Havana

We motored through the narrow channel and tied up at the clearance dock at Marina Hemingway.  You are not allowed to anchor in Havana, all boats must go to the Marina.  We went through the usual clearing in process, but this time they also brought in the drug and ammunition sniffing dogs.  One of the customs officials had his hand out more than any other we had come across in Cuba.  The clearing in process took a few hours and then we were assigned to our “slip”.  Really, it is nothing more than a spot to tie up to alongside a wall in a narrow canal with boats on either side.  We weren’t sure how we were going to turn around as we would hit the boat on the other side of the canal if we tried, but we would figure that out another day.  We were put in front of the all-inclusive hotel and were treated to music every night!  The Marina has seen some better days and the pool is no longer in service, but it was nice to be in Havana anyway!   The dockage in the marina was $0.45 per foot per day and the water was metered.  We didn’t hook up to the electric.  The marina property also includes a small grocery store where you can get your basic necessities, including rum!  We found a little bar as well and treated ourselves to some mojitos, of course! 

Havana Centro

We took advantage of the fresh water and washed down the boat and did much needed laundry the next morning.  Then, in the afternoon, we couldn’t wait any longer and decided to trek into Havana itself.  We tried our hand at figuring out the bus situation…what an adventure!  We walked about 5 minutes to the exit of the marina compound, crossed the street and started looking for the buses that said “Habana”.  They come by fairly regularly, so we hoped on that, paying 2 pesos each and thinking it was going to take us right into the city…not so much.  It took us to the main bus “street” (rather than stop) where every bus in the area connects through.  We asked the bus driver which bus to Havana and he told us (I think it was the P1, but don’t rely totally on that!)  We went over to the area of that bus and there never really is a line – you are supposed to ask who is the last person that got there, and when the bus shows up, you get on after that person.  Good theory, but in reality, when the bus comes it is a free for all and everyone just shoves until you get on.  That bus also cost about 2 pesos, but it is a crap shoot if you have to pay or not – depending on if they guy can reach you to get your money.  We were squished in like sardines, sweating, but to take your mind off of that, they blare Cuban music in the bus.  If you are lucky, you get to stand by a window – if not, you stand by a sweaty armpit holding on for dear life as the bus makes crazy turns!  Anyway, we rode for what seemed like 45 minutes and thought we must be getting close and had no idea where we were, so we just got off.  Well, we learned from the closest bar we could find that we were in Verdado which is a suburb just outside the main part of the city.  We were told we could walk to downtown, so we started a long walk toward the Malecon (the wide sidewalk by the seawall).  It was a pretty far walk but we got to see the majority of 23^rd Street, which is one of the main streets.  We walked by jazz clubs, dance clubs, old movie theaters, and a variety of restaurants.  We reached the Malecon and walked along it for a while.  We had aspirations of walking all the way to Old Havana, but realized it was a little too far and back tracked.  Of course, we made a few mojito stops and around midnight decided to go back to the marina.  Instead of getting back on the bus we opted to take a private taxi – this time another ’57 Chevy and negotiated 10 CUC for the 6 of us.  Instead of the 2 hour bus ride, the taxi only took about 15 minutes! 

Peso Cafe Bar

The next day, we decided to go straight to Old Havana via a taxi rather than the bus!  About 20 minutes and 8 CUC poorer (better negotiating this time) we were in the middle of historic Old Havana in Plaza de San Francisco.  It is a picturesque plaza, surrounded by a beautiful chapel and old buildings.  We wandered through the cobble stone streets and bought tamales from a street vender.  The cool thing was the cook was making them in her kitchen three stories up and sending them down in a bucket on a rope!  We passed by the Museo del Chocolate where they have reportedly the best hot chocolate (we later got some and can confirm that it is indeed awesome hot chocolate).

Cathedral de San Cristobal de la Habana

We found a local peso restaurant amid the more expensive CUC restaurants and had a great local meal of fried eggs and French fries for about $3 US.  But the best find was the 1 peso ($0.04 US) espresso bar!   It was a U-shaped bar that was lined all around by people.  The espresso makers just kept brewing the tiny cups of coffee and sliding them down the bar to eagerly awaiting people.  They had old glass containers of sugar on the counter that you could help yourself to.  It was some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. 

