svbeachhouse

Category: 2015 Feb Blog

  • Mexico and on to Belize – Part 2…..

    February 24th – March 3rd, 2015 (UTC -5)  Quintanaroo, Mexico has decided to stay on US East Coast time despite being as far east as Texas!

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We departed Isla Mujeres and motored with little wind down the coast for the 30 mile trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico – still in the State of Quintanaroo. Ya\’ gotta\’ love that name!  We arrived with Dennis and Lisette on  “Windward” and decided that the next day we’d rent a car and the four of us would drive to the Mayan Ruins of “Coba” and “Tulum”.  Along the way we made a quick drive through at Puerto Aventura which ended up looking like a Mexican Newport Beach, California. Very upmarket with a well protected marina. It would have made an interesting stop with the boats.

    Note our alternate ride en route to Coba…..:-)

    \"Scott
    Scott and Nikki in our Coba Taxi. It was a long walk between pyramids, so we took the easy way out.

    It was about a 2 hour drive to Coba, which means “Wind upon the Waters” and the link below has an short, but excellent presentation on the details and importance of the Coba site in the Mayan culture:
    https://www.locogringo.com/mexico/ways-to-play/mayan-ruins-archaeological-sites/coba-ruins/

    As there was no Toltec influence in Coba, there was no tradition of human sacrifice. This despite the fact that it was only a few hundred kilometers from Chichen Itza to the north.

    \"Dennis
    Dennis and Lisette of \”Windward\” at the base of the 70 meter pyramid – El Citadel
    \"Nikki
    Nikki and Scott (in distance) carefully negotiating our way down El Citadel. It was much steeper than it looked. Note the rope if you need a security blanket.
    \"Guard
    Guard Tower: There were several roads that at one time were up to 10 meters wide and completely paved with stone. Guards would sit on the four corners of this structure and could see for miles who was coming toward Coba.

    We got off to a late start and realized that if we wanted to get to Tulum before it closed, we’d have to make tracks.
    We arrived about a half an hour before Tulum closed, but it was long enough to get a feel for one of the only Mayan sites that was right on the coast of the Mexican Riviera. In the Mayan language (of which there are about 22 dialects), Tulum means wall. It was one of or the only walled cities in the Mayan culture. An incredible beach setting, see all about the particulars at this link below:
    https://www.locogringo.com/mexico/ways-to-play/mayan-ruins-archaeological-sites/tulum-ruins/

    \"Nikki
    Nikki entering one of the few places the wall has an entry portal – Tulum, Mexico \”The Walled City\”
    \"The
    The main Citadel from the north side with the beach down below
    \"Beach
    Beach below the Citadel, Tulum – Mexico. Note the ever present \”Sargasso Weed\” on the white sand beach.
    \"The
    The Citadel – The ruins of Tulum are actually not that extensive and the Citadel is the most interesting and prominent building as it is right on the cliffs above the beach. Reserved for the elite of course!
    \"Tourists
    Tourists on the beach below and just to the north of the Citadel. Day boats will anchor inside the reef on somewhat calm days. Today was not one of those days….

    We got back to the boat late and were very glad we’d moved from our original slips as a Southeaster started to blow hard and the way the marina was oriented, it made for the docks to look like roller coaster tracks during the night.

    The really cool thing is that when we went to the end of the dock, we saw another SWITCH 51 sister ship, “Neko” with Peter and Mary had just arrived from the island of Providencia, Columbia – headed north. A great surprise!

    \"Peter,
    Peter, Mary, Nikki and Scott onboard \”Neko\” – Switch #12. \”Neko\” is cat in Japanese.
    \""Neko"
    \”Neko\” has the tall saloon roof like Beach House and except for their red versus our blue, the boats really do look alike. As well, they have twin aft wheels where we have a single steering wheel on the port forward bulkhead.
    \"Scott,
    Scott, Nikki, Mary and Peter aboard \”Beach House\” – Puerto Morelos. We\’d been hoping to catch up with each other for several years.

    We had been in touch ever since Peter bought the boat (Hull #12, the one right after Beach House) and hoped that we would meet up one day. Friend and blog follower Mike Priest had even delivered the boat for Peter from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco back in 2010-11.

    We had a great time meeting them, looking at each other’s boats and comparing notes. Peter and Mary would be stopped off for an air trip to TITSNBN in a few days (You remember: That Island That Shall Not Be Named – aka: Cuba) while we would continue south with “Windward”.

    After our trip to the ruins, we spent a few days in Puerto Morelos including visiting the small town which turned out to be really nice. Some great restaurants, a nice town square (zocolo) and all right on the beach. There is the old lighthouse that was turned into a “leaning tower” when Hurricane Mitch came through in 1998. Puerto Morelos was ground zero where \”Mitch\” came ashore. “Mitch” was a whopper and almost 20,000 people were killed throughout Central America and Mexico with over 6 billion dollars of property damage. The far Western Caribbean doesn’t get that many Hurricanes, but when they do, they can be devastating. See the following link on Hurricane Mitch:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Mitch

    \"The
    The old lighthouse in Puerto Morelos that was doing it\’s best leaning tower of Morelos imitation. It has since been replaced as a lighthouse but left as a reminder to the devastation of Hurricane Mitch.

