Our port of entry to Cuba was a relatively short 143nm from Grand Cayman, which should take us about 24hrs if we can keep at least 5 knots of boat speed. Our weather window was short but should provide a good south eastern wind to drive us north, however as departure day got closer the breeze started to pick up and we decided to move our leave date forward by 24hr to ensure we got in ahead of the wind now building.
This did mean however that we would miss the arrival and a catch up with our friends on Ruffian as they would be arriving ahead of the wind as well, but sadly we would already be gone. The weather is the true mistress of all our endeavours so it couldn’t be helped.
The sail started very well we had a reef in each sail and were speeding along happily at around 6.5knots, our eta on target and the fishing rods out hoping for a nice wahoo, tuna or dorado. As night fell to a beautiful sunset the rods came in, having enticed nothing more that a lot of sargassum weed which we had been sailing through since we left. It was mostly in long stringy lines but every now and then we sailed through a thick mat of the stuff that was tennis court sized.
We settled into night shift patterns as the wind steadily dropped adjusting the sails trying to catch as much breeze as possible until it finally disappeared around 11pm, the engine now on we had a few moments of rushing around to unblock the raw water intake as weed had momentarily blocked the pipe, stopping the incoming cool water. Once the water was running freely we motor sailed happily along, watching the stars, listening to podcasts and audiobooks throughout the dark hours. The wind picked up again when we had 15nm to go, however eager to get in through the reef we continued our motor sail and fished hoping for better luck (not this time!).
Our approach into Cayo Largo was pretty straight forward, thankfully some OCC friends who had recently done this trip had shared their tracks into several of our planned ports and anchorages. As they had a deeper keel than us, it was a great asset to have their information as part of our route plans. The contours rise quickly, we went from hundreds of metres of water to 6m rapidly as we crossed through the reef, the water turning clear blue. As we entered the channel and into the mangrove the sea grass darkened the floor but it was still visible 4m below us.
I’d been in touch with Pire at the marina before our departure so they were expecting us and when I radioed in our arrival I was met with a lovely response of “is this Louise, coming from Grand Cayman”. The breeze was increasing but sheltered in the mangroved cut, we followed the buoys and kept an eye on the depth gauge. The marina is made up of two pontoons, with commercial boats taking up one and charters or private yachts on the other. There were several charter catamaran already on the pontoons but we slid into a stern too mooring around 9.30am. We were met on the dock by Pire and the port captain who took our boat papers and passports to go and fill out the relevant forms. Next up was the health inspection and the doctor who checked we both felt ok, had no illnesses and signed us off quickly, Pire helping translate to avoid confusion.
A few more forms to fill in and then we had customs and immigrations approvals before lastly, the environmental team came aboard and checked our provisions. They wanted to see our meats, veggies and fruits as well as dry stores like rice and beans to check for bugs. One last check from customs was a question about drones and as we had one on board, they are illegal in Cuba, the customs teams would be coming back to inspect it and seal it for the duration of our stay.
Now checked in we needed to pay our check-in bill at the marina office but Pire was relaxed and told us to rest first. We made a coffee and relaxed for the remainder of the morning, waiting for customs to come back to seal the drone and planning our few days of boat cleaning and settling into Cuba.
A short while later we noticed the dive boat rush off with Pire and several others onboard, it all seems rather frantic and we wondered what was happening. As there was no point going to the office to pay as Pire was not there, we connected the hoses and started to clean the boat down. In the morning, many of the charter boats had left to head back to their main port of Cienfuegos. About an hour after the dive boat with Pire on returned, it was following one of the charter catamarans that had left earlier that day and the story unfolded of the horrible incident which had occurred.
They’d left the marina and headed to a local Cove for a lunch stop of snorkelling and drinks at a bar. The guests had gone to shore leaving the charter skipper to set up the boat before he planned to swim ashore and join them. However when he’d jumped in, something happened and he drowned, being pulled into shore by the guests but unfortunately the ambulance crew who had come could not revive him. The guests were clearly shaken, the team here saddened as they all knew the charter skipper and it was a poignant reminder of how dangerous water is no matter how gorgeous clear blue it appears.
There are no Cuban flights form the mainland to Cayo Largo, the team were waiting to hear from the authorities and insurance as to how the body would be moved back to Havana, and in the meantime a new skipper was being arranged to take the guests back to Cienfuegos as there was no other way. Apparently a military plane was arranged to pick up the body overnight and taken back to Havana, before repatriation, Pire asked if we had heard it overnight but neither of us had heard a thing.
The next day, we headed to the office to pay our fees and our condolences to Pire who clearly feels like the marina , it’s guests and worker are all his responsibilities and was tired and sad. It was as I was paying and Ross was chatting that we found out a bit more about Pire, he was in fact Castro’s translator, he speaks multiple languages, and has pictures of them together in his office. He’s in the process of training up a new team as he due to retire soon and was a warm , friendly and lovely host. The new team had big shoes to fill but they are all very friendly.
