Adrift Nelly

Cozumel - Take my dollars!

2012-01-30T15:04:00.001-04:00

Beautiful Cozumel sits like a long flat wedge of sand on a sparkling turquoise sea. It is a divers mecca with hundreds of tour operators and dive shops all fighting for the chance to show you around and have a piece of the tourist dollar. Add in dozens of cruise ships docking here each week with thousands of tourists coming ashore looking for fun in the sun and you have a scammer's paradise. But of course seasoned travelers like us were not going to be fooled by any tricksters.

We came with our dive gear and wanted to dive one of the premier dive spots of the world - Cozumel. The guide who took us to the cenotes in Puerto Morelos had a friend who had a dive shop and knew all the great dive sites plus he was born in Cozumel and we like to support the local guides. Hernan told us he had a fast boat and would take us diving to spectacular places that all the other boats didn't go to. Vamos a busceo!

This is David and our dive boat, the slowest in the fleet. It turned out Hernan also had a friend, Carlos. This is his boat. Hernan picked us up at our hotel and promptly turned us over to "his good friend" never mentioning that he had no intention of being our guide. It was the old "bait and switch" and we took it like a hook, line and stinker (as in the slow diesel transport). Sigh! Of course it was also Sunday so instead of just 6 divers they also had the whole family aboard. Grampa was the captain. Carlos, his lovely wife and three young children served as crew. They turned up the music and we were off on a true Mexican holiday!

The day turned out well even with the bad start. Our second dive was fantastic. The reef was beautiful with big swim through coral formations that Cozumel is famous for. Huge schools of fish were back dropped by corals of red and gold as a graceful spotted eagle ray glided leisurely past us. There were sting rays, gigantic lobster and two hawksbill turtles, plus german shepard size grouper. It was all pretty wonderful. We went to exactly the same site as the hundreds of other dive boats only by the time we got there the others had mostly gone back to the marina. Seven hours later we were back too, scammed but with a big smile on our face. Hard as you try to not get scammed in Cozumel, sometimes it is just best to go with the flow. Things seem to work themselves out.

Just in case you don't believe me about Cozumel being touristy - where else would you see a such a sight? Fresh off the cruise ship. Couldn't resist this crazy butt shot. Hopefully this is not one you recognize.

We leave for Cuba tomorrow .....so I get to say my favorite saying in all the world, "we sail on the morning tide!"

Mayan Riviera

2012-01-29T10:43:00.002-04:00

The Yucatan is full of underground caves filled with fresh water, called cenotes. There are literally thousands of these cenotes. Ancient Mayans considered these caverns sacred "gifts from the Gods" and built their cities and temples next to these freshwater pools. It really does seem an amazing natural gift to come upon these cenotes in the middle of hot arrid countryside.

Jaws of the Jaguar at the recently discovered and exavated temple of Ek Balaam. This is the only Mayan temple that has been found with carved figues. The Jaguar guards the entrance to the underworld - King's tomb.

Climb to the top of Ek Balaam Temple for a spectacular vertical view down and of the surrounding ruins. Much of this site has not even been excavated.

As for me, that is not a smile. I'm wondering how the heck I'm going to get down.

Vamos a La Playa

2012-01-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

Puerto Morelos 20 years ago was just a little sleepy fishingvillage. Now it is a mecca fortourists and expats escaping harsh winters in the states. It is still a quaint colorful village, just abit bigger. The people are friendly, thesea is turquoise blue, and the fresh fish is delicious. We weren’t in town 20 minutes before we wereseated at a small shady table, with our toes in the sand eating fresh fishceviche at El Pesquero. A beautiful natural reel is just a mile offshore and teeming with fish. The localguides do a brisk snorkeling business and it is impossible to walk anywhere intown or the beach without being “invited” to go out on a boat to snorkel thereef. We snorkeled about 100 yards offthe swimming area and saw schools of big barracuda and a grouper.

This is a very cool beach town with a lively nightlife. Thatched brightly lit restaurants circle thetown square and dot the beach. Last night, at La Pirata, we had Chicken Posole, atraditional soup made with chicken, hominy, cabbage, avocado, spiced with hotpeppers. The only cure for my burninglips was another icy XX Dos Equis. Oneof the nearby tables was placed right at the edge of the street. Four local women were dining there and besidethe table was what looked like a short wooden coat rack (about 4’ tall). It was placed next to the table as a rack tohang their purses. Now how clever isthat? We ended up the evening at a differentbeach bar where they had an impromptu Flamenco show. Yes, Flamenco! I couldn’t believe it. The troupe was from Seville, Spain and stayingfor awhile in Puerto Morelos. The music,passion of the dance, stomping, clapping and impromptu cheers of “Ole’” feltlike we were in Spain and not some Mexican village.

The photo on the right is a crazy free form house that is beside our hotel. Our hotel, Pasado el Morro, is the seen to the left with orange railings. This house sums up the bohemian feel of Puerto Morelos - loose, carefree, and fun!

When we first arrived in Puerto Morelos I was not exactlythrilled as it looked too touristy to me. I had to rearrange my thoughts a bit with, “hey, I am a tourist”. After a few days the town has grown onus. I wanted more local and David ishappy when he has a few more creature comforts. This little Mexican town is a definite compromise. I am just now licking the last bits ofroasted chicken off my fingers. I boughtit for 40 pesos (1/4 chicken with tortillas, beans, rice, cabbage/chilies andsalsa) from a shop across the street run by a very local woman who spoke no Englishand gave me a chance to “practice” my Spanish. I could smell that chicken a block away at the beach and by the time I got to buy mine it was almost sold out. Her chicken is the hit of the neighborhood. David is spending the afternoon at a nearbybar with a thatched roof and a big screen TV featuring today’s footballplayoffs. No doubt a cold cervesa isalso involved. Life is good!

In Mexico the store comes to you.

C3 - Cancun – Cuba - Caymans

2012-01-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

There is nothing better than escaping a snow storm even if the new destination has its own bad weather. We arrived in Cancun to grey skies, rain and a bit of foul weather with red flagged swim warnings and surging seas. I’m only mentioning this blot on the weather so that friends at home don’t start sticking pins in some voodoo doll to give me payback for getting out of Seattle before the big snow hit.

Hopes of getting a jump start on our Spanish language skills (so we will be ready for Cuba) have been crushed by the reality that everyone here speaks English very well. My only chance of hablamous en Espanol may be with the BIG crocodile (and his many friends) who live in the lagoon across from our hotel. It is great to see that the miles and miles of hotels and tourist amenities that is now Cancun have not taken all the wildness out of Mexico.

Go Tobago - Goat Racing, Beaches and Sweet Pan Music

2011-05-04T18:10:00.003-04:00

On your mark...get set....GO! If you are lucky enough to be in Tobago during Easter, don't miss the wildly amusing goat races held at the villages of Mt. Pleasant and Buccoo on the Monday and Tuesday after Easter.

Watch this goat racing video I found on UTube

These goats are pampered and trained like any racehorse. A jockey runs behind each goat holding the goat's leash in one hand and a small switch in the other to use to spur their goat on to victory. Rules are that the jockey must still have the leash in hand when the two cross the finish line or they are disqualified. It is pretty hilarious to watch those goats thundering towards the finish, many times leaving their jockey in their dust. A fast goat needs an even faster jockey.

We watched the races at Mt. Pleasant where racing of the goats was just one of the sports that day. There were also children's running races and contests for the best Easter Bonnet, lots of local food. One of the races had an interesting twist. The kids ran with homemade slates to a big chalkboard with a list of numbers that needed to be added before they could head for the finish line....aptly titled the calculation race.

The Easter Bonnet competition was pretty fierce.

I wasn't sure if these were bonnets for Easter or for carnival---maybe both!

Tobago is a great island to visit. It is the size of Grenada with half the people, a multitude of exotic birds, spectacular beaches, and the oldest protected rainforest preserve in the world. I thought that was pretty cool. It is also the home to the world's largest brain coral. We dove it at Speyside and it really was huge, 9' tall and 27' wide. Did you know that the lifespan of brain coral is up to 900 years?

Dock at Blue Haven Resort - You don't have to stay there to dive with them.

Our dive master was amazingly strong (most local guys are) and would load himself up with several tanks and bc's to haul to the dive boat .I would tease him that he just wanted to dive so much longer than the rest of us.

Beaches here truly are the quintessential Caribbean experience with swaying coconut palms and huge expanses of sugar sand. These shores are famous for Leatherback turtles who lay their eggs here in the Spring.


It takes the whole village to haul in the Seine - Bloody Bay

Ramshackled cottage by the sea - fishing village of Charlotteville

The green hills were alive with bird calls. The most recognizable, loudest and sometimes most annoying were the screeching sounds of the Cocorico. It is actually a tropical pheasant that is indigenous to Tobago and loudly calls out it's own name....Cocrico! Cocrico!. We stayed at a guesthouse in Castara where we were visited by colorful Motmots, small budgies, banana-quits, and little rare woodpeckers, plus many more we could not name. Tobago is a birdwatchers paradise! I tried to feed them banana and papaya, but what they really wanted was cheese.


MotMot - our cheese bandit

Cocorico porn - No! we didn't watch.....much.

Local shop for morning juice and veggies, chips and coconut bakes. It's not exactly Starbucks, but still a good place to read the paper.

Katzenjammers @ Buccoo - Sunday School

We were lucky to be staying very close to the village of Buccoo, home of the the infamous Sunday School where the very best steel pan music can be heard weekly...only on a Sunday. There were actually 3 pan bands playing at 3 different bars when we attended Sunday School. My pick was the Katzenjammers even before I was told that they had won #1 in Trinidad and Tobago for 2011. The band is the local favorite from the next village of Black Rock. Their shirts read "Pride of Black Rock!" Apparently steel pan is the only new instrument to be invented in the 20th century. The pans are a collection of old oil cans that can sound like a symphony orchestra. When played right this music truly is amazing. I have heard many pan bands in the Caribbean ...from Bequia, Carriacou, St. Vincent, & Grenada....but the sweet pan sounds of the Katzenjammers were the best of the best.

If you want to know more about the Katzenjammers and see their competition, go to the link below. I wasn't able to load the short live video I made of our time with them.

Katzenjammers Live @ 2011 T & T Competition

Go to the link "Older Posts" for the blogs about Cuba ...thanks!

Cruising Cuba - Love those Cars!

2011-04-02T10:00:00.018-04:00

Outside the America theater in Havana

I'm finally back in Carriacou where the hills are green and the goats and sheep still outnumber the people. Actually, I'm in culture shock.

Cuba is still on my mind....impossible to forget. If anyone reading this blog has any interest in visiting Cuba, I'd encourage you to go now. When you go, be prepared to be overwhelmed by the kindness of the people, the beauty of the cities and countryside, the biggest lobster you've ever seen, and of course those fabulous cars.

Drop me a line if you have any thoughts or questions about cruising Cuba.

Thanks David and Jen for all the laughs......

Cuba ----Goodbye for now.

Cruising Cuba - USA Relations - Why Can't We Be Friends?

2011-04-01T16:26:00.002-04:00

Guarda station at the entrance to Cienfuegos Harbor

If you are interested in Cuba, check out this link about news and articles relating to the Cuban economy:

http://thecubaneconomy.com/articles/2010/10/cuba%E2%80%99s-achievements-under-the-presidency-of-fidel-castro-the-top-ten/

From Cruising Log - March 20, 2011

Everywhere we have traveled in Cuba we have asked as many questions as possible to try to get an understanding of what it is like to live here and what exactly this revolution, which many call a grand experiment, has done for the people.

Literally - "You live so your ideas will endure"

Everyone I spoke to was very candid and eager to talk about their history, their government, and their way of life. Cubans are a proud people. They work hard for very little pay. Their cities while once grand and beautiful are now in disrepair and the infrastructure of the whole country is sadly in need of help. In spite of all this the people are trying to make do with what they have. They are survivors. One thing that surprised me is that Cuban people really like American people. They don’t seem to harbor hatred for us because of the embargo. In fact it is very much like that Jimmy Buffet song, Everyone has a cousin in Miami.

Here is my short overview of Cuban/American relations:

As of 100 years ago when Cuba gained their independence from Spain, the Cubans and Americans were the very best of buds. It was American warships that helped tip the scales of war in favor of Cuban independence in the Spanish American War.

The U.S. has kept its fingers in Cuba’s pie since it helped them win independence. It had leases on 12 of Cuba’s natural harbors, but ultimately kept only Guantanamo Bay and we all have heard enough stories of what went on (and maybe still does) at that U.S. base. By controlling the sugar market, the U.S. also controlled Cuba’s economy.

In the 1930’s until 1944, Cuba was under the leadership of Fulgencio Batista. The older people I spoke with remembered this time as a relatively good time for Cuba. Many of the monuments, museums, city parks and elaborate town squares were built during Batista’s time first term in office as president. It seems he started out well by promoting socially progressive legislation and even a new constitution. He was well respected by the people. The next two leaders, Ramon Grau (1944-48) and Carlos Prio (1948-52) brought widespread corruption to Cuba. This period was basically a Robin Hood story with Havana becoming the international playground of rich Cubans and Americans while the rest of the population lived in poverty. The country suffered from wide spread greed, gangsters, American mafia, murders and general mayhem of fighting between the army and government agencies.

In 1952, Batista returned to Cuban politics from his temporary retirement in Florida. He seized control of Cuba in a military coup. At first the people were thrilled to have their old leader back and hoped that he would bring some peace and control to Cuba. Instead he overturned the constitution, the same one he had helped develop, and threw Cuba into corruption and chaos once again. He became a brutal dictator. Amazingly, the U.S. government recognized him as Cuba’s rightful leader. One historian I spoke with told me that Havana was meant to become the next Las Vegas complete with all the corruption that American mafia money could bring. It was the same old story, the rich got richer and of course the poor had better shut up or land in jail (or much worse).

Enter the young idealists, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Camilo Cienfuegos and their comrades in arms. The majority of the people were sick of all the crime and corruption and embraced these new leaders who were prepared to fight for them and a better future for all – a revolutionary new beginning. Viva La Revolution! Fidel, Che, Camilo and a small group of guerrilla fighters invaded Santiago de Cuba and a revolution was born. References to Fidel’s famous speech of July 26, 1953 are found everywhere in Cuba.


The famous cabin cruiser, the Granma, under guard in Havana.

Success was short-lived. Castro and his supporters were arrested and jailed for two years at the infamous Presidio on Isla de Juventud. But the dream of revolution did not die. Fidel was released in 1955. In 1956, he and 82 comrades in arms sailed from Mexico to the south coast of Cuba in an old cabin cruiser, named the Granma. They were prepared to lead the country in revolution against Batista and his corrupt regime. The fight was on! Only 15 freedom fighters survived the first assault and headed to the hills to regroup. It took 3 years, but on January 8, 1959, Castro, his brother Raul, and the revolutionary rag tag army entered Havana in victory. The people of Cuba rejoiced to at last have a leader who would bring equality to the masses.

Castro made some radical changes to get the economy going in a positive direction for the majority of the Cuban people. Under Castro’s leadership American mafia and corruption were sent packing. Many of the Cuban elite fled Cuba for the safe haven of Miami. The U.S. did not want to back this new leader, even though he had the support of the masses. Instead they issued an embargo to cripple the new Cuba economy. In my humble opinion this was a huge mistake. The U.S. backed the gangster regime of Grau and Prio, and Batista, but not Fidel because he was not going to be as easily controlled. He had an idealistic ideology that was not money driven. If the U.S. had kept an open mind about Cuba, the Soviet government would have never gotten the stronghold here that they did. The Soviets saw a breach with Cuba and the U.S. and jumped in to become Cuba’s trading partner. The rest is history.