    Time was progressing and “Dad” Scott has to be in LA on the 30th of May to give away my one and only baby girl at her wedding!  Temps Fugit – Time is Fleeing and as such, we moved on next to Cozumel which was only about 20 miles to our Southwest. We’d meet up with “Windward” at the small island of Cayo Cuelbra in a remote bay in southern Mexico – en route to Belize in a couple of days.
    Though the trip was only 20 miles, it took quite along time as the 3+ knot Gulf Stream Current yet again reared it’s ugly head. There are no great anchorages in Cozumel and it’s really a Scuba Diver’s Paradise. There are some of the best drift dives in the Caribbean along it’s western reefs.

    \"I\'d
    I\’d like to give a better photo, but this cruise dock says it all

    I had been here with Cindy in 1996 for a diving vacation and boy had this place changed. Again…not for the better. Back in the day, Cozumel was about 4 diver hotels with a few upmarket resorts – all catering to divers. Today, 4-6 cruise ships a day come here every day but Sunday. Why? I have no idea. There really is no site seeing here, nothing of archeological or historic interest and the Cruise Lines have created a giant open market (that looks local, but isn’t) where the tourists buy “Chachkis” by the bus load. The folks on the cruise lines think they’re buying local crafts and…a few of them maybe are. For the most part it’s a rouse and the market is owned and operated by the cruise lines themselves. Just another revenue source from the tourists. They typically stop is for just the day.
    After one night of this, we knew it was time for our boot heels to be wanderin’….

    The next morning, we left early to beat the cruise ship tango and motored along the Marine Reserve on the Westside of the island. Dozens of dive pangas (small boats) were on site by 8:30 a.m.

    \"Cayo
    Cayo Cuelbra Dolphin. The water was only 10 feet deep, but an entire group of dolphins followed us into Cayo Cuelbra. Yet another bay with so so charting.
    \"Cayo
    Cayo Culebra Sunset.

    When we reached the tip of the island, we set sail for the 40+ miles to Cayo Cuelebra where we hoped to meet up with “Windward” for the night. It was a combination motor/sail but a much easier trip than the day before. We arrived off the shallow banks of Bahia de la Ascencion and hailed “Windward” on the radio. They had arrived that morning after an overnight sail from Puerto Morelos. They had been to Cozumel more recently and knew that we’d be disappointed. They were right.

    As part of the off the beaten path adventure route, Nikki and I decided to head for Chinchorro Bank which is one of only four true atolls in the Caribbean. Much like the islands of the Tuamotus in the South Pacific, this is a rarely visited Mexican National Park and research atoll. It was right on the way, so we decided to go. Along the way, we came across two boats headed north who had stayed there the night before. They said it was beautiful and that getting into the anchorage was easy if we followed the cruising guide….ummm!

    A very interesting adventure page on Chinchorro Bank, it’s Manatee’s and Crocodiles can be seen here:
    http://bigfishexpeditions.com/Diving_With_Crocodiles.html

    When we arrived at Chinchorro Bank, it was getting late. First we realized that our charts and the guidebooks\’ waypoints had only the vaguest notions of each other in common. In fact, following the guidebooks waypoints, we’d be going right over the entry reef for over a mile! As such, we cautiously did so and had no difficulties till we got to the anchorage. Here, the guide book told us we’d have 6-8 feet of depth to anchor in the protection of Cayo Norte, a small island inside the north of the bank. This was also where the park headquarters were to be found. When we got to the anchorage, we quickly found we were in MAYBE 4 feet of water and no matter how we hunted and pecked our way around, it wasn’t getting any deeper. A panga from the park (we surmised?) came out and as it went zooming by, suggested the one mooring that was apparent. First, I’m suspicious of anyone’s moorings I don’t know. Second, it was in an open unprotected area and would have been very uncomfortable for the night, especially when the reef was at high tide. Lastly, every time I tried to get close to it, the water got shallower!

    \"Cayo
    Cayo Norte with it\’s lighthouse at Chinchorro Bank. The water was all of about 4 feet deep here.

    As such, I had found a 4.5 foot spot, went back to it and dropped the anchor. We did this just before it got too dark to see the bottom. We had a pretty comfortable night and also…a full moon. This turned out to be a light bulb (of sorts). Knowing that we had to leave VERY EARLY the next morning to get to San Pedro, Belize, I was concerned about seeing my way out with no light.

    The sand flats were interspersed with flat areas of rock and hitting that would be more than a negative experience. I got up at 4 a.m. and low and behold, the moon was so bright, I could easily see the bottom and discern where the rock flats were from the sand patches. However, at 7 a.m. (when I wanted to leave), the moon would be too low, the sun too bright to see even the 4 foot depths.

    So, (and here’s where the light bulb so to speak) went “on”. I turned on our very bright search light which is located about 1/2 way up our mast. It’s remote controlled and it lit the sandy bottom (before sunrise) up like a light show! This allowed us, using our in bound track, to see any obstructions and get out of Dodge.

    The charts were clearly not \”geo referenced\” as there was no commercial need here. Geo Referencing charts is where the original surveys, often done in the 1800’s, are not correlated to accurate modern GPS positions. The charts are usually right (but not here), and the GPS coordinates which are highly accurate don’t match. Geo Referencing is an ongoing project by charting agencies around the world started back in 2007. Areas of high traffic and commercial interest are being done first – and for the most part – have been completed. Chinchorro Bank has not been done. The other aspect of our charts was that they showed land areas where there were none! I suspect Hurricanes over the years have submerged these areas. Chinchorro is a wild place and would have been fun to explore, but given the weather moving in and poor charting, it will have to wait for some other intrepid navigator to take it on.

