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?

 

 

 

 

It’s Wednesday here in Cienfuegos and we aren’t really planning to do anything in particular today.    It’s been quite hot lately and touring the city has made for some very hot and sticky afternoons spent looking for shade and a cool place to sit and relax.   However, I still needed to head to the marina to get some diesel fuel as we are running a bit low after so many miles of motoring in light winds.  Fuel is expensive here at  $1 CUC per liter so with the exchange it’s probably about three times as expensive as in the US.  Bummer about that as I had heard that it was very cheap here.  Not so…

With regards to the heat, I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise as we are at the 20^th parallel, the Tropic of Cancer, the official line marking the boundary between the sub-tropics and tropics.   If the temperature is any indication, we are solidl in the tropics.

The last few nights have been particularly hot and we have resorted to running the little Honda generator to power our forward air conditioning as it was just so hot and stuffy with not a breath of wind.  It works pretty well to run the AC, cool down the forward cabin and then turn it off when we go to bed.  By the time the cabin warms up the air outside has cooled and we were able to open some hatches.  It works well.  I have to say that I am not a fan of trying to sleep when it’s oppressively hot.

We had planned to tie up to the dock so we could run the AC but after seeing how few cruisers were opting for the dock here we decided not to take any chances with poor quality electrical service that probably wouldn’t run our AC anyway.   We hesitate to run the generator much in the late evening as it’s pretty noisy but with loud music coming from shore I doubt that anyone heard the Honda over the music anyway.  Last night there was very loud music coming from shore that didn’t quit till nearly 2:00AM.  What’s with that on a Tuesday night?  I doubt that it was a tour group as they are generally pretty “mature” and that’s way past their bedtime.

The marina docks are probably not a good idea as we need to run our watermaker each day for a few hours and we wouldn’t be able to do so on the dock as the water there isn’t clean enough.  We’d prefer not to fill up our tanks with the “fresh” water at the dock is a bit suspect, at best.  As it is, the water in the harbor is only marginally clean enough, a few hundred yards off of the dock where we are anchored, to use the watermaker and I have needed to clean the filters every few days.  Silt in the water clogs up the filters every few days and the output from the unit is less than it should be.  Actually, the watermaker that came with the boat is a good one but the output is just too low at a bit under 6gph for our water usage.  As our daily consumption is in the 15 gallon range and it takes three plus hours of run time to make enough water just to break even each day.  The unit that I took off of our other boat makes twice that amount so I am going to retrofit it to this boat over the coming summer.  It is a two speed unit so I can opt to run it on the slower mode if needed, to conserve electricity or on a faster mode if we are under power or need more water faster.  With an output giving me to option of either 7 or 14 gallons per hour, it’s a nice combination and with that we never really felt that we were going to run short of water, even if we needed to rinse off the boat to remove accumulated salt.

Swapping out the units isn’t as simple as unplugging one and putting in the other but I think that the local tech guy for Spectra, the company that makes the unit, will help me make it right.

Having a watermaker is very important to us and having a unit with the appropriate capacity makes a big difference.  There are plenty of cruisers that don’t have a watermaker but we feel strongly about this and regard the flexibility that we get from having the ability to have adequate fresh water to be critical to our comfort aboard..

And speaking of hot, it’s also been plenty sunny and one thing for sure is that the solar panels love it here and are putting out plenty of power that generally covers our needs including running the watermaker.

The other day I filled the dink with a half foot of water at the dock and used it to sponge down the hull that had gotten pretty streaked and salt stained over the last month.  A dark green hull shows just about every spot and lives true to the adage, “there are only two colors for a boat, white and stupid”.   Let me tell you that dark green is very, very stupid but it does look great when it’s clean and streak-free.   And, to add insult to injury, it’s plenty hot baking in the tropical sun as well.  However, with a dark hull, I am inclined to say “you look marvelous darling” when Pandora is clean.