Over the next few days we explored the area, it’s mainly the dormitories for the staff of the all inclusive resorts. We did spend an afternoon at the one resort in the small town as they were happy to let us use the pool (we were the only people) as long as we had lunch at the restaurant. It was lovely, the food was limited but tasted great and the staff were super friendly.
The one thing we could do is dive, you have to use a dive centre and the one at the marina was about $40US per dive so we booked in. It was a great day, our first dive was all about sharks. Small black tip reef sharks to be clear and they were everywhere. It was pretty choppy when we jumped in off the boat and it panicked me a little but with Ross’s guidance I got my breathe back and was ready to decend. It does take me a while to decend as I have to take equalisation slowly, the boat dives I’ve done so far do tend to be a lot faster so my air consumption is high as I feel a bit rushed as I’m such a newbie.
Once under though it was great, the dive master had used a bait box, but even after we’d watched the frenzy and we moved on there were lots of sharks. The second dive was a bit more sedate but there was lots of current and a large school of tarpon, rays and lots of reef fish all floating in the steady current.
We needed a good weather for our trip round to Havana, we had a good idea on anchorages and with the best weather we could find we headed out. We had a lovely sail across the south of the island, stopping for a short rest in a beautiful anchorage and then heading out overnight to round the headland into Los Morros. We stopped again in Los Morros for a few hours to fix a few issues and refuel. The anchorage was lumpy and uncomfortable and we decided to move further north, hoping that wind would return as forecast and we could sail, but alas no such luck. As we crept east the wind seemed to follow us on the nose, as we reached our next potential stop, we calculated the time to Havana and decided to carrying overnight as we’d reach Havana easily in the morning rather than late the following day.
We were both tired but felt this was the better solution, so slipped into overnight watch patterns and wrapped up as it was cold overnight. A pretty quiet motor overnight, we arrived outside the harbour entrance pre dawn and sat floating waiting for day light, as soon as we could we radioed the marina and confirmed our arrival and were given our instructions to customs and immigration.
Tying up, we were met by the officials who did our paperwork quickly, had a look onboard and specifically checked we’d kept the drone packaged and secure. Then we slipped the lines and moved into the marina. Hemingway Marina is essentially a series of straight canals, there were a few boats tied up and the marina officials waiting to assist and then come aboard to complete our paperwork.
Although we already completed the full entry procedure in Cayo Largo, the health and food inspectors still popped aboard and checked our initial paperwork. It took a few hours but we were soon cleared in and relaxing.
Later that morning after a coffee, we also met Jorge who is one of the local boat fixers, he’s does a bit of everything. Can exchange cash, help you with boat work, is a taxi driver, translator, get SIM cards and generally anything you need. He was nice to us and we arrange for him to come back the following day to discuss a trip into Havana.
Sally and Simon (OCC Commodore) had given us loads of information and had spoken highly of the yacht club and warm welcome they received. We walked up to find a beer and possibly some lunch, the staff at the club were lovely, helping us figure out the internet and being very friendly. We didn’t announce ourselves as OCC members initially, but across our time we met more and more of the team and once they knew we were OCC, both the commodore and his mgmt team all popped over to say hello. I think all yachties would be welcomed as well to be honest.
We arranged with Jorge to drive us into Havana and then pick us up later in the day, it took about 30minutes to drive in and he dropped us right in the central square near the hotels and all the old fashioned immaculate cars. They are beautiful to see, but they do kick out lots of smog!
We had a few places we’d heard about that we wanted to go but really didn’t have a plan, we were approached almost immediately by a driver who kept telling us he didn’t want anything but to tell us about the city, to be fair he explained quite a lot to help us orientate ourselves but was starting to get into the I can drive you stage when we offered our thanks and started our own explorations. The city is a mix of beautiful buildings and complete wrecks with a mixture of ramshackle bars and houses in between.
We made our way towards the water front, past the forts and military museums and the many churches and religious building. As we made our way back through the shopping district we bumped into a lady who recognised us from hotel bar at the marina, she stopped to say hello and make sure we had everything we needed to find our way, she also explained about the best place to buy cigars... when in Rome or Cuba and all that.
We had found the Buena Vista Social Club on our meander through the city, a legendary music venue and ended up buying tickets to come back for dinner and music one evening. After that we spend the afternoon trying mojitos and daiquiri’s throughout the cities many bars. A lot of bars have a picture or have statues of Hemingway who was a keen sport fisherman and huge celebrity across many of the islands, lots of Hemingway signs point out where he stayed, drinks he invented (apparently) and fishing tournaments he started or participated in.
By the end of the day we were tuckered out and happy to see Jorge patiently waiting for us exactly as arranged. He whisked is back to the marina and we asked him if he’d drive us into town on Friday, he was happy to but also reluctant as it was his birthday and he was clear his wife would be unhappy with him working. Not wanting to turn down the money, he told us he’d sort it out and when Friday came his brother turned up in a gorgeous old car to be our driver for the evening.