    \"Nkki
    Nkki en route to San Pedro Belize from Chinchorro Bank

    \"Chinchorro Chinchorro Rainbow en route to San Pedro Belize

    We had a brilliant and lovely sail, the 50 miles to San Pedro, Belize and yet again another “experience” with inaccurate charting. The entry to to reef would be with the sun behind it in the afternoon, making the entry potentially difficult to see. Dennis on “Windward” was already inside the reef and confirmed the location of the buoy and entry coordinates for us.

    \"Arriving
    Arriving outside the reef at San Pedro, Belize (Photo by Dennis). Believe it or not, in our next blog, you\’ll actually see Beach House UNDER SAIL!
    \"Scott
    Scott breaking out the courtesy flag of Belize with our Yellow \”Q\” Flag below

    You have to make a quick dog leg to the right just after you get through the reef as to not hit another reef, just inside the passage. The light was good, so the entry was straight forward. This was the first pass I’d seen in sometime that looked like some of the areas of the South Pacific. We anchored in 5 feet behind “Windward” and shortly after, the expected 20-30 knots started to blow. The reef was good protection, but at high tide, a bit bouncy! We’d check in the next day after sharing “sea stories” with Lisette and Dennis and begin our Belizian experience then!

    Adios for now!
    More soon,
    Scott and Nikki (written from Roatan – The Bay of Islands, Honduras – waiting out the weather)

  • Leaving Cuba and on to Mexico – Part 1…..

    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
     Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    \"Nikki
    Nikki on the beach at Isla Mujeres

    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.

    \"This
    This is the canal from the outer anchorage into the inner lagoon which is very well protected and where we stayed at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina

    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…:-))

    \"This
    This ferry runs every half hour from about 6 am to 11pm daily! Cost was about 15.00 USD each way pp

    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.

    \"The
    The ever present \”Sargasso Weed\” has inundated every beach in the entire Caribbean in 2015

    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.

    \"Chicen
    Chicen Itza Gate. We arrived early enough to beat the big crowds that followed

    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.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki and Scott at \”The Citadel\”. This was the main temple structure of Chichen Itza and where many human sacrifices occurred at the top platform.
    \"The
    The Serpent shows up at the equinoxes in March and September and appears to be slithering down the stepped pyramid on the left. Click on the You Tube video URL I\’ve provided to see it in action.
    \"Sacrificial
    Sacrificial Altar. This is where the sacrificed victims heart was placed for all to see.
    \"Ball
    Ball Court: You can see the \”hoop\” vertically mounted on the wall. The opposite wall is a mirror image. Two teams would compete while royalty watched from the distant pedestal. It is unclear if the winner or the loser\’s team captain was then sacrificed. Currently, they think it was an honor the winner was pleased to oblige!….

    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.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki at the \”Observatory\”
    \"Note
    Note the asymmetry of the observatory to it\’s platform

    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.

    \"German
    German \”Tall Ship\” with Cancun in the background – departing Isla Mujeres
    \"Farewell
    Farewell Cancun – High Density tourism at it\’s finest….?

    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)

  • Leaving Cuba and on to Mexico – Part 1…..

    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
     Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    \"Nikki
    Nikki on the beach at Isla Mujeres

    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.

    \"This
    This is the canal from the outer anchorage into the inner lagoon which is very well protected and where we stayed at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina

    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…:-))

    \"This
    This ferry runs every half hour from about 6 am to 11pm daily! Cost was about 15.00 USD each way pp

    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.

    \"The
    The ever present \”Sargasso Weed\” has inundated every beach in the entire Caribbean in 2015

    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.

    \"Chicen
    Chicen Itza Gate. We arrived early enough to beat the big crowds that followed

    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.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki and Scott at \”The Citadel\”. This was the main temple structure of Chichen Itza and where many human sacrifices occurred at the top platform.
    \"The
    The Serpent shows up at the equinoxes in March and September and appears to be slithering down the stepped pyramid on the left. Click on the You Tube video URL I\’ve provided to see it in action.
    \"Sacrificial
    Sacrificial Altar. This is where the sacrificed victims heart was placed for all to see.
    \"Ball
    Ball Court: You can see the \”hoop\” vertically mounted on the wall. The opposite wall is a mirror image. Two teams would compete while royalty watched from the distant pedestal. It is unclear if the winner or the loser\’s team captain was then sacrificed. Currently, they think it was an honor the winner was pleased to oblige!….

    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.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki at the \”Observatory\”
    \"Note
    Note the asymmetry of the observatory to it\’s platform

    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.

    \"German
    German \”Tall Ship\” with Cancun in the background – departing Isla Mujeres
    \"Farewell
    Farewell Cancun – High Density tourism at it\’s finest….?

    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)

  • TITSNBN – Havana, Cuba Part 2…..

    February 12th-16th, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We arrived in Havana\’s \”Marina Hemingway\” after an 85 mile journey from Cayo Blanco – the end of the Varadaro Peninsula.
    We checked in at the Customs and Immigration Dock where the boat was again inspected; this time with a dog. The dog was a cute little beagle, who I was convinced was nothing more than the guys house pet. There was a little \”mordida\”(bribes) here. For now, I\’ll just leave it at that. We did not experience this at Marina Gaviota.

