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Saturday, April 29, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Our Cuba trip, in retrospect
We were in Cuba, March 2017, where we had 14 days there and entered the country under a General License for an Athletic Event, the Miami to Cuba Sailboat Race. We entered the Cruising Class, the largest class in the race, and were able to enter Cuba with very little difficulty. The race organization handled all but the CG3300 which we were responsible for.
We loved it in Cuba. And Loved the people. Loved the industriousness of the Cubans and their huge amount of Pride of Place. Everyone was fixing up property, sweeping, cleaning, painting, repairing front steps. It may sound like small steps, but the effort showed how much they cared about their home-place and on a bigger scale, their country. Which author said "little pieces of grace everywhere if you looked"... That says it all from my point of view.
And all tools and machinery were made to work and keep working. Have no vehicle, okay then, horses and oxen were put to good use.
The sugarcane fields, the banana plantations, the locally grown vegetables found at open air markets, the rice paddies, the rickshaws, lizard eater and other unique birds, guayaba paste, tobacco plantations (how cool to visit and understand how they make their tobacco flavor unique), was all just wonderful. The music and artistry was remarkable in Cuba. The display of revolutionary history was apparent and the overthrow of Batista's government is not forgotten. Cuban faces were bright when they talked about Obama and the opening of the American Embassy in Havana.
It's not all roses: poverty exists, trash exists, the government taking the majority of the earnings from
any business exists. Sure, a lot of Havana and other towns were run down. Seemingly forgotten, right next to other buildings that are well restored. Regardless of the state of the buildings, we felt safe everywhere we went. We felt safer in Cuba that some other places we've been. The Cuban people made us feel welcome.
The country has been in a 5 year drought. No question that can be seen in the countryside. But the beauty is inescapable nonetheless. We left our boat at Marina Hemingway, and took daily country-side trips and an overnight trip staying in a Vinales Casa. (Thank you to Jill B for caring for Minnie in our absence).
Love, love, love Cuba and it's proud people.
Tobacco field and mogote in Vinales:
Valley of Vinales, Oh My!! Mogotes seen in the background.
Limestone caves access, Ernie and Jill coming down:
Marina Hemingway home for 2 weeks, below:
Cool old cars everywhere you looked:
Our sail back to the U.S. (no motor) was just right.
We loved it in Cuba. And Loved the people. Loved the industriousness of the Cubans and their huge amount of Pride of Place. Everyone was fixing up property, sweeping, cleaning, painting, repairing front steps. It may sound like small steps, but the effort showed how much they cared about their home-place and on a bigger scale, their country. Which author said "little pieces of grace everywhere if you looked"... That says it all from my point of view.
And all tools and machinery were made to work and keep working. Have no vehicle, okay then, horses and oxen were put to good use.
The sugarcane fields, the banana plantations, the locally grown vegetables found at open air markets, the rice paddies, the rickshaws, lizard eater and other unique birds, guayaba paste, tobacco plantations (how cool to visit and understand how they make their tobacco flavor unique), was all just wonderful. The music and artistry was remarkable in Cuba. The display of revolutionary history was apparent and the overthrow of Batista's government is not forgotten. Cuban faces were bright when they talked about Obama and the opening of the American Embassy in Havana.
It's not all roses: poverty exists, trash exists, the government taking the majority of the earnings from
any business exists. Sure, a lot of Havana and other towns were run down. Seemingly forgotten, right next to other buildings that are well restored. Regardless of the state of the buildings, we felt safe everywhere we went. We felt safer in Cuba that some other places we've been. The Cuban people made us feel welcome.
The country has been in a 5 year drought. No question that can be seen in the countryside. But the beauty is inescapable nonetheless. We left our boat at Marina Hemingway, and took daily country-side trips and an overnight trip staying in a Vinales Casa. (Thank you to Jill B for caring for Minnie in our absence).
Love, love, love Cuba and it's proud people.
Tobacco field and mogote in Vinales:
Limestone caves access, Ernie and Jill coming down:
Marina Hemingway home for 2 weeks, below:
Havana rooftops looking northward toward the Florida Straits.
Havana kids on the balcony playing with a balloon, blending in with the laundry.
Our sail back to the U.S. (no motor) was just right.
Monday, April 10, 2017
The Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a beautiful cluster of islands. This is as far west in Florida as you can get, including Loggerhead Key. There's a spot in Key West that is further south, but nothing this far west.
Garden Key with Fort Jefferson used to be separated from Bush Key and Long Key, the bird sanctuary islands, but no longer. Some years ago the sand has shifted and closed off the pass-through between islands.
That's Long Key in the far background. The frigatebird guano stench was enough to knock your socks off when you kayaked or dinghyed up to that island. Amazing number of frigate's.
Bush Key is home to nesting brown noddy's and sooty terns. And they held garbled conversations all the night long; pretty funny. It's a wonderful cheery sound.
Holding is great on the southern side between Garden and Bush and that's where we dropped our hook. Wave protection is all around except the SW. And the weather was pretty mild during our stay with a cold front passing through giving us a way to exit to the east... Had to wait for it, I must admit.
The water was a bit cloudy, made for less than perfect snorkeling, and made for a difficult time water-making. We had great sun and wind for power, but still couldn't make water with the strainer clogging up. Pre-filters were fine, but the strainer bogged down. It was almost like Long Island in the Far Bahamas with it's silty water.
The beach walks, especially over on Loggerhead were wonderful. A bit of an exciting dinghy ride over there with a few big waves sneaking up on us. But cool! The beach on the back of Loggerhead used to be wider, notice the bldg which cracked in half with the ground completely gone from beneath half of it...
