.   There were, by some accounts, a million people there on that sultry night in Havana.  Everywhere we looked flags from around the world were being proudly waved.Some old enough to have grown up listening to the band and some well, not so familiar with the phenomenon that the Stones have been for nearly 50 years.  A mother and daughter (I’m going with that) enjoying the evening.  Waiting for the concert to begin. It was big news and likely the only drug free concert in the history of Stones concerts.  Yes, the Cuban government is very tough on drugs.  This CBS news segment gives a good feel for the excitement we heard again and again from Cubans about change that is coming to Cuba.  Change for the good…they hope. The Stones have put out a feature length movie of the concert.  No surprise on that score. This trailer gives a pretty good feel for what it was like to be there.  A sea of humanity and we were there, if only two specks in that sea of humanity. Ok, Ok, one full length music video.  We were close enough to see but not so close to feel like we were going to be crushed.  It was a remarkable experience.  Yes, an amazing story and one that gets even more amazing with each telling.As they say, “you had to be there” and we were.

Just how cool is that?  Pretty much, totally…

One of the best things about “experience” is that while living it may sometimes be, shall we say “interesting”, the “telling” is nearly always fabulous for years and years afterwords.  Brenda’s sister Sheryl once said “experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want”.  However, sometimes experiences are indeed what you had hoped for too.  And that’s makes for an even better story.

For sure, the telling is even better when it’s actually fun from the beginning and with each telling later bringing back all of those great memories, again and again.  Of course, each time you tell the story it somehow becomes even more amazing.  “You should have seen the one that got away…” or “that storm was so strong, the waves…”. You know the drill…

Our trip to Cuba last winter has been perhaps the pinnacle of “experience it once, talk about it forever…”.

Of course, we wrote about our trip as we experienced it (see March and April posts on this site and Brenda’s www.argoknot.com) at every opportunity we got, some 30 posts in all.   And the telling has gotten even better as since returning home to CT as we have talked about our trip to whomever would stand still and listen.  Fortunately for us, nearly EVERYONE is interested in hearing about Cuba.

We have given talks to many groups, 13 at last count including my upcoming talk to the Pelagic Sailing Club in Boston this coming Thursday.   It’s a thrill for me to talk to groups and I have jumped at nearly every opportunity I have been offered to tell our story including the members of the Essex Yacht Club and The Corinthians within the last week, both groups that have been a big part of our lives.   EYC wins the prize for the best poster.  That’s Chef Michael at EYC with us who prepared a wonderful Cuban dinner to cap off the evening.  Well done Michael. For me, the only thing better than speaking to a group about our voyages, is speaking to a group that I know personally.

Each time I give my presentation, just seeing this photo of Pandora tied up at Marina Hemingway brings back a flood of memories.  And, nothing gets a rise from the audience like this photo of me holding lobsters that we purchased from Cuban fisherman.  Brenda and I “ate” this particular memory at home just the other night as we had a freezer full of lobster tails aboard Pandora when we returned home from Cuba.  “You…Keep your eyes on the crustaceans!”Anyway, it seems that everyone tends to tell stories of the worst conditions and how they “almost….”.  Brenda likes to forget those moments and prefers to focus on “being anchored” as the memories that suit her best.  Lobster is good too.

Another story that always gets a rise is talking about our experience of going to the Rolling Stones concert in Havana.  Now, that’s a memory and a half, with the “half” coming from several of our traveling companions who drank plenty on the way to the concert.  They were hung over before we even got to the concert.
All and all, visiting Cuba was a really wonderful trip with only a few tears along the way.  And, speaking of “tears”, we encountered more than a few no-se-ums one evening, not the happiest memory of Cuba but still a great story and one that’s more fun to tell than experience.  As my mother used to say, “into every day a little rain must fall” but even rainy days and no-se-ums make for great stories to be told for a lifetime.

A good friend from way-back-when, Chris Blossom the marine artist, did a painting of our first boat,TAO as a birthday present to me in 1980.  At that point Brenda and I had only been married for three years.  Yes, we had a boat before we had a house.  “Brenda, what were you thinking?”