    The next day, we met a nice young couple, Dani and Tate from Louisiana. They had recently left the US for a planned 5 year circumnavigation on a Westsail 32 – s/v \”Sundowner\”. They were young and tough and will have quite the adventure by the time their 5 year plan is complete.

    \"Dani
    Dani and Tate\’s s/v \”Sundowner\” on the first leg of a world tour Speaking of Americans…

    There were at least 15 and perhaps 25 US registered vessels here. Technically, we\’re not supposed to visit Cuba of course, but again, as I had need of some mechanical assistance, that takes precedence when sailing a small boat on the big sea. Speaking of which, we were again told about the wonderful mechanics who would be down \”any time\”. We asked when, as we sure didn\’t want to just sit and wait. Of course you know the answer?!….\”Manana Senor\”….:-)

    We quickly surmised this may be a replay of our experience in Marina Gaviota. In short…it was.

    As we were waiting for \”Guidot\”, we found a nice reference for a day tour of Havana with a young guide who spoke perfect English and would be escorting us in his
    associates 1952 Chevy! We were met at Marina Hemingway and began our tour with our guide Ricardo telling us lots about the general history of Cuba. One of the first buildings we passed was what he called, \”The ugliest building in all of Havana. Can you guess what it is?\”. I already knew….it was the Russian Embassy and indeed, unattractive was an understatement, it resembled the Lego man crumpled up and on steroids. We were on embassy row where all the old colonial homes were the embassies of one country or another. The US doesn\’t have an embassy, but rather an \”interests section\”. This is kept on the Malecon (waterfront) downtown away from all the other embassies. This \”interest section\” had been in Havana since just after the Castro revolution in 1958.

    \"El
    El Moro Military Fortress – The cities main defense in years gone by

    We went down the Malecon where the Military Morro fortress across the way could be seen with the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana (commonly called La Cabana) fortress just inland. The La Cabana Fort was Che Guevara\’s domain just after the revolution and at least a few thousand Cuban\’s were executed here. This little fact was not on the tour….

    For some interesting reading on the USA\’s relations with Cuba since the revolution, see:
    \”Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana\” by William LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh
    This is a rather favorable tome as far as Fidel Castro\’s relationship is concerned. It shows the convoluted nature of the entire relationship between the two nations.

    If interested in Che Guevara: \”Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him\” by Humberto Fontova
    Mr. Fontova and his family were exiled from Cuba after the revolution. He very well documents with first person interviews his take on all things Che.
    He additionally writes a book on Fidel Castro: \”Fidel: Hollywood\’s Favorite Tyrant\”.

    Another book on Che which is far more favorable to his legacy is: \”Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life\” by Jon Lee Anderson.
    This book is quite long and uses mostly sources from Castro\’s Cuba.

    As to which slant you believe…read them and you decide.

    \"La
    La Cabana Fortress where Che Guevara oversaw the executions of anti revolutionary Cubans
    \"Che\'s
    Che\’s image is on the \”Ministry of the Interior\” building. Some call it the secret police building. Che was Cuba\’s first \”Minister of the Interior\” under Catro\’s Revolution.

    The Military Morro fort on the point was used to protect Havana from raiders, pirates and other nations fleets till the Spanish American War, where it was obvious it had, like most of these forts, been made obsolete by technology. This was the harbor where the USS Maine blew up, beginning the Spanish American War. It\’s still quite controversial how the Maine met it\’s demise. Some say it was the Spanish, some an accident and some even suggest (which I\’m sure is poppycock), that the US blew it up to have a causus belli to start the war. The evidence removed and not properly preserved or investigated; we\’ll never know.

    \"Obispo
    Obispo Street is the happening tourist mecca in Old Havana. The Capitol Building is in the distance under going renovations.

    Next we stopped to do a walking tour of the old city which centers upon Obispo Street. Obispo Street has been extensively rebuilt as an important tourist destination. The streets just to each side of it look like slums. There is a big renovation plan to include them as well as the city center where the Capitol Building is. Ironically, it\’s design was inspired by the US Capitol and like the US Capitol today which has scaffolding all around it for renovations, the Cuban Capitol Building does too!

    \"Tourism
    Tourism is very big in Cuba, most especially Havana. Many of these busses were here for the day trip to Havana from the Varadero Peninsula

    One of the first attractions we saw was the United Buddy Bears exhibit the Plaza de San Francisco.  This is a touring exhibit, co-sponsored by the United Nations and private donors to promote tolerance amongst the peoples of the world. The Cuba Bear was an attraction, but no bear had a bigger line for families to pose for photos than, you guessed it…The USA Bear.

    \"Unite
    United  Buddy Bears – a UN/Private Donation sponsored touring event to promote understanding between the nations.
    \"Without
    Without question, the lines were by far the longest for the locals to get their picture taken with the USA – Statue of Liberty Bear
    \"Nikki
    Nikki supported her UK roots by posing with the UK Bear
    \"And
    And of course, no photo op would have been complete without Nikki posing with Austraila Bear!

    After our experience with bears, we went to see the beautiful old Cathedral de San Cristobal de La Habana. It\’s known for it\’s uneven, non symmetrical towers. It took so long for the Jesuits to build it, that the design changed during construction. Christopher Columbus was interned here from 1795 until 1898 when his remains were moved to Seville, Spain.