53 years later the embargo is still on with our closest neighbor. The impetus of the revolutionary experiment is gone and what is left is a decaying, crumbling ruin that can barely sustain the Cuban people. Fidel Castro is on the Forbes list as one of the world’s 100 richest men.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/10/cx_lg_0310royal_bill05.html

The dream of equality and a better life for Cubans is a dream that has not been realized to its full potential. Political pride and ideologies still keep the two countries from trade and fair diplomatic relations. This leaves 11 million people caught in the middle. The U.S. trades with China (I won’t even begin to go into China’s wrongs) but not with Cuba. Why not? Isn’t it about time this policy changes? Fidel's government uses the U.S. embargo as an excuse as to why his government isn't working. He tells them, "See what the U.S. has done to you. This is why you are so poor."

We are together in this - Oh really?

This shifting the blame can be seen throughout Cuba in the government billboards and banners. The reality is that his greed and poor leadership has enslaved the people.

Freedom to Truth and Justice in the United States - What does that mean????

Many presidents later, the embargo is still on. This is a sad stalemate with few winners. Castro has the respect of the people. They are proud of their 95% literacy rate, free good health care and education for all, almost non existent crime or drug use, and subsidized rent and utilities. But the people are still poor. Who can live on $1.00 a day? Well maybe you can exist on it, but you can’t improve your life on that. All jobs are government jobs with the same pay $25-50 per week for all. So then, what was this grand revolution? Ideology preaches power to the people. The truth is that this revolution is power to the chosen few. For Castro it must be nice to be the head of those few, but it is pretty sad to live as one of the people.

Today Cuba is still a socialist republic. Sadly the people of Cuba cannot enjoy their own country because they are too poor economically to do so. Cuba has become a country best enjoyed by the Capitalist of other countries like Europe, South America and even North Americans who ignore the embargo and vacation here. These tourists have the money Cubans do not have. They can tour all of Cuba staying in nice hotels, enjoy dive excursions and tours that cater to foreigners, and can afford to dine on lobster and nice cuts of beef which no local Cuban can afford to do. Cuba is the perfect travel destination for foreigners looking for a safe, affordable vacation mecca.

There is an underground economy in all of Cuba that we have seen first hand at restaurants, hotels, tour agencies, private restaurants, dive operations, marinas, etc. The local people have found ways around the bullshit of $1 CUC or less for a day’s wage. Good for them. It seems to me that most Cuban people are actually capitalist trapped in a socialist world. What will become of Cuba is anyone’s guess. My hope is that the U.S. will eventually lift the embargo and give our closest neighbor a chance to catch up to the 21^st century.

All opinions are totally my own and do no reflect those of any person or government. Except where I have given direct contact information, all names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people we met.

Cruising Cuba - Lobster Tales and Sugar Sand Beaches

2011-04-01T11:55:00.000-04:00

From Cruising Log February 19 - March 18, 2011

Once upon a time I heard tales of a mythical land where the sea was full of lobster. These lobsters grew big and fat as a man’s arm and littered the sea floor filling every hollow and crevice for miles around. Some were so big and fearless they would even climb aboard unsuspecting dinghies. Of course no one could believe these exaggerated lobster tales! Well these tales are all true. It’s time to be a believer. I have seen this mythically land – the southern coast of Cuba. The further west we go (especially from Cayo Largo westward) it is almost impossible to go for a snorkel without finding lobster. At each coral head the lobster are just sitting outside their holes staring curiously at us.

Hunting lobster is almost too easy. Today we saw at least 10 lobsters but only took 3. We are trying to only take what we can eat in a day, nothing more, besides they are so handsome and we want to be able to return to Cuba one day and have another lobster fest. Lobster omelets in the morning, lobster burritos for lunch, grilled lobster for dinner. Lobster worship – it can’t be wrong. The only downside is that I fear we may die of gout and high cholesterol before we get out of Cuba. What a way to go with a smile and a bit of garlic butter on our lips.

We are continuing our sail west from Cienfuegos through the area known as Golfo de Batabano. Golfo de Batabano is a 240-mile arc, 150 miles wide and 75 miles deep. Moving east to west, this area includes the Archipelago de los Cannerreos Isla de la Juventud, Cayos de San Felipe, and Cayos los Indios. The water is much bluer and clearer here than in the Jardines de la Reina which are mostly mangrove islands.

Below are the islands we visited. Most are reached in a short day sail.

Cayo Guano Del Este – There is a big red and white lighthouse at this anchorage and a resident lighthouse keeper. The water is clear but there is not a lot of sea life. We had a rocky anchorage from the swells coming over the reef and wind that came up in the night. Barracuda for dinner.

Cayo Sol – Blowholes exploding in salt spray all up and down the island and rough terrain carved out by the sea. It is worth a walk on it though just to get up next to the spray from the blowholes and to see the waves crashing on the shore from the windward side. Barracuda again for dinner.

Cayo Oro – Beautiful healthy coral reef and outcroppings with an underwater garden of blue and purple sea fans, schools of colorful reef fish and our favorite, LOBSTER!

David also speared a lionfish just to keep the reef safe from this predator. Grilled lobster and lionfish for lunch. Life is good.

David hunting for lobster

Cayo Largo – Long stretches of sugar sandy beach, palapas, all-inclusive hotels and lots of pink bodies frying in the sun. I call it tourist hell, but the massive amounts of tourists here seem to be enjoying themselves. At the marina there were party barges and a fleet of charter boats whose crew partied late into the night. It is all very entertaining (noisy) and I miss our quiet anchorages. It was a spinnaker sailing day and on the way here we caught a nice big red snapper. Finally ended our streak of barracuda. You guessed it, grilled snapper for dinner.

We left the marina after our first noisy night and went out to a beautiful anchorage about a mile away. Now we are anchored in great spot with vary colored waters that change from turquoise blue to dark cobalt all rimmed with white sugar sand beaches. I think everyone aboard is totally sick of hearing me say, “Look at the color of that water!”. It is pretty much perfect plus we have continuous entertainment.

Big cattlemarans loaded with tourists glide past ferrying guests to the various beaches and a small resort restaurant. There is also an entertaining guided tour in small 16’ outboards that passes by us each afternoon. The guests drive their own boat and play follow the leader with a guide boat whose captain continual gives them hand motions and encourages them in Spanish to keep up with him and stay in line. It actually looks like a fun way for non-boaters to tour the island.

This is the last place on earth that you want to mail a fragile package to. Each day at about 10 a.m. a 1920’s bi-plane flies over our anchorage coming in low to buzz past the airport runway and heave the mail from the plane. That’s right, they open up their doors and toss the mail out onto the runway. And we think the U.S. postal workers are hard on mail.

David and I went diving yesterday with a dive outfit at the marina ($37/dive). We have all our own equipment since we did not know what to expect as far as safety and rented gear here. There was no reason to worry as turned out to be one of the best dive outfits either of us has dove complete with a guide for each small group. David and I had our own guide for both dives. Happily, the reef here is really healthy with all types of soft and hard coral, acres of conch, a nurse shark, lots of reef fish, lobster and the biggest eels we have ever seen. One was about 8’ in diameter! Big fat eel that open their mouths wide in a menacing snarl when we got too close.

Cayo Largo really feels like a pretend island and not at all like any place else we have seen in Cuba. It is much too perfect and sterile with souvenir and cigar shops, restaurants and bars, and even a dolphin play area all geared for tourists. The only locals are the ones who work here on a 20-day on rotational shift and they all speak perfect English. They are ferried back and forth to Havana on a high-speed catamaran and live in special housing behind the marina. At the bank, David asked if he could change his local pesos into CUC. They said no, but that he should save them to use in Cuba. Even the bank teller knows that Cayo Largo is not really Cuba.

The only down side so far has been the mess up when David and Jen tried to renew their visas. We were originally told that we each needed to buy $25 worth of stamps at the bank to be used to renew our tourist card. After we had purchased the non-refundable stamps, the immigration official told David that Canadians automatically get 3 months when they enter Cuba, so they did not need to renew their tourist visa. They renewed mine but would not refund David and Jen’s $50. The odd thing to us was that no officials in Santiago or Cienfuegos had ever mentioned that Canadians were automatically issued 3-month visas. Now we are unsure whether they will have problems when we leave the country next month. Also, $50 is no small change when you are on a cruising budget. It was strange that the officials could not refund the money when they are the ones that told them to buy the stamps. This is a lovely country, but we are always mindful that we are in Cuba and there really is no recourse if you are unhappy with a government transaction. Fidel doesn’t do complaints.

Cayo Rosario – Finally left Cayo Largo today for a day sail of 25 miles. Winds were an easy 15-18 knots and we sailed on the jib over the most amazing colored waters of turquoise and blue to this anchorage. Words just cannot describe the colors of the sea here. Rosario is about 5 miles long with a long shoreline of white sand beaches and a fringing coral reef.

After we had anchored we realized that we hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer for dinner and we did not catch a fish all day. We decided to go check out a nearby reef to see what we could see.

We really wanted to find lobster but would happily settle for conch. It was just like going to the market. The reef was pretty tiny with only small clumping of rock and coral but we only had to swim about 10 yards from the dinghy before we saw our first lobster, then another and another. Lobster everywhere!

When we spot lobster we do this stupid lobster signal. We wiggle our fingers on top of our heads like lobster antennae to get each other’s attention while making a trilling sound. Yes, I know this must look ridiculous but one of the best things about being out here in the booneys is that you can act silly whenever you want.

On the way back to the dinghy, David stopped to dive and grab a conch. He had a lobster and spear in one hand and a conch in the other (apparently multitasking). He still managed to swim back to the dinghy. We are a pretty good team. I’m like the hunting dog that spots and points while he moves in for the kill with the Bahamian sling. I have never hunted lobster before and this is so much fun. We only took what we could eat for dinner, no sense being greedy. We left many lucky lobsters in their hidey-holes. There is nothing so fine as watching a sunset while grilling lobsters that you caught yourself that same day…life is good.

Across the channel from Cayo Rosario is rustic monkey sanctuary where you can watch very timid monkeys come for their daily feeding of vitamin laden pressed pellets (yum?). The fishermen that man the station are government workers who are paid $5,000 local pesos (about $12) a month. They are also given some food staples of rice, beans and coffee once monthly, but not much else. They were very friendly. They also showed us jutia (looks like a rat/beaver cross) that they also had on site in a pen and some jutia babies that they are taming as pets. They did not ask us for anything. We learned of their wage and stipend situation from a Swiss boat that had been anchored there for several days. As I said before, EVERYONE in Cuba works for the government. Some of their boats are even painted Fidel green. Fidel seems to be a very miserly employer.

The great white Canadian hunter, Capn’ David, went out to the reef with some guys from two other boats anchored here. He brought back lobster (of course!) and a barracuda. Fresh-gilled barracuda for dinner.

Cayo Avalos

Sailing between Rosario and Avalos we saw some great coral heads in about 8ft. of water and decided to anchor and go for a snorkel just to check them out. The coral supported lots of fish including some nice grouper, a giant, 8” in diameter, moray eel (yikes!) and of course lobster. We could not resist taking 3 big ones from the many that we saw. David also makes a point to kill any lionfish we see. They have no predators and are slowly taking over the reefs around the world. Back aboard we grilled the lobster for lunch and made lobster burritos. The sea was dead flat, the sun was radiating off our bodies as we sat licking lobster juices off our fingers…. decadent! I sure do not miss my day job. We finally pulled anchored and made it to Avalos by mid afternoon. Conch for dinner tonight.

Cayo Campos

It took us about an hour of white knuckle motoring to get into our anchorage here. The wind is up and there are many shoals protecting this island. At some points we were in barely over 3 1/2ft of water and we need 3 feet to float.

Ashore we met Lionni and Rolando the two groundskeepers of the island and monkey sanctuary here. This island is beautiful and so well cared for that it felt like you were touring in a wildlife park. There are three paths (caminos) that have been cleared, one had even been raked, that lead miles into the interior and shoreline of the island.

The next morning we dinghyed ashore to see the wild monkeys. We were hoping for a glimpse of them while they were feeding. On the last island the monkeys were so timid that they would not let us get closer than 100 yards from them. On this island, the kindness of the two men had these monkeys literally eating out of their hands. They love the wild monkey colony that live here and the monkeys trust them. It felt like we were watching some Wild Kingdom documentary as we sat on rustic wooden benches in front of their fishing shack while Lionni called the monkeys to him. First came the chief of the clan, we called him “Jeffe” in honor of Castro. “Venga, mono mono” (come, monkey, monkey) called Lionni and the tough alpha male came out to eat mini garbanzo beans and take an egg from Lionni’s hand, yum! The other males hung back until Jeffe ate his fill. Then from the bush came the monkey mothers with babies hanging on under their bellies like marsupials. There were 10 monkey mothers and babies. Next came the youngsters and gangly teenage monkeys all waiting their turn in the tribal pecking order of this monkey clan.

We were enchanted and honestly, I felt that I could have stayed there all morning and watched the antics of these creatures. Lionni and his nephew Rolando love these monkeys. They are their mascots, pets. They even share their meager food supply with them. Sixty eggs is suppose to last two men 30 days, but we watched them feed two precious eggs to the monkeys that morning. When they are not working to clear the trails on the island, they fish to feed the animals. The monkeys love the head cavity from lobster. Small fish like sardines are used to feed the birds, large egret and heron. There are even crocodile that live in a natural lagoon near the other side of the island. I was almost glad they did not show themselves the day we tried to find them. Not sure how I feel about getting up close and personal with crocodiles in the wild. All I know for sure is that this island is a must-see if you ever find yourself cruising in these waters.

Later the same afternoon David and I were headed for a snorkel on the reef when we noticed a sailboat that had gone aground in the shallow shoals. Our first clue they were in distress was the fact that they had their anchor attached to mast halyard, not exactly a standard way of anchoring. They were attempting to pull the bow off the reef. This seemed to be a bare boat charter with a German group of seven aboard. They spoke English but no one aboard seemed to know much about what to do to get unstuck. We have no idea how they got in this part of the reef, but remembered what a tough time we’d had getting into our anchorage and a catamaran draws a lot less water than a monohaul. Two men were in a tiny 4 hp dinghy trying to pull the bow around. One even fell in the water, my oh my! This situation was getting worse by the minute and there is no way that little dinghy could do much to help. We grabbed their bowline and David braced himself while hanging on for dear life wedged in the bottom of the dinghy. I drove slowly backwards, a little more, a little more until slowly that bow came around. Once clear the driver unexpectedly gunned the motor and David had to throw that bowline away from our dinghy or wind up being catapulted overboard to surf behind their wake. No wonder they went aground if they drive at that speed through all these coral heads. Without even a word of thanks they took off while we kept yelling, “Pull your bowline in! No one was paying any attention aboard. In utter frustration David finally yelled, “PULL YOUR BOWLINE IN…you F**#ING IDIOTS!” The last we saw they were still motoring to the reef opening going at ramming speed with that bowline dragging along the way. It’s a miracle that bowline didn’t wrap around their prop.

We were still shaking our heads in amazement while we sped back to Nauticat for sundowners. We felt we’d certainly earned them.

Dinner tonight – lobster (of course) in garlic cream sauce over pasta.

Cayo Matias

Beautiful sandy beaches and more lobster. As soon as we set our anchor, fishermen approached with containers full of lobster. We didn’t need anymore, but David hates to say no to them so we took two for a trade. We just really love talking to them about their catch and their day, their lives. Besides Jen and I really like just looking at all these handsome guys. So far I’m beginning to think there are very few ugly men in Cuba. We are definitely fans of the handsome fishermen club. Sorry for the lack of photos. I don't feel comfortable posting their photos as they may be fined (or worse) for trying to trade with us.