It’s  a wonderful painting and brings back a flood of memories of that evening, and many others spent sailing with Brenda.  Chris captured the experience perfectly as we ghosted along off of Penfield Beach in Fairfield CT one summer evening.  Now, that’s Brenda’s kind of sailing, err, becalming.Don’t we look like we are having a nice time? Brenda thought it was ALMOST like being anchored.  How about a little closer view?  It’s such a terrific treasure to us, both memory and picture.   And, it looks just like us.  Well, to me and Brenda it does.And, if you think I am making the “birther” thing up, there’s proof in the lower right hand corner.  “Happy Birthday Bob”  Chris was in his early 20s when he painted this 36 years ago.  Another lifetime.Russell Jinishian, the well known marine dealer, told me a while back that Chris is one of the five finest living marine artists.   Chris has an enormous body of work, but doesn’t have a website of his own.  I guess that’s because he paints pictures of “old stuff” and the Web for Chris, well it’s just so “new”.

I’m biased perhaps, but he does great work and he did one for me.   However, you can see his work, and there’s plenty, on Chris’s page at Russell’s gallery link.

Well, as I was saying, we love to remember the perfect times in our lives. Perhaps less so, the times that we’d rather forget.  However, some are so exciting that we recall them anyway, and always with a a growing fondness, if only because we lived to tell the tale, as the years go by.

Cruising Cuba was not what I would call “easy” as you are really “on your own”.   However, as a class A “you should have been there” sort of experience!  It was without peer, and what memories it has made for us.

While I wasn’t there, the image in this painting I mean, this painting, also from Christopher, certainly depicts an “experience” that Brenda would likely want to forget if she had been there.  We have this painting too, over our fireplace in the den.  It’s “on loan” from Christopher.  I sure hope he never “calls” the loan.   (forgive me but this isn’t the best photo Chris)Great detail and you can almost hear the gunfire. The painting is actually a book cover that Chris did for an old Bantum softcover book, I think, “The Last Action of the Calcutta Lighthorse”.  This link tells the story of their amazing true story of the sinking of a German freighter in WWII.  It was later made into a movie.  Here’s the trailer.  Yes, a bit of a random link I admit, but here goes.So, we sometimes don’t enjoy every moment out there as we cruise or make our way through life but the stories are often great to tell and get better as you tell them again and again. I’ll bet that this trip, again one of Chris’s pieces, would make for some great tales. This piece is of an experience that is more Brenda’s speed.   Chris painted this years ago when he and his family sailed in the Bahamas aboard their Luder’s 33, Acadia. That’s Acadia at anchor in the Exumas.  Bummer for us, but this and the prior piece are not part of our collection.  So, all and all, Cuba has proven to be perhaps the best “live it once, talk about it forever” experience that Brenda and I have ever had.  And to think that it all grew out of “gear failure” a little more than a year ago when I was on my way to the eastern Caribbean.   We didn’t make it to the BVI that year. However, for me, when I am given lemons, I make lemon aid.  And, let me tell you, I am making gallons and gallons of the stuff with this story.

Ok, Cuba… Been there, done that.  Now on to more memories.  I hope that they are at least as good an experience as the telling will surely be.   I guess we will just have to wait and see but “Cruising Cuba” is going to be a hard story to top. I’ll try, that’s for sure, so stay tuned.

For the record, as long as there is someone who will listen, I’ll continue to tell the amazing tale of Brenda’s and my two months in Cuba.   If you want to hear our story yourself, let me know.  Perhaps I can fit in a visit to your group as well.

Time to make new memories. I’m on it. Totally…

It’s Saturday as I write this post and I am aboard Amtrak to Stamford from Williamsburg VA.  I am always struck by how long it takes to get anywhere by boat and how quickly I get back home via a “normal” route.  However, Amtrak is another story with what sometimes seems like “glacial” progress.