Fort Jefferson is a marvel. Walking on the top deck of the fort without any fencing was pretty cool. You were "out there".
Never did see the one crocodile that has been sighted in the wave protection moat.
Iemanja seen through vegetation out on a hook off Garden Key.
Anyone know what this wildflower is? I'm at a loss.
Garden Key with Fort Jefferson used to be separated from Bush Key and Long Key, the bird sanctuary islands, but no longer. Some years ago the sand has shifted and closed off the pass-through between islands.
That's Long Key in the far background. The frigatebird guano stench was enough to knock your socks off when you kayaked or dinghyed up to that island. Amazing number of frigate's.
Bush Key is home to nesting brown noddy's and sooty terns. And they held garbled conversations all the night long; pretty funny. It's a wonderful cheery sound.
Holding is great on the southern side between Garden and Bush and that's where we dropped our hook. Wave protection is all around except the SW. And the weather was pretty mild during our stay with a cold front passing through giving us a way to exit to the east... Had to wait for it, I must admit.
The water was a bit cloudy, made for less than perfect snorkeling, and made for a difficult time water-making. We had great sun and wind for power, but still couldn't make water with the strainer clogging up. Pre-filters were fine, but the strainer bogged down. It was almost like Long Island in the Far Bahamas with it's silty water.
The beach walks, especially over on Loggerhead were wonderful. A bit of an exciting dinghy ride over there with a few big waves sneaking up on us. But cool! The beach on the back of Loggerhead used to be wider, notice the bldg which cracked in half with the ground completely gone from beneath half of it...
Fort Jefferson is a marvel. Walking on the top deck of the fort without any fencing was pretty cool. You were "out there".
Never did see the one crocodile that has been sighted in the wave protection moat.
Anyone know what this wildflower is? I'm at a loss.
Great time!!!
Dry Tortugas whimsy
It's always so cool to meet up with other sailors from wherever in the world and become friends. And so it goes at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. There were mono-hulls, a few catamarans, and trawlers that would come and go. And a foursome of sailboats that seemed to jell over all the others including yours truly, Iemanja.
Maggie M took the tools of her favorite past-time and went to shore for the day. We all stopped by around 4pm or so to see what she was up to. Lo and behold, the artist rendered this beautiful watercolor painting of the foursome in the bay off Fort Jeff. The rest of the boats didn't matter, some details are caricature-ized, the foreground birds are without their pilons because, as she said, the painting is about the boats, not the birds. The water is whimsical as are the boats, but some details prevail. Ernie's turquoise T-shirt, the two-toned mainsail cover, the dual masts aft on Ie for the wind-generator and the radar, and more.
That's Maggie's boat in front of Iemanja, it's a Cheoy Lee Bermuda 30. Love this sailboat. Joe and Tiffany's boat far left, and Kurt and Jane's boat far right...
Love Maggie's work.. and she and husband John have a bed and breakfast in Watkins Glen NY. In her previous life, she was a professional artist with gallery.
Maggie M took the tools of her favorite past-time and went to shore for the day. We all stopped by around 4pm or so to see what she was up to. Lo and behold, the artist rendered this beautiful watercolor painting of the foursome in the bay off Fort Jeff. The rest of the boats didn't matter, some details are caricature-ized, the foreground birds are without their pilons because, as she said, the painting is about the boats, not the birds. The water is whimsical as are the boats, but some details prevail. Ernie's turquoise T-shirt, the two-toned mainsail cover, the dual masts aft on Ie for the wind-generator and the radar, and more.
That's Maggie's boat in front of Iemanja, it's a Cheoy Lee Bermuda 30. Love this sailboat. Joe and Tiffany's boat far left, and Kurt and Jane's boat far right...
Love Maggie's work.. and she and husband John have a bed and breakfast in Watkins Glen NY. In her previous life, she was a professional artist with gallery.
Monday, March 27, 2017
We meet up with Pat and Addison Chan
These guys have put in monumental efforts over the last couple of years by educating people on the how's and whys of Cuba cruising. Their Facebook presence....Cuba Land and Sea is by far the best accessible information site on sailing to and traveling around Cuba.
We were lucky enough to meet up with them on the docks at Marina Hemingway and before we knew it, we were invited to join a small group to travel by car to Vinales which is a four hour ride west of the marina. This picturesque village has all the makings of Cuba at its finest. Great and inexpensive casa's for housing, restaurants that feature real Cuban sextet "son" music and tobacco at its best. Cigars in local lingo are "tabaco ".So even I had to indulge and yes.....get some hand rolled take homes.
Here are just some of the many many photos that we took while here with Addison, Pat, Terry, Carol John and Danny......
Addison also recently published through Waterways Guides, a Cruising Guide to Cuba.....a must have for anyone that is going to make this adventure come true...
We were lucky enough to meet up with them on the docks at Marina Hemingway and before we knew it, we were invited to join a small group to travel by car to Vinales which is a four hour ride west of the marina. This picturesque village has all the makings of Cuba at its finest. Great and inexpensive casa's for housing, restaurants that feature real Cuban sextet "son" music and tobacco at its best. Cigars in local lingo are "tabaco ".So even I had to indulge and yes.....get some hand rolled take homes.
Here are just some of the many many photos that we took while here with Addison, Pat, Terry, Carol John and Danny......
Addison also recently published through Waterways Guides, a Cruising Guide to Cuba.....a must have for anyone that is going to make this adventure come true...
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
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