Punta Frances

Once again, as soon as we get the boat settled in a new anchorage the local fishermen spot us and come by to see if we want fish or lobster. At this anchorage a swimming fisherman with lobster and a huge string of fish, mostly snapper, greeted us. Our freezers are full of fish and lobster, but we can’t say no, especially after all his effort to swim out to us.

There are 56 dive sites in this one bay, but only one marker that we could find. We grabbed our gear, tied our dinghy up to the marker #6 and jumped in to take a look. The 50’ shelf dropped off to a deep blue drop off hundreds of feet below us. The reef looked like a huge lava flow with mountains and valleys of gorgeous coral, big long tubes of yellow and purple sponges and fish everywhere, including barracuda and big crevalli. We were enchanted. Visibility was about 100’. It was one of our best dives. There were fish everywhere, tang gangs, huge queen angelfish, grouper, triggerfish, and snapper. These fish were way too friendly. We saw some lobster heads on the sea floor at the start of the dive and surmised that the dive group from Marina Siguanea probably feed them before each dive. Sadly, we brought no treats and the little black durgons (triggerfish) were trying to jump in our dinghy with us when our dive was over. I think they couldn’t believe we were leaving without giving them anything.

We caught a Cero (like Spanish mackerel) on the way here and put the whole fish on the grill for dinner.

Marina Siguanea

This must be the safest marina in Cuba complete with coast guard station and a Guarda outpost at the entrance. The outpost has two armed guards with a machine gun on the roof and a 24-hour watch over the coast and entrance. We called them on our VHF but they saw us sailing to their harbor long before they spoke to us on the radio. The entrance is so shallow, 4 feet, that we are the only sailboat at the dock. There is one other boat, a French monohull anchored out in the entrance to the marina. We may be the only sailboat, but all dock space is taken with a multitude of dive boats, and 3 coast guard vessels. Two are fast speedboats and one is a nice cabin cruiser. It should seem very restricting and frightening docking next to such a strong Cuban military presence, but just the opposite is true. The troops are made up of very young, happy, polite boys. Truly they are all calendar quality “eye candy” for teenage girls as most of them are 17 – 20 years old. Of course older gals like myself do not mind the view. It is so much better than seeing a bunch of paunchy old guys in Speedos which is what I see at other marinas. These handsome young men spend the day polishing their engines…. their three 250 hp boat engines. The rest of their day is spent wiping down the bright work and basically joking which each other as boys that age will do. Are they threatening…not a bit. Last night they caught a fish off the dock and then all twelve of them stood around and watched two guys clean it. Typical guys stuff.

We took the local bus from the marina to Nuevo Gerona to check out the town and get some veggies at the market. The drive was beautiful past orchards and green valleys where beef cows (more sacred cows that local people cannot afford to eat) and horses grazed. We were on the worker bus and it was fun to see each small village along the way when they dropped people off outside their homes. Nuevo Gerona is a bustling village and much larger than we thought it would be. There are horse carts and bicycles everywhere. We hired a driver of a local car, an old European Lada, to show us around. He also helped us locate some boat provision. We needed veggies, eggs, bread, rum (a necessity) fruit juice, and a quick fix of ice cream. The stores here are very limited, but eventually we found enough of what we needed. Our ice cream bar turned out to be pre-melted, but it still tasted pretty good.

Festival food - pulled pork sandwiches

He also drove us 6 km out of town to the old Presidio where Fidel Castro was imprisoned after his unsuccessful attempt to take over Cuba in the 1953 raid on Santiago. This was a surprisingly fascinating side trip. Our guide took us inside the huge round buildings that each housed 500 prisoners. The guard tower sat in the middle of each unit allowing guards to see into every cell and keep control of the entire area from one safe location.

Apparently this prison was modeled after the one in Juliet, Illinois in the U.S. It was all very eerie to imagine being locked away there. Castro and his revolutionary group were not imprisoned here but instead were housed in a separate area. Apparently Batista did not want Castro polluting the other prisoner’s minds with talk of revolution. Instead he kept the revolutionary group together in a wing of the infirmary. It looked like big slumber party dorm room, complete with comfy beds, library and bathroom facilities. Castro’s professor was even allowed to come in to tutor the group. This may have been one of the stupidest things Batista did while in office since he essentially housed and fed them all while they wrote political manifestos and plotted his overthrow. Castro’s group was all released in less than two years. They fled to Mexico where they regrouped, then returned to Cuba aboard the Granma to finally overthrow Batista and his government. The guide at the museum conducted the tour in Spanish. She took great pains to speak slowly and clarify any bits that we did not understand.

On the drive back to the marina our driver would turn off the car engine on the downhill runs to save fuel. He would start the car again when we would start up a hill. The rear windows did not roll down, the exterior was rusted and dented, and the insides of the doors were cardboard covered over with wax. This was actually one of the better cars we saw in Nuevo Gerona, but in any other country this car would have been sent to the junkyard years ago.

We also spent a day diving with the local dive group at the marina. They took us back to Punta Frances for two great dives on the spectacular reef. The visibility was about 30 meters, the water warm (78 F) and the reef was healthy and teeming with fish. It was pretty much a perfect diving day.

We are still continuing our diet of lobster and fresh fish. Finally on our third night at the marina we broke down and defrosted some pork chops. Maybe it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Cayo De San Felipe

Pulled anchor on a blustery day from our anchorage a mile away from Marina Siguenea. A northerly front was blowing in and we wanted to make a run for San Felipe. What a great sail! The winds were gusting to 22 knots, our wind angle was perfect, and we averaged about 7 knots today. This is really fast for Nauticat. Weather is too cool for snorkeling, but we explored the mangroves waterways that open up into shallows of more mangroves and ultimate end at the other end of the cay. No crocodiles here either although there were some great sandy beaches for them to sun if the weather was warmer.

Cajun gumbo with prawns for dinner. Barracuda on the grill the second night.

Maria La Gorda

Our sail to this anchorage was a rough one. The seas are big today and hitting us broadside as we try to hold a decent course downwind with the wind gusting to 25 knots.

We aren’t actually on course, as the waves and wind direction are not cooperating. It was a long day of jibing back and forth over our rum line and wondering what happened to our calm seas of a few days ago.

Maria La Gorda is a small tourist settlement complete with resort accommodations, dive operation, bar, and restaurant. It is really picturesque with white sandy beaches and palm trees. The bay is full of beautiful coral. Mooring balls have been installed so that you don’t drop your anchor over the coral and ruin the sea life below. I snorkeled around our mooring and found a big iron anchor bolted to a strong coral head….yeah, that will hold. Small reef fish were everywhere. We are headed to Los Morros tomorrow; to officially checkout from Cuba, and make our run for Mexico. Too bad we will not have a chance to dive here. If the anchorage is this nice, I bet the diving here is wonderful.

Lobster pasta for dinner.

Oddly enough, I’m not sick of lobster yet. Getting close though.

Los Morros - San Antonio

Last stop in Cuba before heading 105 nm to our next anchorage at Isla Mujares, Mexico. Our steering autopilot has been broken since our first port at Santiago and we have not been able to repair it. I am not looking forward to a long slog overnight with many miles of it against the Gulf Loop Current. Dependent on the time of year of crossing the current against us can be anywhere from 4 to 7 knots. Hopefully the current will be as predicted for March, 4 knots or less in some places. Yes, ever the optimist.

As it turned out, our passage to Mexico was as good as could be expected. We left Los Morros - Port of San Antonio at noon with all the official helping with the dock lines and shouting for us to return again soon. Within the first couple hours we took on a huge wave port side that drenched us all. Why do we always have to start a passage wet? Actually it was only a freak wave and all aboard settled down to a great sail. More of a worry was the six huge freighters that appeared quickly (as they will do going 20+knots) and let us know for sure that we would be sailing in their shipping lane.

My 3 a.m. watch found me helming into a ribbon of liquid moonlight illuminated over the water. If I steered to the moonlight glow I kept to our 257 bearing. The wind was over my right shoulder at a steady 14 knots. There was just a scattering of clouds and that big ol’ moon peeking through brightly to shine the way. I felt like I was sailing Peter Pan’s pirate ship straight on till morning…total enchantment! As with most enchanted moments this one ended quickly when freighter #12 came into view. She was on a collision course with little Nauticat. We lit up the salon and both sails in the hope that the freighter would see us and alter course a bit, no luck. After many tries to hail the vessel we decided to take survival tactics and jibed to steer clear.

I’m going to miss Cuba. This is a fantastic country to visit. If you are reading this blog and have any questions about particulars of cays or places we visited, just drop a line. I’d be happy to hear from you.

More Cruising Cuba - Havana!

2011-04-01T09:02:00.002-04:00

Havana harbor - cruise ship from UK in background

It took us 4 hours to get to Havana from Cienfuegos. Our bus was one of those cushy air-conditioned tour buses you see all over the world. Cuba is working hard to encourage tourism. The trip took us through the countryside past miles and miles of government owned farms of sugar cane, mango, papaya and citrus orchards, rice paddies, vegetable fields and herds beef cows. Beef here is strictly for the tourists and possibly Fidel. The people call them “sacred cows” because on $1 a day no one can afford to eat it. Rural Cuba is vast and well cultivated. The small villages we passed were very orderly and clean with small stucco houses and tiled front porches or older wooden structures. Horses pulling small carts were everywhere and oxen plow the fields. There was not much traffic on the road.

Throngs of people stood at major intersections of the highway. They were waiting for a ride into the city. A government worker dressed in yellow, called “amarillos”, helps facilitate this official hitchhiking by stopping all cars with blue license plates to ask where they are going. Blue license plates indicate government cars and these are required by law to pick up travelers hitching. It is a good law since transportation is a huge issue here. Sadly, there are a lot more people waiting by the road then there are vehicles driving past.

typical Havana street - love those classic American cars

As our bus drove into the capital of Cuba I felt that I had already been here before. Must have been all those fabulous photographs in coffee table books that I have read and the documentaries of the Buena Vista Social Club. It was exactly as I had imagined with colorful and regal architecture and the wide stone walkway along the sea with views to the castle. Dotted along the seawall were couples holding hands and making out. Then you see them, all those fantastic old American cars. Yes, this has got to be Habana. That is the way Cubans say the name of their capital with pride.

Shabby chic Havana style

Havana is one great city. It is easy to be dazzled here. It feels like old world Spain in architecture and grand design. When you look at the people you could imagine that Havana is some fashion mecca akin to Milano, Italy. Both men and women are dressed to the hilt and flashy (almost trashy) with bling everywhere; on their purses, shoes, belts, shirts and pants. I felt like a bum in my plain skirt and flip-flops. The style is uniquely individual and not some cookie cutter design that everyone is wearing. It was only later that I realized that the clothes are all cheap imports from China and second hand items from visitors or relatives abroad. They have taken junk and made it look haute couture.

The longer we were in Havana the more we realized that this is how it is with everything here and in all of Cuba. Everything they have from household appliances, dishes, bicycles, tools, bathroom fixtures, etc. cannot be replaced if they are broken. They must be repaired and maintained because replacing it is very difficult and expensive. At least it is too expensive for local people who are trying to live on $1 or less a day. Many of the beautiful buildings are just a crumbling façade, still standing but the building has been condemned or is just barely habitable. Tourism is one of the top 3 industries next to the selling of cigars and rum. If it is for the tourists or part of the revolution history it is maintained. This goes for museums, hotel and buses for tourists, and all-inclusive resorts.

Our bus dropped us off at the Hotel Lincoln in old town. This is a businessman’s hotel with low rates ($24 –single, $36 – double) compared to the $100 plus rooms at the tourist hotels. It was clean, had a great breakfast buffet, and a bar on the roof with fantastic views over the city. The rest of the rooftop was a mess of electrical wiring and no railing, but it did have a view. My room had a small crumbling balcony that looked right into the building across the street. When I walked out on the balcony the families who lived across the way smiled and wave at me. Their apartments were spaces that had been sectioned off within the usable part of the building. They looked cramped and very Spartan. The people mostly hung out on their balconies, dilapidated like mine.

living conditions are hard in Havana

The hotel was overbooked and we were only able to stay 2 nights. The gal at reception found us a casa particular a few blocks away. Casa particulars are government sanctioned rooms-to-let in a home. All the ones we heard of were $25 per room/night. Our hosts had two large, clean bedrooms with a surprisingly modern (better than the hotel) bathroom shared between the two rooms. Breakfast was an additional $4 and included fresh fruits, smoothies, café con leche, and omelets to order. Our hosts did not speak English, but we were able to communicate easily enough and really enjoyed staying in a real home. Later we learned that much of what they earn renting rooms is paid back to the government…of course. Everyone works for the Fidel. He is proving to be a very miserly boss.

There are red, double-decker tour buses that you can pick up at Parque Central and other locations around town. These will drive you through the sights of old town, new Havana, out to the big hotels on the beach, and also the old castle for $5 CUC. The best part is that you can get off and on at any stop during the day. There many modes of transportation in Havana and we tried most of them. Bright yellow golf ball-like Havana cabs are 3- seaters and unique to Havana. We also rode in bicycle taxis but never did get around to taking a horse drawn buggy. Of course the most popular taxi are the classic and beautiful American cars. All are pretty reasonable and originally quoted prices are definitely negotiable.

We got off our red bus at Revolution Square and went to the Jose Marti museum where we hired an English speaking guide who answered most of our burning questions about Cuba. Believe me, we had many. Basically, Cubans are proud of their country, their history, revolutionary leaders (especially Che and Camilio Cienfuego) and they respect Fidel. No one ever said one bad word about Fidel…. that in itself was a little scary. We were also told quite candidly about the difficulty of surviving on the low wages of $1 or less per day. Apparently the most highly skilled workers (doctors or engineers) will still only take home about $40 - 50 CUC per month. Fisherman earn $12 a month. Couple that with a sparse amount of staples provided by the government in the form of beans, rice, coffee, and sugar and it is quite apparent that day-to-day life is hard for the people.

In the Fall of last year, the government was forced to lay off 500,000 workers because they no longer had the money to pay them. At the same time, some of the restrictions on operating small cottage businesses were lifted. It was encouraged that people find alternative ways of supporting themselves including moonlighting in trades as a barber, nail stylists, and street vendors. We saw small food stands, mostly selling pressed meat sandwiches and undercooked hot dogs, in the cities we visited.

We also saw vendors selling nuts, fruit juices, and locally made crafts. Apparently this is very new for Cuba and has happened since Castro’s brother, Raul has taken over as president. Personally, it feels like Castro is still in control in the role of puppet master. I felt privileged to get to be here at a time when changes are coming. Of course with all the restrictions and low wage there is a big underground industry in rum, cigars, money laundering, etc. Most people we talked with were professionally trained, (architects, accountants, teachers) but were taking jobs in the tourist industry for the chance to make a little more money in the form of tips or gifts from foreign visitors.

I really enjoyed the bustle of life in Havana. The people may not have much in material wealth but they make up for that in their personal style and their way of life. A huge part of life in Cuba is centered around music. We heard music every night we were there. Our first night we were lucky enough to be told about a local band that was playing in a street bar in one of the neighborhoods.