Today’s run will take ten hours and that assumes that we are on time.  However, it’s comfortable and I have WIFI all the way, well most of the way…

It will be good to be home with a normal routine for the next two months and will be a nice break from the chores that I find are always needed on Pandora.

Yesterday I met with a mechanic who will take care of an exhaust leak that has reappeared with the engine.  Funny how some problems seem to persist on boats, even when you get them “fixed”.  I “dealt” with this exact same problem a year ago.  Let’s hope that this time is the charm.

I also decided to have an “adult” deal with the leaking cabin ports.  I knew that time was short until “surgery” would be needed on the large Lexan ports on the cabin side but had hoped to put it off till next summer.  However, after the “sporty”  and resulting “drippy” run to Hampton from CT, I decided that “enough was enough” and brought in a “specialist” to fix the problem once and for all.  Well, once for sure.  We’ll see how long “and for all” part lasts.  The problem is that the Lexan ports are nearly 8′ long and while the actual window opening are much shorter, the expansion coefficient for the Lexan means that when it’s cold, and most of my long runs tend to be in cooler weather, the plastic windows shrink and they leak.  And when they leak, it makes me sad.

The solution, I was advised by Roger Martin, the designer, is to put an “expansion joint” in the middle of the Lexan on each side.  That will allow for the material to shrink without pulling away from the outside opening as much.  Let’s hope that this works.  Wish me luck…

So, for the next two months I won’t have to work on Pandora myself.  I’ll just write checks. Personally, I’d rather not go the “check route”.  Let’s hope that things go smoothly.  I was pleased when I met the folks that will be doing the work in Beaufort.  The plastics guy, well he just does plastic and the engine guy and electrician.  Well they seem to be “multi-taskers”.  Fingers crossed…

So, while my trusty check book is helping to get some last minute updates completed for Pandora, I can focus on when and where we will head out from Beaufort.

Our plan is to catch a weather window in mid-January, after the holidays and Brenda’s birthday on January 15th (mark your calendar) to begin our run to the eastern Caribbean.

We don’t know yet if we will head directly to the British Virgin Islands or clear in in St Martin.  I very much look forward to spending time in the BVI but from there, once Brenda joins me in late January, is to head further south. The problem with this plan is that the run from the BVI to St Martin, the next island on our way south, is 90 miles east into the strong “Christmas winds” that blow hard from the east.  To have this be the first run that I make with Brenda won’t be very appealing to her and could very well end up being a “career limiting move” with her, as my son Rob often cautions me when I come up with some lame idea that involves Brenda and unpleasant conditions afloat.

I guess I can only say “details to come” on that score. However, I have to be sure that we end up somewhere that’s easy for my crew to get out of and for Brenda to arrive.

Speaking about the BVI, this video is a good primer on what to expect if we end up in this very popular island chain.  Oh yeah, if we land there in January, we’ll be arriving at the peak of the charter boat season and we aren’t very keen on mixing with what some call “sailing amateur hour”.  That boat is anchored how close?

Anyway, here’s a nice video about sailing in the BVI. Brenda and I expect to head “down island”.  Perhaps we will see the Classic Yacht Regatta in April in Antiqua.  Beautiful boats.And, of course, there’s always the St Barths Bucket Regatta and the Yacht Marie. Brenda and I sailed aboard her in Newport two years ago for three days of racing.  “Would you care for a lobster roll?”.  Yes, indeed.  What a beautiful yacht and she’s really, really big.Wondering how we ended up aboard such a magnificent yacht? Well, I wrote this post three years ago and somehow the owner ended up seeing the post and invited us aboard. Who knows, perhaps we will end up aboard her again this winter. Something to wish for and as Brenda once said, “Bob and the dog, ever hopeful”.  Yes, that’s me.  Can I have a cookie?

I guess that’s enough for now but there’s sure a lot to look forward to in the coming months.  Oh yeah, did I mention that we will soon be grandparents?  It doesn’t get any better than that!  Boy or girl?  Who knows. For now we just call him/her “Nugget”.

