Logbook and Photos

By the time we are finished with Belize, we are really getting pushed for time if we want see Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, visit Cuba, get to the US mainland, and begin our Atlantic crossing before the real onset of hurricane season.  The weather is still giving us strong northerlies when it's supposed to be east and southeast by now.   On a small weather window, we pinch hard and sail for the very far west end of Cuba, skipping Mexico altogether.  Mexico's great tacos will have to wait for another visit.

After a rough 55-hour sail, we arrive at Cabo San Antonio, Cuba's most westerly outpost.   It's close to dark as we pull near so we radio the Cuban port officials and ask if our tired and dirty crew can do the clear-in procedures in the morning rather than now.   They agree but are all there anyway in their fresh-pressed whites to help tie Tioga up to the wharf as the sun sets.  Not many visitors out here??  The next morning, we are all sleeping peacefully in bed when a 'knock, knock' is heard on the hull.   It's 6:00 am…customs and immigration already?.   We soon discover that we've come through a 2 hour time zone change - it's 8:00! We hop up slinging on our cloths as untold Cuban officials board Tioga: Customs, Immigration, Port Captain, Health Inspector, Veterinarian, marina administrator, assistants, forms and stamps... After about 2 hours of thorough inspection and form stamping we are officially cleared into Cuba!

Well, we are now on Cuba's western-most point.  Havana would be about a 2-day sail if the winds were to cooperate.  The wind is whistling straight out of the east and northeast right down the Florida Straits and against the very strong Gulf Stream Current, making it very dangerous for all craft let alone small craft.  There is no let-up forecast.  A boat tied behind us advises us that we can make it most of the way to Havana by staying inside the protective reef and with careful piloting - it's very shallow water.  They burn us a CD with all the Cuban hydrographic charts and we scan some pages out of their guide book.  It's probably our only option.  In the mean time, we get to know the locals.  Sheila makes cookies and we all head up to the staff quarters with cookies and tea in hand along with our dominoes game, which we play with the staff who work and live here on their shift. They really enjoy the cookies!  They have a place for hanging the banners and burgees from past visitors, so we give them a burgee from the Glenmore Sailing Club, which we all sign and write Calgary, Canada on.

Though we didn't plan on cruising the NW shore of Cuba, we really enjoy the 5 days it takes us to reach Havana, even though reef pilotage is slow and tiring.   We meet locals, provide temporary shelter for some fishermen from an almost zero-visibility rainstorm, trade for sea food, go ashore here at Cayo Levisa to stretch our legs, while the wind blows 35kts outside the reef  to the left in the picture, and see some incredible scenery.  We even go aground once, but managed to free ourselves and slow our racing hearts. 

We are temporarily anchored in Bahia Honda.  At 2:09AM we raise anchor in the dark and give a blast on the air horn to let the nearby Port Captain, asleep in his hovel, know that we are leaving as planned.  We now must travel outside the reef's protection and in the Florida Strait.  Early morning winds, though on the nose, are as light (8-12kt) as we could hope for to complete the last 38 miles into Havana's Marina Hemingway.  At around 9:30AM, we tie up at the custom's dock and once again are kept entertained for about an hour as officials go through our boat with a fine tooth comb, fill out all their forms, and seal off our portable VHF and GPS. After our dock assignment, we scout out the marina. There's a nice swimming pool, a handful of stores with a few supplies, so we'll manage.

Today, we go for a tour with a horse and buggy around Old Havana (La Habana Vieja) to get a feel for the place.  Yet, before we can even get going our driver has an accident with a parked car!  He fires off some rapid Spanish at the parked car's nearby owner, shrugs and  grins, and off we go.

Havana is a beautiful old city.   Historically, it was never intended to be capital of Cuba because its location was too far from the island's centre to effectively administrate.  But as Spain's heavily-laden treasure ships began returning from their conquests in Mexico and Peru, using the fast moving Gulf Stream to propel them along, sea-side Havana soon became the "key" to Spain's vast empire.

In 1956 Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, a political activist and former lawyer, and about 80 armed followers returned from exile in Mexico and landed on the southern shore of Cuba in the yacht Granma, shown to the left. Government troops killed most of the rebels during the landing, but Castro and a handful of men escaped to the mountains of eastern Cuba, where they continued a guerrilla campaign to oust the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Batista, who's  government was well known for its widespread corruption,   finally fled the island on January 1, 1959 eventually ending up in Spain with over $300 million amassed through bribery and embezzlement.  Castro soon after emerged as the leader of the new government in Cuba.

This banner of a younger Fidel and right-hand man 'Che' Guevara (later killed by the CIA in Bolivia) adorns the wall of a building in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución. Banners and murals that promote the political ideals of the Cuban government decorate a number of Havana’s buildings.

Today, with the US embargo tightening further and the rhetoric between G.W. Bush and Castro turning yet more venomous, the difficult times continue with the Cuban people caught in the middle.  In the Cuba we are visiting, we are overwhelmed by friendly and good-natured people .  Everyone has a comment to share about the current state of affairs, whether good or bad, and hope shines through that things will indeed get better.

Well, back in our own life, the weather picture shows upcoming improvement with a long awaited break forecast for the wind and seas.  Time for some quick boat chores, as our stop in Miami will be brief and busy...we have an ocean yet to cross!  Within days we and probably a dozen other boats will leave for various points in Florida.   The talk around the dock has us a little nervous about having to clear in with US immigration.    Looking for the Florida-Cuban vote G.W. Bush had just passed further legislation, among other things, prohibiting any vessel, foreign or domestic from visiting Cuba.

Today, we get underway shortly after 9am, destination Miami. The seas are so much calmer than when we came in and the wind a nice 12 knots. Over the course of the day, the wind rises to about 18 knots maximum so we cruise along quite comfortably. We hit the Gulf Stream and the GPS picks up to show about 7.5 knots speed over the ground. The night passage is calm, just lots of traffic to watch out for…mainly cruise ships. On Sheila's first shift, the GPS shows 8.5 knots and then later Chris reports 10 kts., so the Gulf Stream is really pushing us along.  Friday morning brings our first glimpses of the US as we pass the Florida Keys and with great help from the current, we make it to the Miami shipping channel by about 5:30pm!  As we enter the narrow channel, we are overwhelmed by the amount of power boats zipping past us and airplanes flying low overhead with advertisement banners streaming out the back.  By the time we get to the anchorage, it is far too late to go to shore so we scrounge up yet one more meal aboard our boat that has not seen much for provisions since Panama!  But, we made it!