    \"This
    This Cathedral was the site of Columbus\’ last internment before he was finally moved to Seville, Spain in the late 1800\’s

    Our next stop was the Plaza de Armas (Plaza of Arms) where the Hotel Isabel is located. Many US dignitaries including President Jimmy Carter stayed here.
    The next stop was the Hotel Raquel which was built by Jews living in Havana. It has gorgeous stain glass arch windows and wrought iron elevator (lift) right out of the 1930\’s.

    \"Ricardo
    Ricardo and Scott at \”The Raquel\”. This hotel is connected to the still existing Jewish Community of Havana. There are beautiful stain glass ceilings inside. Note the Mezuzah above Scott\’s arm on the door post

    Next we went to the Hotel Ambos Mundos (Two Worlds – old and new). This was made famous by Ernest Hemingway who stayed here for months at a time in the same 5th floor room. He wrote a \”Farewell to Arms\” and the \”Green Fields of Africa\” – standing at his typewriter (due to a back injury suffered while an ambulance driver in the Spanish Civil war in Spain). Also decorating his 5th floor room (now closed and used as a museum) were several of the telegrams he received while here congratulating him on his Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. This hotel also has a lovely roof top bar where much of the old city can be seen and an open wrought iron elevator (lift) that is old enough that even Hemingway used.

    \"Hemingways
    Hemingways private room at the Ambos Mundos Hotel. Today it is a museum to his memory
    \"The
    The museums guide showing us the model of his beloved fishing boat, \”Pilar\” as well as the original telegrams in the frames congratulating Hemingway on his 1954 Nobel Prize for literature. \”Pilar\” is now located at the Hemingway \”Finca\” (residence). It is being restored as part of the Hemingway Museum. \”Pillar\” was the nickname of Hemingway\’s wife, Pauline.

    We then returned to our \”ride\”. A 1952 Chevy Bel Air. Remy was our driver and told us that he inherited the car from his Dad. The engine had been replaced and now has a Nissan diesel in it. I asked him how many miles it had on it? He said, \”The odometer broke at 287,000\”. I asked how long ago that was? He said, \”About 25 years ago\”. He said he really didn\’t know how many miles it has on it.

    \"Cool...a
    Cool…a real live 1952 Chevy Bel Air
    \"Scott,
    Scott, Ricardo and Remy hanging out with Remy\’s 52\’ Chevy man….:-)

    We then went to a nice lunch at a local Palador (private home) which serves as restaurant and residence to the owners. Capitalism is slowly creeping into Cuban life. Some reforms have been instituted which allow small private business to flourish, paying certain license fees and taxes to the government. This is an exciting prospect for many Cubans which allow them to supplement their income.

    Health care is free, but as Orwell said, \”not all animals are created equal\”. The elite and tourists get quick and very good treatment. Locals…not so much.
    They may have to wait prohibitively long periods of time and the facilities are not the ones seen in the Potemkin Village Hollywood films as pictured by Michael Moore.

    Cubans receive a ration card each month. They generally say it works out to about 2 weeks/month of basic needs in terms of food. The Cubans all have other means of supplementing their incomes as it\’s necessary to do so to meet their daily needs. Like all places, some people are doing pretty well while others (many) aren\’t. The rural areas are truly subsistence livelihoods while some in the big cities are doing okay. Our young guide Ricardo, is very optimistic as he says, all of Cuba is about the prospect of normalized relations with the US and ending the embargo. My distinct impression (and mind you), not everyone can say out loud – is that once Fidel and Raoul have passed on, the next generation of leaders will really make big positive changes.

    After all this sight seeing, it was time for a visit to the very up market, \”Hotel Nacional\” for a Mojito. The National was built by Mafiosa Boss, Meyer Lansky as his Cuban retreat. Apparently, the mob bosses including Al Capone would meet here to discuss, \”business\”. Cuba became the center of Casino Gambling and of course Rum Running during Prohibition. The Hotel is beautiful and commands one of the best views of the Malecon and Havana Harbor. Another refreshing feature was that we had one of the two best Mojitos ever. Mojito means, \”the little moistener\” and was apparently Ernest Hemingway\’s drink of choice.

    \"Hotel
    Hotel Nacional – built by Meyer Lansky. A favorite hangout for the Mafia in the 1930\’s.
    \"Scott,
    Scott, Nikki and Ricardo enjoying a fabulous Mojito – take note Ron!!!…:-)

    Our last stop on the way back to the Hemingway Marina was at Cuban artist, Fustero\’s home. He has developed a niche mosaic as well as modern impressionist painting style. He has a great deal of latitude in his travels and has made a substantial income from selling his art world wide.
    The street he lives on is lined with mosaic art and is a must visit while touring Havana.

    \"The
    The artist, \”Fuseros\” home. It\’s a living museum to his art. The entire neighborhood around his home are done in mosaic tile art work.

    As we realized \”yet again\” that we were waiting for the Cuban equivalent of \”Guidot\” for mechanical assistance, we decided that we would leave the next morning and head directly to Isla Mujeres, Mexico (our original intended destination). The cute beagle was back, small \”mordida\” yet again extracted. Our trip would be two days and two nights.

    \"Goodbye
    Goodbye Havana! – Exiting Marina Hemingway. Once knows as Marina Monte Carlo, Fidel Castro renamed in the author\’s honor after his death. They met only once.
    \"Tug
    Tug departing Mariel. This is the harbor where in 1980, the \”Mariel Boat Lift\” authorized by President Carter saw over 80,00 Cubans depart for the USA

    Next stop, Isla Mujeres (The Island of the Women) and glitzy Cancun, Mexico.

