The plan was to sail Caracola, a BELIZE 43 catamaran to Cienfuegos, Cuba but we ended up in Havana instead.The crew: CAPTAIN and owner Mario, CHIEF ENGINEER, sail trimmer and deck ape Jorge, and myself as NAVIGATOR, winch grinder, deck ape and cook.
We left the Rio Dulce in Guatemala on Wednesday, April 14, in very light winds and sailed to the Belizean Cayes to spend the night at anchor in West Snake Caye, a small mangrove island with a lovely beach. Next day on to South Water Caye, another little paradise reached by weaving our way through coral reefs of 5-10 feet depth!
The third day saw us at sea, battling an Northeast wind that made it impossible to head East towards Cienfuegos. After a storm at night brought 40 knot winds and obliged us to run off under bare poles towards the North, we decided to make for Havana instead, and headed North along Belize and Mexico towards the Yucatan straits.
Winds were light and our progress slow. We kept 100 miles offshore, hoping to catch the Nortward Yucatan current to propel us to Cabo San Antonio. The weather was great, we caught bonito and barracuda, which were promptly transformed into delicious ceviche or deepfried for dinner.
This is the business end of the Great Barracuda.
Not to be trifled with!
Here is Jorge, making short work of a barracuda at night, and the skipper taking five on a calm afternoon.
Sadly, every day we were visited by land birds, that perched, exhausted, on the boat, refused food and drink and huddled together to die in the night.
Only one, a beautiful egret left us winging towards Mexico after two days rest.
Finally, at daybreak on the 19th we saw the first hazy image of land on the horizon. Cuba at last! We stood north until at 2pm we entered the Traffic Separation Zone, 6 miles West of Cabo San Antonio. Sailing over the reef in 10 to 15 depths, we admired the turquoise water and blinding white sand patches in the reef below. While staying half a mile off the coast, we rounded the Cape and anchored at the marina at El Cajon, under the Cuban courtesy flag and our Q flag. We were not allowed to land until the next day and decided to continue for Havana instead of waiting for the officials to arrive.
A 20 foot cat rigged schooner COCOMAL came rowing towards us and offered to trade Cuban money for Dollars. The owner and a young female crewmember were on a ¨voyage of indefinite duration¨. handling their tiny sails adroitly and sailing off to cross the Yucatan strait towards isla Mujeres. We hoped they made it safely, as that night in the Gulf stream we got caught by Northeast wind of 20-25 knots which whipped the waves into a frenzy.
We knew it is not recommendable to be out in the North flowing Gulf stream with the winds against the waves, but we were committed and could not enter the reef in those conditions.
So we slugged it out for 2 nights and three days, until in the night of April 21, around 4 am, we were hailed by a Cuban patrol boat. It circled us in the night, a menacing square shadow without navigation lights, and demanded to know our particulars.
Our explanations seemed sufficient and we were allowed to proceed.
On Thursday April 22, our ninth day at sea, we sighted the skyline of Havana and headed for the sea-buoy of Marina Hemingway, 6 miles west of the city.
The entrance through the reef was easy in good light and soon we were handing refreshments to the port captain, medical doctor, agricultural inspection and customs officials in our spacious cockpit. The atmosphere was cordial, forms were filled out, jokes were exchanges and soon we were on our way to berth 213. There, friendly Cubans offered their services for laundry,a very welcome service, city tours and the like.
We headed inmediately for the Pizza Nova restaurant in the marina for a first Bucanero beer and a great pizza.
An official informed us how to get to the city and that evening we strolled through Old Havana, taking in the sounds,smells and music of this wonderful city.
The obligatory Daiquiri at Hemingway´s hangout, FLORIDITA, sharpened our appetite and we had great salmon and tuna in a waterfront restaurant overlooking Havana harbour.
Two days of sightseeing followed, the Morro castle, the Naval Museum showing original bullion from the Spanish galleons and nautical objects, a visit to Playas del Este, the great beaches close to Havana, Hemingway´s completely intact home in Finca Vigía, his boat Pilar, a visit to the little port of Cojimar, backdrop for The Old Man and the Sea, and more of Old Havana and its wonderfully restored buildings around the Plaza de Armas and Plaza Vieja.