We walked over to Plaza de la Cathedral, saw the Cathedral de San Cristobal de la Habana, built between 1748-1787, which one novelist described as “music set in stone”.   We had a mojito at the Restaurante El Patio upstairs on their balcony overlooking the plaza.  It was starting to rain, but the views were still amazing.  We were only a block away from La Bodeguita del Medio, one of the two bars in Havana that Earnest Hemingway made famous, so we darted through the rain to the small bar.  There is a handwritten note in the bar from Hemingway which says “My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita”, so of course, one can’t go in there without having a mojito!  It was pretty crowded and touristy, so we had our cocktail and boogied out of there, following our ears to great traditional Cuban music floating out of yet another watering hole that was right around the corner.  We went inside huge wood doors to find a nice cozy bar with a 4 person band.  We decided we needed to do a taste test between the 7 year and 15 year Havana Club.  The 7 year is good, but man oh man is the 15 year smooth.  Later, we looked at the prices of the 15 year Havana Club in the rum stores and it was 150 CUC!  There weren’t too many people in the bar and so the band played directly to us and even made Cathy and Dena come up to be their back up dancers!  We had a quick bite to eat and decided to head back to the marina as the rain wasn’t letting up yet and we were pretty drenched.  

Parque Central

The following morning, we made our pilgrimage back to the city, this time to check out Centro Habana.  The streets are much wider than in Old Havana and have a middle section that pedestrians can stroll down under trees’ shady protection from the glaring sun.  As we made our way toward Parque Central, the street scenes looked like something out of a movie with all the old American cars, grand old buildings and colorful people.  Parque Central is home to a statue of Jose Marti as well as lots of locals gossiping about baseball.  We continued our walking tour towards the Capitolio Nacional, which is very similar to the US Capitol Building.  Along the way, we came across the best 5 peso pork sandwiches on the street.  

Capitolio Nacional

Unfortunately along the way, we also met one of many street hustlers.  We had been doing well up until that point of picking them out, but this one got us.  We had asked where we could find another peso espresso bar and a young woman told us to follow her.  We did, and she led us to a bar/coffee shop.  We were a little skeptical but went in with her.  She immediately ordered four cups of coffee and a cocktail for herself.  Her “husband” just happened to walk in at the same time and she invited him for a drink as well.  At this point, we knew something was up but didn’t really want to make a scene.  So we quickly drank our coffee and said we were going to go.  She tried to get us to buy her milk because she claimed she was pregnant, and we pointed out that if she was indeed pregnant, then she shouldn’t be drinking cocktails!  Anyway, we got our bill and it was a staggering 30 CUC!  We tried to argue but to no avail.  We later learn that hustlers bring stupid tourists into these places, order drinks, the bartender charges a huge amount and the hustler goes back later to get their piece.  Just be more careful than we were! 

Hemingway

Our next stop was to check out Hemingway’s other favorite bar, El Floridita.  At the bar, there is a bronze statue of Hemingway at his favorite stool.  We just went in to snap some pictures and then had Hemingway’s infamous daiquiri at the bar next door where the prices were much more reasonable.  We then popped next door to El Casa del Ron Y Del Tabaco Cubano (Cuban rum and cigar store).  There was any kind of Cuban cigar or rum there you wanted at reasonable prices. 

We made our way over to Calle Obispo which is a nice street to walk down that is lined with small shops where you can buy Cuban crafts and souvenirs.  There was also a bar in a garden setting that had a great band playing local music, so of course we had to stop and relax.  Kevin, the only guy among three women, welcomed the cold beer as well after dealing with us all day!  We then had to go back to the Capital building to find Josh and Connor.  They had a local guy hanging out with them as usual, and he offered to show us a good place to eat.  He took us in the back streets to a few of his friends’ houses which doubled as restaurants but they were all pretty expensive.  So, we broke off on our own and found a great chic restaurant which was also in local pesos!  The name was Mango Habana  Restaurante – Cafeteria on the corner of Industria and San Miguel.  The décor was all swanky red, they played old MTV videos from the ‘80s and had the best food we had experienced in Cuba and good white wine too, all at a reasonable cost.  

