Havana Cruising - The Mojito Coast

Line Ém Up - Mass Mojito Mixing Every Few Minutes

After the quiet dignity and charm of the Cuban south coast and cities, arriving in Havana is a shock to the system - specially the liver. This is a party town, where the bars mix Mojitos in bulk and rum is cheaper than mixers, so each glass carries a delicious kick.

We arrived in Havana at Hemingway Marina on April 27, and wisely resisted hitting the Old Town for a few days - rest and repairs took precedence initially. Of course getting to the city isn't simple - with the marina about 15 miles out of town, a fairly battered 1950s Chevy will cost 25 bucks each way. So after an initial day visit we decided to book a room in the Old Town and stay for a couple of days next time.

1950's Chevy Taxi, This One Still Had The Original Engine & Transmission

And so the fun began - Havana Old Town is a world class destination, with thousands of historic buildings, many now restored, and a lively culture that welcomes tourists. A non-profit foundation has managed the gradual restoration of the Old Town with great sensitivity. Its a huge area to manage, but the planning policies have given it a living breathing heart, ensuring that the local population are not displaced and that schools and community facilities are included in the development mix. So yes there are tourists (thousands of them) but there is also nearly half a million locals in the old city, so the visitor gets a "warts and all" education in pretty quick time.

Plaza Vieja - Restaurants, Bars, Boutiques, Hotels, Home Stays & A Primary School - Life Must Go On

Of course mixing the haves and have-nots occasionally creates predictable social challenges, however the Cuban people are not without pride and dignity, and they handle even the ugliest tourist behaviour with great patience. The financial differences between the citizens and the visitors are enormous - a school teacher in Cuba might earn US$40.00 per month, a doctor say US$80.00 per month. Many tourists spend that on drinks in a single day.  But the real imbalance occurs when restaurant waiters earn, in a single day (and just in tips), the equivalent of a teachers monthly salary. How does that work? Yes, social change is coming, and its driven by tourism, which in turn is driven by the culture, music and history of the place.

Opposite our guesthouse, just minutes from the beautiful Plaza Vieja shown above, was a small store selling tourist nick nacks, cold drinks and local crafts. We spoke with the two sales staff, who on that day was a pleasant husband and wife team with excellent English skills - they were both University Professors, and she had a Doctorate in Mathematics, yet in one day selling stuff to tourists they earned more than their monthly government stipend. Something has to give.

Local Transport In The Old Town

Despite the rampant inequalities between the base level Cuban worker and the growing middle class, people are happy. They all have a decent education, they all have access to above average health care. Basic food stuffs and consumables are price controlled by the government so that every one can eat - just not in the new restaurants.

Havana is not to be missed - staggeringly beautiful buildings and plazas, amazing culture, food and drink that was frankly much better than expected and a musical culture that is without par. And it is the Mojito capital of the world.

Want to see more? Click the link below for more images of Old Havana.

Cuban Cruising - Charming Cienfuegos

Tourist Rides, When They're Running

Like every city in Cuba, Cienfuegos is full of beautiful old cars, though keeping them running seems a constant task. We anchored off the marina just south of the city and spent 10 days exploring and relaxing, with the usual range of boat jobs thrown in. This was also a great city to re-provision, for our next passage to the west.

Cafe Prado

The city is relaxed, safe and surprisingly sophisticated, with a great range of restaurants, cafes and bars. Yes, it is Cuba, so nothing is perfect, but the city has a sense of prosperity and optimism that was infectious. There is quite a lot of tourism, but its low key and chilled.

You could spend weeks just sampling food at the dozens of privately run restaurants and paladars.  The architecture in the central city is grand and well preserved, though you only need to move a block or so to find the classic Cubano crumbling edifices. Two hours drive to the east is the city of Trinidad, the oldest Spanish city in the new world, well restored and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

As usual we chased down all the music we could find, and on any night in the town square you could easily listen to four or five different acts.

There is never a cover charge, unless you visit one of the late night clubs.  The bands are paid a government stipend, which they creatively augment with CD sales and tips from the crowd.

On our first Saturday in town we came across a local community center cultural event, in a residential side street away from the city center.  Basically a classic Cuban band playing for the local residents, who really know how to dance. These folks have standards though - long pants and a collared shirt were required for entry - we fit the bill and were invited in for a wonderful night with the locals. After dancing all night we pulled up kinda tired the next day .... but we did return again the following Saturday.




















For two days we explored the countryside around Cienfuegos on a rented scooter - traffic is light and generally slow, much of it horse drawn, so we felt safe riding. The farming town people made us welcome, ignoring our lack of Spanish and trying very hard to support us.