And… drum roll please, the bathroom is FINALLY done.  Brenda says that took WAY TOO LONG.  Ok, ok, I agree but it’s done now.  Whew!!!

Tomorrow I present about Cuba to about 100 at the annual meeting of The Corinthians at Beach Point Yacht Club.  It’s a spectacular location to have a lunch on a sunny day. Brenda and I have been members of The Corinthians for many years and I am very much looking forward to sharing our story.

Yes, it’s good to be heading home to Brenda and to thinking about our coming winter of cruising together.  life is good…

 

It’s Thursday afternoon and we are closing in on the canal that runs from the Albermarle Sound south toward Beaufort where Pandora will be until I return in mid January.

The list of items that need attention has grown in an alarming way including re-bedding of some ports and a few items with the engine.   Oh yeah, don’t forget the new charger/inverter.  That hurts…  All and all, it reminds me why I do most of the work on Pandora myself.  I’d go broke if I hired everything out.  Alas, no choice on this list as I am way to far away from Beaufort to come down and do the work myself.

Anyway, it’s a nice day with temperatures in the lower 80s but that won’t last long as a front is coming through tomorrow that will bring brisk northerlies and much cooler temperatures.

Yesterday was the longest day for us as we left at daybreak and didn’t arrive in Ocracoke until shortly after dark a distance of nearly 80 miles.  Going down the twisty channel in the twilight and then dark was a bit unnerving and I was very glad to have Jim along.  At one point we nearly ran aground as the marks had been moved a good deal compliments of Matthew so the charts weren’t the same as what marked the channel.  A combination of temporary floating marks and pilings sunk in the sand, many of which were unlit and hard to see made it just a blast… NOT!

As we left today, the treachery of the channel was brought into sharp focus as we passed a large shrimp boat hard aground in about the same spot where we had a “near brush” with a sandbar last evening.  Another shrimp boat was standing by that hoped to pull them off.  Several hours later I saw on AIS that the boat was still hard aground and his friend was steaming away.  Mission NOT accomplished.

The channel was so narrow that a ferry that was headed into the channel as I left the harbor stood by outside to allow me to pass.  In all the years I have been out on the water today was the only time that a commercial vessel has ever stood down to wait for me to pass.  Tells you something about the dangers in that channel.  This is the ferry.  The night before, when we were entering the little harbor a ferry came in right behind me and shined their searchlight on me as I was approaching the dock to tie up.  It was unnerving, to say the least and the lights blinded me.  We tied up to our friends on Acadia across the dock.  It is indeed a small world to run into friends unannounced.  We enjoyed our visit. So now, forgive me but I am going to bore you with yet another group of “sunset photos”.  “NOOOOOOOO, NOT AGAIN BOB!”  Sorry… it was beautiful with more than a dozen shrimpers plying the waters in the setting sun. Every few minutes the scene changed.  I was struck by this view that looked like liquid silver in the waning light.  Not sure what I’d do with this photo. Perhaps it would make for nice “wallpaper” on my laptop. Tomorrow I rent a car to head back to Hampton to deliver Jim home and then board a train for Stamford CT and a visit with my friend Craig along with a presentation about Cuba to a group that I belong to.  The Corinthians are having their annual meeting on Sunday.  Other than that, nothing going on, nothing of note at all.

In any event, I guess you could say that I am into the home stretch, well at least the home stretch of this chapter.

Once again, I can only say, “details to come”.

As I begin writing this the sun is just peaking over the eastern horizon.  The water is glass calm as we make our way down toward Ocracoke island and then on to Beaufort where I will leave Pandora until mid January.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning from the earliest light when we picked up the anchor.A perfect reflection of the trees on shore.  Brenda, this would make for a lovely tapestry.  Get on it!  Please?A little while later, a full sunrise reflected on the still water.  What a great way to begin the day.On this trip we are taking a different route, one that my crew Jim enjoys.  We will head further east toward the coast, a route that I have not taken before.  Instead of going through the Dismal Swamp Canal, we took the “Virginia Cut” that has a single lock.