The Blue Bomber with Dad and Son

After dinner, we walked back out to the Parque Central area and spotted a great old blue car that almost looked like a hearse!  There were two young guys who were driving it for their dad as a private taxi.  We chatted with them a bit and talked them into taking us to a nightclub for a few hours and then take us back to Marina Hemingway, all for about $15!  We all piled in – it was very big fit all eight of us very comfortable.  The windows were all Plexiglas and it looked like the entire car had been repaired with Bondo, but it got us where we wanted to go!  They took us first to their favorite night club and we hung out there with them, had a few beers and danced with the locals.  At about 2am, we decided we had better be getting back to the boats.  On the way, we talked with them about picking us up in a few days to take a tour of the countryside outside of Havana.  They told us they would have to talk to their dad, but it should be okay. 

The following day, Maria and I went back to Old Havana just to wander around some more and pick up presents for our families back home.  We had heard from the young taxi drivers and set up a tour for the next day for about $60 USD. 

Swimming Hole

The next morning, the Dad and his son met us out front on the Marina with their blue bomber.  We drove for about an hour, watching the city fade to the countryside and then stopped at a nice little place for a cup of coffee.  We continued on driving until we got to a pretty little resort complex with a big pond, boat house and two monkeys living on a small island in the middle of the lake!  We bought some churros, which is basically fried dough, from a guy who was making them fresh from his portable stand.  We explored the property a bit, found Maria’s coffee house and had another café con leche, and then headed off to have lunch at a local restaurant.  We shared spaghetti, pork, rice and beans, all for about $3 US per person.  It was pretty good food and you can’t beat the price.  We found pineapples being sold from the back of a horse pulled cart, and couldn’t resist buying a few.

Our next stop was a beautiful swimming hole where all the locals go.  We didn’t bring bathing suites, but sat on shady spots on rocks and put our feet in the water as the little fishes swam around them.  It was a great, relaxing spot.  It was getting later in the afternoon and so we started our drive back.  Along the way, we stopped at a nice beach and made it back to the marina just as the sun was going down. 

Our great friends, Dena and Kevin from Sabbaticus

Kevin needed beer after dealing with us

Since we were planning on leaving soon, we spent the following day getting ready for our trip to Mexico.  One big thing we needed to do was to fuel up.  Since I couldn’t use credit cards nor my ATM card, I had been carefully watching my dwindling money supply.  Between the marina bill and imminent fuel bill, I figured I had just enough.  Both Sabbaticus and ourselves need fuel, so Kevin and I went to talk to the Dock Master about how to get fuel and to settle our bill.  The fuel dock is on the end of one of the canals but is not run by the marina.  Maria had US dollars left, and Kevin offered to pay my fuel with his Canadian credit card and she would give him US dollars so that she didn’t have to pay the 10% surcharge.  That sounded great to us, until the fuel guy told us we couldn’t use a credit card.  What!  A fuel dock that only accepts cash?  We argued with him for a while and finally he called his boss and his boss said he would drive there with a credit card machine.  When we asked?  Tomorrow morning.  Umm, that won’t work.  Okay, in a few hours.  More specific, we asked.  Between 11am and 2pm he told us.  Well, that was as good as we were going to get.  At 11:30, the dock master came by and said the credit card machine was at the fuel dock.  Kevin paid and we jerry canned the fuel to our boat (it was much easier than moving the big boat!).  After that job was done, we went back to the dock master to pay our bill.  I had tried to figure  out what my bill was going to be and figured I had just enough.  We sat down in his office and I got my bill first and Kevin was amazed that I had EXACTLY enough.  We were all congratulating me on my awesome math skills, when the dock master cleared his throat and pointed out the line after the total titled “taxes” and said that was not included.  Opps!  I had no more Cuban money left nor did we have anymore US dollars on board!  Luckily, Kevin lent me $30 so I could pay my bills. 

That evening, Kevin and Dena treated us to dinner at the Chinese restaurant that was on the marina property.  Kevin wanted to use the rest of his CUCs and we told the waiter how much we had to spend.  “No problem” he said and we ordered away.  We asked him if he thought we would have enough money and he said “No problem”.  We ate like kings and the food was very fresh and good.  But, we think the only English words the waiter knew was “No problem” because when the bill came, there was a problem!  We didn’t have enough CUCs to cover it and all Kevin had left was US dollars, which the restaurant didn’t accept.  We told the waiter our problem and he talked to his boss.  They just kind of murmured amongst themselves, and Kevin shoved the rest of his CUCs and some US dollars in the bill and we scurried out of there.  What a classic last dinner!