The place was so packed that we could not even get into the tarp covered patio where the band was playing until after the first set. We hung out by outdoor bar watching the intricately hot moves of the dancing couples. They positively sizzled. Each night found us in a different part of old town with bands that played all types of Cuban music from traditional to original. I think I have had my fill of the song Guantanamera. It is played everywhere and seems to be a local favorite. Sadly, maybe they just play it so much because tourists expect to hear it and the Cuban populace is becoming quite good at giving tourists exactly what they want. The Jimmy Buffet song Everyone has a cousin in Havana gets my vote for most likely Cuba theme song. Anyone you meet anywhere in Cuba has a relative or friend from your city. I dare you to come here and disprove this theory. ( - “

Mogates of Pinar del Rio

The next day we took an excursion out to the famous limestone Mogate Mountains of Pinar del Rio, rode in a boat down a river through a cave, and toured a cigar and rum factory. At the factory when I saw the workers rolling cigars I was instantly struck by the thought, this is what modern day slavery is like. It was my Cuban AHA! moment. Each worker rolls 20 cigars an hour and can create about 150 cigars a day per roller. The cigars sell for an average of $8 each (many sell for much more) or $1200. There are several people involved in the cigar making process: the farmer, sorter, roller, labeler, boxer, and tester. These six people are making $1 a day! The factory I visited had 50 rollers with the capacity to make 7500 cigars a day at a retail of $60,000. This was a small factory that had been set up in the town so that tourists could view the process. Photos were not allowed. There were probably 100 workers in total at this factory. At $1 per day per worker, total wages for that day would be approximately $100. Some workers doing menial jobs may be paid even less. What an amazing profit margin! So this is what socialism looks like. These workers are all educated, literate, and also powerless to stop the injustice that is being done to them. I was very sad to be a witness to this government greed. Where is Fidel’s promise of equality for all? Seems to me that he is a robber baron and capitalist big business mogul.

Cigars are BIG profits for a corrupt government

~~~~ Choose the tab "older posts" listed below to see more logs from Cruising Cuba ~~~

Cruising Cuba - Cienfuegos

2011-03-31T11:15:00.003-04:00

Cuba has some amazing natural harbors and Cienfuegos is one of them. An imposing, 300 year old castle and Guarda station protects the entrance just as they did in Santiago. We passed colorful fisherman cottages and colonial mansions on our way through the channel to the marina. Marina Marlin welcomed us royally. The marina manager answered my call on the VHF then came out to the dock to meet us personally. He guided us dock by dock until we figured out where he wanted us to tie up. Our check in was immediate and efficient with no fuss at all. It is so easy because the customs and immigration offices are right at the marina. This is a gated marina with electrical hookups, water, fuel, and reasonable clean showers/toilets. Same fees as we found in Santiago.

Marina Marlin - Cienfuegos

Beam me up Scotty - telephone bubbles

I really like Cienfuegos. It is a gorgeous old town and one of those UNESCO World sites. The whole city feels like an old movie set with grand wide boulevards and a big malecon walkway of about 2km. all along the waterfront. The architecture has a huge French influence. Apparently long ago (early 1900’s) there were too many black people here for the Cuban liking so they imported French from Louisiana to whiten the population. The architecture sure shows this French influence with big wide streets, French columns everywhere and even a Cuban arch de triumph. The main commercial street, Avenue 54, is very artsy with street vendors selling locally made leather goods, silver, and wood art. There are murals everywhere. Even the dumpsters have beautifully painted murals.

Yes, this is a dumpster with the face of the famous Cuban singer, Benny More.

This is not at all what I imagined it to be like here. There are concert halls, ice cream parlors, and a bustling city center. It would be fun to come back here for sure. One of our nicest afternoons was spent spooning up freshly made plantain and chocolate ice cream at one of the many ice cream parlors. It felt so civilized to be served in rose patterned china bowls instead of fast food Styrofoam like back home. This is the opposite of the throw away mentality of much of the world. Beverage vendors even use real glasses to serve up juices and water because that is all they have. Cuba lives slowly and green because they have to.

David and Jen at the local ice cream shop - double bolsas of plantain and guayaba - $1

Because the marina is so secure, we’ve decided to take a bus to Havana from here ($40 return). The plan is to leave tomorrow and stay several days in the Havana area. Our other option would have been to fly to Havana from Cayo Largo, one of the southern islands ($180 return). We happened to walk past a government run agency (every business is government run here), Ministry of Tourism, that was very helpful in explaining travel options and booking our tickets on an air-conditioned tour bus to Havana. She spoke excellent English, told us about various excursions and even suggested a cheap hotel in old town Havana ($36/double, $25/single) that she booked for us.

The lovely Carmencita - songbird from the 40's

It is turning out to be surprisingly easy to travel in Cuba. Cigars and tourists are what bring in the big bucks and the government definitely caters to both. So far Cuba is pretty much a perfect vacation destination. The people are friendly and interesting; the country is beautiful, the cities have gorgeous architecture, exotic music, and a unique culture. It is also very clean with no apparent crime that I have seen. Of course, I think that is due to the fact everyone is afraid of the Guarda. It is an eerie kind of control, but definitely preferable to some islands in the Caribbean where fear for your life and wallet if you try to walk around on your own.

Cruising Cuba - Cabo Cruz to Jardines de la Reina - Off the Grid

2011-03-28T21:55:00.005-04:00

February 2, 2011

Have you ever just wanted to toss your cell phone and computer away and spend some time not being connected to the trappings of modern life? Here in the southern islands of Cuba we have sailed into a world that has slowed to a crawl and there is no electronic connection of any kind. It is a weird combination both freeing and frightening to glide through each day without a clue as to what is going on in the outside world. I’m not sure what day of the week it is today, but I do know that tonight will be a new moon. That information seems more important to me right now. Life’s little priorities sure change out here. Our next chance at Internet will probably be weeks from now when we reach either Trinidad or Cienfuegos. For now, I’m enjoying life at its simplest.

Papa Hemingway loved the wild untouched islands of Cuba and I can see why. His haunt was the northern islands and we are exploring the south. The waters are clear with healthy reefs and lots of sea life to catch, eat and just watch while snorkeling or diving. Each cay we come to has its own unique distinction; like the cay where we speared all those lion fish, or the one where 3 local boats offered us lobster or the one where we anchored too close to the mangroves and almost got eaten alive by mosquitoes that arrived to feast right at dusk. The name of the cay, Mosquito Grande, should have made us wary.

There are literally hundreds of islands to visit on the southern coast. We are taking it slow. Since we are a 35’ catamaran that can only average about 5 knots an hour we are trying to make short day sails to cays that will be best for snorkeling, diving, fishing and seeing the wild, untouched beauty of Cuba. Below is where we went and what we found there. These cays are in the Golfo de Ana Maria and Golfo de Guacanayabo, the archipelago known as Jardines de la Reina, Garden of the Queen.

Cabo Cruz is a nice westerly sail 110 miles from Santiago. It has a huge reef that was visible breaking over the shallows next to the well-marked deep channel. After an overnight sail we were so happy to finally arrive at an anchorage with beautiful clear turquoise water. Of course we jumped right in to discover the whole anchorage was full of conch…boy do we love conch! Captain David (S/V Nauticat) and Captain John (S/V Sete Mares) speared 3 lionfish for dinner on the small reef. Along with the conch we were set for a feast. As David was cleaning the conch, 2 local teenagers came swimming up with a string of assorted fish and 4 nice sized lobsters. They wanted to barter for the whole lot but you could tell they were not sure what to ask us for and this being our first time dealing with buying fish here we were not sure what to offer. It certainly looked like a Cuban standoff until they decided they wanted “cuatro biere” for one lobster. What they really wanted was to get rid of the whole lot. We lowered a bucket down to them and they kept adding lobster and fish. They also wanted a t-shirt…no problem…and some cola…. okay! Negotiations continued and a few cans of Coors lite beer, one Hawaii t-shirt, and 2 cans of cola later, both sides felt it was a good trade. They were treading water on the far side of the boat while warily watching the shore. They kept asking if we could see the Guarda. We didn’t see anyone else and David offered to give them a ride back to the mangrove shore in the dinghy. They definitely said no to that. Cubans are not allowed to get into our boat and I think that includes our dinghy. The Guarda think they might just stow away. Lionfish, lobster, and snapper for dinner.

Cayo La Vela/Canal de Cuatro Reales – A day sail and a catch of 3 barracuda later found us at a safe little anchorage protected by shallow reefs and small cays. As we were sailing, we kept catching barracuda but were not sure if they were safe to eat since big ones in the Caribbean have been know to have ciguatera. A small fishing boat like something you might imagine from the old Kevin Costner movie, “Waterworld” came putt-putt-putting past us as they set their fishing nets right near where we were anchored. We waved them over to get a local opinion of the barracuda “to eat or not to eat” dilemma. The 3 fishermen were happy to tell us that “los barracuda es bueno a comer in the coast de la sur in Cuba”…great news! On their little boat, they had a big catch of fat little cero (taste like Spanish mackerel) and wanted to give us some. We asked for 3, they tried to give us 6 without any payment. In the end we insisted they also take 3 colas for their kindness. The Cuban pescadoro who spoke with us was very dirty & rough looking, but in a movie star handsome way complete with smoldering eyes and 5:00 shadow on his chiseled face…wow! Jen told me later that as handsome as he was she would gladly volunteer to give him a scrub. Ahhhh, Cuban men are a blessed sight for sore eyes…. even the dirty ones. Lobster, plantain, and salad for dinner.

Fisherman even sleep on these tiny boats

Cayo Media Luna – Half Moon Bay - Another protected anchorage but busy compared to the last two as two small fishing boats and a larger boat are already anchored in the bay. The water was murky at the anchorage but clean near the mangroves and we dinghyed out for a good explore hoping to see some lobster. We were told they live in the mangroves here. We found no lobster in the mangroves but hit the jackpot in the late afternoon when both small fishing boats came to see if we wanted to buy or trade for some fish. We told them we wanted lobster and they took off to find us some. This time we paid 10 CUC (about $10 Canadian) for 6 big lobster and 2 small ones. A month’s wage is $40 CUC here. They also wanted some Cuban rum, which we were happy to share. Grilled conch for dinner tonight.

The fishermen we have met are all so good-natured and happy but their life seems amazingly hard. They anchor and sleep on their tiny boats at night and fish all day. If we were ever to trade places with them, I think they would have no problem slipping into our life, but I do not think we could survive a week in their world. We have seen no other cruising boats, except for Sete Mares who we are traveling with some days, and no Guarda.

Cayo Grenada – Lobster! Well the only thing better than buying lobster from the local fisherman is finding it yourself. We only meant to stop at this anchorage overnight on our way to the islands of Cayo Algoden Grande. It is a mangrove island with sandbank reef at each end. We jumped in to explore and within a few minutes both David and John had each speared a nice feisty lobster. The reef is just sand with a few outcroppings of rock and coral and each outcropping seems to have a lobster. It is only 6 feet deep which is a good thing or we never could have caught them. Tonight when we sat around with our sundowners we of course told lobster tales (pun intended). We laughed as David told us how it took him at least 6 tries to spear one of the big ones today.. Their shells are hard and his aim was not the best since he has never had the chance to see so many lobsters in one place before. There is also a wreck of a local fishing boat in the harbor. It is now covered with hard and soft coral and is home to an amazing array of fish. We wanted lobster tonight, but were force to eat pork chops since they have been defrosted for 3 days.

Cayo Algodon Grande – Shrimp boats, a fishing fleet, and Sete Mares are in the bay when we anchored. Our most crowded anchorage yet. At this cay David spears the Goliath of the lobster world. He could barely get the monster up to the surface before it tried to pull him down again. Fighting for a breath, he finally pulled the great lobster to the surface. We think the tail alone weighs about 3 pounds. Next morning the local shrimpers traded with us for a bucket full of fresh prawns which we cooked immediately and ate for lunch. We are on a steady diet now of lobster, prawns, conch and fresh fish. So much for the starvation cruise of Cuba that I was worried about. We are eating like kings. Lobster tonight!

Cayo Cinco Balas – This is a nice anchorage protected by an extensive reef that protects Cayo Alcatracito. Nigel Calder’s book made it sound like there would be coral heads everywhere, but all there is in the anchorage is grassy sandy bottom and no sea life which is new for us…not even a conch. We dinghyed to beautiful long white sand beach where we built a small bonfire to burn our paper garbage. Garbage is a continual problem when cruising and we want to dispose of it in such a way as to leave no trace. A nice bonfire using dry palmetto branches, a cover with sand, and only our footprints remained. Cavelli Jack fish for dinner.

Cayo Breton – It was necessary to go about 3 miles west of this cay to avoid a long protecting reef. We then circled back to negotiate our way into the entrance of a channel between an extensive labyrinth of mangroves. The mangroves all look dead here, at least 90 percent with only a scattering of healthy ones. Maybe a recent hurricane has done this damage. In our dinghy, we explore the maze of dead mangroves that lead thru small channels that open into a bigger bay and ultimately the sea on the northwest end. Two sand spits made up of crushed shells sit at the entrance to our anchorage. They shelter all sizes of rays. It is like a ray nursery with shallows of warm water and a sandy bottom. The waters around the cay are crystal clear with grassy bottom and no other signs of sea life, but there are lots of birds. Barracuda for dinner.

Cayo Blanco de Casilda – We are near the mainland now and civilization is just a day sail away. That was pretty obvious when we arrived at our anchorage to find two catamarans filled with day-tripper guests. This island is not a mangrove cay but a real island complete with palm trees and a thatched hut resort (think Tiki Bar) used for charter tours from Hotel Ancon in the town of Casilda on the mainland. The “tourists” were all whooping it up on the beach and in the water and it was quite a shock to see so many people after days and days of seeing only fishermen. Tourism is good for the economy so we were happy to see signs of charter boats and paying customers. We didn’t need to worry about a crowded anchorage because within the hour both boats packed up their guests and sailed away leaving us alone…again! The water is clear here, but there is not much sea life except for some reef fish living on a small wreck near where we are anchored. It is not exceptionally interesting under the sea, but a very scenic little island for our quick overnight stop. Tomorrow will sail bright and early (35-40 m.) to the city of Cienfuegos. Barracuda on the grill for dinner again tonight. We keep hoping for a nice yellow fin tuna, but keep catching barracuda….sigh!

All opinions are totally my own and do not reflect those of any person or government. Except where I have given direct contact information, all names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people we met.

~~~~ Choose the tab "older posts" listed below to see more logs from Cruising Cuba ~~~

Cruising Cuba - Santiago de Cuba

2011-03-28T09:35:00.004-04:00

From Cruising Log - January 28, 2011

Touring Santiago is like being dropped down into an old movie set complete with period architecture from the turn of the century, old cars all pre-1960, and the look and feel of old world Spain with shaded plazas, cobbled streets, and horse drawn wagons. We took the local bus, called a Gwa Gwa, from Punta Gorda to Santiago (1 peso per person). The bus was empty when we first got on, but filled quickly at each stop along the way until we were crushed like the proverbial sardine in a can.

Cuban people are very thin. No golden arches here, and you can forget about eating a big juicy burger. No one eats beef here. Cubans refer to beef as the “sacred cow” since no one here can afford it. Beef is only for the tourists. There are fruits and vegetables at the market (when in season) and everyone is given rations of essentials like beans, rice, flour, sugar, and coffee, but wages are so low ($40 CUC per month) that is very hard for locals to feel overfed. Health care is available to all and supposedly good, but looking at the people’s smiles it is obvious that dental care is not available to the masses. As an American, I was required to buy health insurance ($2.50 CUC/day) in case I became ill or injured while visiting here.

We took the offer of a local man who wanted to show us Santiago. It is common to have people ask tourists if they want to be taken to a local restaurant, have a taxi tour, or be shown to whatever sites they are looking for. Jobs are scarce and moonlighting as a tour guide pays much more than the working day’s wage. There are government sanctioned restaurants and taxis here and also private ones. The private ones can be cheaper and in the private restaurants the food is much more authentic and delicious. I do not want to say the name of our guide so will just call him Guia (guide).

