New plan. New country! I
could say we did it for the love of exploration but primarily, we did
it for food.
Like anyone cruising the
south of Cuba, we had counted on stops in Nueva Gerona and Cienfuegos
to re-provision the boat with fresh food and non-perishables.
Cienfuegos, especially, is where people go to do 'the big load'
because it's one of the few cities in Cuba that has a well stocked
farmers market and grocery store. These stops, however, did not pan
out for us as Nueva Gerona denied us entry and Cienfuegos closed its
anchorage for the better part of a month - the government's response
to three dinghies being stolen.
Sailboat sightings were
few and far between on Cuba's West and South coasts, in fact we saw
only three others during six weeks of cruising from Havana to Cayo Largo. Each
time, we were eager to make contact on the VHF, or in person if
possible. After the initial greetings, the next topic was always:
"Have you had any luck finding food?" On the West coast of
Cuba, we communicated with Dutch sailors who told us they were
extremely low on fresh food (surviving on their stroopwafel, I
imagine). They were permitted to dock in Nueva Gerona and go into
town (what!?!) but they said all they could find to buy were
tomatoes.
The Swiss family we spoke
with at a reef in the South of Cuba were having the same predicament.
I told them we may need to go to another country to do groceries!
They replied, in all seriousness, that they're going to Mexico to buy
food.
A Brit we met in Cayo
Largo had been denied entry in Cienfuegos where he planned to
re-provision (he wasn't aware of the anchorage closure until he got
there and was told to leave). He and his wife were so in need of
food to keep cruising that they boarded a flight from Cayo Largo to
Havana to go do groceries (and also to see Havana). They returned
with a suitcase containing 50 pounds of fruta y vegetales. I suppose the
Waterway Guide isn't flat out wrong when it says "food is
readily available in Cuba" - it's just a short flight away!
So it isn't just us. Good
to know. From what I hear, even land-based backpackers feel the
scarcity of consumer staples. Apparently Cuba has gotten a lot
better and things are changing in a positive way but food shortages
are still a reality.
We wanted leafy greens so
badly Dave had me considering harvesting a small aquatic plant that
grows along the beach. "See...they're good. A little salty..."
he said as he chewed a microscopic amount of one to demonstrate. I think I'll pass. I've seen the movie Into the Wild; misidentification of
edible substances in nature can do you in. We weren't that
desperate. But we were undeniably outside my comfort zone regarding our supply of potable water,
fresh food and propane, and it was time to do something about
it. So we took a look at the charts... and...we have a bingo!
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| Happy place. |
When we figured that Grand
Cayman was less than a 24 hour sail away, it took us about one second
to say YES to that! We jumped on the first weather window that came
along.
Oh what a time we're having! Grand Cayman is dazzling us with everything we lacked and a whole lot more. Happiness is a state of comparison; only when you've gone
without can you truly appreciate 'going with'! And we are now 'going
with' in a big way and loving every minute of it!
In the splendid Kirk grocery
store, I smile ear to ear and hold back the urge to stop strangers
and say: "Can you believe all this!" Berries! Avocado!
Cottage cheese! (Happy dance in the produce section.) I bought leafy greens I'd never even heard of just
because I could. Callaloo? Get in my cart! We've found some
delicious restaurants as well and a fish market made up of two tables
on a pocket beach with piles of fresh catch; men with knives at the
ready to filet. Since Dave and I have proven to be unlucky
fishermen, we can't get any fresher than this and the selection is
always interesting. So far we've brought home red snapper, yellow
tail snapper, wahoo, covina and trigger fish.
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This is our home at the Barcadere Marina in Grand Cayman.
No broken cleats here!
(Note our bikes on the dock to better picture a story to follow.) |
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| This is where we pool-hang at the marina; an important part of each day. |
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| Now this is more like it; we've got something to work with here! |
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| You at da fish market, mon! |
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| Sam's jerk pork. Line forms behind ME! |
With our primary needs
happily satisfied, we moved on to other items on the to-do list, like
laundry. We used the "fluff and fold" service which cost a
small fortune [insert money laundering joke here] but we're due for a little "Treat Yo Self" time. Fluff. It. Up! We got a
cleaning at the dentist. We've replaced all of our lost or broken
items. Filling our propane tanks was so easy - we just showed up
during business hours and got it done. They were topped up with
actual propane at a legitimate gas company versus the way it's done
in Cuba: an illegal purchase of black market butane transferred from
tank to tank by a Cuban taxi driver under the cover of night, which
took so long we offered him nuts so that he wouldn't keel over in the
process. And then every Cuban within earshot came over for some
nuts, emptying the big Costco jar I'd been squirreling away. (It
isn't lost on us, however, that the Cuban way always makes for a
better story!)
