Cayo Rosario

After a few days on Cayo Largo we had a nice short sail to Cayo Rosario. Rather than anchor in the channel there is a reef entrance on the south coast at the western end with a reasonable anchorage with protection from the reef. Beautiful beach for swimming and BBQs under the trees and not bad fishing out at the reef so we were happy enough. After a only a few hours there we saw our good friends from the Indian Ocean sail past on Kantala, they said they would be back this way in a couple of days so we waited and was great to catch up with them for the first time since Brazil over a few beers on the beach was great fun.

The forecast for the next week then said light south easterlies on the North coast of Cuba so we decided to make the most of it and sail to the cape and then head up the North coast to Havana. Normally there are quite strong NE winds and you will have to bash into it on that coast but we had a great trip mostly. 360 miles took us just over 3 days with 18 hours motoring so wasn't too bad, better than expected anyway. 

Michael from Kantala gave me a good tip for radio weather forecast on 8137fqz USB. His name is Chris Parker, some weather guru and he starts I think around 8am local time and slowly covers the whole of the Caribbean finishing around Cuba at 930 for those interested. People subscribe to him and he advises cruisers best time to leave ect on passages around the place.

Michael and Sheila for drinks on Sunflower

Fish BBQs on the beach

Thoughts on Cuba

We had a ball in Cuba but some things when travelling on a boat do your head in. It is a different country that's for sure with the friendliest happy out smiling people but it's hard to see sometimes how they can be so happy as the government really rips them off. A doctor for instance who has studied for years and is one of the highest paid gets only 40cuc or $45 a month and things aren't all that cheap so it's amazing to think how these people survive, they do it tough. But then most have good clothes ect and seem to be out drinking rum and having fun so I don't know how they afford it. 

Then when you are on a yacht there are a lot of restrictions. They are paranoid about their people escaping from their own country so us yachties if wanting to go ashore in a populated town there has to be a marina there where they can see you get on and off your boat with no locals allowed near. Then there's only 8 marinas around the whole island that would be a say 1500nm journey around. So you HAVE to go to these marinas and then they charge us 30cuc a night and the facilities are minimal and all run down. So basically the tourists get screwed paying more than one months salary for one nights berthing and you have no chance to anchor. We tried at some other places to anchor just for shelter for the night but you soon get told to move on regardless of the weather. This seemed to mainly be on the north coast though from what we saw. The south coast seemed a lot more relaxed with the regulations. I would go back for sure to the islands, for me this is the best. They are uninhabited so the authorities let you stay there without a bother. The cities are fun for a couple of days but the hussle gets to you soon enough. Santiago was our favourite city, seemed to be the most authentic with loads of fun to be had in the bars, we also heard Trinidad was very nice but we couldn't get there with our 2m draft. 

And if you are heading this way on a boat make sure you are well stocked up. The shops here have only the very basics and then you still have to go to many shops trying to find them. About the only thing cheap is the rum for under $5 a litre! The water from some of the marinas has a chance of cholera so is not recomended for drinking so top up your tanks for sure because you can only buy 5ltr waters for more than 2$ a go. Fresh vegetables are not always the easiest to get and the choice is very minimum but we always managed to get enough. The fishing at the islands is amazing which makes it easy for dinners there which is a blessing. 

In all we are so happy to have seen this place when we did as it is changing soon. The Americans are now aloud to come in and already the tourist prices are going up everywhere. It will be good for a lot of the locals that's for sure to make some money for themselves but will change the place I'm thinking.

The cost for a boat to enter is $55 then $75 pp for your first 1 month visa and then another $25 to renew for another month.

In all I wouldn't have missed Cuba for the world, it was great and well worth it, not always easy but that's what makes it so special I guess.

Havana!!

It was pretty cool to land in Havana, we were pretty happy with ourselves anyway. After getting sorted at the Marina Hemmingway we got a couple of local buses into town which was dirt cheap and easy enough. It's a happening place with loads of beautiful old buildings and loads of parks would have been some site back in the day when Cuba was doing well for itself. Now it is all geared for the tourist and tourists there are, loads of them. I guess we should have known that would be the case but it's still a bit of a shock. We went in for a couple of days and nights walking around loads and checking out a few bars with music, did the tourist thing and had a tour in an old convertible Chevy and then decided we had had enough so set sail 70 miles further east to Varedero to make an easier sail for Florida.

Plenty of old cars to look at!!

Cienfuegos

After leaving Alcatracitos we sailed to Cayo Blanco and stayed for the night, not a very nice anchorage but it did the job. The next day we sailed to Cienfuegos stopping along the way at this little oasis of a cove just 10 miles before the harbour entrance. It was amazing, crystal clear turquoise water that was like swimming in an aquarium. 

Entering the harbour mouth of Cienfuegos you realize how big it is, a massive beautiful natural harbour. You head up a 7 miles to the marina where it opens right up into a massive deep bay and you can anchor just off the yacht marina and use their facilities and walk into town. We expected much the same as Santiago but it didn't have any of the same craziness. No hassle, beautiful big open city, very clean, people all dressed very well you can tell instantly these people have a lot more money. It's only a 2.5 hour drive to Havana so that might be a reason?? Anyway we go in at night expecting to find loads of rum bars with music but it is very dead with just the teenagers drinking quietly on the waterfront chatting up girls, completely different vibe. The next night the 4 of us went to the disco and it did get a little crazy but it could have been anywhere in the world as it was just a DJ playing reggaeton and other popular music, the young people here seem to be loosing their culture real quick which was rather sad to see, all worried about their clothes and looking too cool I suppose like the rest of the world but when you think of all the great music they have that is just pumped into their blood at birth and then all they want to listen to is the top 40 crap it's rather sad. Not saying we didn't have an awesome time, it was just a lot different than we expected.

The next day we said our sad goodbyes to Layla and Mark, it had been such a fun last month on Sunflower with the guys but they had plans for Mexico and New York.

We finished doing our shopping which mainly consisted on 3 boxes of rum which is super cheap here and will hopefully see us through the rest of the year and got a few other basic items. The "supermarkets" here are something else. You really can only get the very basics and often not even those it's really strange these big shops with very expensive things like  random olives and then no eggs, rice or coffee??? But then half the shop is stocked with different rums that are almost as cheap as the juice that you use to mix with it?? Yea if you're coming here definitely stock up well. The vegetable markets are alright though with the basics and you pay in local Pesos which is very cheap but then you have to buy potatoes on the black market for some reason from a lady that's whispering like she's trying to sell us drugs or something?? It's a crazy place for sure.

Now we are in Cayo Largo to extend our visa. It's a very touristy island, beautiful beaches, great anchorage but not a great deal for the cruiser really. Had a great day yesterday, we have been trying to find engine oil for a while now so went to ask at the cargo wharf here. It's a long story but we ended up making some great friends and left 3 hours later after them cooking us fish, sharing rum, Julie lots of political talk and them chatting about the Australian show Skippy they all seem to love! Such happy people the Cubans are.

So now it's off tomorrow west, heading for some more isolated islands where we can fish and do a few       

jobs. 

Lady buying bananas from street seller

Yacht club Cienfuegos 

Sunflower at cove 10nm before Cienfuegos 

Isla Guano on way to Cayo Largo

Our new Cubano friends

Last night with guys, sure got messy:)

This last pic is Marks fair well to Sunflower....feeling a bit sick after the night out, sure makes a change as it's normally me!!

Gret seeing you guys!! Xx

The Cayos

We did an overnight sail to Cayo Cuervo with a good wind and got there for lunch. Just before entering the massive lagoon we asked one of the anchored prawn trawlers for some "camarones"...Si, no problem. We got together a couple of old shirts, a hat and half bottle of perfume and they were stoked. Filled a big basket up half way and I came up to his stern, Mark with the boat hook ready they passed him the bucket......crack the boat hook snapped in 2 places one under his arm, must have been more than 10 kilos that went swimming back in the sea:( Mark with a big graze under his arm but the fisherman wasn't too worried and started filling another bucket again and we had another go this time I came closer with no pole involved! Mark then went for a swim to retrieve the broken hook. These trawlers are all owned by the government and the crew just get a minimum wage so they are not to bothered at all about giving away the prawns in return for a gift and we went away happy peeling them madly.

We anchored on the north side of the lagoon in front of a little beach in 6m of water, beautifully protected. After lunch we went on the outside of the lagoon for a snorkel and came back with fish and lobster and this became the routine for the next few days, paradise. The snorkelling the best we have seen with loads of fish and really nice coral with a few nice little beaches we would have lunch time fish BBQs on. It helped that the weather was perfect each day so the visibility was really good. The first place since Chagos that we have had such good fishing, I don't think there are many places in the world left like this as it is closed for commercial fishing and no locals come out besides the prawn trawlers that fish out further and just come in to unload at the mother ship. Julie had the luck for snapper, the first time throwing out the lure with the 4 of us in the dinghy landing a very nice snapper no more than 40 seconds later. The next day Layla's turn but could only land Barracudas that are almost in plague proportion, it's not often you don't see one while snorkelling. Then again Julie landing 2 more snapper the day after done and dusted in 5 minutes, not bad at all;)

After 5 days for some reason we thought we should move on to Cayo Alcatracito. You are sheltered here inside the reef in about 4m of water but half a mile from the closest beach. The beaches look beautiful and are to some extent but the sand flies are unbelievable and also it is all sea grass so no clear spots for swimming. We also have a resident Barracuda that has stayed with us from the minute we arrived, he just won't leave staying at the bottom of our swim ladder. We have named him Barry and as big and scary as he is we have come quite attached to him as he is to us. He's a classic always lurking about, the other day we came back from snorkelling with a couple of fish, a grouper and a snapper. We threw him the skeleton of the snapper and after he watched it sink he brought it right up to us on the surface looking at us then bit the whole thing in half almost smiling like an ugly dog, unbelievable!! Then again the same thing with the grouper like a sign of appreciation he was definitely very happy with himself :)

The outside reef is where it's at, beautiful snorkelling with loads of fish although no lobster for some reason but that's ok as we have had enough of eating them anyway. It's been fish BBQs twice a day on Sunflower now and we are loving it, lazy days except for the card games that are getting quite serious. Another serious problem is we are low on mixers for the rum and the beer supply is dwindling very fast so today we planned to leave after 4 days but the weather has changed. Lots of rain squalls from the SSW so none of the other anchorages will be safe to get into in this weather. It's a little lumpy here on anchor but not too bad so far, hopefully tomorrow will be a bit nicer again but we haven't seen a forecast for nearly a couple of weeks now so who knows :)