Viva Fidel Castro — Captain Father John

It is 2:30 am (33 hours after departing Miami) and we are anchored in 60′ of water not more than a “stones throw” off the beach in Havana. I am on anchor watch because we do not know when the tide will change and swing us around. The water around Cuba is incredibly deep right up to the shore. We crossed areas that were over 5,000 feet deep. Just a few yards from shore the water is 200 feet deep. This sets up the story I will tell you about our first night in Cuba. We departed Miami on Monday at 2:30 pm. The weather was not ideal but we knew if we could get to the Hawk Channel we would blast down to Key West with a 20 – 25 kt beam breeze and flattish seas. We arrived in Key West at 8:30 am after sailing all night. We used four hour shifts to crew the boat. John and Priscilla had the 8 am to noon, 4 pm to 8 pm and midnight to 4 am shifts. Gabe and Angela had the noon to 4:00 pm, 8 pm to midnight and 4 am to 8 am shift. They get to see the sunrise. Doesn’t long distance sailing sound like fun. Aside from sleep deprivation you are sailing in the dark with all that implies. Our meals included breakfast bars for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and popcorn and ice tea for dinner.

Having arrived in Key West so early in the morning we checked the weather and decided to “keep on going” to Cuba. It was another 110 miles for a total of 260 miles. The forecast for the next several days did not provide a better weather window so we decided to cross the Gulf Stream in the current challenging conditions. The logic was that it will be better to get pounded in the Gulf Stream in daylight rather than be surprised by every 20′ – 25′ wave that picked us up and tossed us around in the dark. As we were approaching Cuba we several several AIS targets on our GPS that would appear and disappear. The only information provided in their description is “unknown.”

This was our course across from Key West to Cuba.

We arrived in Havana at 10:30 pm on Tuesday after 32 hours of non-stop sailing in extreme conditions. Gabe had called Marina Hemingway to insure we had a slip. No problem, all the boats from the St Petersburg to Havana race are leaving. When we arrived at Marina Hemingway we called in only time be told that racers did not depart because of the weather and there are no slips available. The racers did not depart due to the weather we just endured crossing the Gulf Stream. The Dockmaster suggested we anchor out for the night and return in the morning after the racers depart. Sounds simple enough until you realize there is not water water reasonably shallow enough to anchor. Fortunately Gabe has 300 feet of anchor chain.

At 6:30 am a fisherman rowed out from the beach and told us our anchorage would not be safe once the trade winds began to blow again that morning. The winds would create large rolling waves in our location. We hauled all 300 feet of anchor chain and motored around the marina entrance and watched the sailboat fleet depart for their return race to St Petersburg, Florida. They will have similar extreme conditions today as they cross the Gulf Stream as we had yesterday. Safe travels.

At 9:00 am we received our long awaited call to come into the Marina Hemingway and clear customs. The entrance channel is narrow but well marked. We tide up to the customs dock and received a cadre of government official. One way to provide full employment in a socialist country is to have almost everyone work for the government. Everyone that we dealt with was very friendly and welcoming. Despite the numerous amounts of paperwork it was an efficient process.

Here is onecof the helpful officials.

The first officials onboard were from immigration. We completed our visa applications and had our photos taken. Then a doctor took our temperature to make sure we weren’t sick. Some official wrapped up our satellite phone with duct tape. Finally a drug sniffing dog came onboard. While we were waiting to enter the marina we heard a VHF radio call regarding a lost Polish passport. As we were getting ready to depart, a woman asked if she she could get a ride on our boat from the customs dock to the marina. She said she lost her passport, credit cards and cash. The boat she had been living on for a few days was departing and she was not going with them. Darcy came aboard with three large bags. The bags were very disorganized with close sticking out because she had searched through them so many times looking for her passport. We dropped her of off at the marina and she asked someone to give her a ride to the Polish embassy.