It’s a huge lock that carries commercial traffic and there were quite a few boats there when we arrived.Jim has done this route a number of times, most recently just a few weeks ago.  He keeps his boat in the lower Chesapeake and enjoys heading in a loop down to Ocracoke and then returning via the Dismal swamp canal further to the west.

After leaving Hampton shortly after dawn yesterday we headed down past the naval base.  A cruiser was picking up a mooring out in the river.  Just how many sailors does it take?  A lot, it seems.  Aboard Pandora.  It only takes two, one in a pinch. Hey look…  His and hers aircraft carriers.  If the election doesn’t sort itself out next week, there’s one for Hillary and one for Donald.   Now, that would be fun. And speaking of NYC, which I wasn’t, Highlander, Malcomb Forbes’s old yacht was in dry dock in Portsmouth.  I saw here there last fall too.  She’s looking a bit worse for wear.  Too bad. In any event, we are making our way down the ICW and tonight we will take a slip in Ocracoke, go out to dinner and then make our way to Beaufort by Thursday night.

Interestingly, even though this area feels very remote, we have been passed by a half dozen boats in the last few minutes, all large powerboats heading south as a group.   They will get there a lot sooner than us but their “burn rate” is probably 30x greater than us.  Unlike their “cousins” on the CT River, almost everyone slows way down so that they don’t rock us with their wake.  What a welcome contrast.  I guess that’s because they know they might run into us sometime in the future.  At home, they couldn’t care less as they blast along leaving a 4’ wake to toss us around.  Very unfortunate.

Speaking of “carbon footprint”, on the last day of the programs in preparation for the Salty Dawg Rally to the BVI, we were treated to a live USCG “rescue” right off of the marina docks.  It was just amazing to see the chopper hovering a few hundred feet from us.  Before the chopper arrived a small cutter was on scene to be sure that nobody strayed into the “hurricane zone” while the chopper was hovering overhead.Our “MC” for the discussion that proceeded the “rescue” we had two “Coasties” who shared a lot of terrific information on how to do our best to avoid a ride in a chopper in the future.   Very nice guy but he did look serious.  “I’d like a show of hands if you have an EPIRB on board.  Another if it’s registered with your current information.” Everyone’s hand went up.  Then he smiled.Our rescue chopper is the only one in the USCG that is painted yellow instead of sporting the normal diagonal orange stripe.  We were told that it was a “centennial edition” marking the 100^th anniversary of the USCG.  Think of it as sort of “Eddie Bauer” USCG chopper edition without the soft denim settees.  Well, perhaps not exactly like that because they have to be able to hose everything down after all the salt what they kick up.  “Hey you, scuba man, yeah I’m talking to you! Rinse off before you sit there. This is s a special edition craft you are dripping on.”

“Do I have to go? It’s really windy out there.”  It was windy with about 20kts from the north and the salt spray kicked up by the massive down-wash from the spinning rotors coated all of the boats in the marina with a fine mist of salt.Then they lowered him to the water.  For a second “rescue” he jumped. All and all, it was a fascinating experience with everyone feeling better prepared and more certain than ever that they wanted to do whatever they could to avoid having one of these guys swim up to their boat and greeting them with “Good morning.  I’ll be your rescue swimmer today.”

It’s comforting to know that the USCG has my back and that if I ever have to “pop my EPIRB” and call for help, that the “Calvary” will be on their way soon enough.  Oh yeah, if you want a chopper ride, don’t go more than about 250 miles from shore as that’s their limit.  Of course, they have boats to but they are WAY SLOWER.

So, with no need for rescue on the horizon, here we are motoring along in flat calm on a beautiful morning.   What a way to go.   It’s beautiful day indeed.

Oh yeah, you know the thing about “cruising is boat repair in exotic places?”.  Yesterday was fun as my head macerator pump croaked and spilled raw sewerage into the bilge.  That was fun.  Sorry, no photos but be assured that there was plenty of cleanup with bleach after I was done, Brenda.

Happily, I carry a spare, now installed, so all’s well.  Such is the fun of boating.