While I was cooling off and reading a book after washing Pandora down, two girls rowed up in a two man (women) shell and asked for a cup of water.  They had been getting a pretty good workout and clearly were thirsty.   They posed nicely for a photo.  The shells here get a good daily workout and look like they have been rowed hard for many years.  I expect that they (the shells, not the girls) predate the embargo.Interestingly, the other day, the Harvey Gamage, a schooner from Portland Maine that does educational programs, arrived here in the harbor.  We have seen her many times over the years as we cruised in Maine.   I stopped by to say HI and learned that they are visiting Cuba to check out possible options to hold educational programs in the future.  They too had taken a long time to get the appropriate approvals to come here.
Holly, one of deck hands invited me and Brenda to joint them for lunch yesterday and it was a lot of fun to spend time in the mess talking about their lives and travels.   Interestingly, Holly is a grandmother of 12 and has spent a lot of time aboard classic ships over the years.   She’s plenty salty and like any grandmother, eager to show pictures of her family to me and Brenda after lunch.   Seeing photos on her iPhone while aboard a historic schooner was an interesting juxtaposition of the traditional and modern.They do their cooking on a diesel fired stove, I think they call it “the beast”.   It takes over an hour to heat up so they have to be sure that they are really ready to be hot and NEED to have something cooked before they commit to all that heat down below.  I’ll bet that it can make the galley nearly uninhabitable on a hot day.  Did I say that it’s hot here?

There is plenty of room for eating in the mess and there has to be as the Harvey Gamage has a full time crew of ten and carries up to about 20 passengers.The Harvey Gamage was built in 1973 in South Portland Maine, the last ship to come from the yard of the same name.  She splits her time between New England and the Caribbean on her educational mission.  She’s nearly 100’ long and draws 10’.   That’s a lot of boat and just cooking for a hungry group of hard working sailors would keep things hopping and hot up in the galley.On deck she’s all business and well maintained. It would be great to have her visit the CT River Museum in Essex to put on one of her educational programs.  I am sure that the community would really embrace any activity that they brought to town.  However, with a mast height of 97’ and a CT River Rt 95 Highway bridge clearance of 81’ it might take some surgery with the top mast to make it under, even at low tide.   It’s still worth exploring though so I think I’ll pay another visit to her before we leave here in a few days.

One way or the other, it was great to see her here in the harbor, a bit of “home” away from home for us here in Cuba.    Perhaps we will see her in Maine this summer as it’s looking like we may spend some time there too after quite a few years away from our old stomping grounds.  Brenda and I do miss the beautiful scenery or is it the cooler temperatures?

Besides, thinking of Maine is helping keep me cool.  Did I mention that it’s hot here these days?  It is…

 

 

 

It’s been said that “every time someone smokes a cigarette they lose a minute of their life and that minute is given to Keith Richards”.  Having seen him in action at last night’s concert in Havana, I’d say that is surely true.  And, with all the cigarette smokers here in Cuba, I believe that he’s sharing some of those minutes with Mick Jagger.

Well, we did it… Brenda and I hopped on a bus (more to come on that in a bit) yesterday morning to Havana to attend the Rolling Stones concert.  And what a “trip” it was.

To get this all organized, we hooked up with someone that our friend (Isn’t that where all important connections are made, anyway?) Lars had met at the marina bar, a Norwegian guy that arranged a shared bus to head go to Havana and then return to Cienfuegos.  It promised to be a very long, but fun, day and did not disappoint.

I have been remiss in not posting a photo of our new friend Lars, without who’s “influence”, I expect that we would not have made the trek.   And, in the interest of full disclosure, after seeing so many vehicles loosely described as “buses”, we were very curious about what we were getting ourselves into.  It turned out fine as our “ride” turned out to be a converted Ford armored truck circa 1952 with co-drivers that weren’t even born when the truck came off of the assembly line in Detroit. Our organizers for the trip were two hard drinking Norwegians and their “girlfriends”, Cuban girls that could have easily passed for their daughters, and that is being generous, along with additional “companionship” provided by an ample supply of beer and Russian vodka.   To further complete the picture their definition of a “Norwegan” bloody Mary consisted of ice, vodka and a whole tomato plopped into a plastic cup.  Very thrifty as the tomato could be used again and again and it was.  And, all of this was in full swing, of course, shortly after 09:00. Even Brenda put on a good game face and had a swig of beer to wash down her Pringle “brunch”.   A perfect way to start the day.  Yum…Lars came along for the ride but would not be with us at the concert as he was meeting up with friends in Havana.  Sans Lars, here’s a shot of our travel companions for the day.The run to Havana took us about 5 hours with quite a few “potty breaks” along the way.   No need for a formal rest-stop, any bush along the highway was good enough, even for the “girls”, Brenda excluded, of course,  good little CT Girl that she is.