Our dinners were memorable, invited to private homes and dining with Cuban families .
This one was a type of snapper,¨pez perro¨a delicacy well prepared by the lady of the house.
We had caught and eaten a snapper off Cabo San Antonio. It was was delicious, but this one beat it easily.
Were we are in one of the nice spots in Havana: the Club Habana, formerly one of the prestigious yacht clubs here. We enjoyed the cold, cold beer in their bar and hoped our Rio Dulce Yacht Club will be just as nice someday.
Here the three intrepid sailors pose on the steps of the Club Habana.
On our last day, we met friends from Guatemala who were delivering a power cat to Guatemala. They were bound for Isla Mujeres, then to head down the Mexican coast towards Belize. We hoped to see them at sea, but didn´t.
A few remarks about this wonderful and tragic country Cuba:
It hurts to see a friendly, well educated people that lacks the most minimal freedom to express themselves, to work for a profit to secure the future of their family, to travel or even to accept a present from a well meaning foreigner without casting a furtive glance around themselves.
What can be the future of a country, where the official wages are not more than US$30.00 per month and almost everybody is obliged to hunt for food and bare necessities, even steal, to survive, while government officials and well connected insiders wheel and deal in millions inside and outside Cuba, grab prime real estate for free, and use state resources as if they would own them. We heard that recently a big shot in the airline was caught chartering out Cuban planes who supposedly were grounded for repairs at foreign airports.
We pray that soon Cubans will have the freedom to choose their own destiny!
On Monday 26. we said our goodbyes and sailed Southwest on a fresh Northeaster which took us to Cabo San Antonio in two days. we saw a few freighters in the night and a French sailboat, reefed down completely, on its way to key Largo, Florida, beating into the Northeast wind. We spoke in French, glad to hear a human voice. we were told the wind would remain in the Northeast to East, a good forecast for the run South.
However, in Cabo San Antonio, things changed. After heading South through the Yucatan channel under wing-and-wing, the wind turned into the Southeast and started churning up confused waves on a large swell. Wind speed increased to 35 knots and stayed there for the next three days.
The swell built until we were seeing 15 and sometimes 20 foot waves, with crests breaking into green water. Our boat was pounded incessantly and waves boarded us every few seconds. Clipped into our harnesses and getting soaked by green water, we put a third reef in the main and reduced the jib to almost nothing, trying to slow the boat to 6-7 knots. Every 7 to 8 seconds, we climbed up steep waves and surfed down the back, hoping not to broach. There was no dry spot in the boat, nor in our bunks, nor on our body. Food was reduced to cereals because cooking was impossible, as was sleeping.
Finally we slipped behind the protection of the Chinchorro bank in Mexico, sailing in calmer waters for a few hours and then got clobbered again by even higher waves, all the way to Belize. Some waves hit us broadside to the extent that we worried about capsizing.
On Friday, April 30, at dawn we found the lee of the Turneffe islands, after a difficult night time run before impressive waves and sailed into the main shipping channel to hide behind Middle Long Caye. There we made repairs, dried out and celebrated our good fortune with Cuban rum and cooked food.
Here is a happy camper on the turquoise waters of Belize.
The next day, rested, we sailed in flat water on a sizzling beam reach to the Southwest, past Dandriga, Placencia, and the Snake Cayes to reach Punta Manabique in Guatemala at 10 pm. There we heard by phone that during our ordeal at sea, the Mexican ports had been closed and an ocean regatta canceled because of the inclement weather. Our Guatemalan friend had to leave their boat in Isla Mujeres and fly home.
I suppose we had been lucky again!!
The last leg was a leisurely sail to Livingstone, an easy clearance into Guatemala and a autopilot trip up the Golfete, while the crew was dozing in the shade of the spinnaker.
We arrived at 5 pm on Sunday May 2, happy and tired after having sailed a total of 1400 nm or 2590 km in 16 days at sea. The boat was great, lots of space and comfort and sailed very well.
My thanks to Mario and Jorge,a great team.
The video below is titled DAWN IN THE YUCATAN CHANNEL., the finest hour of the day, despite the action.
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