We
made it! And after already three weeks
of cruising Cuba, we're merely scratching the surface in discovering this
country. There's so much to say, I could
write pages and pages about what we've done, who we've met, what we've seen...
Just the experience of buying eggs could take up a whole post! The regulations, the culture, the oddities,
the scenery - there's no shortage of material but I'll keep this to 'snippets',
however, as painting the full picture of cruising Cuba would take a fair amount
of explanation. Plus internet is scarce.
Upon
arrival at Marina Graviota in Varadero, Cuban officials presented themselves
three by three and boarded Kianda to
process our entry into the country. Our
experience clearing in to Cuba was a bit time consuming (and may have increased
our cholesterol level as we had to eat our dozen eggs before departing for our
next port of call a day and a half later) but otherwise very easy as the
officials are the ones filling out all the paperwork.
Our
adjustment to Cuban culture was done in baby steps, beginning within the ease
of the 'resort bubble'. Marina Graviota
is a huge complex where everything is a no-brainer, translated, generic; your
typical all-inclusive resort. Two days
here was good enough for us. It was time
to see the real world!
The
Guarda Frontera (Cuba's Coast Guard) came to clear us out. This will be the routine in Cuba: we must
present ourselves to the Guarda to checkin and checkout whenever we move the
boat. Guarda wants to know where we are
and where we're going. Seeing as we will
be in very remote cruising grounds, we don't mind Big Brother watching... at
least someone knows we exist out here.
We
set sail for our next port of call, initially surrounded by Marina Graviota's
large catamaran fleet taking tourists out for a day-trip on the water. As Irma edged closer to Cuba's north shores
last October, the captains of the catamaran fleet were ordered to man their
boats and leave port! They each rode out
the hurricane onboard their vessel, tucked away in the mangroves, hoping to be
spared. The Port Captain told us it was
absolutely terrifying. In the end, none
of the boats were damaged.
On
the short day sail from Marina Graviota (glittery resort bubble) to Marina
Darsena (tired, hurricane battered, super chill, friendly spot), we were
rolling through the big emerald blue waves in the breeze when Dave exclaimed:
"Holy shit, a swimmer!" A
swimmer? We were nearly two miles
offshore! The swimmer didn't even look
at us though he was only about a boat length away. We had never before considered the
possibility of running someone down with our boat at sea. We've since read in our cruising guides that
this sight is a common occurrence in Cuba: fishermen swim for their catch in
open water, in up to 100 foot depths!
One of our western region charts even has this advisory:
"Freedivers are often spotted in this area fishing for lobster. They are dropped off by a larger vessel and
left to work alone. A sharp lookout is
advised."
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| The swimmer!!! |
Marina
Darsena, still a part of Varadero and adjacent to the town of Santa Marta, is a
more humble setting, but this is where it got interesting! Here we made the acquaintance of Debbie - a
Canadian ex-pat who's been living on her boat at the marina for 17 years. She invited us along on a bunch of
interesting outings, including the Santa Marta Sunday market which was buzzing
with activity. Even the walk to town is
an adventure with crossing the aircraft runway and dodging horse-drawn
carts. At the market, produce is piled
on tables or on the ground, often still in its dirt from the garden (or from
being piled on the ground), awaiting to be weighed on rusty scales for
purchasing. It gave us a good idea of
what we'll be eating in this country. To
make a long story short, besides buying fruit and vegetables from a vendor's
cart when we find one, and eggs if ever possible, we will be relying almost
entirely on our provisions for food while we're in Cuba. The selection of available food is slim and
will prove increasingly tricky to find, but the freshness and flavour of the
produce are without comparison. As for
meat, we haven't been adventurous enough to buy it from an outdoor market
yet. If you've seen this, you understand
the hesitation.
We've
been to a few indoor "supermarkets" and they are not, at this point
anyway, useful places for us to get food.
At first glance it looks like the shelves are stocked but then you see
the whole aisle is filled with only pickles, the next is mayo, the next is oil
- so in reality there is very little selection and nothing that I consider of
nutritional value. Finding rum will
never be an issue though. Healthy
crackers and cereals, whole grains, seeds and nuts...not gonna happen from what
I can see so far!
Cubans
have a national system of monthly rations which ensures no one goes hungry, and
eggs are a part of this bundle of basic needs.
I also consider eggs a part of our basic nutritional needs but, due to a
current egg shortage, egg rations are being filled by card-carrying locals
before any extra will be sold to the likes of us. So far, the only eggs we've eaten have been
gifts from new cruising friends who were lucky enough to find some, but it
hasn't been for lack of effort on my part.
It feels more like Easter than Christmas since I'm always hunting for
eggs. My Spanish is now fluent in one
area: huevos. I know a dozen ways to
inquire about the egg situation.
Sometimes though, no words are required - the egg vendor simply waves
his finger and shakes his head when he notices me standing in the line, meaning
no huevos for you. I've come very close via the black market but
both times the plan was poached when my egg dealer got caught by an honest
coworker and scrambled. In Havana, an
egg vendor was willing to sell me 12 eggs for $12 but we'd be fools to
accept. It's true that $12 is nothing to
us, and I sure wanted those eggs, but it isn't right to try to take advantage
of visitors like that and we won't support it.
