June 24
Cayo Rapado Grande to Cayo Montano (Ensenada de Anita) 30.5 miles
Total miles: 627.7
After a night of very little sleep, we were up early to try to extricate ourselves. We wished each other a perfunctory Happy Anniversary (our 29th) and got down to business.
We were afloat by now, thank goodness, and a quick survey of depths around us made it clear that our best way out was the way we came in, only backwards. Michael was at the helm, Patrick was in our dinghy, and lifted the bow anchor into it, while I hauled like crazy on the stern anchor line to pull us backwards out of the hole. As soon as we were clear, Michael was able to engage the engines and drive us further out, to safety.
He dropped an anchor again in plenty of water, and waited while I ferried Patrick back to Cava. All’s well that ends well, as Shakespeare said, and there didn’t appear to be any damage to the running gear, so we set of in search of a beach at Cayo Buenavista to stop, get in the water, and take a good look. Unfortunately, there was no beach visible at high tide, so we went back to the original plan and headed to Cayo Montano.
It was a good run, and we saw our first pod of dolphins since we were approaching Veradero six weeks ago. Happy Anniversary indeed! We had invited P&J for dinner to help us celebrate, so spent the afternoon getting ready for that. There were a couple of thunder showers during the day, but nothing that alarmed us.
Jaqueline offered to show me how she cooks lobster, and I jumped at the chance. Patrick, whose nickname is apparently TopChef, made us a lemon/lime tart - a recipe from the Ritz in Paris! We were so looking forward to a nice relaxed evening.
It started to rain just after we had sat down to dinner, and the wind began howling. We were in the middle of closing screens to keep the rain out when Michael said “Mundy – something’s wrong. We’re moving!” I looked over at Cava, and we seemed to be careening towards her at a startling speed. Michael ran to the bridge to start the engines, and I headed out to the bow to retrieve the anchor, which by now was simply sliding across the bottom and doing absolutely nothing to slow us down. It was pouring down, and I was soaked to the skin in minutes.
A windlass only works at one speed, and tonight it seemed to be very slow. As the anchor came up, and I wrestled with the bridle, we actually made contact with Cava. A good thump as our side rails came into contact with one of her pontoons. Poor Patrick was helpless to do anything to safeguard his boat, and could only stand and watch as we hurtled towards her.
We tried resetting the anchor, and as Michael reversed to try to set it, Cava’s dinghy line wrapped around our prop, shutting down one engine. Eventually, we thought we got it set, and Michael went in the water to cut the dinghy free. It was still pouring down, and crazy windy. Patrick needed to go and see to his boat, and eventually we cut his line, but there was still a large piece wrapped around our prop.
I yelled at Michael to get out of the water.....we were still drifting! Again, in the driving rain, we were hauling and resetting the anchor. This is the stuff of nightmares. Howling wind, driving rain, zero visibility, shallow water surrounding the boat and mangroves beyond that. If we couldn’t get it set, we would be running the one engine we had left all night!
Finally, we got the anchor down, and we believed it was set. Michael sat watching the GPS to monitor our position, while I stood on the aft deck staring out at the mangroves behind us to make sure we weren’t getting any closer. The dinner table had been abandoned, and lobster tails and rice sat on plates in puddles of rain water that had driven in through the screens we never managed to get down. Everything was completely soaked. I was just about to start gathering it all up when Michael saw P&J coming back in their dinghy. Bless their hearts, they were coming back to finish dinner!!
We poured away the rain water from the plates, and sat down again on wet furniture to finish eating. And then, of course, we had to have dessert. This is the only picture from dinner that evening – Patrick’s lemon tart, with Happy Birday inscribed in the meringue!
Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that night, but there were no more storms and the anchor did hold.
June 25
Cayo Montano to Marina Los Morros, Cabo San Antonio 41.5 miles
Total miles: 669.2
Michael was up early, and had the remains of Patrick's dinghy line unwrapped from our prop and rudder in about 30 minutes.
An uneventful 5 ½ hours brought us to the marina at Cabo San Antonio, our last stop before rounding the tip of Cuba and getting to the south coast. We had read that this was a small marina, but were looking forward to staying a couple of nights, tied up to something solid after the excitement of our last two nights. In fact, this marina can only tie boats to one side of the dock because the windward side is so rough. And it is a short pier, with only three boat lengths available. We arrived to find a sailboat rafted to a fishing boat at the end of the dock, two dive boats rafted together behind them, and a big empty space at the inner end. Unfortunately, that empty space belonged to a Russian flagged sport fishing boat for the month, so we could not tie up to the pier anywhere. We were forced to anchor, again, in a very exposed little bay, and spent the night being slammed and rocked by waves travelling across the entire bay.
So much for a good night’s sleep. I’m so tired by now I can barely think straight, and am definitely not a happy camper.
June 26
Los Morros to Maria La Gorda 51.1 miles Total miles: 710.3
We set off again this morning after taking on fuel and water at the dock. We were lucky, and were told to pull into the Russian’s spot after they had left for their day of fishing, so had a relatively calm 30 minutes while we were there. Cava went round the other side, and were bounced around constantly while they also refueled.
This passage marks our transition from the Atlantic Ocean on Cuba’s north coast to the Caribbean on the island’s south coast. As we travelled, we saw the colour of the water change from the green/brown of the mangrove cays to that beautiful blue we all associate with tropical waters. And the clarity of the water is stunning. We could clearly see the bottom at 30 feet.
We travelled into the edge of the Yucatan Current, much like the Gulf Stream in that it is very deep and very fast. Clear skies, light wind and a gentle swell were the order of the day.
This coast of the Bahia de Corrientes seems to be one long beautiful beach. There is a resort here that is home to an International Diving Centre, and is part of a National Park. We were preparing to anchor, according to our guide book, but were called into the dock by the staff at the resort. We were told that anchoring was prohibited (due to an incident a while ago where someone dropped an anchor either on a group of divers or on a part of the reef...it’s not clear) but we were welcome to use one of their mooring balls for a nominal fee of $0.35 per tonne. For us, that works out to $6.12 – a one time fee regardless of the number of nights we choose to stay. And we are welcome to use the resort, visit the bars and restaurants, and use their wi-fi.
It is beautiful. White sand beaches, clear turquoise water that is so warm. Palm trees line the beach, and the birds sing and call to each other all day. The dive centre seems to be pretty active, and their boats seem to go out every day. Maybe I’ll join one while I’m here. It’s been a long time, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t forgotten how.
And to top it all off, we have an unobstructed view of sunset – every night!
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