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| Getting a butane fill in Cuba. |
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| Laundry done and delivered in Grand Cayman! |
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| The laundry service is great but not error-free. We don't know who these tighty-whities belong to. |
The quality of life is
abundant in Grand Cayman. The weather is perfect nearly everyday since the island isn't affected by the continental patterns of the North. Of
course downtown Georgetown is a cruise ship frenzy during the
weekdays but that can be overlooked until 3pm when the herds lumber
back to the ships. In January alone, Grand Cayman welcomed almost
40,000 visitors by air and over 218,000 by cruise ship, plus a couple
others by sailboat!
We had planned on being in Grand Cayman for one week
to do our chores before returning to Cuba but we liked it so much, we decided it made sense to stay another week to spend our birthdays here. My
birthday was a day we won't soon forget. It included waking up at
anchor to a decorated cabin, a dinghy ride to the coffee shop, fresh
croissants on the boat, cake on board, paddle boarding and swimming,
snorkeling at Stingray City (a highlight!), a sail back to the
marina, the pool, dinner and cocktails at my restaurant of choice and
a New Moon party which was perfectly symbolic for the occasion.
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New books, croissants and my boats.
Being in paradise makes getting old easier!
(Off Kaibo Beach, North Side, Cayman) |
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| Jazz band at "my" New Moon party. |
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The last minutes of my birthday.
(Pyrotechnics aren't allowed on the docks so, to the street!) |
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The rays!
Stingray City is a big attraction in Grand Cayman.
Since we were anchored off Rum Point and the sand shelf was nearby, we sailed over to have a look-see. We navigated through the
reefs and got Kianda as close as depth permitted and snorkeled the
rest of the way. The rays were amazing! There are over 200 of them that frequent the sandbar and about 30 swam around while we were
there. They're big! And they come so close! It's intimidating for
a moment but in no time we were reaching out and touching them. We regularly chat with the charter/tour boat operators stationed in our marina and
they've told us that the welfare of the rays is soundly monitored.
Their weight is tracked to ensure they aren't over-fed by the charter
companies; each one is restricted to serving 1 pound of squid per trip
to the rays. One of our buddies from the charters showed us a large
bruise on his forearm where a ray bumped him. He said when the charter boats
don't get out there for a day or two due to weather, the rays get a
little aggressive when their free meal finally arrives. We, of
course, didn't feed them but no matter, they still glided all around
us. What an experience! And it was great to do it with our boat, on
our time, with no crowd nor guide to follow.
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Dave diving on our anchor before hitting Stingray City.
That water!!! |
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Our friends on s/v Mara took GoPro videos at Stingray City a few days after our visit.
These are still shots I captured from their footage. |
Dave's birthday was awesome too, and pretty similar
to mine as he wanted the same format. There were a couple funny hiccups though. When
his cake was served after breakfast in the cockpit, he blew out his
candles and declared life to be "Faaan-tastic!" That very
moment, a gust of wind blew his bike off the dock and, bloup,
into the water! He fished it out with our boat hook. It was like
the cruiser's version of bobbing for apples at the birthday party.
Cool prize: you get your bike back!
On the afternoon of Dave's birthday, we stopped at a
beach for a swim. I tossed down my bag and pulled off my shirt and
shorts while Dave laid out our towels. As I stood there waiting for
him, I casually glanced down at myself... Whoa! I'm so used to
having a bathing suit on every day, I was shocked to see that I was
not, in fact, beach-ready but rather was standing there nonchalantly
in my underwear! My suit was still in the bag.
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| Siesta after fiesta. |
Now that we've been in Grand Cayman for a couple
weeks, we can see that Caymanians know how to do Sundays right! Most
businesses are closed, there's very little traffic on the roads and
the smell of backyard barbeque fills the air. The day is generally
spend with family and friends relaxing. We spent last Sunday biking
the West Bay Loop. The loop itself is 15km and to get there from the
marina was another 15km each way, so we really spent Sunday pedaling.
On Monday morning, a worker at our marina asked Dave: "Are you
tired today?" Dave asked him what he meant. He said, with his Cayman accent: "I saw you bikin' in West Bay! You biked
to West Bay? You crazy mon!" From his point of view this was
not a well managed use of energy - especially on a Sunday!
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| Lion fish cakes at Vivo. Yummers! |
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| Taking a breather; shootin' the shit with Betsy. |
The people here are awesome. On our bike ride, any
time we pulled over on the side of the road, a car would stop to ask
if we were okay. Strangers who were visiting the marina restaurant
offered us the use of their car - ready to hand over the keys if we'd
wanted. People have been so friendly and helpful toward us.
They seem very happy. When we tell people we came here unexpectedly
and don't want to leave, they all say that happens a lot here.
People arrive by chance and stay by choice. Coincidentally, we've
met people from back home who've expatriated here: the dental
hygienist is from Fredericton and moved here six months ago and a
young lady working in the camera shop is a new resident from Saint John, NB.
We're not sure when our
departure date will be. We can't, at the moment, really think of a
reason to leave. Life's a beach!
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| In Grand Cayman, our smiles come in megawatts! |
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| More happy place! |
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| Blow holes. |