    Stay tuned!
    Scott and Nikki (written at Cay Caulker, Belize

  • TITSNBN – Cuba Part 1…..

    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….:-)

    \"Debbie
    Debbie Armstrong – (seen far right with Pink top) – Holding court with the cruisers to get the lay of the land aboard Beach House. Marina Gaviota, Varadero

    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
    Our first stop was the south coastal town of Cienfuegos.  It was an old historic town with lots of Spanish Colonial architecture. We first visited the Marina and the Club Nautico and quickly realized in essence…they were (politely stated), “down trodden”.
    \"The
    The wayward home for boats on the south shore at Cienfuegos Marina
    \"The
    The Plaza in the \”New\” part of Cienfuegos – Note the Classic Car in the foreground. Cienfuegos was very clean in the new areas and definitely ready for it\’s close up….:-)
    \"In
    In small ways, Capitalism is making a big resurgence. These young artists were very \”market savy\” young entrepreneurs

    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 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.

    \"Memorial
    Memorial and Mausoleum to Che Guevara and his Bolivian Guerillas
    \"Photos
    Photos of Che – which of course rings greatly of propaganda – are everywhere. His image is the most reproduced of any image in the world!

    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.

    \"We
    We saw dozens of these Soviet era style school and housing blocks. For the most part they were completely abandoned except for the squatters

    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.

    \"There
    There were dozens of these big 80 foot Fontaine Pajot Day Charter Cats. Whether the weather was good or not, they were usually full of people staying at the \”tourist prison\”, heading out to Cayo Blanco

    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.

    \"Ernest
    Ernest Hemingway used to come here by boat to what was then known as Monte Carlo Marina. Fidel Castro renamed it after Hemingway\’s death to Marina Hemingway

    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)

  • Bahamas to TITSNBN…..as it turns out:-)

    February 3rd – February 5th, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family, (Written from Isla Mujeres, Mexico – February 23rd, 2015)

    So right up front I’ll tell you that TITSNBN stands for, “That Island That Shall Not Be Named”….Hint: It starts with a C has a U, B and ends in A….more on that as the blog progresses!

    We decided to go “The Adventure Route” toward Mexico as to do otherwise from the Bahamas left us in a sort of a, “You can’t get there from here” situation. The reefs of the Southern Bahamas are very wide and shallow with lots of obstructions that make traversing them at night – not such a good idea.

    As such, we decided to go down the West side of Andros Island. It is far and away the largest of the Bahamas and one of the least populated. It has no really good anchorages and is essentially a 100 mile long mangrove swamp with shallows extending out for several miles to the West. It does have appeal to bone fisherman, serious nature observers, biologists and in a few places – adventure diving.

    We departed Chubb Cay and had to take a circuitous route to the West before finally heading back south and East to what would be our first anchorage at the bigger of the two Cross Cays near the Northwest end of Andros Island. The charts showed very shallow depths over the Great Bahama Bank and once or twice, we saw water as shallow as 5 feet! Nikki has on her IPad, the same navigation charts we use on our main system and hers have the “bathyspheric contours” at high zoom levels. I can download these for the main system and will do so IF we ever get good enough internet.

    \"Nikki\'s
    Nikki\’s IPAD had the additional Sonar readings which were a great help when entering and finding an anchor spot. Without these contours, we just saw a few isolated \”spot soundings\”. Our anchorage is where the Green Fish Icon is. The rock reef you see was a quarter mile wide. Depths are in feet!

    The contours were very helpful in seeing where we could access a good anchorage site with good wind protection, but not in TOO shallow an anchorage. We anchored in the southern lee of Big Cross Cay and had a very pleasant night. The next day, we looked at going to Billie Island, about 1/2 way down the West side of Andros, As we looked ahead at the weather, it was go now, or sit for 3-4 days. So off we went on the 110 mile trip toward Anguilla Cay on the Cay Sal Bank which is part of the Bahamas.

    The weather issue this season has been the US Cold Fronts. They have been stronger and more frequent than usual. If you’re wondering….this does not have anything to do with “climate change”. The good news was that our plan of crossing the Gulf Stream right up front when we went to the Bahamas would now pay off. We had light winds first from the North, then the East and as we broke free of the Great Bahama Bank at 8pm had very good sailing weather from the East which found us on a port tack beam reach. Going to Anguilla Cay was always a case of, “if the weather allows” plan as well as Cay Sal. There is a triangular bank south of Florida, north of Cuba and West of Andros with lots of very small islands. In good weather it would have been lots of fun, but the weather wasn’t with us. As such, we were abeam of Anguilla Cay at mid night and then were able to head due west with the winds constantly shifting toward the South. We got around “the corner, just in time.

    We now had a choice. Press on 3-4 days to Isla Mujeres in Mexico or go into Cuba at Varadero. Given that the weather was not favorable to sit on the Cay Sal Bank anywhere and that we had some nagging boat issues, we decided to head into Varadaro, Cuba, one of Cuba’s 7 International Ports of Entry.

    We had a fuel leak in our generator which caused a noxious smell and was a potential fire hazard. We had an engine “kill” switch that wouldn’t work requiring me to manually shut the port engine down every time we wanted it to stop and finally, the port engine’s oil pressure gauge was a bit on the fritz. It often read dangerously low, too low, despite my finding no leaks and checking the oil level. The oil however does drop about a 1/2 a quart every 24 hours which is a bit of a mystery. It may be what is called “blow by” where the cooling oil get around the rings of the cylinders and is burned up with the fuel. We use a very low viscosity synthetic oil and this could be why this is happening?