The next morning we had to say goodbye to our good friends on Sabatticus as they were heading to Florida and we were sailing to Mexico.  We had to stop at the clearance dock to get our Zarpe, which took about an hour and a half and then we were on our way to our next adventures!

Cuba is an amazing place and I hope everyone gets a chance at some point to see it.  The officials don’t care if you are American, it is our government that doesn’t want us to go there, not theirs.  Don’t be afraid of Cuba – it is a wonderful country.

Quick side note – for those of you who are trying to go from Havana back to the States, we had spoken to many non-Americans on foreign flagged vessels who had done it.  Most who went into Key West, got hassled and threatened to get prosecuted or have their boats taken by Customs.  Many had their cruising permits taken away.   After hearing these horror stories, Kevin and Dena (who are Canadian on a Canadian registered vessel) decided to go Ft Lauderdale to clear in and had no problem at all.  In fact, they later told us that the customs officer told them she just wished everyone would get along!  We have heard through other  people that West Palm or Cape Canaveral or really anywhere North of Lauderdale is okay to go into as well after Cuba, it is only Key West that gives people problems.  

House of Rum and Cuban Cigars

Great old building

Making Churros

Pineapples!

Hemingway's Favorite Mojito Bar

Beautiful Courtyard in the El Patio Restaurant

Mojitos and a Band - what more do you need?

Keeping you in suspense...

Sorry guys, you will have to wait to hear about our adventures in Havana!  We are in Mexico, heading to Honduras tomorrow.  I will finish the Havana blog as well as our advenutures in Isla Mujeres and Cozumel on the way to Roatan.  Stay tuned...

Heading to Havana

We were getting anxious to see the big city, so after about a month of Cay hoping on the south coast, we decided to set our sights on Havana.  We still had about 350 miles ahead of us, so we wanted to get moving.  We opted not to go ashore on the Isla de la Juventud, although we have heard it is pretty.  We sailed along the south coast of the island and anchored for the night in Caleta Puerto Frances.  It is a very pretty spot with crystal clear water and tons of sand dollars on the bottom.  We timed our departure so that we would round Cabo de San Antonio (the southwestern Cape) during the very early morning hours (i.e. 3 – 4am) because we had read that it can get quite nasty rounding the cape and the best time to do it is late evening to early morning when the winds are at their lightest.  We indeed had light winds and an uneventful passage. 

On the way north to Havana, there is a reef that runs for about 120 miles along coast line with some breaks where boats can get through.  Nigel Calder writes that if your draft is 1.8m or less, you can run the entire way inside the reef.  We draw just under 7 feet, and keeping an eye on the tides, we did the majority of the run inside the reef with a few passages outside. 

After rounding the Cape, we headed inside and tried to anchor by Los Arroyos.  According to Nigel Calder’s book, it is a pretty little fishing village with a nice main street to walk up and down.  We never got to see it.  Two Aduana (Customs officials) rowed out to see us in a sinking skiff and asked to come aboard.  They didn’t speak any English but were very friendly.  They asked to see our papers and started the clearing in process.  While one of the officers was completing this process, the other borrowed our VHF to call his boss on shore.  I heard some arguing going on and based on my limited Spanish, knew we had a little problem.  Evidently, we were not allowed to go ashore.  The officer had no idea why, and that was what he was arguing with his boss about.  “No problemo”, I said.  “Was it okay to just anchor for the night and sleep and leave in the morning?”  “Of course”, they said.  Just then, Sabbaticus, our friends, sailed next to us and dropped anchor.  We told the officers who they were and we were sailing together.  The official went back to the VHF and called his boss again.  After much conversation, we were told very nicely, that actually, we were not allowed to anchor there because there was much military around.  We would have to motor to an uninhabited Cay about 2 miles away and anchor there.  And then they say something in Spanish and pointed to their eyes.  I nodded and thought to myself, of course you can watch us leave.   The sun was going down as we motored over to Punta Mosquito and dropped the hook, giving the island a wide berth just in case it lived up to its name.  We cooked some dinner and it was pretty dark outside, so Maria decided to take a quick shower on deck.  We went to sleep and got up around 7 am the next morning to get going.  Don’t you know that pretty close to us, in their sinking dingy, were the two officers from yesterday, drinking coffee and eating breakfast!  They had rowed over some time the night before, slept in their skiff and watched our boat to make sure we didn’t get off of it and leave when we said we would!  As always, they were very friendly and gave us huge smiles and waves as we hauled anchor and continued on our way!  I hope they enjoyed Maria’s shower!!

