Varadero

I have not written in a long while and it is getting harder and harder to catch up. I am writing this in Miami where I am moored on buoy Nr. 29 in the Coconut Grove Sailing Club.
The morning of my departure from Puerto de Vita all the officials were gathered in the office at 0630 in the morning gave me my despacho (each person had to put their signature) and bade me farewell. I was moved. At 0700 just as planned I left the dock and shortly after got confused in the channel again. I thought I had understood the buoys now but apparently I was wrong. With 20cm under the keel I searched for the deeper water, found it and made it safely out of the lagoon. I had to motor for a few hours because there was no wind and by 1000 it was boiling hot and I didn’t know where to go. In the cockpit the sun was unbearable and down below the heat and the noise from the engine was just as bad. By 1050 we were able to sail and that made a big difference. In the afternoon the wind turned and we had to beat into wind and waves. I noticed a lot of water in the bilge but this time had no intention of tasting it. The waves were uncomfortable and Amy was fighting to stay on course. The bilge was now full and I got a bit nervous and started searching. No sucees. I emptied the bilge and it soon filled up again. I emptied it again but this time it didn’t fill up again. Hmm. After awhile I found out that one of my jerrycans with the drinking water was leaking and it was now empty. Not good but at least the boat didn’t have a hole in it. I would still have enough drinking water to get me to Varadero.

Apparently some mosquitoes that must have hidden in the boat were enjoying the ride with me and only to happy to come out by night and feast on me. It was hopeless trying to catch them. Those beasts here are much faster than the ones we have at home. They are almost as hard to kill as flies. 
Some periods of very little wind and current on the nose made the next hours tedious. When the wind came back it came with a vengeance and never really got less until my arrival except for a short period. Gusts were around 30knots and we were deep reefed but after a gust there would be a lot less wind and we would be thrown about by the nasty waves. I was getting angry and frustrated. As often the case in a situation like this a whole school of dolphins came to visit and my mood improved instantly. There was a partly solar eclipse on Monday and I could see it fairly well. By Monday night we had 35 knots of wind and 3m waves and it was getting cold at night. I needed to put a sweater on which I hadn’t done in months. During the night I was called on the radio by the Guardia Frontera. They asked me where I was from and where I was going and some other questions and then wished me safe journey.

Tuesday morning we rounded the tip of the Hicacos peninsula and set course for the southern harbour in the bay of Matanzas. Shortly before getting to the canal I raised the marina on the radio. They said they would be waiting. 
When I saw the canal entrance I got scared. Really scared. For the first time I thought that this would be the place where I would destroy the boat and end the trip. The waves were breaking in the canal. Why would they be able to turn around that much and break behind the breakwater? It was too late to turn around, I was being blown onshore with a 30kn wind and I would have to enter the canal. I was also tired and desperately wanted to dock the boat somewhere. OK The engine was running full throttle I was ready to unfurl the Genoa for support and in we went. We were surfing into the canal on a wave but weren’t making any progress because the tide seemed to be rushing out of the canal. If only I could hold Amy that she wouldn’t be turned sideways.
People were now gathering on the breakwater and the beach and looking and pointing, taking pictures and yelling. I was in a zone. Concentrating only on keeping the boat steady. 

After about 10minutes which seemed like forever we were moving into calmer waters and I was beginning to think that we had a chance of getting out of this situation unharmed. Now I was imagining the docking scenario. The marina pontoons were in the canal totally unprotected from the wind. The pontoons were a bit destroyed and most of the cleats were missing. On the third attempt I got the boat in a position where I could back onto a cleat and attach the line. I the got help from the marina guys with the other lines. I had made it here where I was going to meet my daughter Zoe. It felt like this was the turning point of the whole voyage from where I would start my return. All along this trip I had sometimes become very emotional about simple things and this time, too. I felt sad and incredibly happy all at the same time…
It looked like I was the only guest. After having done the paperwork, getting settled in and relaxing for a bit I went to the marina bar in the evening for a fajita (1,50$) and a pint of beer (0,30$) and talked to the barman who is an engineer but can’t make a living from his salary so he needs to work the bar at night.

The next morning I walked into Santa Marta to check out the town. I tried to get a new card to use government internet hotspots and had to walk past the town for another 3 km to a crossroads where there was an Etecsa office. Trying to buy some food was next. I was able to get some fruit and vegetables at a stand and bread that was hard as a rock. When I asked where to get milk and eggs I was laughed at but in a friendly way. They told me they were sorry but there hadn’t been any milk for months. Eggs yes, but they cost as much as gold and only come in cartoons of 30. I said that I was sorry that the situation was so bad.

Back at the marina I met Pedro who was part of the marina team and asked me why I was walking all the time. Didn’t I have a bicycle on board? And where’s your fishing gear, we can go fish tonight? I told him I had neither and he asked me what kind of a sailor I was and then I said I would join him fishing and just look and maybe learn something. It was a nice evening. We talked a lot. I understood about half but it was fun and I was enjoying myself.

The next day I wanted to make sure that we would have no problems with the authorities when Zoe came. I asked some of the staff. He went with me to the yard and started yelling “Guardia Frontera!” Many times. Finally a window on the second floor opened and a very tired man in underwear looked outside. I later learned from Zoe that it seems to be normal to yell here Instead of going over to talk to another person you just yell across the street. When the man came down he was wearing his full uniform and he told me he would be waiting for us on Friday until 5pm to do the paperwork for Zoe being signed on as crew.
I then walked the 5,5km to the Vardero bus terminal. I briefly tried to catch a bus but there were so many people trying to the the same it was hopeless. I saw an older lady who was carrying her granddaughter waiting in the sun for I don’t know how long. When a colectivo finally came everybody outran her to the car and she was left there waiting for the next possibility.
I found the bus station and walked back after eating an ice cream and checking out the town of Varadero a little bit. The evening I spent fishing with Pedro again. I told him about the waves in the canal the other day and he laughed and said yes they are horrible and everyone is afraid of them. I was already looking forward to our way out.