    Anyway, discretion is the better part of valor as my Mother used to say, so we decided to see if we could get some help with the issues in Varadaro. As such, we decided to announce and declare a \”Pan Pan\” situation. \”Pan Pan\” is a French term used in the maritime world to give notification that certain issues may be developing that need to be dealt with. It is advisory in nature and not a call for help as \”Mayday\” would be. We certainly had no immediate danger.

    We arrived about 2 miles from Varadaro (north coast of Cuba – 85 miles East of Havana) when finally I was able to hail a port authority. He told me that I could not enter as Varadaro was now closed to International Boats. Why? We would learn soon! We had to turn around and bash back through the building Northerly wind and swell for 15 miles. Two hours prior, we were just off Marina Gaviota which is at the end of the Varadaro Peninsula. We were being “observed” and given some directions to the outer buoy at the bay. We could easily see on the charts where we were supposed to go and followed a big tug into the bay. Of note, we saw at least 8 miles of what seemed to be big hotels with lots of tourists on the beaches – kite boarders, Windsurfers and Hobie cats. Just like any other tourist island in the Caribbean.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki getting our dock lines and fenders out just before the Northerly cold front hit as we entered the inner harbor at Marina Gaviota, Cuba.

    After our big bumpy ride back to Marina Gaviota, a big rain storm hit and visibility inside the bay went to zero. We had plenty of sea room, so I just stopped and waited for it to go away. This was the front, we came in here to duck. When we got to Customs Dock, it was blowing 20+knots and keeping us from easily docking as the wind blew at us directly from the beam. The young guy helping us turned out to be the Customs Officer and finally he and Nikki were able to handle the lines and we could pull ourselves in. A Canadian boat in front of us came to assist with the lines, but our Customs Officer did not want them to help. We assumed due to liability should any of them get hurt?

    Once tied up, Sr. Fromida came aboard as well as Tomas, the Dock Master. They were very formal, very professional and very official. Both spoke quite good English. When were were about 1/2 way from Marina Darsena (Varadaro) back to Marina Gaviota, we were hailed in pretty good English to assist us in getting in ahead of the frontal weather. It turns out, that was Sr. Fromida. He turned out to be great guy and was very helpful.

    Customs in Cuba for boats is open 24hrs/day. Sr. Fromida did indeed do a thorough inspection of \”Beach House\” and helped us dutifully fill out all the proper forms. Tomas came aboard and was also very nice and a great professional. He gave us the Harbor fees, etc. Shortly thereafter, the Health Inspector came aboard. They’re big concern (or so they said), was people carrying Ebola! It turns out the stated reason for not being able to enter at Marina Darsena in Varadaro was that, “their incinerator for international garbage” doesn’t get hot enough. More on this in our next blog! We think that that was not the real reason….:-) After taking our temperatures and asking if we had any recent fevers, etc., the Dr. said he would return every day for four days to observe our health. We never saw him again…….

    Next is our stay in Cuba (AKA: TITSNBN)…..

    Stand by, Scott and Nikki

  • Eleuthra – The Bahamas Part II and The Adventure Route…..

    February 2nd, 2015 – Continued (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    On Friday, in the midst of my marine procuring expedition, we decided to take the \”Bo Hengy II\”, the local ferry that comes from Nassau everyday and continues on to Harbour Island which is supposed to be quite up market and full of the \”R&F\” (rich and famous). While waiting, we met Anneke and Tom from s/v \”Elisa\” which Tom had sailed from Holland to the Caribbean a few years ago. They Winter in the Caribbean and then go back to Holland for the summers; leaving the boat on the US West Coast. We became fast friends and hired a golf cart at the end of the ferry ride together. The ferry ride took us through, \”The Devil\’s Backbone\” route which locals suggest hiring a pilot to do if going on your boat. Frankly, in calm conditions, it would have been a piece of cake. It was calm and the 150 foot long, 50 foot wide, 6 foot deep \”Bo Hengy II\” blasted through without any issue. The ferry ride was about an hour and it would have taken us much longer in \”Beach House\”. Also, if the conditions did get breezy, you might get stuck there for awhile. All in all, the ferry ride, though expensive at 102.00 USD round trip for the two of us…was the way to go.

    We had a nice lunch at \”Sip Sip\” right on the north shore above the Pink Sand Beach. The place was packed and interestingly, almost all the tables were groups of young women. Why? We don\’t know, but apparently one group was a birthday party and it must be a great hang out. The food and drink was great, but very expensive, the atmosphere delightful. We enjoyed carting around and arriving at 11:30 and departing at 3:40pm was just about right. If you wanted to really explore Eleuthra in more depth, it would take a car as it\’s over 100 miles long despite being only about 1/2 mile wide on average.

    When we got back to the marina, we made plans to come outside and stay in the anchorage as Anneke and Tom would be leaving to do our route to date; in reverse.
    We would be off to Chubb Cay in the Berry Islands, about 65 miles back to the west. It\’s always great to meet people you hit it off with well, but sad to depart; especially so soon. We had Anneke and Tom over to \”Beach House\” and talked about our experiences sailing and life in general. It was a lovely evening.

    The next morning, \”Elisa\” up anchored about an hour before us and waved goodbye as they began their trip north to the Abacos and on back to Florida.