The view along the “highway” such as it is, was quite interesting compared to the very mountainous landscape of Eastern Cuba with miles of flat grasslands and sugar cane plantations.   Oddly, this included a 50 kilometer stone wall built a few years ago of volcanic rock found in the nearby fields.  To see this “fence” running alongside the road for mile after mile was something to see.We arrived in Havana around noon and went to a seaside hotel for lunch.   Our traveling companions, and the “girls” in particular, were looking a bit wilted after a morning of heavy partying.  As my dad used to say “what goes down like honey comes up like lye”.  Yes, the beer was gone pretty quick (Editor: I did have a few beers before lunch but don’t tell my mother) and then, present company excluded, a large  dent was put in the vodka supply which turned out to be the “lye” for at least one of the girls.   Not a pretty picture, let me tell you.

The area where we ate, near the pool at the hotel, was very nice and well kept. However, when I headed out to the ocean side, I got a look “behind the curtain” at a part of the hotel that had been ravaged by a hurricane some years ago.  What a contrast and a good example of how many of the buildings in Cuba look “from the other side”.Away from the most popular tourist areas the condition of the “infrastructure” can be pretty alarming. Along the way we passed “embassy row” with some magnificent buildings.  Unfortunately, from inside our “vault” I couldn’t get many photos.  However, I did snap a shot of what I’ll call the “Che’s Inn”.  Boy, do I hope that this post isn’t seen by any “revolutionaries”. About an hour before the concert began we headed out to find a spot to watch the show.   The number of people streaming in as we arrived was just breathtaking.  I can’t even guess how many people were packed into the park by the time the show began but it could have easily been a million or more.   From where I stood, not far from the entrance to the park, I judged that several thousand streamed by every few minutes.

The air was ripe with anticipation and the stage and surrounding speakers and video screens was awe inspiring.  Great people watching including an intimate moment between mother and daughter.  There was also a good amount of heated “discussion” between young couples, perhaps made more testy by the hot still evening air.

I was particularly struck by this Brit showing the “colors” of mother Cuba.  Perhaps a fitting metafore for what the future holds as they re-enter the world stage.I can’t even imagine what it must have cost The Stones to bring in everything to put this show on.  Keep in mind that this concert was free so all anyone had to do was to show up and show up they did.  However, the Stones are no dummies so I am sure that they have found a way to make “free” pay very well for themselves.  Brenda and I really wanted to buy some t-shirts but we never even saw a concession stand of any sort.  Perhaps we arrived too late or were just too far from the stage.

One thing I am sure of is that the Stones don’t do this “just for fun”.  Although, it sure seemed that The Stones were having a great time on the stage.I don’t know how old these guys are but they have got to be in their 70s and look even older but with the energy of a 40 year old.  Make that the energy of a 40 year old after several cans of Red Bull.  I wonder how they look this morning?  Probably not too pretty.While we were a long way from the stage, we had a great view and had no problem hearing the music and what great music it was.

It was an amazing show, I have to say.  Unfortunately, our “tour organizers” decided to leave early with the hope of getting out of town before the “rush” and we made our way back to the “rendezvous” spot only to find that the “bus” was nowhere to be found.  We finally were able to connect with the driver but it took about two hours as the cell lines were totally overwhelmed by a million others trying to make calls as well.

We finally connected with the bus around midnight and headed back to Cienfuegos.    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that armored cars are designed to carry very heavy loads so the shocks are set up, to be kind, very “firm”.   So rough, in fact, that Brenda’s pedometer was registering every bump in the road, 37,000 of them before we even arrived in Havana.  That’s a L-O-O-O-O-O-OT of bumps.

By the time we made it back to the marina it was about 03:30 and we were TOTALLY ready to hit the rack but not before I took a quick and very bracing cold shower to rinse off the grime of the day.

All and all, what a “trip” it was for a couple of “60 somethings” and, for sure, one that will be tough to beat.   When we were planning our trip to Cuba I can tell you that Brenda and I NEVER imagined that we’d be seeing the Rolling Stones LIVE along the way and just one more example of how almost nothing is as we expected here in Cuba.

Yes, Cuba is changing and we are very lucky to be here to experience it first hand, if only in a small way, as it unfolds.

