Brian & Candy arrived on the bus from Havana on 27 February, so after a day searching for food and stocking up on fuel, we set off from Cienfuegos for a few days. Unfortunately we didn’t have very favourable winds, so didn’t mange to get that far away but still made it to a pretty deserted island called Cayo Muchos De Herea. A tourist boat did visit but only for about 3 hours, so the rest of the time we had exclusive desert island access.
We stayed at anchor just off the beach and lounged around for a few days swimming, eating & drinking. Brian proved to be a very good Hunter-Gather catching 4 fish (3 groupers & 1 grunt) in the space of one afternoon, whilst Candy & I perfected the art of making the Mojito! Mark was rather silent about the sharp increase in the Jem fishing bag, he put it down to beginners luck and the use of bacon as bait – ‘anyone can catch fish with bacon…..’
We then headed to Casilda and had a very interesting approach to the Marina, ie: we ran aground. Being refused permission to anchor in the bay we got a local skipper onboard to ‘show us the way in’. Rather than ask us Jem’s draft or what sort of keel we had he kept his questioning to the size of the engine and propeller. Having established that 72hp should be sufficient the entrance to the marina was taken with a good run up at full throttle and we ploughed our way in! The chap clearly had never spent £100 on a tin of antifouling, if so he would have treated our keel with a little more respect; having said that we do now have the cleanest keel around, certainly the one with the least antifouling paint on it!
Cuba has introduced a whole new way of thinking about sailing and in particular the lack of water between keel and seabed. Inside the reef that surrounds the main island of Cuba, in some places a distance of 50 or 60 miles offshore, there is little water deeper that 6 metres. Most of it is charted at between 3 and 4m which, when you are sailing a boat that requires 2m in order to float, makes navigation interesting. We used to worry when the echo sounder read less than 10 meters; now anything over 2 metres is fine and caught ourselves the other day being perfect relaxed sailing at 7 knots with less than a meter beneath the keel!
This has brought a whole new game to Jem which is noting what was said just before we ran around. The obvious ones such as, “it looks deeper here”, “ we’re fine now” and “when was low water..?” barely warrant mentioning. However to amuse my old friend, the vertically challenged ex naval navigator who will be reading this, the better ones have included. “Is that pelican standing up or swimming?”, “Let’s follow them, they look as if they…” and “ It’s a port hand buoy on the chart, it’s only the bird sh*t that has made it green”
Safely alongside in Casilda we spent a day sightseeing in the nearby 16th Century town called Trinidad. We managed to hitch a lift into town in a white panel van - held together by rubber bands, duck tape and rust ... Candy and I were fine as we sat in the front and the driver decided we should take the scenic route, showed us all the family photos and chatted away to us. The boys meanwhile were stuck in the back of this van and could see virtually nothing, surrounded by diesels fumes but both sitting on 2 huge sofas that he had somehow attached to the base of the van! After a few hours sightseeing and more importantly a good lunch (well good in Cuba means they had 2 things on the menu) Candy & Brian caught a bus to Varadero for an all-inclusive week at a hotel. Louise had to be restrained from leaping on the bus with them.
Trinidad
We sailed back to Cienfuegos to meet up with our friends on Sarah Grace again; we were rental parents for a couple of days, whilst Sophy & Chris went to Havana. Our little flotilla then headed off again slowly sailing southwards towards Cayo Largo, where we relaxed once again in turquoise waters, spotting Manta Rays, feeding the tame but vicious Iguanas.
It was here that Mark at last achieved success with rod, line and fly catching his first Bonefish, that elusive game fish that cruises in the crystal clear shallows in this part of the world. Although it was a very small fish he feels he has joined an exclusive club of anglers who catch fish with skill and guile rather that just towing a lure (which he can’t seem to do either!!) or waving bank notes at fishermen. More to follow in a few days…
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