Guia walked us through Santiago pointing out the important sights like the city hall with bright blue balconies from which Fidel Castro gave his famous speech on Julio 26, 1953. We also walked past his grade school and childhood home near the French Quarter of Santiago. Most buildings are in ruins and crumbling disrepair, but the ones that have meaning to the revolution have been renovated and painted. Juxtaposed against these revived structures the ancient dilapidated buildings with intricate embellishments and rusted metal work seem all the more hopeless. Many buildings have revolution graffiti exhorting the masses that education is of the utmost importance or Vive Fidel. The people love Fidel but are not as fond of his brother, Raul. Apparently Fidel’s grown children are an embarrassment of spoiled privilege and have been shipped off of to Spain. Many embarrassments can be hid when the government controls the news.

Just because they are living in the old world does not mean that the people look the part. They are attractive, energetic, and contagiously friendly. Young people stop just to ask us where we are from. They know about fashion and in their own way make up in style for what is lacking in name brand designer attire. The women love tight knee length pants and short skirts worn with intricately designed nylon stockings, exotic high heels and big hoop or dangling earrings. They certainly love their bling. The men are dressed as flamboyantly and one young man even sported white alligator shoes. The gals in the photo above are using cardboard toilet paper rolls as curlers. Cubans are very good at improvising.

With our guide we saw many of the famous sights of Santiago including the “Stairs of Santiago which are so many that they gave me serious thigh burn before I was halfway up them. Cigars are sold “under the table” in local homes. They are the real deal with authentic labels laid out in hand made cedar boxes.

The local vegetable market was amazing with a huge array of fruits and vegetables. Apparently this is the best season to be here and the selection will dwindle as the dry period approaches and many items go out of season. For us, lucky tourists with our pockets full of local pesos, everything seemed dirt-cheap. Huge bunches of lettuce were 10 pesos each ($.30 Canadian), 4 sweet potatoes – 6 pesos, and 5 oranges were 5 pesos. Let’s just say our four large bags were too full to carry any more produce and we had only spent 100 local pesos or $4.44 Canadian.

The street of music is what I loved best. It is a long street just off the main plaza where small clubs and bars host local music groups. The club we happened into at 4:00 in the afternoon had an all girl salsa band. The place was packed with locals just chilling at their tables. A small bottle of local cheap rum was on each table. They drank it straight or over ice. Mixers are expensive here. The music pulses with life and vitality. I cannot understand all the words of the singer, but I can feel the passion and the angst. The music seems to feed the soul of the people.

What does the soul of Cuba want? I believe the Cuban people want freedom, freedom to choose their destiny. It is hard to put into words, but I feel the desire for freedom is very strong here. It feels like the whole of the population are a people trapped in a world that cannot move forward and they are just doing their best to survive each day. They seem to be trying to tread water in an ever-rising tide. If the economy cannot improve then eventually it will crumble and totally deteriorate just as the buildings have already done. The hardest part for me to understand is that the people cannot leave their country even if they might want to. In the U.S. we have our coast guard and security to stop people from getting into our country illegally. In Cuba the security works in just the opposite way. The job of the Guarda is to stop the Cuban people from trying to leave Cuba.

Cruising Cuba - January 25, 2011

2011-03-28T07:58:00.003-04:00

From Cruising Log - January 25, 2010

We made it to Cuba! It was quite a slog of a sail. The seas were too big, 3-4 meters, and the winds too high, 25-30 knots, for us to go to Hogstye Reef as originally planned. Instead we anchored one night on the sand banks of the Acklin Islands in a very rough anchorage. By morning we decided we were so miserable in the anchorage that it would be best to up anchor and set sail for Cuba.

Now I remember why I am not fond of overnight passages in rough seas. My bum was wet for a solid 30 hours! Every time I would come into the cockpit in dry clothes to do a watch it would only take about 5 minutes and a big wave would awash the boat, drenching us again and again. I also had 4 little leaks in my cabin from 2 hatches, and assorted leaks so even in bed I was wet. I really hate that! Jennifer was seasick most of the time and I finally succumbed to praying to the sea gods and loosing my breakfast just when Captain David kept telling us the worst was over. I’d been in the galley making a pressure cooker stew and must have overstayed my time below. The worst was that the trampoline finally broke apart from all the wave bashing and pulled away from the hull. No idea how to repair it as there is no fiberglass material in Cuba. Captain David is very clever and I am confident that he will figure out some temporary solution that will serve until he can repair it permanently in Columbia when he hauls out in the Spring. One of his favorite sayings is, “There is nothing more permanent than a good temporary solution.”

Cuba is SO BIG! I never realized until it took us about 15 hours to just sail to the northeast corner. It has huge mountains and a gorgeous rugged coastline that is longer than the eye can see. Apparently all the islands in the Caribbean could fit into this one country. Cuba is over 600 miles longs and we plan to sail the length of her southern coast and islands.

As we sailed past Guantanamo Bay, we were buzzed by helicopter and speedboat but apparently we looked harmless enough and were never contacted by VHF. It was dark when we finally sailed into the harbor of Bahia de Santiago. A huge ancient fort, Morro Santiago, sits atop the hill at the entrance to the harbor. Beside it is the Guarda headquarters. Searchlights scanned the dark coastline and lit up Nauticat as we sailed into the bay. It was all quite exciting. After many attempts we finally reached the Guarda (police) on the radio and in clear English they directed us to go directly to the marina. There were 5 boats already tied to the dock. “Bienvenidos a Cuba” were the first words we heard as we approached the marina. Welcome to Cuba…. Well Alright!

Bright and early the next morning we began our check-in process at Punta Gorda/Santiago Marina. It is all very efficient and easy since the officials all came to us as we waited on the boat with our yellow quarantine flag flying high. We had two guys from immigration, 2 from customs, 2 who checked for mosquitoes (they caught two in a vial to test for dengue and malaria), a very timid drug sniffing spaniel dog and other assorted officials. They were all so courteous, removing their shoes but wearing big smiles as each group in turn came aboard to perform their official duty. When offered tea or coffee they all chose tea. Apparently Cuba is not a nation of coffee drinkers as I always assumed. Tea is hard to get here, so is the beverage of choice when available. It was unexpected that they would be so friendly and speak such good English. They laughed and joked with us and even helped with our Spanish pronunciation. The Nigel Calder’s guide to Cuba that we have aboard is 14 years old (printed in 1997). There have been huge improvements to the marina since that printing. The docks are now updated and quite safe to tie up to. They include water and power, but we did not think the power looked right for our boat and have not used it. The water is not potable, but very usable for laundry and washing the salt off the boat. The washrooms/showers are somewhat modern but lack toilet seats and toilet paper (bring your own wherever you go) and the showers are cold but refreshing. Everything is very clean. There is no Internet at the marina, only in Santiago.

Cruisers beware; the worst problem with the marina is that there is an electric plant just over the hill that belches out plumes of pollution and the deposits land on the white fiberglass of all the boats in the marina. It is a bear to get off and best done by wiping down the decks early in the morning before the dew dries. We scrubbed for two weeks and could not get the brown spots off the fiberglass. When we got to Cienfuegos one of the guys who work on the charter boats there told us about a product called, Oxidant. The bottle says, “solucion anticorrosive basi fosforica”. The price was only $3 CUC per liter. You spread it on with a mop, leave it for 10 minutes then rinse. Miraculously we had a white deck again. This product is made in Cienfuegos.

Many of the stories we heard about Cuba are proving to be false. One story we had heard was of a cruising yacht that had been inventoried right down to each paperback book they had aboard. Apparently this was intended to prevent gifts being given to the Cuban people. At the end of their time in Cuba, as the story goes, one of the books was found missing and the captain was giving a fine to be paid before he could leave the country. This was definitely not how things happened for us. They did not inventory the boat in fact they barely looked at anything. They asked the same questions other countries ask when clearing in yachts; number of GPS devices, make of the outboard motor on the dinghy, whether you have firearms aboard, etc. The officials welcomed small gifts like a few bags of tea or a jar of Nutella, but do not accept bribes and they do not stamp passports including American passports.

Instead we get a cruising permit for the boat and a tourist visa for each person that we can tear up when we leave and no one is the wiser that Americans have visited Cuba. We have already met the local moneychanger. He wants U.S. $$ (to use for trade with Venezuela and Ecuador) not Canadian so we could only trade with him to get a small amount of CUC and local pesos and then will get our Canadian dollars changed at a bank in Santiago. Best place to change money in Cuba is “Cadeca” exchange, which will give you the bank exchange, plus they will also exchange CUC for local pesos. This is something the banks cannot do. There are two currencies here, CUC and local pesos. 1 CUC = $1.11 Canadian. 1 CUC = 25 local pesos. Exchange is 90 CUC = $100 Canadian or $80 American. Local pesos are only used at the vegetable market and for street vendors. CUC are used for everything else.

As an example of how cheap it is here, we went to the local market and bought beets, plantain, sweet potato, onions, cabbage, christophene, cucumber, eggplants, tomato, huge bunches of lettuce oranges and herbs. Two women could not carry another pound and the total was less than $5.00 Canadian. Most items were 10 local pesos a pound/kilo. It costs 1 peso to ride the bus 15 km to Santiago.

I think I am really going to like it here. I wish I had brought the copy of my great grandmother’s visa when she applied to visit the United States in 1927. I mentioned that I had relatives in Havana, but of course there has been no contact with them since the embargo of 1959 when I was 3 years old. The officials here asked if I had a photo of her. They said the surnames of Porres and Pimienta were not common last names here and perhaps it would not be that hard to find the family in Havana. Their concern was very touching.

We will stay at the marina for 4 - 5 days to try to fix some of the boat problems – foresail stuck halyard, a few minor leaks to caulk, and jerry rig something on the trampoline so it is not a hazard when we anchor.

Below is some information that might prove helpful to you if you plan to cruise to Cuba.

Cesar Pere Fouces, Marina Director of Marina Santiago, also referred to as Marlin Nautica Marina is a great contact. He was extremely professional and helpful.

marinastgodecuba@marlin.scu.tur.cu cell: 5340 5325, telefono 691446 y 686314

Fees we paid in CUC

$40 Doctor to check boat and crew

7 Veterinarian to check food stores aboard and check for mosquitoes

10 Entrance Fee

20 Customs Fee

15 Per person for 30 day tourist card (Canadians get 3-months, Americans 1 month)

15 Boat cruising permit – you only pay this once for your total cruising time in Cuba

2.50 Cuban Insurance per day for American visitors only.

.45 Per ft/day for moorage fees at Marina. Water and Electricity is included but we did not think the electricity was compatible for our boat.

Next Stop Cuba

2011-01-22T17:47:00.011-04:00

Photo of Dean's Blue Hole - Long Island, Bahamas - a 662 foot plunging trench

If you want to escape winter in the Pacific Northwest, the Bahamas is a very good place to go. When Anna and Ed met me in Nassau Airport they were complaining about how cold and blustery the weather was, but to me just escaping from yet another snowstorm, 70 degrees seemed about perfect.

I had a quick visit with them, while watching them complete boat jobs, before leaving for a five-day trip to St. Thomas to start their next guest trip. After waxing the whole boat, doing the monthly teak treatment, and provisioning the boat, we were ready to leave for a day trip to Georgetown. Big powerboats like the one they are on make the trip in just a day, but a sailboat would take 2 or even 3 days to make the same trip depending on the weather.

They delivered me safely to Georgetown in the Exumas to my friend David, skipper of the infamous catamaran, Nauticat. Georgetown is one of those island outposts that has become a summer camp for adults. You know the postcard-- sugar sand beaches, cheap beer and an anchorage is full of sailboats all bobbing peacefully on a sea of turquoise green. Many cruisers have been here for months with no thought of leaving, this is their destination. Pickup games of volleyball happen daily, snorkeling and swimming are mandatory and of course no one ever cares what time of day it is so that means it is always “happy hour” whenever the mood strikes.

I am now safely aboard Nauticat and ready for the next adventure, which happens to be a two month cruise of the southern coast of Cuba and the hundreds of islands (really thousands if you count the tiny ones) that make up her coastline. Captain David and first mate Jennifer are both Canadians. They have agreed to let me stow away on this trip. Cuba is the birthplace of my grandmother and a country I’ve always wanted to visit. According to Nigel Calder’s, “Cuba, A Cruising Guide”, it is not illegal for Americans to visit Cuba, it is only illegal for them to spend money in Cuba. Specifically stated, it is “illegal for any US citizen, to engage in unlicensed economic transactions with Cuba”. I think I will keep it legal and just not spend any money. David’s boat is provisioned to the gunnels so that just leaves me to be a non-political observer in search of my familial roots.

We plan to island hop for the next 3 days in the Bahamas, anchoring at Conception Island, Flying Fish Marina on the Southern end of Long Island, and Acklins Island, before setting sail for a nice two day passage that will take us into Santiago de Cuba where we can clear customs.

We have heard tales of Cuba’s unspoiled islands and they sound like a naturalist’s paradise with fish and lobster too big to be believed. If it is anything like our anchorage last night at Conception Island then we are in for a treat. Yesterday just before sundown, I was swimming back from the shore with two huge nurse sharks and an extremely large menacing barracuda. Let’s just say I became a very quick swimmer intent on getting back to the boat in a hurry. Once aboard they seemed even larger then they did in the water. We had a good time feeding bits of hot dog to them. The cleaning remoras that were piggybacked on the sharks scored more treats than the sharks and the barracuda combined. Maybe it is the remoras that I should have been afraid of.

Not sure how available Internet is in Cuba, but will try to let you know of our adventure.

On to Cuba….hasta pronto.

Too Long In Paradise

2010-05-14T08:46:00.006-04:00

Time to leave Carriacou before we lose our heads....literally!

Last week's news from Grenada was all about the shocking story of a local man who chopped off the heads of two men with a cutlass (machete), then put them in a bucket and drove to the local police station where he dumped the heads out on the charge table. Not your ordinary day at the office.

There had been no argument or dispute and the murderer could not even give a reason for the beheading....that's the truly scary part. We get three local papers here in Carriacou and all gave their accounting of the story in graphically gruesome detail. The most quoted line from the articles was, "The doctor then arrived, examined those headless bodies and pronounced them dead.".....duh! When someone says, heads will roll here in Grenada you can take it seriously.

Here at Fawlty Towers we had our own gruesome event.

No, we are not torturing our feral cat. She is all drugged and trussed for surgery, a much needed spaying. Apparently cats keep their eyes wide open when under the effects of anesthetic. I didn't know that, did you? I was afraid we had killed the cat.

Guy, a vet from Australia, was on Carriacou with his family for the Maroon Festival. He agreed to perform the surgery in trade for a big Aussie breakfast. What a deal. Our new infinity deck proved to be a perfect operating room complete with lots of natural light, sea breezes, nice view and a handy cocktail table for the patient.

The Butcher of Brisbane, as we affectionately called him, was an expert surgeon. He even fixed an old hernia that she probably didn't even know she had. Feral cats have it pretty rough here. This one has been hanging around David's house for the last 6 years and has a litter of kittens about twice yearly. Not many survive. Thanks to Guy, that cycle is now broken.

After the spay we all rushed out to check the string bands performing at the Maroon Festival....and calm our shattered nerves with a rum punch. The bands came from all over the Caribbean, Trinidad, Tobago, St. Lucia, BVI's, and our own Country Boys and Men from Grenada.