As soon as we were tied up in our slip we were visited by two agricultural officers that asked for a declaration of all our meats and vegetables. Everything we had onboard was fine. They asked that we only cook the food on the boat and not take anything onshore. The final visitor was the Dockmaster who reviewed the rules of the Marina while drinking a Guinness nitro IPA. It is good to visit American boats. The main rule of the marina is Cuban nationals are not allowed onboard the boats for the obvious reason that they might try to flee the country. However, if you tip the right people, you can have Cuban nationals visit your boat.

Our slip at the marina is directly in front of the bar/cafe containing the ref rooms and showers. It is the best location in the marina now that those noisy racing are gone. The marina consists of a series of long canals. If you are assigned to canal #1 one you have a mile walk to the bar/cafe and showers. We have to walk about 50 feet.

We are on the west end of the first canal. Slip 102.

Gabriel, the owner of Pilar has visited Cuba 67 times. Gabe’s friend Miguel visited us along with his brother who is a taxi driver. They will be our guides and companions for the four days we are in Havana. Our first stop was lunch at El Ajibe in the Miramar section of Havana. I had a mojito and Priscilla had a Cuba Libre (rum and Coke) aka mentirita. Cuba Libre means free Cuban but there are no free Cubans because they live in a socialist country so it is a little lie which in Spanish the word for little lie is mentirita. The drinks were amazing. The Coca Cola is made with cane sugar and the Havana Club rum has a unique flavor.

The lunch consisted of roasted chicken, black beans and rice and plantains. A delicious meal. Paying for the meal is a different story. You cannot pay with US dollars. The exchange rate at the banks in Cuba for $US dollars is .87 to 1 usd. However, Miguel knows a guy who pays 95 to 1 usd. Deal. No US credit cads can be used in Cuba.

We rented a van for four days so Miguel and his girlfriend Jeanette can take us on a tour of all the tourist sights in Havana. One of the highlights of Cuba is seeing all the vintage cars. Castro’s revolution took place in 1959 so all the American cars are pre 1959. They have been lovingly maintained for sixty years. There was a 1954 Oldsmobile parked in the taxi stand at the marina. The young owner was prod to show me his car. He opened the hood to reveal the Perkins diesel engine he installed. It is much less expensive to operate diesel vehicles in Cuba due to fuel costs and mileage economy.

Most of Cuba is in a time warp. Almost all the “newer” buildings were built in the 1950’s. The historic buildings were built by the Spanish. There is a little bit of new construction by the Chinese who are the new “friends” of the Cuban people since the collapse of Russia. The Chinese are building a new hotel in Havana.

On Wednesday night Miguel and his girlfriend picked us up in our van and drove us to old Havana. It is about a 30 minute drive from Marina Hemingway to Havana. The first stop was El Bodeguita Del Medio. This tiny bar in old Havana is said to have the best mojitos in Cuba according to Ernest Hemingway. There is a large photograph on the wall of Ernest Hemingway talking with a young Fidel Castro.

The bar makes only mojitos, no rum and cokes. If you want rum and Coke you must go somewhere else. The bar is very small and people are jammed in. However a six piece band was able to set up in the corner and start playing. We had three rounds of mojitos and before we knew it the restaurant attached to the bar was closed. Before we departed the bartender invited Gabe to come behind the bar and make mojitos with him.

We eventually drove to Havana Harbor looking for a restaurant that was still open at 11:00 pm. There was a cruise ship docked nearby and we went to one of Fidel’s restaurants that was nearby. The next stop was the Hotel National where Meyer Lansky and the Gambinos stayed during the time the mob ran Cuba when Baptista was president. Their picture is on the wall. The hotel has a commanding view of Havana Harbor and has cannon emplacements on the lawn. At 1:00 am we headed back to the boat. We walked through the bar/cafe which is open 24 hours to get to our slip. There was one patron at the bar that hour.

Bonus photo – is that Fidel’s hand on Priscilla’s shoulder?