Our next run took us about 25 miles inside the reef until we got to Cayo Jutias and we had to pop out through the reef for 6 miles to get around the Cayo as there is no passage inside.  We exited at Quebrado de la Galera with no problems.  It wasn’t too bad outside, maybe 6 -7 foot swells, about 8 seconds apart.  We knew the weather was forecasted to pick up, but so far, it was very comfortable.  We motor sailed around the Cay and Sabbaticus called us up on the VHF and said it was only about 18 hours to Havana and did we want to just go for it on the outside.  Like I said, at this point is was fairly comfortable – the waves were on our forward quarter so we were bucking a little bit, but not that bad.  As we got into late afternoon, the winds picked up and so did the sea state and the wave period shortened.  We knew we were running low of fuel but had enough to get to Havana.  We weren’t making great time beating into the seas and was considering going inside to find and anchorage and try again in a little better weather the next day, so we started looking for a break in the reef to go through in case we decided to do this.  We were on a port tack which had us heading toward land when the engine quit.  Great.  Since we were motor sailing, we only had the main up, so we hurried to get some more sail area up.  The wind was at the wrong angle and the seas had built up and we were getting pushed towards the reef.  We were about half a mile away from the reef and we tried to tack (go through the wind), but we did not have enough power under sail alone to get our nose through the seas.  Bugger.  We were now about a quarter mile from the reef and could hear and see the waves breaking.  We had to gybe.  We did a controlled gybe, but the wind was pretty strong and so it was not so controlled and I ended up with a nice rope burn from the main sheet, but we got her around and started sailing as best we could away from the reef.  With that under control, Maria went down to try and get the engine started.  It seems that we had a clogged fuel filter from the all the sludge in the bottom of the tank getting sloshed around and not much fuel.  She switched over to our second racor and then had to bleed the engine – not fun when you are getting tossed around a bit.  Finally the engine started and we let our friends on Sabbaticus know that we were okay and were heading in.  They had put their engine in idle and were waiting to see if we needed help, and they said they had drifted half a mile toward the reef in 20 minutes in those conditions!  Anyway, the break in the reef was pretty wide and we decided to sail in just in case the engine failed again as we were trying to get in.  The bottom went from about 600 feet to 50 feet to 15 feet in no time as we were sailing through the cut, the waves were heaping up to about 8 – 10 feet and breaking on our beam.  Sabbaticus actually called us up to make sure we weren’t on the reef because the waves were breaking so badly by us!  We sailed in with adrenaline flowing but no incident and made our way to the calmest spot we could find and dropped the hook.  We fiddled with the engine for a while and decided that we would go as far as we could inside the reef so the seas would be smaller and hopefully our fuel filters wouldn’t get clogged again!

Our track during our engine problems!

Our friends on Sabbaticus were good enough to go along with our plan.  They are a catamaran and so in some of the shallower spots where the chart showed only 6’6” of water at MLW, they would go ahead of us and using their depth sounder, would find a path we could make it through.  Around Cayo Arenas and Cayo Paraiso the water was the skinniest.  Sabbaticus sounded a 7’2” spot and we held our breath as we skimmed over it.  We were lucky our fuel and water tanks were almost empty! 

We had pulled down a weather fax and saw that it was supposed to be pretty crappy for the next two days, so we decided to anchor by Cayo Paraiso and wait for the weather to pass before we carried onto Havana, as the next passages were all outside the reef.  Our mojitos would have to wait a few more days.  Cayo Paraiso was a nice place to be stuck, with a great beach for Niko to run on and a good reef to snorkel on.  After the weather broke, we exited the reef at Querbadode la Mulata at 2am – it is a wide open channel through the reef and we had no problems doing it in the dark.  We had a nice motor sail up to Havana and made it there later that afternoon.

Archipielago de los Canerreros, Cuba

Dinner!