The crowd favorite was the Lashing Dogs from the BVI's. they played song after song, "tha's none like you....tha's more like she.... Love those catchy lyrics and grinding beat. Thankfully, the shade from the almond trees and wind off the water at Paradise Beach made for some good dancing with less sweat. The heat has been pretty intense. Lately, I can work up a sweat just turning the pages of a book.

Maroon is a celebration of the harvest and a good chance to try some local food. Macaroni pie, pigeon peas with rice, and mutton stew are my favorites. I try to avoid eating local grub after sundown or in dark places. The last time I forgot my own rule, I found myself sucking on a greasy pig tail and unable to spit it out like I desperately needed to....yuck. A stray dog finally wandered by. He was grateful for such a delicacy.

It really is time to go home. I start salivating just thinking of Seattle and all the food there. All that lovely salmon, micro greens, and every kind of cheese imaginable. Here in Carriacou we can't take anything for granted. Daily we head into our two street town, Hillsborough, to see if any fresh produce or surprise item has arrived. Everything, except fresh fish & conch, seems to come to the market by ferry or local trading boat. If something good comes in it sells out quickly.

Finished seems to be the favorite and most common word on the street. Do you have bananas? - Finished! what about eggs? - Finished! tomatoes? lettuce? butter? any cheese at all? -Finished! A few weeks ago there was a shortage of Coca-Cola. It's a bit comical when you are in a country where whole aisles in the stores are stocked with bottles of rum and there is no Coca-Cola. Yes, it's time to go home.

I also need a good reality check. Why, you ask? It's not that anyone means to have too much fun here, it's just that one can hardly help it. The sea, good friends, (like the three mermaids in the photo), and the leisure life of a beach bum agrees with me. It seems to agree with David too.

A good 9-5 job will change all that....

Time to go home, back to reality for awhile. As the wise saying goes, You need to go to come back....

Plenty Green in Carriacou

2010-04-25T13:31:00.008-04:00

We arrived back to Carriacou surprised to see the difference a few days of heavy rain can make to our parched and dry little island. Trees we thought were long dead are now covered in fresh new leaves, the frangipani are all in bloom, and best of all the foraging goats, sheep and cows now have green grass to eat. Even the fireflies have returned in the evenings lighting up the trees like tiny stars.

Our feral cat, Miss Kitty, gave birth to a litter of kittens while we were away. Sadly, only one kitten has survived. We think manicou or even a big cane toad may have eaten the others. Life is hard when you are feral and wild.

This little survivor is about 4 weeks old now. Our goal is to get her use to human voice and touch with the hope that we can find her a home. Her protective mom is not so sure that is a good idea and has recently moved them both to a huge spiky cactus that acts like a cave. It is a barbed fortress. Lucky for us the kitten is getting just too curious to stay put. She comes out often to chase leaves and try to climb the small shrubs near her den.

The crime wave that hit Carriacou a month ago seems to have stopped. Several local shops in downtown Hillsborough had break-ins during the night. Some larger villas with absent owners were also robbed. The most alarming robbery happened just down the hill from us. A masked man with a gun held up a couple in the middle of the day. Believe it or not he even brought his dog that waited patiently for his owner just outside the gate to the house. The robber pointed his gun and demanded cash and jewels (jewels in Carriacou?), but declined an offered laptop. In true robber fashion, he took the money and ran. From his physical description, fingerprints on the laptop, and maybe even a dog line-up, he was identified and arrested. There are not very many places to hide on this island.

At first he denied any involvement, but wished to apologize for any inconvenience he may have caused the couple. He was taken to the local jail, but in true Keystone Cop fashion, the police forgot to lock the jail cell so he just walked home to his mother’s house to spend the night. Next morning, our local constables had to re-arrest him. Rumor has it that he will receive 9 lashes with a cane (yep, that’s still legal here) and 6 years in jail. I have mixed feeling about whether jail time will help reform this man yet am relieved he was caught. Using a gun for the robbery really ramped up the fear factor and probably was a huge consideration in his sentencing.

Bob, David’s partner in the house, has arrived. Our projects are continuing and we are “stoning up” the front area of the house. Speaking of stoned, the local Rasta cobbler/smoke shop, Jamrock, went up in smoke and burned to the ground. It was a blazing inferno and even the Internet and telephone cables on the nearby pole were fried. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the fire department could not put out the blaze. All that was left are charred remains and the sweet scent of ganja wafting in the breeze.

As I’m fond of saying, “at least we still have rum!”

Here's a photo of the colorful Jamrock from better days.

Bahamian Blue - Sailing the Exumas

2010-04-08T14:48:00.006-04:00

“Look at the color of that water!” I use to say every morning in Carriacou when I looked out at the view from the deck. David would just roll his eyes and say, “take off those rose colored glasses, it’s okay but not that great.” Now that I have seen the color of the sea here in the Bahamas I stand corrected. Never have I seen such brilliant hues of blue.

Nauticat, a 35’ catamaran, is just perfect for sailing through all these shallow waters. At times we have had as little as 1 ft. of water below her keel. One time we stopped in the middle of nowhere to snorkel on the yellow bank off of the Exumas. There was no land to be seen anywhere. It felt like it should have been hundreds of feet deep, but instead we were in only 12’ of water. Derek and Skipper David thought it would be a great chance to spear dinner, but although there were hundreds of fish they were all small. Instead we surprised a sleeping hawksbill turtle that thought he’d found the perfect spot for a snooze. We all just floated above him with big smiles on our faces.

Not sure which I love more, all the wildlife or the sea color. The Exuma Parks Service has done a wonderful job of protecting their Parks both on land and sea. Wild birds eat out of your hand, small curly-tailed lizards sit unafraid right at our feet, and there are strict rules about no fishing (conch included) within the park boundaries so the sea life is amazing. The parks area is a huge 112,640 acres and encompasses about 19 cays. http://www.bnt.bs/parks_exuma.php

There is one cay that is home to swimming pigs. That’s right, they will swim right out to your dinghy as you come ashore. But the fun doesn’t stop there. These pigs are use to cruisers coming ashore with lots of veggies scraps just for them. They are so aggressive that I could barely get the plastic goodie sacks open before they were after me. I was running down the beach trying to open the sacks with the pigs right on my heels squealing and oinking and trying to take a bite out of my booty. Those are some spoiled pigs.

At Compass Cay there are more critter delights in the form of a big group of nurse sharks that hang out at the dinghy dock and expect to get fed hot dogs. If you are brave enough, you can get right in the water with them and stroke their backs. They feel raspy like sand paper. Then, just a short walk from the friendly sharks is yet another spectacular beach. Yes, once again we were the only people on it.

Skipper David, Derek and Mo plan to sail on to Andros Island and more adventures. He blogs too. http://thetwistedbuttruetalesfromthenauticat.blogspot.com/

By the weekend we will be back in Carriacou. Sure hope I can find those rose colored glasses. The ones that will make the sea off the island of Carriacou look Bahamian Blue.

Bahamas!

2010-03-26T16:20:00.009-04:00

Pirates, Manatee and Beer Can Chicken....life on the high seas

We arrived in Nassau a week ago to hop aboard S/V Nauticat with my good friend and sailing mentor, Skipper David. The last time he was sailing in the Bahamas was 30 years ago. His plan (don’t tell him I think he has a plan, he hates that) is to spend a few months exploring these islands, diving, fishing and seeing how much has changed. He said he was in need of compatible crew (read, no whiners) and we were quick to apply. Just like true pirates we have scuttled aboard and are threatening never to leave.

Nauticat is just as welcoming as I remembered her, filled to the brim with food and grog, fishing gear, dive tanks, lively music, an eclectic collection of books, cozy cabins and even a stuffed blue flamingo that hangs in the cockpit. Now imagine all these creature comforts floating atop an unbelievably turquoise blue sea and you have us in the Bahamas. Believe me it is as good any beach postcard with the words, “wish you were here”. Also aboard are David’s son, Derek and a good friend, Mo who are both escaping the Canadian winter and as ready as we are for adventure.

So far, the Bahamian islands have not been at all what I was expecting. Sure, Nassau, the bustling hub of the Bahamas, is complete with cruise ships, casinos, fancy designer shops and lots of tourist action, but it is certainly more beautiful, cleaner and much more inviting than anticipated. Once we left Nassau it was just like a step back in time. The outer islands are sparsely developed. Picturesque, colorful wooden houses dot the shoreline. The people are beyond friendly and stop to chat or volunteer information about their town and its history.
We started right in with a dive the next day on a small wreck and another on a man-made reef just outside the lighthouse entrance to Nassau. The fish here are huge and plentiful; much more than we are use to seeing in Grenada/Carriacou. The water is clear, but a bit cold at only 74 degrees. It is like swimming in a big salt-water aquarium with giant grouper, parrot fish the size of turkey platters, schools of barracuda, pompano, and stingray.

There are also lots of lionfish here. These are exotically beautiful with red and black stripes and flowing feather-like fins. They are also deadly, causing a lot of problems by eating all the small fish and threatening to destroy the fragile balance of the reefs. The lionfish here don’t have any natural predators, not until now. Derek and Skipper David have both been hunting them with their Hawaiian Slings at every opportunity. They are our reef warriors. The good news is that lionfish are the easiest fish to spear and they have proved to be very tasty.

The sailing is a bit tricky as most of the waters here are very shallow with many reefs with foreboding names like Devil’s Backbone. Supposedly, there have been more shipwrecks in these waters than any place else in the world. Yes, this was also home to all those swashbuckling pirates, Calico Jack Rackam, Black Beard and their scurvy mates. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the allure of such a life here in this warm climate far from the cold and gray of England.

One of the settlements, Spanish Wells, dates back 400 hundred years. At the docks here we noticed a group of town folk gathered with big heads of lettuce freshly pulled from their gardens, roots and all. It was feeding time for the resident Manatee, Rita. She is due to have a calf any day and they were making sure she gets enough to eat. As we watched more and more people drove up in their golf carts to take their turn at feeding her. The local people were very friendly and spoke with a dialect like none I have heard before. It was a cross between a Boston accent and a southern drawl. Spanish Wells is a tidy little seaside town, almost perfect in every way except one. It is also a dry town, which means they sold no alcohol anywhere, not even a beer. What an intriguing concept….NOT! It made me so nervous I opened two bottles of wine that night for dinner instead of our usual one.

Our days have been filled with sun and much laughter. We have also had a few hilarious calamities. Last night we finally made it to our anchorage after a long sailing day filled with lots of tacking that didn’t get us anywhere very fast. The first thing we noticed about Hatchet Bay (besides the ominous name) was the unusual color of the water. It was not that gorgeous Bahamian turquoise we have come to love (and expect), but rather an uninviting pea green. No one wanted to swim much less bathe in it. So like good sailors we got stuck in to a fresh batch of rum punch. Thankfully, there is always rum.

Skipper David had heard about a great dish called, “beer can chicken”. He wasn’t totally sure of the recipe but he did know it involved beer in a can, a whole chicken and a grill. We (the royal crew we) sipped our rum punch and gave him lots encouragement. Before we knew it that chicken was cooking, standing up in the grill with a beer can up her bum. Oh my! Pretty soon she was also on fire (flaming!) and it seemed almost impossible to put her out until she had charred right through. Our chicken looked and tasted like something that might have been called “napalm chicken” instead of beer can chicken. Thankfully the rum punch, some fried plantains, and Mo’s fresh fruit salad with Kahlua dressing took the edge off our disappointment. Derek summed it all up for us, Step #1 – find a recipe, Step #2 – follow the recipe, Step #3 – don’t let dad cook!

Still Limin' on Carriacou

2010-03-17T15:44:00.007-04:00

Anna and Ed flew in for a quick visit last week in Martin's home made plane. It was a bumpy flight with blustery winds and a thick haze. Still no rain for Carriacou, but Barbados and St. Lucia have gotten a bit so we are still hopeful.

We gave them the tour of Carriacou which takes about 30 minutes, then spent most of our time limin' by the sea at Paradise Beach. They also got a chance to experience the sound of homemade kites soaring in the wind above David's house. These kites look and sound like crazed pterodactyl sized mosquitoes screeching and bobbing in the wind. They are supposedly made to be noisy so that their sound is like "crying into the heavens", crying for freedom. Well we'd sure like to give them their freedom. It is almost impossible to find the origin of their strings in order to cut them down. Sometimes the wind dies and they fall down on their own, crashing into the brush and giving us a moment of silent peace.

Ed and David brainstormed some strategies for knocking them down or cutting their strings without getting caught and chopped by the local kite owner. The kite season in Carriacou has just begun and will continue until the week after Easter. Luckily we are headed to Bahamas tomorrow to go sailing with skipper David of the good ship Nauticat. We are looking forward to swimming with dolphins in beautiful turquoise water. Check out his blog at: http://thetwistedbuttruetalesfromthenauticat.blogspot.com/

On our way to Grenada via the small ferry from Carriacou, we could see many wild fires burning. Most of these are intentional fires that have gotten out of control because everything is so dry from lack of rain. Farmers clearing their fields, hunters trying to flush small game out of the bush and even arsonists are all contributing to this problem. There is no water to fight these fires and the water that is used is taken away from the already low resources of water needed for drinking.

The vegetation here is looking pretty bleak, maybe even worse than Carriacou in some places. Hopefully these islands will get some rain very soon. Fortunately for Grenada the tourist invasion continues as big cruise ships still stop daily in St. Georges. The photo above shows a local speedboat approaching Grand Anse beach loaded down with "pink people" fresh from the cruise ship.

Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink....

2010-03-09T20:58:00.011-04:00

It is springtime on Carriacou. Birds are nesting, and newborn lambs, calves, and kids can be seen following their mothers in a constant quest for food. It is hard to feel all warm and fuzzy about seeing these new little creatures when we are in the midst of one of the worst draughts in the last thirty years. Locals call it the “let go” season when livestock are let loose to fend for themselves, graze where they can in an effort to survive until the rains come. The big question here is, when will the rains come?

There is no public water system in Carriacou. Everyone has a system of gutters that run from their galvanized roofs to big concrete cisterns beneath their houses or black plastic containers that the gutters feed into with sweet clean rain...when it rains. It hasn't rained here in many months. The earth is dry like dust and the livestock search in vain for anything green to eat. I've even seen cows drinking from the sea and donkeys chewing on cactus.

They will end up just like this bloated sheep. It seems to me that Carriacou is so dry now that as an island it is actually repelling rain. Big, dark rainclouds pass over daily to rain just offshore wasting all that fresh water into the sea. The government of Grenada "suggested" a few months ago that 40% of the large livestock and 25% of the small ones should be slaughtered before they got so emaciated they could not be sold. The local farmers kept the hope of rain in their hearts and did not heed this warning. Now it is hard to drive more than 1/4 mile anywhere without smelling something dead.

Saline island just southeast of Carriacou is famous for its mudflats where you can wallow and bath in the healing black mud. Well that mud is now just a dried up wasteland. Even the old timers have to search their memories to remember a time when there was a drought this bad. Grenada sent over a tanker ship full of water to sell to Carriacou. It's hold was rusty and the water was a disturbing brown color that had to be boiled before drinking. Water has always been a free commodity, but those days are long gone.

Yes, Carriacou is a beautiful tropical island complete with graceful swaying palms, but now the palm trees are dying, so are the animals.

I really hate to end this post on such a sad note so I'll leave you instead with glimpse of one of the best sports bars I've ever been to. Almost all shops here also double as a rum shop or bar....even the barber shops and dress shops. Waynes Auto Shop caters to all your auto needs with a car wash, assorted car parts, auto repair and of course, my personal favorite an open air (read carport) sport's bar. We enjoyed watching the Olympic Hockey final here. Wayne's has a big screen TV, bottles of local rum, a freezer full of cold beer, and motorcycle seats for the overflow crowd. Carriacou, dry as a bone except at the rum shops. Sadly, only the animals need water the rest of us are drinking rum and hoping for a good rain.

