Vamos a Cuba!

Once again, I find myself apologizing for not keeping this blog current, having made frequent postings to Facebook.  I will gloss over the few months we spent in Punta Gorda, except to say that we made a number of new friends, ate some wonderful meals, and saw some spectacular sunsets.  Eventually, however, it was time to leave if we were ever going to get to Cuba. 

We left Laishley Marina in Punta Gorda on April 11, with our first planned stop in Fort Myers Beach, then Marco Island, Shark River and finally Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, Florida Keys.  It was a pretty good trip, with only one day of rough weather and lots of rocking and rolling.  All of us, including Kokie, were feeling the effects, but managed to get through it. 

Boot Key Harbour is a very large manmade harbour with a mooring field that can accommodate several hundred boats.  It seemed so huge when we arrived after the relatively small marinas on the west coast of Florida.  Our main reason for visiting Boot Key was to have solar panels and a charging system installed by a young man who was highly recommended to us by friends in Punta Gorda.  The panels and charging system were installed in a day, and a week later they came back to install the inverter, which allows us to run most of our 120 volt appliances like coffee maker, toaster, water heater, etc. without running the generator.  It also lets us plug in and charge our various electronic devices whenever we need to - again without needing the genny.  We are thrilled with the results, and are confident that when we start to run the water maker, we will be as self sufficient as we can possibly be.

While we enjoyed our first couple of weeks in Boot Key, the weather was not giving us any breaks from a very strong east wind - the worst possible direction for a Cuba crossing.  And so we sat, waiting for that break that we needed.  This waiting time had a silver lining though, as it kept us in the harbour long enough to meet two other trawlers, Steve and Diane on Aurora and Brian and Jan on Noah Genda,  who were also planning to cross to Cuba.  And so we happily found ourselves with travelling buddies. 

We left the mooring field late in the day on May 6, and anchored outside the channel for the night to avoid having to negotiate that course in darkness.  We didn't sleep much as there was a fairly strong swell coming across the bay, and just before 0400 we hauled anchor and headed south.  The moon was nearly full, and very bright so visibility was not bad, but there was still quite a swell.  We fell in line behind Aurora, and followed her lights through the darkness.  After the moon set, light began creeping into the sky to the east, and the sun finally poked above the horizon.  By now, we were well into the Gulf Stream, and adjusting our course periodically to maintain optimum speed and reduce the drift that can be caused by the stream travelling west to east at that point. 

It was beautiful day, and the sea settled into a smooth swell which was easy to navigate.  Kokie was a champ, and he too settled after a while, alternately sleeping and grooming - just another normal day. 

Cuba slowly appeared on the horizon, and we arrived at Marina Gaviota in Veradero at about 1630 hours - a full 12 1/2 hours (and 95 nautical miles) after hauling anchor.   We tied up at the Customs dock, and were visited by a doctor, who made sure that we were both healthy and that the boat passed his very cursory inspection.  Our health status was determined when the doctor asked "you no sick?" and we replied "no - no sick!"  Kokie of course made friends with him, and he took lots of pictures of Kokie for his grandson.  We received the requisite clearance from the doctor, and a single document.

Next to visit was the Guarda Frontera, who look after customs and immigration matters.  We filled out some more forms, answered lots of questions, and after a quick tour of the boat, we were cleared to proceed to the transient docks, where we will stay for the duration of our visit.  We received our visas, and a single document for the boat clearance.  But we weren't finished with the inspections yet.  Next up was the vet!

She needed to see Kokie's health certificate and vaccination record, which we had done in Florida.  Then she tried to complete a physical exam.   Well, Kokie had just about had enough, and was asleep by the time she got around to asking to see him, so he was not at his best for her, and wouldn't stay still long enough for her to be as thorough as she wanted.  She did, however, give him a pass, and provided us with FIVE documents affirming acceptance of Kokie into Cuba.   And she came back two days later to make sure he was still OK. 

 

Marina Gaviota

The marina is part of a massive complex built with Spanish investment money, pretty much at the end of the Hicacos Peninsula.  There is a large Melia hotel, three condominium buildings, an apartment building, a couple of pools, a little shopping mall area with lots of restaurants and touristy shops, the beach, and space for 1200 cruising boats.  And we thought Boot Key was big!!  Unfortunately, there is only a handful of boats here, and the rest of the slips sit empty.

We are on a dock near the apartment building, and can use their pool, which is small and somewhat private.  Much nicer than going to the huge hotel pool.  We are also between the two fleets of boats providing excursions for tourists at the hotels all along the strip.  On one side are the deep sea fishing boats, on the other side are huge catamarans used for beach/snorkelling trips.  They load up and head out every morning, in a flurry of activity and noise.  We wonder what it looks like here during the high season. 

There is a double-decker hop on hop off bus into the town of Veradero, where we found spent a few hours wandering around.  We had a great lunch:  fried green plantain stuffed with shrimp and cheese, lobster for Michael, mahi fillet for me (both so fresh and delicious) and a couple of drinks each, all for $38!!

Last night was a farewell dinner for Aurora and Noah Genda, who left early this morning for Marina Hemingway in Habana.  As Americans, their own government restricts their boats to two weeks in Cuba, so they need to pack in as much as they can.  One of the restaurants here in the hotel complex is famous for its paella, and it didn't disappoint.  It was packed full of lobster, shrimp, clams and mussels.  And the wine flowed!!

This morning, before sunrise, our friends were getting ready to depart, and we waved goodbye to them as a biplane that we assume was Cuban Coast Guard flew very low circles around and over the hotel/marina complex. 

Now we are planning our next excursions: to the market in Santa Marta on Sunday, then to neighbouring towns of Cardenas and Matanzas next week.