Friday was the big day. I had cleaned the boat and Amy looked really nice. Then the 5,5km walking trip to the bus stop. I was nervous and happy and left way too early so I had a sandwich before getting to the bus stop. I was able to check messages at the hotspot and Zoe had written “no gasolina”.. it is unclear if the bus would go at all but it would be delayed by three hours at least. OK. I decided we would in that not be able to make it back before 5pm and the GF needed to be notified. So I walked back the 5,5km to tell him in person. He wasn’t there. Checked the messages and there is Zoe writing that they are faster than expected and already in Matanzas. Oh no. 5,5 km half walking half jogging… I made it back to the station a few minutes before the bus. As I had expected everything was very emotional. I was crying (only a little bit) and it felt totally unreal to see Zoe getting off that bus looking great after not having seen her for more than 9 months and having sailed here in the meantime. We took a taxi home.
The guys at the marina told us they would take Zoe’s details and passport and relay everything to the GF and it would be ok for her to go on board. We met Pedro and his fishing net and he was impressed and soon Zoe and he were chatting away and I was a bit left out. He told Zoe that her dad had no bicycle AND no fishing gear and that would need to change and I was just happily standing by. We had fajitas in the bar and talked late into the night on the boat and finished the last of the “Havana Club” rum that I had brought from Germany.
The next days Zoe and I walked a lot. We went into Varadero a few times. It was still to windy to go swimming so we just looked at the beautiful beach. Later we were able to go swimming, too. I showed her the canal entrance with the waves. We did some grocery shopping in Santa Marta and had dinner in a nice little restaurant there. Many people thought that Zoe was a local when she started speaking. And she told and showed me lot of things about Cuba. The situation with the immense inflation and the shortage of almost everything is incredibly sad. People who a while ago had at least enough money to make a living are now hardly able to eat because their salary buys them only a fraction of what it did a while ago. And then you can hardly buy anything anyway because it’s simply not there. I found it all the more impressive that under these circumstances the people who we met were so friendly and open towards us. There was never a situation where we felt bad or insecure or not welcome (I alone had also made this discovery before) Zoe told me that when she is alone it sometimes gets very tedious because of the ever present machismo and that this is getting on her nerves but that’s another story.

On Thursday of the next week Zoe and I sailed from the Marina Dársena to the Marina Gaviota which is at the northern tip of the peninsula. It was hard to say goodbye to everybody and Pedro and I exchanged phone numbers and are still keeping a steady conversation. This time I had timed it better and there were no breaking waves in the canal entrance. The sail started out very relaxed but turned a bit rougher towards the end because of having to beat into the waves in an ever increasing wind. We sailed past the Cayo Piedra del Norte with the nice lighthouse and were able to tack our way all the way there through the canal and up to the breakwater of the marina where Zoe saw two dolphins.
First we needed to dock at the customs pontoon and a lady from the Adouana came on board to check everything out. Then we were assigned a place in the huge marina. There is room for hundreds of yachts but we were only five or so. José the dockmaster helped us with getting settled in and we checked out the marina which was really one huge tourist resort (only with hardly any tourists).

To our relief we found a few spots where we could pay in local currency and therefore not have to pay the ridiculous dollar prices that were being charged for the same things just next door. We went to the beautiful beach and after swimming decided to go to the beach bar to have a Piña Colada. We asked the price and they said it’s “incluido”. Apparently we had walked onto a hotel beach by accident but we welcomed the drinks (they made us two each because they were so small they said) and were in good moods. 
A large catamaran had just arrived on our pontoon and we started talking. It was a US American family of four with crew sailing from Turkey where they had bought the boat around the world. After some more talking it turned out that Russell the father and I had gone to High School together. What a small world! 
Zoe’s and my time was running out. We went for a longer walk to a nature trail and to visit some caves. Then we went out for dinner one more time and had her checked out from the boat with the authorities. We had been able to book a seat on a bus to Havana from one of the hotels. That way we wouldn’t have to got back to the bus station.

The next morning we had one more juice at the juice stand and got her things and said goodbye when the bus came (on time!) I had a fat lump in my throat. For the rest of the day I was a bit sad. I got a sweet message from Pedro about not needing to be sag and then the family from the Catamaran invited me over for dinner and I was very happy to accept. It was a nice evening.
The next day I did a lot of work on the boat and got almost everything done that I had wanted. I wrapped some small rope around the eye for my Genoa halyard so that it would hopefully not chafe through again. Everything at the masttop looked ok. I also dove to clean the bottom. There was a lot of growth and it took forever. By evening I was tired and went back to the same place where Zoe and I had gone for dinner before.
I was constantly checking the weather for my trip to Miami and it was now looking like a Tuesday night departure. I spent my last pesos cubanos, paid the bill and let Customs know I was leaving. The family wanted to leave the same day and on Tuesday afternoon Francisco came over with the customs man and the despacho was written within minutes. He told me to lock the boat so no one would go on board and leave with me. I talked to Orlando some more. He is the young man stationed at the bathrooms to watch so no-one enters the pontoons who is not allowed. He told me about his family and the whole situation with the crisis and I offered to give him some money (and felt a bit ridiculous) but he wouldn’t take it. I felt ashamed and told him I didn’t want to insult him but he said he didn’t feel insulted. We talked some more and exchanged phone numbers.
I then cast off the lines and sailed into a beautiful sunset away from Cuba towards the US. I felt awful. This was one of if not the hardest place to say good bye to.