The next week or so was spent sailing around the Archipielago de los Canerreros.   The cruising here is second to none, with pristine reefs, picture perfect islands and water of incredible color.  We left Cayo Largo and sailed on the outside (rather than inside the reefs) to our first island stop, Cayo del Rosario.  Here, you have the choice of anchoring in the Canal Rosario or inside the reef on the southwest end of the Cay.  We chose the reef anchorage, as well had settled weather, thought it would be a bit cooler and we read there could be crocodiles in the Canal!  The reef entry is straightforward and we anchored in about 10 feet of water.  There was a light chop in the anchorage, but that doesn’t really bother our heavy girl.  The snorkeling here is good, lots of fish and lobsters and the beach was very inviting to go for a walk.  There were lots of iguanas and juntas that tempted Niko to chase them.  We stayed here for two nights before heading off to Cayo Campos. 

Cayos Campos

Cayo Campos was about a 30 mile sail from Cayo Rosario, and again, we chose the outside route due to our depth constraints.  We entered the reef on the western end of the island and anchored to the east of the opening in about 8 feet of water.  Be careful of partially submerged steel stakes that are used to house grouper when in season.  The stakes are pretty easy to see.  Again, we were anchored her in pretty settled weather, and only experienced some light chop in the anchorage as the reef breaks up most of the seas.  There is a more protected anchorage closer to the island but we could not get up in there because of our draft.  Nigel Calder’s book has a good sketch of the two anchorages. 

About half an hour after we anchored, two men from the island came out to greet us.  They spoke only Spanish but we understood that they were inviting us to the island.  They were also out of gas.  We didn’t have any to spare, but sent them up to our friends on Sabbaticals who gave them some.  We got in our dink and away we went to the island. 

Cayo Campos is a monkey sanctuary and there is a small house which is home to 3 men who stay on the island for three months and then go back home for three months while another shift comes on to take care of the sanctuary.  I could never remember their names, so we just called them the “Boys of Cayo Campos”!  They were so nice and funny!  As soon as we got there, they got out their bucket of dog food and we went outside as they threw the food on the ground and called out to the monkeys.  Before we knew it, there were about 10 monkeys looking at us with caution as they scooped up the food and shoved it in their mouth.  A little while later, mama monkeys with their babies hanging on to their chest came out for the feast.  One of the Boys was able to hand feed one of the monkeys, but it is clear they are still very wild.  We got a tour of their meager hut and made plans to come back in the morning for another feeding. 

The next day, we went in again to see our new found friends.  We hung out with them for about an hour in their hut, chatting away with them and their only neighbor who is a fisherman who also lives on the island during a three month rotation.  They invited us to stay for lunch and cooked us up a delicious rice and conch dish.  They waited for us to eat before they did, as they only had a limited number of plates!  I was continually amazed at the generosity of these people who give so much and yet have so little.  After lunch, we went back to our boat but not before making them promise to have dinner with us that evening.  Later that night, we had a great pasta dinner and lots of rum.  I think it is the first time they ever had a meat sauce on their pasta!  They were so grateful that they promised to take us to their favorite snorkeling spot the following day. 

Conch lunch

We trucked in again to the island the next day and the Boys made good on their promise to take us to a great snorkeling spot.  They pointed out all kinds of fish and collected Flamingo Tongues (small shells) for the Captains of the two boats.  They apologized they couldn’t find more, but the shells are fairly rare.  They escorted us back to our boat and we gave them some old rope, garlic and an old pair of fins in exchange for the promise of some fish the following morning before we had to head out.  The next morning, they came out, fish and all.  They then proceeded to clean the fish in their skiff, so we didn’t have to do any of the work!  We said our farewells and made our way to Cayo Matitas, about 5 miles away.  We were sad to leave our friends and this island paradise.

We were very used to reef entries after cruising the southern coast of Cuba and getting behind the  reef on Cayo Matitas was another straight forward entry.  We anchored in about 10 feet of clear blue water in front of another beautiful sandy beach.  We did our usual routine of snorkeling, hunting for fish and lobster and a walk on the beach.  Life is pretty good cruising the south coast of Cuba!

Another dinner!

The Boys of Cayos Campos

The view at anchor

Our fish being cleaned and delivered!

Cayo Largo, Cuba

 Our plan was to go from Cienfuegos to Cayo Guano del Este and then to Cayo Largo.  This route takes you through the prohibited zone that is around the Bay of Pigs.  We cut a pretty good edge of the zone and didn’t have any problems as we never saw anyone patrolling this area so far out. 