Carriacou Carnival - Move over Rio?

2010-02-22T14:39:00.007-04:00

When you think of Carnival visions of glittering costumes, colorful floats and dozens of bands with hot music and hotter dancers comes to mind. Rio! Rio! Rio!

Now silence those exotic thoughts and imagine homespun costumes, a few flatbed trucks complete with boom boxes, and a whole island turned out to frolic, whine, and gyrate the weekend away. "Whining" is the most basic of dances here usually done to mind numbing soca music. Couples "whine" by rolling their hips in a clockwise motion to the beat of the music....yes, it looks like having sex with your clothes on. The sophistication and glamour you find in Rio is no where to be seen, but Carnival "Carriacou style" is still is a whole lot of fun.

Carnival traditions on these islands started in Trinidad back in 1783 during the days of slavery. Imitating their white masters, slaves would hold carnivals in their back yards dressing up in homemade costumes. J’ouvert street parties date from the days of emancipation. J’ouvert is actually a wild embrace of freedom….revelry gone wild.

To “play J’ouvert” (pronounced juuvey) you need to get up before dawn, fortify yourself with rum or beer, and wear clothes you never want to see again. When my friend Hans and I arrived it was just past 6:00 a.m. and the party looked like it had been hopping for hours. All the revelers were painted up, tanked up, and literally dancin’ in the streets. No worries if you didn’t paint yourself as just dancing down the street insures you will be bodily rubbed by the masses of wet sticky bodies and come out the other end of the street awash in a rainbow of colors. One group from Cherry Hill village traditionally drenches their group in axel grease. They were my favorites all decked out in their black grease, banana leaves and Viking horns.

Next day, the parade of bands complete with colorful costumes and soca music makes its way down main street. This is where Carriacou feels a very long way from Rio. The couple of bands make the circular loop many times and if you have enough libation you hardly seem to notice that they are the same dancers that just came thru 10 minutes ago. Rum shops, which outnumber all other shops in Hillsborough, do a brisk business.

One of the most unique parts of Carnival here is Shakespeare Mas. Men dress up in petticoats, colorful smocks, flowered headdresses and masks to recite verse from the play, Julius Caesar, by Shakespeare. Yes, folks this is something only seen here on Carriacou.

To make it all the more curious, they carry big sticks and whack each other if they mess up. I have no idea how or where this originated but it is like watching kids reciting poetry and getting whacked by their teacher or a peer if they get it wrong. Of course these are not kids, but grown men with powerful muscles so you can imagine how this can turn into a true brawl. They do have some padded protection on their backs covered in heavy concrete bag wrapping so when they give a whack it sounds much worse than it is. At least that is what people told me, but course I wasn’t the one getting whacked.

We finished up Carnival week by watching some of the Olympic games. Not all the events are covered here and we have had to get inventive to be able to watch the sports we love.
Last night two friends, Hans & Francis, from Canada came over to watch the Canada vs. U.S. Hockey game. We were so disappointed to find out that local stations didn’t carry the game and you could only see it if you had Direct TV….which we don’t. Thanks to technology we overcame this obstacle by using skype to call Pat & Marti on Whidbey Island. Marti turned on the game then left her computer pointed at the screen so we could enjoy watching the game. The sound was muffled by the tweets of her lovebirds, but hey nothing is perfect….even in Carriacou.

Finally Finished - Infinity Deck at Fawlty Towers

2010-02-12T21:07:00.008-04:00

Finally, we have a happy ending construction story at Fawlty Towers. Pat came, he had a plan, and he made it happen. Our friends, Pat and Marti, arrived in Carriacou for a holiday. When Marti went home to Whidbey Island, Pat stayed on and built the deck. The local builders scoffed and said it could not be done without extensive scaffolding because the terrain falls steeply away from the house, but Pat’s plan involved cantilevering off the existing deck.

Our deck is built of incredibly strong hardwood called Greenheart from Guyana. Everything comes here by boat. This wood ordered last summer, arrived in Grenada in November and finally made it to Carriacou aboard a cargo ferry on the first boat to run to our island in January. A local carpenter, Dennis, and his helper, John assisted Pat with the construction. These local guys loved Pat and worked harder for him than they have probably worked on any other job. Dennis is a great carpenter and Pat and he really bonded over this project.

All hardware, tools and supplies are darn near impossible to get here. David and I had a hilarious outing in town one day trying to get a hacksaw blade. We’d struck out everywhere in our search for this necessary item, when we remembered a little hardware store/rum shop that Pat had gotten a drill bit in. It was one of the shops that is hardly ever open and looks so ramshackled that it should be condemned. The grocery shop across the street “Family Store” had a customer who knew the owner’s mother. One thing led to another and our friend, Mary the manager of Family Store, called the mother to find out where her son was and why he wasn’t open. Apparently he was lyming on the beach out back. His mom told him, “get yo place open, cause some people want to buy stuff…do it now!” I just love the moms of the world. Without them nothing would get done.

The deck is on the west side of the house (yes, Pat saw lots of green flash sunsets) and the sun is almost unbearable after 1p.m with temperatures exceeding 89 degrees. If I was the weather gal I would say “feels more like 105 degrees in that baking sun”. They all worked by walking and building onto the bare joists from the old deck. This is about 20’ off the ground and a fall would most definitely break something. Great medical services are not available here.

By late afternoon we would take Pat down to one of the beaches. It is a tiny island so there is always a beach close by and of course a local rum shop. David and I would laugh that we felt like jailors eager to please our special prisoner. “Pat, you can have all the beer and rum you can drink, swim in the sea once each day, and we’ll make you lobster for dinner every night, but you can’t leave…Not until the deck is done!”

We had a lot of laughs, Pat was amazing to rally the guys to get this done within 2 weeks, and he got to see the local side of Carriacou that few tourists ever see. Dennis and John took him out a couple of nights to party with the guys at little rum shops, meet their families and Dennis even made him a meal of one of the local delicacies, Manicou. Manicou looks like a mangy possum. They cooked it up skin and all. Pat is not a picky eater and will try anything once. It said that the oily taste of Manicou would not be something he’d want to eat again very soon. Of course, chased with enough rum it went down okay.

As you can see from the top finished photo, we have an infinity deck. Infinity pools are all the rage in the Caribbean but so far we don’t know anyone with an infinity deck….by that I mean sans railing. There is nothing to block the view or those incredible green flashes. There are no zoning and building rules here like in the states so in true American cowboy fashion we are choosing for now to have the only deck where standing close to the edge truly takes your breath away.

Thank you Pat!

Launchin' of a New Carriacou Sloop

2010-02-12T08:27:00.009-04:00

In the little village of Windward, the boat building hotspot of Carriacou, a new sloop has just been launched. Carriacou, a sleepy little island in the Grenadines, is famous for the small, sturdy, wooden boats known as the Carriacou sloop that are still built by hand on the beach using hand tools, local hardwood and plans passed down for generations. Traditionally these boats were used as trading and cargo boats and plied the waters between the islands. There are many still in use today.

The building of this new boat took about a year to complete and everyone here on Carriacou wanted to get in on the action of helping to haul her to the sea. I was fortunate to get to see the launching process one Sunday a few weeks ago.

Seafaring here is steeped in tradition and superstition. Certain rituals are a must for any new craft before she can safely set sail. At dawn three animals were sacrificed to add blessing on the new boat, a ram at the stern, a goat at the bow, and appropriately a chicken in the galley. Just in case African lore and voodoo were not enough, the local Catholic priest added his blessing and some sprinkles of holy water. His enthusiastic congregation sang hymns and praises as the crowd gathered from all ends of the island.

By mid-morning a line of people continued to push their way along the beach to the lot behind some little wooden shacks where the new boat sat high and dry on the sand held up by wooden pillars on either side. Most people were carrying something to contribute to this beach party; blocks of ice, cases of beer, sweets for the kids, logs to lie in place to roll the boat to the sea, ropes and more ropes. A local builder told me that having all this “help” doesn’t necessarily make the launching easier. More alcohol does not seem to help either.

The process really is like a birthing as the sloop is painstakingly rolled and pulled to the sea on logs that are moved along as the boat moves forward over the sand. Gangs of men line up beside her and haul away at ropes while others push her stern to guide her to the sea. It is all orderly chaos with a lot of yelling and shouting. The sun beat down and the air was sticky with the smell of beer and sweat. Even with all the help, it was mid afternoon before she was finally bobbing safely in the harbor.

Now she floats there, ready to have her rigging installed and sail to distant islands just as her sister sloops have done for generations. I saw an ad in a local sailing magazine about one of the most famous of these sloops, Plumbelly. She is for sale right now for the small sum of $20,000. Plumbelly has sailed around the world and crossed the Atlantic over 28 times. This is an amazing feat considering she is only 25’ long. Her legend and the possibility of where she can sail next has even made an old lady like me dream of owning her. Now that is some charisma!

On a final humorous note, I met a white couple who happened to be at this boat launching quite by accident. One of the driver’s of the mini van buses, in true West Indian fashion, had told them the day before that there was going to be “a luncheon” at Windward and did they want to go? “Yes, we want to go” they answered, “do we need a reservation?” “No mon”, the bus driver told them “I’ll just bring you”. Here they were expecting to be at a luncheon but instead were at a launchin’. I told them they were in luck. Not only did they get to see this unique part of Carriacou life, but the animals that were slaughtered this morning were being cooked and their “luncheon” was about to begin.

Boatbuilding has had resurgence here in the last few years due in part to a great book written by Alexis Andrews on the history and art of the Carriacou Sloop. Check it out at http://imagesantigua.blogspot.com/

Leaving Carriacou - Homeward Bound

2009-05-25T12:43:00.005-04:00

After living on a sleepy island like Carriacou, Grenada feels like the big city. Grenada means having choices.....lots of choices in restaurants, grocery stores, beach bars on LONG white sandy beaches, shops that specialize in plumbing or sell just cigars and more than one gas station. They even have a real movie theater complete with buttered popcorn.

All this plus a market bursting with fresh produce and exotic spices and I felt like I’d just died and gone to heaven. In reality, I never want Carriacou to get this sophisticated, but it certainly is fun to take a short ferry ride to enjoy all that Grenada has to offer.

The fun continued at the airport when I boarded the “doggie” flight home. The school term had ended at St. George’s University, the veterinary college in Grenada. The students were headed home with their pets, 13 dogs and 4 cats accompanied the rest of the 145 passengers. It was the oversize St. Bernard who caused the biggest dilemma for the flight attendants. They couldn’t figure out where to put him. His owner had even booked him his own seat, but he was too big for the seat so finally they decided let him lay in front of the emergency doors.

Now I am in Florida celebrating my aunt Toshie’s 83rd birthday. She’d probably be mad if she knew I told anyone her age. We played bingo today with her friends at the assisted living that is her new home. They were an eclectic group, all physically or mentally challenged in some way, somber, and seemed a bit jaded by the fact that this was to be their big entertainment for the afternoon. I thought of all the life they had lived and now all they had to look forward to was a lousy bingo game. We all put in a $1 to play.

The old man beside me was the only bright spot. He had something to say for every number drawn. When B4 was called, he’d mumble, “not after.” B9, he’d mumble, “I love it when the doctor says, benign.” O66, ”Oh, oh, oh”, he’d sing, “I get my kicks on route 66”. I doubt anyone else even heard him, but he sure kept me laughing. I even won 2 bucks. I know, how low can I go? If I don’t find a job back home I might have to sit in on bingo games to earn bus fare.

David called from Carriacou to give me a house update. Two plumbers later the toilet has stopped leaking and the smell is finally gone...hallelujah! A new grate has been installed around the shower. This one fits and looks pretty good. The back doors have new bolts and the rotted wood has been replaced so they can be secured against tropical storms. All the windows in the tower still don’t open, but we don’t care since we have to close them all now anyway. Even Bagalash, our wayward painter, returned to “fix” his finish work so he could get his final pay. He’s probably gambling it away on some domino game right now at his favorite rum shop. But the very best news is that it rained really hard in Carriacou and the roof didn’t leak. It really didn’t leak.

It’s raining in Florida too. Torrential downpours have been a daily occurrence complete with thunder and lightening. It rains so hard, so fast, that the earth and concrete cannot absorb it. There is standing water in the roads and the yards look like swimming pools.

I’m staying with a friend of my aunts. The weird, ironic twist is that with all this rain her roof has started to leak. I know it is unbelievable, but sadly true. No, please don’t laugh. It took us 8 big beach towels to mop up the mess. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her about David’s leaking roof in Carriacou. I think it best that I just leave before any more soggy misfortune visits her. It doesn’t even rain this much in Seattle...I’m ready to go home.

Moving Day!

2009-05-20T10:06:00.002-04:00

We have prodded our local workers to finish their jobs, hauled away most of the construction garbage, cleaned paint off of tiles, floors and woodwork, chipped concrete off the furniture, scoured the floor tiles on our hands and knees, and finally declared that we will LIVE in this house. Most things work and that is just good enough. Moving in day was actually fun. The resident feral cat came to call, meowing her insistence that she be fed.. What else could we need, a home that so far isn’t leaking, a cat, tree frogs to make music in the night and a view that is extraordinary.

David has his case of Stag beer, I have my case of nice Chilean red wine. We are home......at least for 2 nights. Sadly that is all we have before I am do to fly back to Seattle via Miami to visit my aunt, Toshie. Her 82nd birthday is next Monday. I’m actually wishing I had a few more weeks to fluff this house into feeling like a real home. Oh well, there is a saying that it is always better to leave some place still wanting more. That is how I am feeling right now.

It is really fun to have no workers here, just us. Sure there are still many things to complete, but it does not seem so urgent now. The roof seems to be holding up to the start of the rainy season....no leaks...yeah!. The only leaks now are in the newly installed toilet.....sigh. Apparently new toilets can be tricky to install. I was not surprised. George, our plumber, is quite hopeful that he can get to the bottom of this wet situation. When we go into the bathroom it is wet and stinky with water leaking out the bottom of the toilet.

I’m not sure I care anymore......remember, I have my case of wine, really nice wine. Did I mention, the view is fabulous and the weather is warm. In one week I will be in Seattle, wearing socks and toting a big umbrella. I’m sure by then I’ll be missing lovely Carriacou.

Turtle Watch on Carriacou

2009-05-20T09:30:00.004-04:00

It’s springtime in Carriacou. There are newborn animals everywhere. Driving down the road we have to stop while newborn sheep and goats gambol skittishly onto the road. Young calves chase their mothers down the beach trying to nurse and a couple of doves have built a nest on the porch at Firefly. They are taking turns sitting on their two white eggs anxiously awaiting the hatching. This is also the time when the sea turtles can be seen nesting on the beaches.

Our daily routine is to work up at the house until midday, then head for one of the beaches. At secluded Anse LaRoche we noticed big tracks from a leatherback turtle who had laid eggs, probably the night before. We covered the tracks in an attempt to the foil the poachers who hunt for these nests to steal and eat the eggs. More tracks crisscrossed the sand like someone had taken a stick and drawn lines across the beach.....iguana nests! Their mounds were everywhere and some of them had tails sticking out of them. It was pretty incredible to see all this activity on the beach, but it is a very common sight this time of year.

From March to August the beaches of most Caribbean islands become the nesting grounds for the local turtles, mainly Hawksbill and Leatherbacks. These giants of the sea return to the beach where they were hatched to lay eggs for the next generation. In Carriacou turtle are still captured and eaten by local people and their eggs are considered a delicacy. Pollution, poaching, smaller beaches due to climate change, and even sand mining on nesting beaches have made survival of these turtles perilous.

