Month: May 2017

It’s been a very interesting 2 weeks in Cuba. There have been lots of neat things and nice people, but on the whole, Mark and I haven’t been that impressed. Puerto de Vita was an excellent check in point. First the doctor came on board while we were still at anchor. He asked a few questions, gave us forms to fill out and took our temperature. Then we were allowed to dock at the Marina. Most of Cuba uses a style of docking called “med mooring”. This means you tie up at the dock by the stern with the bow held out by the anchor. Picture our boat (if you can 😊). Our stern is a good 5 feet from the water and there is no way to cross through to a dock. We’re using a plank of wood that we have on board as a passerel. It’s a bit tricky but works. Once tied up at the dock, we were boarded by many officials and 2 dogs. The whole process took about 30 minutes but we ended up getting our cruising permit and visas. 

While at Vita, we did a day trip to the city of Holguin and had a great tour by a local man named Mick. It was very good and we had a great day.

From Vita, we’ve been sailing along the north coast heading to our final destination, Marina Hemingway near Havana. This has been the not so fun part. Cruisers are required to check in at all stops and if you go to a port, you must surrender your cruising permit and anchor close to the Guardia Frontera offices (which in most of these ports is located at the commercial docks). You’re not allowed to go onshore at these locations. You can only go ashore at islands that are deserted and we only found one of those.

We have seen some amazing islands and lots of resorts. We also saw some of the reefs around a few of the islands and as we got closer to Varadero, the water became so clear and calm that we could see the bottom even at 50 ft. We did some more fishing and managed to catch more barracuda- I’m really done with the Barracuda, lots of fight but a real pain to get off the hook (lots of big teeth).

Now we’re in Varadero at Cuba’s largest Marina, about 1100 slips!!! We’re looking forward to exploring this area and maybe doing a few bus tours of the countryside to see more of Cuba. We also need to buy some Cuban rum and more internet cards so we can keep using the wifi.

We’ve spent over 2 months in the Bahamas and have seen some amazing sights. It has been an incredible journey as we explored the Exumas and the Jumentos. One of the best parts of our time in the Bahamas was meeting other cruisers. Our last stop in the Jumentos was Hog Cay. There were 3 other boats in this anchorage and we had the pleasure of getting to know the cruisers aboard each boat when we went ashore to the Hog Cay Yacht Club (a very nice tiki hut built on the island by the residence of Ragged Island). We would gather at the club each afternoon and chat while watching the sun went down. 

From Bimini all the way down to Little Ragged Island, we’ve managed to see lots of aquatic life, do some great swimming, lots of excellent walks and also managed to get some pretty awesome tans! We also managed to get through a good amount of booze!🍾😉

Now it’s on to Cuba. Our plan is to sail across from Little Ragged Island to Puerto de Vita on Tuesday, May 2. It should take us about 11 hours. Once we arrive, we will have to anchor near the Marina and wait till morning to start our check in process. First of all a doctor will board our boat, take our temperature and ask a few health questions. Once we pass this inspection, we can head to the Marina. Once tied up, we will be boarded by 2 dogs – the drug sniffer and the explosives sniffer. Once we pass the sniff test, I guess the customs and immigration folks come.

We have about a month to make the roughly 400 knot journey from Puerto de Vita to Havana. We’ll leave the boat at Marina Hemingway near Havana and return home end of May. Should be a fun and interesting month. Hopefully we’ll have some wifi in Cuba so we can update the blog.