It’s Thursday and Pandora is anchored in Cienfuegos Cuba about half way down the southern coast of Cuba.  Nearby is the Cienfuegos Yacht Club and a throwback to a very different time here in Cuba.  It’s now used as a high end spot to cater meals for tourists and it’s hopping most every day.    It’s nice to see the club from Pandora.  This is the grand view from the street.  And, there’s a nice pool and tennis courts on the property.  We arrived several days ago and have enjoyed touring this very unique city.   After a few weeks of cruising in very remote areas, it is good to be back in “civilization”, although a very different one than Brenda and I are used to.   Interestingly, we had been told that boats had to use the marinas and could only anchor out, for a modest fee, with permission.  However, we are finding that most all boats anchor as the docks are pretty rough and the electricity isn’t particularly good either.  And, as we prefer to anchor out this is good news.  Besides, as a practical matter, there are not nearly enough slips to accommodate all the visiting yachts so anchoring “permission” is granted.  I think the fee is .25/ft per day.  Happily, the holding here is very good in mud and sand unlike that in Santiago where we dragged a few times.

And now for something completely different..  On Friday Brenda and I will leave Pandora at anchor and head on a bus(or is it the back of a panel truck?)  for a 3+ hour ride to Havana with some other cruising friends, including Lars from Luna.  Lars is the free spirit from Norway that has lived aboard his sloop Luna for the last 14 years or so.  We have shared an anchorage with him several times over the last few weeks.  I guess that it’s his “free spirited” influence on Brenda that we plan to attend, believe it of now, the Rolling Stones concert in Havana.

If you were to have asked me a few months ago what we’d be doing here in Cuba I have to say that going to a Stones concert with perhaps as many as 500,000 of our closest friends and leaving Pandora unattended on the hook here in Cienfuegos, I’d have said that you were nuts.

In any event, off we go to Havana tomorrow and to really complete the picture, we don’t even know if we have a place to stay or if we will be coming back to Pandora right afterward.   Don’t blame me, it’s all Brenda’s idea.   Now, that will keep us up well past “cruiser’s midnight” AKA: 9pm.

Brenda has been the driver behind seeing the Stones and I’d  say that this cruising life is really corrupting her as she throws caution to the wind, or is it the influence of that Norwegian scallywag Lars?   Hmm…

Well, I guess you will just have stay tuned to learn if we end up sleeping on a park bench or worse, in Havana.    Frankly, I am wondering if we will even be close enough see the concert using our binoculars given the fact that a similar concert in Rio Di Janeiro a few years ago drew over a million people.    Well we missed Woodstock so at least we will be able to tell our boys, Rob and Chris, that we “went to see the Stones in Havana” even if we never actually “see” them.   Details to come…

One thing that’s certain is that our trip to Havana will be good for another post so stay tuned.

As we were making our way toward Cienfuegos, Chris Parker had told us that a strong cold front would be coming through the day that we were headed here so we planned to time our arrival to happen before the front arrived with adverse winds.

We left that morning early in very light SE winds to make the last 50 mile run to Cienfuegos and Chris predicted that the wind would shift against us around sunset, about the time that we expected to arrive here.  Oops.  That’s not what happened.  A squall line came through about noon when we still had about 35 miles to go and brought with it adverse winds, nearly on the nose that gusted to 30kts.  It made for a very rough and slow ride motor-sailing into the wind.   However things got better as the day progressed with the wind shifting enough to allow us to motor-sail on a close reach so our speed over the bottom went from about 4kts to over 8kts at the end and we arrived before it got dark.  It was a very long and unpleasant day for Brenda but she was a good sport.

Cienfuegos, like Santiago de Cuba, is a very large harbor, about 50 square miles and very well protected behind an impossibly narrow deep entrance guarded by a fort. And just in case we might have forgotten that we were still in Cuba, were greeted by this inspiring message as we entered the harbor.   Images of Fidel, Raoul and Che are everywhere.  Interestingly, the images of Fidel displayed make him look like the kindly grandfather now and not the fire-breathing revolutionary of the past.

The day after our arrival we enjoyed a nice, if overpriced lunch at a government run restaurant in a magnificent “Moroccan” style mansion.  What an amazing building and in near perfect condition.The interior was totally over the top.  Our son Rob loves remodeling so perhaps he can take a cue from this and do some carvings in his dining room.   How about it Rob?  How would this look with Kandice’s Home Goods décor?

There is a rooftop bar with an amazing view.  Perhaps Brenda and I will go there tonight to watch the sunset.  There’s quite a view from the bar.  I wonder how we’ll do coming down the spiral staircase after a few mojitos?