    Nikki and I motored back along the inside of the reef (yet again watching out for that wreck) and enjoyed a 50 miles downwind joyride. We even had to gybe!
    Winds 12-22 knots, full main and genoa poled out to windward. We passed the odd big ship and a few cruise ships en route. We anchored in the same bay we did last year and tried to stay awake to listen to the Super Bowl. I made it to half time and despite the game sounding like a great one in the making was just too tired to stay awake any longer. I heard on Sirius Radio the next morning that New England won the game.

    Today, we\’re just hanging out at the anchorage, watching the weather which should turn favorable for our next part of the journey.

    Our ultimate destination is Panama but we wanted to avoid the full force of the Gulf Streams northerly current. Ideally, a north wind would be great to push us south, but that goes right into the chops of the Gulf Stream if you depart directly from Florida which makes for a long, slow and potentially uncomfortable ride. As such, we\’re going to to what we\’ve deemed \”The Adventure Route\” down the West side of Andros Island. Andros is the largest island in the Bahamas and nearly un-inhabited. It\’s the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world and a Biologists wonderland. Essentially, it\’s a huge mangrove swamp. I suspect Manatee\’s and Alligators might find this a perfect home away from humans. Only those who really go off the beaten path travel out there. The west side of the island for 50 miles to the west is very shallow. The charts look good and we\’ve the Navionics Soundings on Nikki\’s IPAD which really show the depth contours. We\’ll most likely make two stops in preparation to jump to Anguilla Cays which is part of the Cay Sal Bank. Not only does this route avoid the Gulf Stream, we might even get a little \”counter current\” assisted push. The Cay Sal Bank is the most remote part of the Bahamas and almost in eye sight of Cuba.

    Out intention is to go from Anguilla Cay to Cay Sal and depart west from there. It\’s weather dependant and definitely the path less traveled. Hopefully our fuel line won\’t be too much of an issue. To date, I\’ve been able to clean it up and store the waste fuel out of the engine room bilge into our waste oil containers.

    So…KIT (Keep in touch!)
    The adventure continues…
    Scott and Nikki

  • The Southern Abacos and Eleuthra – Part I….

    February 2nd, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We\’re on email only from now till we get to Mexico…so no photos in the blog till then.

    We write you today from windy Chubb Cay. We\’ve had steady winds – ESE to SE at 15-22 knots over the last day. We\’re anchored behind the mole outside the harbor, it\’s a bit bumpy, but really fine.

    We really enjoyed our time in Hope Town and did some bicycle touring of the island as well as met some interesting folks. It\’s a cruisers hub for sure and I would recommend the stop to anyone coming to the Abacos of the Bahamas. We especially liked our lunch stop at the Seabreeze Marina.

    We departed Hope Town for Little Harbour at the very south side of the Abaco Sea. It shortened our next days sail and turned out to be a great stop. We\’re shallow draft enough that we could enter the inner harbor where we secured a mooring. In the season, this place probably really gets crowded. They told us that after Valentine\’s Day till June, it will be non stop busy. There is a nice beach bar (reminiscent of the Soggy Dollar in Jost Van Dyke) as well as a large sculpture studio and sales office where the local Johnston family has been for at least 80 years. Some lovely cast bronze pieces and they have their own foundry on site.

    We left Little Harbour on the falling a.m. tide and departed the reef for the 65 mile trip to St. George\’s Cay in the Eleuthra Group. The sail was nice, winds 12-20 knots from the NE and we made great time. When we entered the reef system, there was a mark on the chart to see a wreck. I couldn\’t see it till we were only 100 yds. away! It was above the water by only 3 feet and about 15 feet long. I\’m sure there is a story and a lot of underwater steel there, but it would be easy to miss which of course would be disastrous.

    We motored west along the south side of Royal Island; a resort that was financed by football great Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys. It seems that it didn\’t work out and looked well kept, but closed. When we arrived at St. George\’s Cay, we had to wait for the ferry to enter and had to do a few loops for a couple of exiting boats. The entrance was maybe 70 feet wide, so we were given lots of radio \”thank you\’s\”.

    No moorings were available for our size boat so we decided to stay at Yacht Haven Marina for one or two nights. They had great power, water and their internet was some of the best we\’ve seen. I was able to top off the diesel, fill a propane tank and check out the marine store. It\’s not an emergency as such, but we\’ve discovered that our generator fuel system is leaking. Essentially, the boat was built around it and it\’s effectively inaccessible. As such, Mike Lonnes suggested we try and find some USCG A-1 fuel hose (good luck with that!) and run the fuel and return lines via a new serviceable route. We would then simply plug off and abandon the old copper tubing system. Another small matter was a speaker on our outside system went out which we were sure would require us to wait till Panama to get fixed.

    Low and behold! The first day, the store told us they only had 30 feet of the correct hose. On Saturday morning they cleared 200 feet via customs and we were able to buy the fuel hose. Great timing or good fortune…we\’ll take it. Putting it in will be another matter completely. I may need some expert carpentry assistance as well as a mechanic. We hope to be able to wait till at least we get to Mexico assuming the problem does not become worse. Next, we went to the R&B Boat Yard next door and they actually had marine exterior speakers as well as a few fuel plumbing parts we\’ll need in the future. Who knew?

    I\’m going to end this as \”Part I\” due to the fact that when we remote post our blogs, if they\’re too long, they don\’t post properly…
    Stand by, the rest will be out within a few hours.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki