Author: kerrizane

February 18th – 24th, 2015 (-5 UTC)

Dear Friends and Family,

We departed Havana on the 15th of February for the anticipated two day sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The Gulf Stream is the dominant feature and it would definitely let us know it was still here on our last day before we arrived in Mexico.

The first day, we motored for awhile and were then able to set sail with winds from the Southeast. We had nice protection from the land and were zipping along. We passed the famous harbor at Mariel where the Cuban boat lift departed from in 1980. This is where thousands of Cubans were let out of the country and Jimmy Carter welcomed them with open arms. They didn\’t really expect as many people to depart as ultimately did, but you can get the full story here:
Mariel Boat Lift 1980 – Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift

As we approached the West End of Cuba, a milestone was reached. \”Beach House\” had sailed around the world via longitude within the tropics. These milestones for me are still  bittersweet and I suppose they always will be. I still often \”see\” Cindy standing where she always used to stand on the scuba cockpit hatch in her white visor, long sleeve blue sun shirt, white muslin pants and sandals. She doesn\’t appear to me as often as she used to, but she did on this day.

According to our calculations, we should have been off Isla Mujeres, Mexico (near Cancun) by around 9 p.m. on the 17th of February. However, we were really feeling the teeth of the Gulf Stream. Essentially, the Gulf Stream is part of the enormous clockwise current circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. It is actually an offshoot of the greater North Atlantic \”gyre\” that gets compressed into the Western Caribbean, wanders through the Gulf of Mexico as \”the loop current\” and again blasts off the Florida Keys, up the US East Coast and across the North Atlantic to the British Isles . Two areas are of particular strength. One is off Florida\’s Southeast coast and the other is where it essentially begins in the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and mainland Mexico. At this time of year, it\’s supposed to be slower – around 1.5-2 knots, moving south to north – but we started experiencing speeds of 3.5-3.8 knots!

Now imagine that were going around 7 knots and you can quickly see that we were often going less than 4 knots over the bottom. This really slowed us down and worse, the wind angle changed from ESE, then South, then finally to the  WSW. This additionally slowed us down and we arrived 8 hours after we had thought we would. In addition, this made for a somewhat uncomfortable ride as we were plunging into 1-2 meter swells, current and wind against us. In some regards, it worked out okay as we were delayed till a few hours before daylight which would make a safer entry into the shallows of Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres means \”The Island of the Women\”.   See this page for how it was named:   Isla Mujeres: http://www.isla-mujeres.net/history.htm

Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

Another factor was the \”Cruise Ship Tango\”. We passed several cruise ships all buzzing around the north side of Isla Mujeres en route to Cozumel which has become a cruise ship heaven….of sorts.  Cozumel which is a true scuba diving destination is now inundated with 4-6 cruise ships per day, six days a week.  It ain\’t what it used to be and I have no idea what the appeal is to the tourists as there isn\’t much to do there but dive!

Dodging the behemoths (doing the tango!), is always a bit challenging and stressful, but we do have experience at this sort of thing. You can imagine us, cold, wet and rained on at 4 am in a squall listening to Disney Music (think It\’s a Small World) emanating from the speakers of a 950 foot Disney Cruise Liner! 4am, really?

At first light, we entered the long shallow reef on the north side of Isla Mujeres (only a few miles east of Cancun) and went through the islands\’ canal into a sort of inner lake where we anchored and the finally tied up at the dock at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina. Though I\’d been to Cancun in 1996, I wasn\’t really prepared for how much the area had grown. I might add….not for the better.

I\’d not been to Isla Mujeres before, so Nikki and I walked into town which had all the usual tourist \”chachki\” traps and what turned out to be some nice restaurants. We stopped at Bahia Tortuga, a boutique hotel, bar and small marina. Friend Karen Derrick had been here with family last year and it was owned by a friend of hers from Sonoma, but unfortunately she was in the US so we didn\’t get to meet here.. After dinner, we taxied back to the boat and planned our next day to take the ferry over to Cancun for a \”recky\” (that\’s reconnaissance in OZ speak…:-))

Culture shock was the order of the day. In 1996, Cancun was a place with perhaps 10 large hotels, a remote small town and what would look like the best of Miami Beach with sugar white sand beaches all widely spread out. Today, it makes Miami look like a quiet little hideaway. The overcrowding is amazing, the town is 100 times the size it was 19 years ago. The traffic was awful and there was a hodgepodge of old and US Mall \”new\”. It completely caters to the fly in tourist and now the ubiquitous cruise ships. In short, for me it had lost it\’s charm irredeemably. Yet another unfortunate feature was the ever present Saragossa Weed. This \”seaweed\” grows in the mid Atlantic in the Saragossa Sea, and due to what seems the recent COOLING of the Atlantic Ocean (the past two years), the weed is dying off and has washed up on virtually every beach across the Caribbean. Notably, the cooling temperatures have also decreased the amount and intensity of the last two Atlantic Hurricane seasons. This phenomenon is well documented and if you google \”Saragossa Weed\” you can read all about it.

We did find a nice market and along the way met a taxi driver who we hired to meet us the next morning for our day trip to the famous Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza in the central Yucatan Peninsula. The Ferry runs every 1/2 hour from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and that made for an easy return. We went to a lovely restaurant and would be off on our junket the next morning.

We returned at 8 a.m. to the Cancun side and met our driver, Jorge. Jorge didn\’t speak very much English, but had made the drive before. We\’d take the toll road which added to our costs (about 35.00 USD each way!); the drive was about 3 hours, the road was very straight and in excellent shape. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, we were in luck (good planning) and we\’d beat the endless line of tour busses that were sure to be close behind. We hired an English speaking guide (wearing an LA Dodgers baseball cap) and were off.

I\’d been to Chichen Itza 19 years earlier and was interested to see it again. This of course would be Nikki\’s first trip. The area is actually quite immense, but due to lack of funding only a small part of it is excavated. It is thought best by the archeologists not too uncover areas until funds exist to preserve and maintain them. To this end, you can no longer climb the structures including the main pyramid known as \”The Citidal\”. I was able to climb this with Cindy in 1996. They stopped allowing the public to climb on them in 2007.

Often it would beat for several minutes. No thanks, sounds a bit too much like current events to me.

The Citidal Pyramid is noted for how the Mayans knowledge of the stars and calendar worked. It\’s also where under Toltec influence, the Mayan civilization turned to every increasing human sacrifices. These were performed at the top of the pyramid by the elite\’s Priests. They were so precise in the orientation of this pyramid that on Spring and Fall Equinoxes , the \”serpent\” could be seen (his shadow) all along the edge of the structure as if were were climbing along the wall. This is pretty astounding and you can imagine that around March 21st and September 21st of each year, the crowds flock here to see this phenomenon.

Chichin Itza – Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza

You Tube Video: Watch the Serpent appear at the Equinox!: http://youtu.be/66ewEFbPCKg

Nikki\’s favorite was the \”Observatory\”.  It is here that the Mayan mathematicians worked out the true 365 day calendar  and oriented the building to key celestial passages and events.  This is why is does not appear to be symmetrically placed on it\’s platform which faces the four cardinal directions of north, south, east and west.

It was a long day with a 3 hours ride each way, but very well worth it and a highlight of our time in the Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

Every season, we somehow find a \”buddy boat\”. A buddy boat is another cruising boat who you more or less tag along with. We never know who it will be or if we\’ll even find one (though we have every season!). When we were nearing our departure from Isla Mujeres, we met Dennis and Lizette of s/v \”Windward\”, a Norseman 447. This is the same type of boat that our friends Dave and Kathie have whom we met in the mid Indian Ocean in 2012. They became our \”buddy boat\” that year and Ron and Kathleen of s/v \”Lady Amelie\” (sister ship Switch 51) were last season. We would both be departing for Puerto Morelos the next day and it\’s what Humphrey Bogart said in \”Casablanca\”…..\”Louis, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship\”….:-)

Stay tuned for our second Mexican Blog….I\’ll try to get it out in a few days!
KIT,
Scott and Nikki (written from Barefoot Cay Marina, Roatan – The Bay of Islands, Honduras)

February 6th – 12th, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

Dear Friends and Family,

I noticed that some of you may not have received the Ship’s Blog on how we got from the Bahamas to TITSNBN (aka: Cuba).

The link is here: https://svbeachhouse.com/ships-log/bahamas-to-titsnbn/

Also, it is the Ship’s Blog post just prior to this one.  As a reminder for those of you who did not see the previous post – “TITSNBN” stands for – “That Island That Shall Not Be Named”.

We last left you having checked into Marina Gaviota, Varadero Peninsula – Cuba. The first full day we spent was in quest of finding some assistance from the local boat yard. Let me set the scene. Marina Gaviota is located at the very Eastern end of the Varadaro Peninsula on Cuba’s north coast, about 85 miles East of Havana. The peninsula runs more of less parallel to the north shore with a large bay to it’s south side.

The Marina (which is still under construction) is apparently under the ownership/control of the Cuban Military and will eventually be able to accommodate 1000 boats (so we were told). Raoul Castro (Fidel’s brother and current President) is in charge and has personal financial interests in the property. The Peninsula is 10 miles or so of 4 Star “All Inclusive” Hotels which the boaters all jokingly called, “The Tourist Prison”.

It’s not that you can’t leave the Peninsula, we did, but that they try and control all the prices and businesses where the tourist dollars flow. Sixty Five Percent of the tourists are Canadian. The Cuban’s enjoy their fun loving nature. The Germans are next. The locals say they are not overly friendly in the sense that they are not outgoing (which the Cubans definitely are!). Next in line is the British, French and other European tourists, closely followed by the Russians.
The Cuban youth (more likely most Cubans), DO NOT LIKE the Russians. We found them in our personal experience to be at best classless and rude. How’s that for a ringing endorsement? They acted like stero-types out of a cold war movie.

So after inquiring at the shipyard about getting some mechanical assistance (where we were told “manana” – tomorrow), we walked around the hotel area and met the local boaters. Most of the boats in Cuba are from Canada and Europe. Despite all, there are lots of Americans. Apparently, before 2001, there were LOTS of Americans. Now, the Cubans are very hopeful due to President Obama’s recent statements that the Americans will return….in big numbers. The Cubans like Americans.

We were told by our Dutch friends, Tom and Anneke that there was a Canadian gal named Debbie Armstrong who is the “Mother Teresa” of Cuba. Debbie, who we met the next day, was flattered by the remark. Debbie was a wealth of information and lives on her boat in Marina Darsena (Varadaro). Debbie told us, that the Cubans have closed Marina Darsena to International Boats upon arrival as they want all of them to go to Marina Gaviota (where the Cuban Army/Raoul Castro) have a financial interest. The trumped up reason was that the “incinerator for international garbage at Darsena no longer gets hot enough”. Ah, welcome to the third world….:-)

Since we were stuck awaiting “Godot” (as it turned out), we decided to have a look around for ourselves. We hired a car and took a two day tour to the South side of the island to visit the towns of Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara.

The roads were overall pretty good and we heard that the major highways were built by the US back in the 1950’s. Care had to be taken as occasionally, the pot holes were an issue. Seeing all the crummy Russian Lada’s and a wealth of American 1950’s automobiles was quite a hoot.

We soon found our way to the “new” part of the town which is only 200-400 years old. Nicely being restored, it is now and one day will be – quite the tourist destination. There is lots of history about the Revolutions of the late 1860’s and Jose Marti’s revolution of the years around 1895-8 which was a precipitator of the Spanish/American War. We found the people everywhere we went to be open and friendly. They just love Americans and were thrilled to see more and more Americans arriving on their island…more on this later.

From Cienfuegos, we drove to the historic Colonial town of Trinidad. Founded in 1514, the town just celebrated it’s 500th year anniversary!

The main Plaza in Old Trinidad. The city has just celebrated it\’s 500th birthday!

The central area is a walking tour only and quite the tourist scene. There are just dozens of busloads of tourists in much of Cuba. Who knew?
Trinidad has a very old world charm and for the most part, Cuba reminded me of most of the Central American countries and Mexico that I have visited. An interesting feature is that this is a rare island in Latin America where there are no indigenous people mixed into the gene pool. About 60% are of direct Spanish heritage, 20% mixed race and 20% Africans who were freed and descended from slaves. Cuba was the last place in the Caribbean to abolish slavery which was part of the first Revolution in the late 1860’s.

The indigenous peoples either died of disease or were enslaved by the Spanish after they conquered the island. According to our guide, there is racial discrimination in Cuba, but not so much in the economic sense. It seemed to be more of a situation where they just didn’t want to mix socially.

We stayed in what is called a “Casa Particular” where we stayed on the second floor of a private home. One other young couple was there who were from Israel and we had some great conversations. They were doing a “gap year” after their army service – seeing the world on a shoestring budget. They wondered why we were staying in a “Casa”? We told them that there were so many tourists in town, we could not find another hotel room. To give you an idea, the “Casa’s” fee was 25 dollars/night! It was clean, but not overly comfortable. Hence, we stayed one night. The Iberostar (a very lovely old Colonial Hotel) was booked solid at 450.00 USD/night!

En route back to the boat, we stopped at Santa Clara. This is where the monument to Che Guevara is and his mausoleum. It is here, that his bones and those of his 40 ill fated companions are interned. It is sacred grounds to the “believers”. They were killed in their attempt to spread the revolution to Bolvia, supposedly with the assistance of the CIA. Some locals believe it was Fidel who ratted out Che to the Bolivians.  He was jealous of his cult of personality which was known. Perhaps we\’ll never know?

Che and his companions remains were turned over to Fidel Castro in the late 1990’s which is when this monument was built. Santa Clara was chosen as it’s the city where the decisive battle was led by Che to overthrow the Batista Government. When we drove back to Marina Gaviota, we saw a hotel that was built by Batista for his Generals. It looked like a nuclear blast facility on an immense scale.

Che is a mixed bag in Cuba. His picture is EVERYWHERE. Fifty photos or drawings of Che to every one of Fidel you see in the countryside. Fidel has no monuments to himself as he realized they might become used as a symbol to show some of the people’s displeasure with him. Che has become the iconic symbol of “revolutions” everywhere.

His image is on everything and for sale. So much for the anti-capitalists. The young kids don’t think much of him and realize that he was at least as bad a guy as a force for freedom in Cuba’s history. They “respect” Fidel and Raoul Castro, but believe that – “they are the past”. They are VERY much looking forward to the day when normalization with the US will occur and are a well educated people who will embrace the West in a very big way. The people, especially the kids under 35, have no reservation about telling you their opinion of everything Cuban. From “Hawkish Cuban Americans” to the excesses of Fidel, Raoul and Che the youth will unabashedly discuss all things Cuban. And oh by the way, they singularly despise the Russians……nuff’ said.

After seeing the “Soviet Style” Mausoleum to Che, which includes an almost terrarium like display by his internment – representing the forests of Boliva where he died – we did the long drive back to the boat. Along the (in fact both ways), we saw huge block (read that as very UGLY) Soviet era schools and housing mixed into the sugarcane fields. They are now all in complete disrepair with only squatters living in them. Very eery looking.

When we returned to the boat, we needed to do maintenance and took the day to try and follow up with the boat yard. Again…..”Manana”. This would be the theme for our getting a bit of mechanical assistance while in Cuba.

The next day, a weather window started to open, so we checked out of Marina Gaviota and spent an evening with a Canadian and another American boat at Cayo Blanco. Quite tricky in the anchorage, but pleasant and quiet. This is the place where one of the dozens of “day cats” bring the tourists to snorkel and sun on the beach. When I say dozens, I mean dozens of these 80 foot Fontaine Pajot day catamarans.

As we could not get any assistance for the foreseeable future, we decided to try Havana – 85 miles to our West.

The wind was light and the current with us – most of the way. When the current turned against us, about 20 miles East of Havana, it really slowed us down. We arrived late in the day at Marina Hemingway, named by Fidel for the late author whom he met once in Cuba. Hemingway and all things Hemingway are an industry in Cuba. More on this in our next Ship\’s Blog.

We again went through the very formal check in procedure. This time with a dog (whom I was convinced was just the Customs guy’s house pet) who supposedly sniffed for narcotics and gunpowder. Every time you arrive or leave a Cuban port, they thoroughly check the boat. We suspect they are concerned with smuggling people out by boat, but today, Cubans are allowed to leave the island. First, If they can afford too – the average Cuban makes 15.00 USD/month and secondly, If they can get a visa. Ecuador is the only country in the world where Cubans are not required to have a visa and as such, they do travel to Ecuador the most. They can apply for a visa to the EU, Canada and even the USA. The USA visa costs 160.00 USD and there is no guarantee it will be issued. Overwhelmingly, they are not issued and as such, due to the price, most Cubans do not request a US visa.

The last thing that happened as we arrived here, different from Marina Gaviota, (and we were warned) about officials asking for “gifts”. We did experience this. I’ll leave it at that.

Next, we would try and find some mechanical help in the big city and while waiting, we did a tour of Havana! Can\’t you just here Lucy and Rikki Ricardo doing the rhumba in the distance?…:-) Stay tuned for that experience – a real eye opener – next!

KIT,
Scott and Nikki (written from Puerto Morelos, Mexico)