That evening we got a call from Dario and Marina, two passionate environmentalists who live on Carriacou. They were headed down to Petite Carenage to check the activity of a leatherback that had just come up to lay her eggs. “Did we want to come along?” Of course we did! Within minutes we were headed down a rocky rutted road to the beach on the windward side of the island. The moon was out, but we definitely needed our flashlight to make our way down to the beach via a sand path lined with conch shells. One huge leatherback was just finishing laying her eggs and finning her way back to the sea when we arrived. Another was just beginning to dig her nest right down by the surf..

This leatherback mama had a deformed flipper (either from birth or accident we couldn’t tell) and could not get up to the higher dry sand. She was digging right at the shoreline. Dario explained that if she laid her eggs there, they would all die when the sea water washed over them. What to do? He literally helped her dig her nesting hole, then (with a gloved hand) caught each egg as she laid them and transported them to a waiting bucket.

The effort of digging and laying those eggs must have been enormous because she looked like she was crying. Long streams of liquid were coming from her eyes as her tear ducts opened up. She was working so hard with all the digging and laying. She really thought she had done a good job. Dario and two locals helped her fill back in the hole. They then took her eggs up to higher ground, dug another hole and filled it with the eggs. She laid 119 eggs and 29 smaller eggs that are like a “place filler” to help give space to the baby turtles when they hatch out of their shells.

The turtle’s work was finished, but Dario and Marina’s wasn’t. They quickly got out their pvc measuring sticks to check her size and then affixed an identity tag to her flipper. At this point she was pretty desperate to get back to the sea. I learned first hand how strong those flippers are when I got in her way as I tried to hold the pvc so Marina could measure her shell. That turtle pushed right thru me and almost broke my ankle. When she wanted to go back to the sea, no one was getting in her way.

For over a decade Dario and Marina have passionately worked to educate tourists and locals about conservation and protection for the sea turtles that live in the waters around the island. When turtles are caught by the fishermen, Dario has worked out an arrangement to buy back the live turtle (with much monetary help from expats) with the understanding that once the turtle is tagged it is off limits to be captured again. Check out what is happening environmentally on Carriacou http://www.kido-projects.com/ Seeing these huge turtles lay their eggs was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. It was all about survival, hope and continuity of a very special species....very humbling and amazing.

Raindrops Keep Falling on our Heads...still having fun in Carriacou

2009-05-09T08:46:00.004-04:00

You may think this blog has been hijacked by some depressed, cynical, bitchy woman who has no resemblance to the dear adrift nelly you have come to know.

(view from the top of the roof...we seem to be up here alot lately)

Sadly, the West Indian disregard of all normal perception of reality has taken over.
The remodel on David’s house is coming along....slowly... and with as much incompetence as is physically possible. If any of you have ever had any problems with workmanship in the U.S., compound this by a factor of 10. We have hired the very best that Carriacou and Grenada have had to offer but still have not, after 11 months of remodel, been able to see this project to completion. I think perhaps I should just start writing material to do stand up comedy when I return to the states.

Our roof was the first thing to be completed in February. Half of it was already installed by the old contractor who ‘tieved David’s money and ran off to England. Our new roofer, Clint came with a crew of two other men from Grenada. They lived and worked at the house for 2 weeks, installing the standing seam roof. The roof was never pretty, but all we ever asked was that it keep the water out. They drank large quantities of our beer and “guaranteed” that our roof would never leak. We had several months of dry season, but lately the rains have come and with it leaks...not just leaks, but rain pouring in and filling the main room and one of the bedrooms, running down the walls and pooling on the floor. Today, Clint returned for a third time and we shamed him into removing the main section by the tower so that we could try to find the problem. We found at least two big holes in the ply.. It was 89 degrees but felt like 150 degrees on the galvanized roof in the sun while we troweled in some sticky, black waterproofing into the holes. He was in such a hurry to finish the job that he even roofed right over one of the trowels we were using...geez. I have taken to drinking copious amounts of gin and tonic. I do not believe that this roof is fixed. It is raining, hard, as I type this.

Today, one of our painters, our favorite, stopped painting a door to answer his cell phone. I was cleaning tiles nearby (splattered with paint from when they painted the walls) and noticed the door he was painting had all this paint running down it. After 5 minutes, I went to find him to get the paint brush so I could brush off the runs. Long story short, I finished painting the 3 bi-ford doors (inside and out) before he finished his conversation.

We hired a man absurdly named “Pro” to make a security grate for an outdoor shower. David gave him the old grate and asked him to make a new one exactly the same size. The finished product was nothing like the original and looked like a square peg fitting into a round hole. No worries, after enough sodering and welding, it miraculously fit. It was all twisted and blackened and he cracked the concrete bolting it in place. He became angry and could not understand when we told him we were not thrilled with the results.....see photo below.

The floor tiles and countertops are covered with paint because no one believes in drop clothes or being the least bit tidy. Wood worms are eating our cabinets and the army ants come marching daily thru the kitchen windows.

The electrician is coming on Monday and I’m terrified. Do we really need lights installed? I’m voting for candlelight. Everything looks so much better in dim light. Tomorrow I must buy more gin.

This is the glorious, exotic Caribbean and I really hate to be guilty of asking for cheese to go with all this whine, but I think Pollyanna has finally realized that sometimes you cannot play the glad game. If any of you are contemplating building or owning a vacation house in the beautiful Caribbean, I beg you to stop and think before you go down this road to ruin. Instead, you can always do a house swap with us, as we wish to be anywhere in the world right now but here.

I feel the need to add a bit of levity to such a sad posting. Saw this man today as we drove thru the village of Brunswick, riding his donkey and smoking his cigarette....not a care in the world. I could learn alot from him.

Back to Carriacou

2009-04-19T07:19:00.003-04:00

It was a sad goodbye for us when we left Bequia and sailed away to Carriacou aboard Dionysus. At least we were still sailing....downwind and fast, catching a big barracuda on the way. We left Bequia at 7:45 a.m. and were checking into immigration at Carriacou by 1 p.m. Chris is probably thrilled to finally be on his own again. He promised to look us up sometime next week when he sails in to Carriacou.....the adventure continues.

So now we are back on beautiful Carriacou where the living is slow and the goats outnumber the people. After being north for the last 5 weeks, Carriacou feels hot. In fact it is downright sweltering....apologies to all my dear ones still wishing for a high of 60 degrees. It’s 9:30 a.m. and already it is 87 degrees, in the shade. Even the iguanas are panting.

The construction carnival up at David’s house is still continuing with daily drama. No one worked from the days leading up to Easter and no one came back the week after....still hung over?

Then, our beloved painter, Bagalash, has up and quit. Beloved because everyone told us how what a quality painter he is, their only warning was to not pay him until the work was finished as he has a bit of a gambling problem. The minute he has a pocket full of EC dollars he goes to his favorite rum shop to play dominos and doesn't quit until the money is gone. We talked our contractor into using him, because we’d heard such good reports about his work. His workmanship is great but getting him to work regularly is a bit of a problem. He would only show up for a few hours a day and only for a few days a week. Apparently even these loose conditions didn’t suit him. He doesn’t take orders well and couldn’t work with our contractor. In Bagalash’s own words, “ah can’t work for no smart man”.....sigh.

At least the roof is on, the windows are in and some of the electrical is working....huge improvement.

Bequia Regatta 2009 - Racing for Rum and Glory

2009-04-18T22:42:00.005-04:00

Bequia at Easter is not a place to be if you want peace and quiet. Hundreds of yachts of all shapes and sizes descend upon the tiny island of Bequia to celebrate boating, as they have for many decades with a regatta. http://www.begos.com/easterregatta/ The racing of the traditional boats built in Bequia and the surrounding islands are the focal point that attracts yachts and spectators from all over the world. These local fishing boats, rigged with bamboo masts and oversize sails range in size from 12 to 28 feet. It is a major feat of skill and seamanship to sail these boats to victory in the sea swells and wind without capsizing.

When Chris and I sailed into Admiralty Bay two days before the regatta, the anchorage was already crowded. By regatta day it seemed to me that the assembled yachts were anchored so closely in some places that you could almost walk across their decks. It is certainly easy to swim between them, if you can somehow dodge the water taxis and dinghies as they race thru the harbor. Add innumerable large ferries a day and big speedboats loaded with locals from St. Vincent and you have controlled bedlam, Caribbean style.

Everyone who has a love of sailing and racing is hoping to be a part of the regatta and one of the best ways is to get on a racing boat. I met my racing skipper at a bar...of course. Now the Frangipani is not just any bar, but the official regatta bar and the best place to meet, greet, and find a boat to race on. I had my name on a sign up board for crew looking for a boat. Jack Burns was looking for crew and apparently sized me up as a possible crew. I was totally honest when I told him I wasn’t much of a racer and that most of my sailing had been as a cruiser. I also leveled with him that my “man-friend” (David says he’s too old to be a “boy” friend) coming from Carriacou was not much of a sailor at all. He shrugged and said “You’ll do okay, I can race the boat myself, and I’m just required to have crew to enter”. Sure this was a backhanded compliment but I didn’t care if it meant David and I could race. All he needed was a commitment (I hate it when men need commitment) that we would show up for all three days. A handshake and the deed was done.....praise the gods of the wind, we had a boat!

Dionysus was not just any boat, she was a beautiful, sleek 39’ Hallberg Rassy with a furling main. The first day we were Jack’s only crew. He had crewed in other regattas, but this was his first race with his own boat. I was so nervous that we would mess up somehow or be inadequate, but Jack was good at literally showing us the ropes. He was patient and didn’t yell....you cannot really ask for more than that. On our first day we finished 3rd in our class out of 10 other boats....pretty good for rookies.

(Captain Jack Burns celebrating the #3 spot with his scurvy crew at the Frangi on day one. ...check out his website http://www.palmtreesailing.com/ if you want to go sailing in these gorgeous islands. He charters sailing tours aboard Dionysus.)

Second day, David and I were so sore from grinding on those winches with every tack that we were thrilled to be joined by Marcus, Jack’s crew from Trinidad. Another day of good sailing, but we made a few mistakes. It was a race around the island and hard to judge whether to stay close to land or go out farther to catch more wind. We finished 5th, still presentable. It doesn’t matter where you finish each day, the bar is open with free drinks from our sponsors....love that Heineken and Bounty Rum. Everyone is a sailor when it is sundown at the bar.

The last day was a race twice around the orange buoys in the harbor and should have been a fast race except for the fact that the wind forgot to show up that day. We were joined on the last day by Chris the skipper/owner of Hogfish Maximus. He doesn’t even have an engine on his boat and can sail in and out of any anchorage...he is that good of a sailor and an experienced racer. Jack was calling in the big guns now. Not much anyone can do when there is no wind. At some points the only thing pushing us forward was the current; it certainly was not the wind. Crew from other boats were jumping in the water and swimming faster than their boats were sailing. Jack decided to tack out to try to catch some wind and it turned out to be a very good decision. All the other yachts hugged the shore hoping to just get into the next buoy. We went out so far the other yachts probably thought we were giving up and sailing to St. Vincent, but we weren’t, we were going for gold! We amazingly finished first....FIRST!

At the prize giving we took 3rd overall and were thrilled. We placed and never embarrassed ourselves....let’s get to the bar quick before the free drinks are gone.

This regatta was a 4-day long event with the lay day on Easter Sunday. The schedule of events was comical to read. On Friendship Bay there were sand castle competitions and crazy craft races where all manner of boats were constructed with the goal that they would float (not sink) and have decorative appeal with the theme of Noah’s Arc. In Port Elizabeth, under the famous almond tree, the competition was much fiercer. There was competition involving a greasy pole (sounds like something my yachtie friends in Seattle would dream up), also competition for dancing, crying, and almond pounding. My personal favorite was the laughing competition which we could hear from Ti Kanot. Those locals really know how to party.

Hero Worship - Sailing to Bequia aboard Ti Kanot

2009-04-18T13:35:00.006-04:00

I felt like I’d won some sort of sailing jackpot when Chris Doyle said I could sail with him as far as Bequia on Ti Kanot. Ti Kanot, is a roomy 40’ catamaran that sails fast and flat. He usually sails her all by himself and has all the sheets rigged to come back to the cockpit so he can tack, trim sails, and helm all from one position.

The first sailing day I was determined to prove myself useful so I jumped up to the mast to remove the sail cover and get ready to hoist the main. I must have looked like a playful puppy over-eager to be helpful. He called me back down to the cockpit, inserted an electric drill with a special bit into the winch and abracadabra that sail was up with no effort at all. His “winch buddy” turns a regular winch into a power winch. In about the same amount of time he had hoisted the anchor and we were off, sailing......

Our days took on a comfortable routine, up by first light, hot tea in hand as we sat companionable in folding chairs on the aft deck watching the anchorage wake up. I’m usually such a slug-a-bed, but there is something easy about waking up early on a boat, especially if you know you are going to get to sail that day. The sailing each day was fabulous, good steady winds 15 to 20 knots, unusually flat seas, and a boat that could average 8 knots. We only had one big rain squall that came on while I was on the helm. Chris came out of the salon quickly to give me one of his jackets to use. “Isn’t that considerate”, I thought to myself, “do you have a jacket too?” He smiled mischievously, “I have one, but I won’t need it...I’m staying in here!” Well at least I was proving to be useful.

One of the best things about being on anchor and not in a marina is that you can jump off the boat for a swim whenever the mood strikes. One of the first things I would do at each new anchorage was to grab my snorkel and see what sea critters I could find. At Dominica there were two rays, one huge (8’ wingspan) and one small that hung out right behind our boat where we were moored. In Martinique I jumped in only to jump right out again, like a bouncing porpoise, with a terrified look on my face. Chris gave me an amused look when I excitedly told him I’d seen a big sea snake. “Naw, it’s just a gold spotted eel snake, it won’t hurt you” he calmly explained. He didn’t even see it and he knew what it was...today we are in Martinique, must be the gold spotted eel snake. He handed me the fish ID guide. Yep, he was right....I never doubted him for a minute.

(Anchorage at the foot of the might Pitons - St. Lucia)

During the following days, I watched and learned many things about sailing and boating. After all, he has been sailing in these islands for 30+ years. When he says it’ll take another hour to get to the next anchorage you can take that to the bank. He is like a walking encyclopedia of the Caribbean islands, good anchorages, best fresh markets, medical facilities....it’s all in his guidebooks. (Check out his website http://doyleguides.com/ for some good island information and great links.) I’m very much in awe of what he has done to improve the lives of many locals on each island by helping them learn to be guides and entrepreneurs while working to promote their country’s beauty. Not only does it help the local economy, cut down on crime, give pride to the local business owners and guides, but also makes the places more enjoyable for visitors. Chris introduced me to some of his longtime local friends, Seacat, Martin, and Desmonde. They all respected Chris, but it was more than that, they genuinely seemed to love him like family.

By the time we reached Bequia, Chris genuinely seemed to like me too if nothing more than for entertainment value. David flew down from Carriacou and both of us stayed aboard Ti Kanot for the regatta. The entertainment factor doubled and the fun continued as we introduced David to the world of sailing and yacht racing.

Goodbye to Dominica

2009-04-01T10:33:00.003-04:00

Yippee skippy, I'm going sailing....to one of my favorite islands, BEQUIA!

Chris Doyle has agreed to let me hitch a ride on his catamaran when he sails down for the Bequia Regatta. Yes, I am over the moon with delight.

The plan is to try to find a boat to crew on in the regatta. Can't wait to see old friends, make some new ones, and eat bar-b-que at Beige's on back street.

.....gone sailing