Dropping us off around 7.30pm, we were a little early and expecting to just sit and get a drink where a bit surprised when we couldn’t go in. Luckily or not depending on your view point, we were immediately ushered a few blocked to tiny bar boasting the best mojitos in the world. I have to admit it was an amazing mojito but they should also add largest and most expensive to the sales pitch. It had five spirits in it and was bigger than a pint of beer. The owner of the little bar giving Ross shots as each spirit was added to the mix. We drank quickly, the dinner and music at the Buena Vista Social Club starting at 8pm, I confess I was squiffy before we’d even arrived.
The evening was huge fun, the music was incredible, the food not bad (we had heard some very mixed reviews but we enjoyed it) and the drinks kept coming. It was quite touristy, we sat next to a British couple and there were tables from all over the world enjoying their taste of Cuban music. Most of the singers were Latin Grammy winners, it was a real treat to see them live and the band was amazing.
As we left the venue, Jorge's brother was waiting patiently and as we jumped back into the car he introduced us to his wife who had joined him whilst we’d been inside. Saying farewell and thank you to our driver, it had been a very memorable evening and one we will not forget across all our travels.
A few days later we started to prepare for our next passage to Varadero, Mark (Ross’s brother) and Jamie were flying in from Canada and we planned to spend a few days with them in their all inclusive resort. Choosing the best weather we could we planned to travel overnight the 70 NM east to Varadero, setting off around 2pm, after a luckily short stop at the authorities dock to get our paperwork for the next port, we had up a full set of sailing and we were trucking along in the as predicted winds. A few hours in however the forecasted weather completely changed, the wind died and then came back directly on nose and as night fell the rain, thunder and lightening began and it didn’t stop all night. In our full foul weather gear, pushing through with the engine on, we were both soaked through. The light show was amazing and terrifying as it passed directly over us, but we continued on hiding under the spray hood as best we could. With the weather so bad, we at least didn’t have too many fishing boats about as they had obviously decided to stay home and dry.
When we’d left Havana , another boat had also departed however as they had an electric motor they were struggling to make headway into the stormy conditions. Unable to use there electric motor all night, they were making massive tacks inching forwards very slowly, we spoke on the radio a few times as they are looking for weather updates from us as were ahead. Whilst I don’t doubt electric motors will continue to develop, we were certainly glad of our Diesel engine in this weather.
Around 4am the squalls stopped and we had a fine rain for the last few miles, once again we would be floating about outside the harbour entrance waiting for daylight but at least the rain had stopped. As 7am approached we reached out on the radio and were greeted by marina security, in a mix of Spanish and English we got instructions to enter the harbour.
The entrance is shallow and includes a blind dog leg of a corner as you enter a man made canal which crosses through to the natural mangroves. Waving at the the fisherman already out catching bait fish in the channel for the day ahead, we slowly made our way in following the markers and keeping an eye on the depth sounder.
As we approach the pontoon, we were welcomed and ushered into a waiting berth by the marina security, authorities and our OCC contact, all with warm smiles and assistance to tie up securely. Once tied we said hello and then waited patiently for the multiple customs, immigration and marina personnel to come onboard to complete the necessary check in.
The OCC port officer is a lady called Debbie, originally from Canada she has lived onboard her sailboat in Varadero for many years and during our stay would be a wonderful support and ultimately a new found friend.
The other yacht, who had the electric engine, arrived around 1pm in the afternoon having been able to make good progress under sail once the squalls has passed through. They were tired but glad to of made it and we shared a few beers that evening once everyone had slept for a few hours.
The next day, with Debbie acting as our guide, we walked into the small town of Santa Marta, checking out the market and the few shops and restaurants open and serving. Debbie was keen for us to understand the local etiquette especially around the purchase of fresh goods and especially the bakery. We had been repeatedly told how little was available in Cuba, so were pleasantly surprised by the veggies we did find on offer even though it wasn’t a market day. The bakery is government run and there was a very long queue, flour is scarce so locals cannot make their own. Debbie advised it was etiquette for cruisers and none locals to not buy from the state bakery, but to rather buy from the roadside stalls which were a few pesos more expensive but did mean we were not taking away from anyone who simply could not afford even the smallest of inflated pricing.
After a week Ross’s brother arrived fo a weeks holiday and a chance for us to catch up, they visited the boat a few times including to belatedly celebrate Ross’s birthday and we had a great time. We also spent three wonderful days staying with them at the all inclusive resort, relaxing by the pool and laughing a lot at ourselves and others. By the time they had to leave it was clear our livers needed a break but that we'd had a fun week all round.
Back on the boat we started to look for weather windows for our sail north across the Gulf Stream to our next destination Bimini, Bahamas. It wouldn’t be long before a good forecast window presented itself and we once again stowed our belonging and prepped for an ocean passage. This time through the Gulf Stream, it’s has a fearsome reputation if the weather is unkind but we hope once again that our forecast holds and we get an opportunity to enjoy the sail north.
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