(*The dual currency system and the way in which Cuba treats its visitors
when it comes to money is a loaded topic, one on which I have much to say, but
probably best suited for another time!)
In Santa Fe, we got a tip from a veggie vendor that lead to a
goose-chase which ended successfully. We
purchased two dozen eggs in a legal fashion at standard Cuban prices. And we're rationing them carefully as this
chance may not come again soon.
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| Santa Marta market. |
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| Going to donate clothes to the poor with Debbie. |
Before
leaving Marina Darsena for Marina Hemingway (Havana!), Guarda explained in
rapid-fire Spanish that we were to sail directly to Hemingway and not stop
until we arrive there the next day. He
made wild hand gestures motioning big waves while he talked. I cut in to explain it to Dave: "He's
saying we have to go directly to Hemingway but that if the waves get big and
dangerous we can pull into an anchorage along the way." Dave corrected me: "No, he's saying even if the waves get big and dangerous
we are NOT to pull into an anchorage along the way." And to that, Guarda nodded in agreement. Oh...okay...no stopping no matter what...
Hemingway
Marina was our home through the Christmas holidays and over the course of ten
days we formed a nice little community there with the few other cruising
boats. Jorge, a private taxi driver who
operates out of the marina became our primary 'go-to guy' for transportation,
butane refills, local knowledge. He is
also a genuinely kind individual who was a pleasure to know and whom we hope to
see again in the future. Jorge's car
(which comfortably seats seven) is a 1949 Chevy that his father-in-law bought
in 1950. All the parts are original and
the ones that fall off during the day are reattached each night. The situation is the same for every vintage
car-owner here; we can imagine the nightly overhauls required to make it
through one more day. To keep his car
going straight, Jorge must constantly turn the wheel back and forth from right
to left - like in the movies! In a
different taxi, a 1954 Chevy, when we headed West to visit the mountains one
day, a friend dropped something on the floor in the backseat that made a clank
sound. We immediately noticed the
driver's ears perk up; he thought it was a car part breaking off and was
listening carefully to guess what it might be.
They say Cubans can fix anything with nothing. They sure have (impressively) managed to keep
these old relics dominating the roads!
The cars are a real highlight, adding so much colour to the scene.
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| Kianda at Marina Hemingway. |
You
can see that Havana was once spectacular.
And it's still beautiful, equal parts in spite of, and because of, its
complicated history. It's an extremely
interesting place to walk around. It's
vibrant, loud, colourful, and filthy.
Beautiful architecture stands next to crumbling buildings - like in a
war zone. There's a nearly perfect
balance of 'magnificent' and 'ruined' and this contrast makes Havana
fascinating at every angle. Just make
sure to watch your step!
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| Jorge dropping us off in Havana. |
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| Cabaret night at Hotel National! |
Leaving
Marina Hemingway to sail West means you're ready to go at it alone. There isn't much along these shores except
for uninhabited cayos lined with beaches and mangroves. (The swimming has been a-ma-zing by the
way!) There will be no diesel, butane,
nor potable water available until Cabo San Antonio at the western tip of Cuba,
and a line of cold fronts is impeding our advancement. There are a couple small towns along the way
where fruit and vegetables would be purchasable, however we do not have
Guarda's permission to go to shore there.
So we're really not sure where our next fresh food will be found - Isla
de la Juventud most likely but hopefully sooner! (*I won't get into politics, or more
specifically the topic of 'freedom', but it's one that I ponder a lot
here...both that of the Cuban people and that of visitors.) We will just have to make do with what we
have onboard, which is what we prepared for and it should be fine.
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| A food vendor in Havana. |
We're
being mindful not to waste our water and the butane for cooking. We're also being extra cautious with safety
related things as help isn't exactly around the corner should we encounter a
problem. We're reading our cruising
guides to anticipate what comes next and we're trying to make the best
decisions with regards to routing and weather.
Dave has acquired access to great electronic weather products and has
become a very impressive forecaster which helps enormously in keeping us and
the boat out of harm's way. It's an
interesting experience to be faced with these challenges; such a far cry from
the land-of-plenty and protection that we come from.
There's
a cold front passing through (frente frio!) so we're holed up in Cayo Levisa
for a week (which is really great!) while the North wind blows. We're allowed to roam on this island because
there are no local residents, it's for tourists. There's a little eco-resort on shore, a 30
minute beach walk from our anchorage, where we can enjoy pina coladas,
delicious coffee (Cuban's may not have much but they do have great coffee
machines!), and treat ourselves to an occasional buffet dinner which by Cuban
standards is fit for royalty - and only $10 each! So we're doing pretty well these days! This cold front is associated with the same
low that is causing a winter bomb back at home in Canada. It's been windy here which means we've got
lots of power onboard through the wind generator. The temperature has dropped and the sky
clouded over a bit, but don't worry about us - it still isn't cold enough for
socks!
Happy
New Year to our family and friends!
Wishing you all the best in 2018!
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| Incredibly beautiful Vinales in the Western mountains. |
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| We caught two barracudas! We released them though. But good practice. |
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| New Year´s Eve dinner venue. Fit for royalty! Cayo Levisa. |
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| Watching the cold front approach. Better get back to the boat... |
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| And...it hit! |
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| Our backyard, the boat is tucked behind the mangroves. |