We got to Cayo Guano del Este in the afternoon and it was ROLLY POLLY, so we looked at the guide book and decided to continue on another 5 miles to Cayos de Dios, which turned out to be a really nice Cay and not nearly as rolly.  We only stayed the night and continued on our way the next morning, but later learned that the Cay had some of the best snorkeling in the area, and wished we had stayed there at least another day. 

We got to Cayo Largo around noon and was greeted with a Catamaran high and dry on a reef about 500 yards from the entrance.  Evidently, the cat had mistaken the green buoy they had put out to mark the reef with a green channel marker – a good reminder that in Cuba, sometimes they use markers to mark the reef themselves, and not necessarily the channel, so you have to navigate with your eyes and to read the water around these parts and not just rely on your GPS.  Having said that, and earlier stating the channels are usually well marked, we found the entrance to Cayo Largo very confusing.  Now, remember, we draw just under 7 feet, so boats with under 6 feet draft wouldn’t have the same problem that we did.  But basically, as you come into the entrance, you can either go straight, which has channel markers, or you can go to the starboard, which also has channel markers, and there is a sand bar in between the two.  We have a forward looking depth sounder, so we are pretty comfortable going into shallower water, as long as we go slow and there is enough room to maneuver out .  So, looking at Nigel  Calder’s guide, it looked as if we could go to either side, and it looked as if we should go to starboard, so  we started to do that, and we were reading 6 – 6.5 feet.  So, we backed out of there and took the straight path.  It was pretty narrow and led us down a channel with mud flats on our port side and a concrete pier ahead of us.  Then there was a 90 degree turn that we had to do that brought us in front of the marina.  It is a pretty small marina and really tucked back in there and looked buggy, so we made another 90 degree turn and kept coming around, essentially making a giant U shape and anchored on the southwest side of Punta Sirena in about 8 feet of water.   We dignied into the marina to clear in and they tried to tell me that I had to take my boat into the marina to clear in.  I told them that I was not comfortable bringing my boat in there as there was not much room to maneuver and we don’t have the best turning radius.  They insisted that I bring my boat in and I insisted that I would not do that and that I was happy to dingy them out to the anchorage to clear in.  Finally after talking to 3 people and a little more convincing, they got in the dingy and came out to the boat to clear us in. 

There was a beautiful white beach just off of our beam where we had anchored and Niko loved to go over to it and run free.   The water was a beautiful turquoise color and is deep right up to the beach.  The sand is the softest I have ever felt and so white and clean.  It is a great anchoring spot!

We dignied to the dock and bar, where they have the dolphin enclosures, to walk over to the beach.  The immense span of white sand gave our calf muscles a great workout as we made our way to one of the many palapas lining the beach that gives much needed relief from the sun.  The water was beautiful, the people watching entertaining and the pina coladas, brought to us by the bar waiters, refreshing.  It was a great day.  Once it got later in the afternoon and everyone cleared out, we went back to get Niko so she could romp on the beach as well.  On the way back to the boat, we stopped at the dolphin enclosure, which was closed but there was a roped off walkway that you could get over and get right up to the water.  We stood there with Niko and tapped the water and called to the dolphins.  Two swam over to us and Niko had the time of her life, nose to nose with her favorite animal.  She was whining and barking and making all kinds of noise, but the dolphins didn’t mind and just stared at her.  It was pretty cool.  After a little while, one of the workers there asked us to leave, but did so very politely!

The next day I had the unenviable task of trying to renew our visas.  Canadians’ get a 3 month visa, but Americans only get a one month visa.  You can only renew in points of entry, and the next point of entry for us was going to be Havana.  Our visas’ would have expired before then, so I had to get it done in Cayo Largo.  I was told that I had to go to the airport and see immigration there.  I walked the mile or so to the airport in the heat and asked to see the immigration officer.  I had to wait for about an hour before I asked again, and finally was brought into see him.  Again, he asked me for proof of health insurance, and I explained that I had an international policy, but he said they would not accept it because I was American and no one would insure me if I got hurt in Cuba.  I tried to argue that I was covered, but he told me I had to go back to the marina and talk to the head of Immigration there.  If he would accept my insurance policy, then he would have to call the airport Immigration and I would have to go back to see them.  So, I walked back to the marina in the heat and hunted down the head of Immigration there.  I explained my problem and he told me not to worry about it.  He took my passport and about-to-expire visa and said he would go to the airport and take care of everything and to come back that afternoon.  I was a little hesitant to leave my passport with him, but in the end I did.  That afternoon, I came back to his office and true to his word, he had my passport and a renewed visa!   I chatted with him a bit and he pulled out a picture of his boy and told me it was his birthday.  I caught his drift and gave him a few CUCs to buy his son a birthday present.  Next I had to go to Customs to renew my cruising permit.  All boats only get a one month cruising permit.  This time, everything went smoothly and I received a renewed cruising permit and luckily, the customs officer did not have any children!