Even though this is a major city, clogged with cars, trucks and motorcycles spewing exhaust as they zoom by, it also boasts a healthy population of pedal cabs and horse drawn carts. The contrast of the old and (sort of) new is amazing and yet It seems to fit here.  And with everyone employed by the State, there are plenty of workers to keep the streets clean and bushes neatly trimmed.  While in many ways things are run down but they are very neat and tidy way that only “full employment” would allow.

Unlike Santiago de Cuba, with perhaps less than ten visiting boats in the harbor, Cienfuegos has dozens of boats at anchor and there are even four boats here from the U.S. the first cruisers that we have seen from The States, since clearing into Cuba in early March.

Yesterday, I decided that we needed some bread so I set off early to find a bakery.   As the only bakery nearby was in downtown Cienfuegos, a 30 minute walk, I opted to take a “Peso bus” with the locals.   As I have mentioned, there are two types of cash here, the CUC “cook” that trade at about $.85 U.S. and the “Local Peso” that trade at 25 to one CUC.  Anyway, the bus, used by Cubans, costs one Peso, about  five cents.   As you can imagine, these busses are very popular and wow, was it packed with morning commuters.   Forget about finding a seat. It was standing room only, at best.

After asking several locals, Spanish/English phrase book in hand, I found the bakery.  There was a long line outside of locals waiting to purchase bread and after about a half hour in line, the bread came out of the oven and in we all went to make our purchases.  Most shops in Cuba do not provide any sort of shopping bag so you have to bring your own.  Often, there is someone standing outside the shop selling plastic bags for one “local” Peso.  My purchase, two foot long loaves of bread, 8 local pesos each, less than a dollar total.

Any sort of “necessity” for the locals is heavily subsidized and very cheap.  However, that’s not the case with fuel that is sold for a set rate of $1 CUC/liter, about $5 a gallon.

It’s always interesting to see lines form outside of shops waiting to make their purchases when they find that something they need will soon be for sale.   There are no fully stocked stores so any shopping trip is more like a scavenger hunt to many shops, looking for what you need.  As an example, yesterday Brenda and I purchased butter and cheese.  The “deli” counter had only one type of cheese, sold in one kilo chunks, sort of salty mozzarella, and small half pound blocks of butter in a silver wrapper.  Oddly, we had to pay for the butter at the checkout and then show the receipt to the person in the deli before he would give it to us.   No so for the cheese which was weighed, priced and then given to us to pay for at the front register.  Needless to say, the process was very confusing for us and caused quite a backup at the register as we tried to understand the procedure.   I think that it had something to do with butter being rationed however everyone was good natured as we muddled our way through the process.

In the center of Cienfuegos, is a lovely square surrounded by magnificent buildings and a magnificent theater or opera house.  The buildings are in beautiful condition. What a ceiling decorated to the max. Some of the buildings on the square had cafes out front. We stopped and sat for a while in one while listening to a wonderful group of musicians.  They performed beautifully.  What a treat.   Love the spiral stairs in this tower.We went into the theater to take a look around.  It was built in the 1800s and is in near perfect condition.  It was a throwback to an earlier time of great wealth in Cuba.    We learned that there is a play being put on in the theater on Sunday so if we aren’t totally “concerted out” by then, perhaps we’ll give it a try.

When we return home to CT I hope to give a talk at the Essex Yacht Club and couldn’t resist getting a shot of myself holding the club colors.  I’ll bet it’s been a long time since the EYC colors have been flown in Cuba and this shot “proves it”, I guess.Of course, there was a great selection of beautifully maintained classic taxis to feast your eyes on here like everywhere in Cuba.  How about this old Ford?  As is often the case, not all together original.  Love the roof racks.  It must take an amazing amount of dedication to keep them looking like this after decades of hard daily work.  Of course, many don’t look like this at all but many re just amazing.

In any event, with the Stones concert in Havana on Friday, our pending bus trip and who knows what else that may lie ahead as we make our way through Cuba I guess it’s safe to say that “Rolling Stones gather no moss” is a phrase that certainly applies to Pandora and her crew this winter.

Perhaps even more amazing, Brenda, the “vagabond” and risk taker?  Who knew?  I guess more contact with wayward sailors like Lars will fully corrupt her.  Before you know it, she’ll be puffing away on a cigar and having shots of Cuban rum.  Now, that’s an image…

And speaking of the “for the moment, free spirit” Brenda, you should check out her blog at www.argoknot.com to see if I speak the truth.