Cienfuegos, Cuba

We had an easy downwind run from Casilda to Cienfuegos.  As soon as we sailed into the entrance of the harbor, we were greeted with a huge painted wall that read “Bienvendios a Cuba Socialista”.  Even with my bad Spanish, I knew that it said “Welcome to Socialist Cuba”!  The anchorage is quite a ways into the Bahia de Cienfuegos, but it is a well-marked channel.  We anchored outside of the marina and dignied in to clear in.  All of the offices are right there at the marina and was very easy to check in.  As always, the officials were very friendly and respectful.  We did have to pay to anchor outside the marina, but it was only about $5 a day.  The marina had a nice bar with cold beers and appetizers.  They also have a small convenience store which sells eggs, some canned veggies, juices and of course, rum!  We didn’t find their prices to be much more than the stores in town.

After clearing in and having our necessary cold beer at the bar, we decided to go hit the town.  We walked a little way toward town and came across a local watering hole.  Wanting a little local culture, we decided to stop for a beer.  This was a local joint, with local beer from a keg, and thus local prices – 6 local pesos per beer, plus 5 pesos for the cup, which equaled about $0.25 US for the beer.  To be honest, you get what you pay for, but nevertheless, we stayed for another before we moved on!  We continued to walk in the general direction of town and found ourselves on the Malecon, which is the wide sidewalk that runs along the seawall.  It seems as if the entire population of Cienfuegos was hanging out on the Malecon, so we decided we were in the right spot.  We did as the thousand or so other locals did – bought a bottle of rum, or two, and sat up on the wall and watched the young and old Cubans strut their stuff.  What entertainment!  The guys were mostly dressed all in white – tight white jeans, a loose fitting white shirt and a styling belt and pair of shoes to finish the outfit.  The girls were dressed to kill in the tightest, sexiest dresses or skirts they could find.  And everyone just paraded up and down the sidewalk, stopping to talk to friends and then continued to saunter along.  It was quite a site.  When we got hungry, we walked over to the local Rapido, (their version of McDonalds and KFC combined into one) and fed our bellies.  Then we decided to parade up and down the Malecon, but not as successfully as the locals.  We did met some really nice people though.  We got wind of a concert going on and went to find it.  It was basically pretty bad music set up in a parking lot with a ton of people milling about, so we decided to head back to the Malecon and then back to the boat as it was getting pretty late. 

The next morning, we took a horse taxi to the center of town to go exploring.  It was a Sunday so not much was open, but we sat in a pretty courtyard for a while and admired the government buildings.  We walked around a bit and then headed back to the marina.  The following day, we went back to the center of town to see what it was like on a weekday.  It was definitely much livelier.  We traded some of our goods (old clothes, tooth brushes and tooth paste) for some fresh veggies and fruit.  We got some of our much loved street pizza, and then took a bike taxi back to the marina for about $2. 

Yacht Club

Every time we walked to town, we would pass by a beautiful colonial style building that turned out to be the Cienfuegos Yacht Club.  On our last night we were walking by and all decided we needed to see in side of course we weren’t really dressed for what event they had planed . We to put on our best high class attitudes and face. And made our way up the red carpeted stairs to the entrance of the Yacht Club.  No one even questioned us and we went inside to have a beer.  It was beautiful inside with all old pictures of Cuba and old cups and other trophies from the winners of yacht racers.  They were having a concert at the club later that night, but we decided not to stay as we had to get moving early the next morning, and no one wanted to sail with a hangover!  So, we made the mature decision to boogie home and got an early start the next morning.  The officials are at the marina 24 hours, so we were able to clear out at 6am and be on our way by 7am for the 40 or so mile run to Cayo Guano del Este, which was just a jumping off point to Cayo Largo.

Malecon during the day