Crystal Blues departed Cienfuegos on April 22nd, bound for Cayo Largo.
For more images of beautiful Cienfuegos click below.

A Great Wine Cellar - Another Cuban Surprise

Palacio de Valle

Cuba's third largest city, Cienfuegos sits at the top of a protected bay. The marina is nothing fancy, a spread of concrete wharves in fairly poor condition, so we were happy to anchor off the shore, with the majority of visiting boats.

Just north of the anchorage was the Palacio de Valle, once a private home but now part of a large tourist hotel, Hotel Jagua.

After the very basic infrastructure we'd seen over recent weeks on the Cuban coast, this area was like arriving in Disneyland. The Palacio even boasted a serious wine cellar, where we were able to re-stock with reasonable wines.

Cellar Door

The cellars are absolutely original, built into the basement of the Palacio, behind heavy locked doors.  The basement also hosts a Tapas Bar - ask at the bar to look inside the cellars. You can purchase wines at very reasonable (wholesale) rates here, the range is OK and the storage is all air conditioned so we don't expect any losses.

El Jeffe, President Castro, had a holiday residence nearby and would come to these cellars for his wine, even eating in the cellar dining room. We figured that was good enough for us, and held a tapas dinner there with cruising friends, in the same tiny room, full of character and history.

Cuban Cruising - The South Coast To Manzanillo

Fresh Dinner

We departed peaceful Marea Del Portillo on a fine forecast - in fact it was a little too fine and we motored the 30 nautical miles westward to Cabo Cruz. On arrival the anchorage there didn't look so attractive, so we continued on around the Cape, heading North West to Manzanillo, a small city to the north west.

Now we were in the Gulf of Guacanayabo, at the eastern end of a chain of Cayos and reefs that extends almost to the western tip of Cuba. Our immediate target was Ensenada Guano, a small bay that would provide shelter in the prevailing winds.

The approach to the bay looks straight forward, however sailors should be careful of some coral heads rising up from the depths as you close the shore - visual navigation is essential. After anchoring in the late afternoon we were reminded why the Cuban south coast is popular in sailboat cruising circles - the locals are very supportive! Just before sunset two fisherman came by in a tiny rowboat and offered very nice sized spiny lobster - we traded for two, a few pesos plus a couple of T-shirts to cement the deal. Our dinner plans changed for the better, and the locals rowed home happy with their bounty.

Manzanillo

Next morning we worked our way north through the narrow channels under engine power, before breaking out into the wider bay and enjoying a brisk windward beat for five hours toward Manzanillo. On arrival we took the dinghy to shore, landing among the fishing boats on the stony beach, eagerly assisted by fisherman and kids. They guided us to the Guarda Frontera office where we were heartily welcomed and cleared in by a very capable young officer with excellent English skills - a rare thing in these parts.

Local Fishing Boat

 A word about the local boats is in order - while there were many traditional planked wooden fishing boats with single cylinder diesel engines, there was also a fleet of smaller styrofoam vessels, some with sails, available for rent. Against all odds, the Cuban people are inventive and determined to enjoy themselves. 





















Our guide book said that Manzanillo was a typical small rural Cuban city, with less vehicles and a relaxed atmosphere. This proved to be true, as the locals were incredibly friendly and proud to have us in their city.

The city itself was a beautiful collection of traditional wooden, brick and stone buildings, many crumbling, set on streets populated mainly by pedestrians, bicycles and horse carts.

The city center featured a grand square of parkland and pedestrian walks, the Parque Cespedes, with shade trees and seating areas. In the park was a stunning tiled gazebo, The Glorietta, with classical Moorish design features. As in every Cuban town, around the square were arrayed museums, restaurants, bars, banks, churches, ice cream shops and government offices.

The streets near the square hosted small traders and shops, some excellent small restaurants and many homes that also served as "Casa Particular", the classic Cuban home stay. For us, the shopping and provisioning was quite adequate - we bought vegetables from street traders and packaged goods in the stores. This was a fine city, and though the beach landing was through fairly dirty shallow water, that was soon forgotten once among the friendly locals in this city of fading grandeur.

A Garden At Sea Again

So Much Growth, We Brought Out The Big Guns For Harvesting

Admiral Ley has a well trained green thumb. As I described here last year, at every opportunity she grows a range of herbs and salad greens that add flavour and zest to our diet onboard.

A couple of months back she re-started our garden, again using the Greensmart self-watering pot that has been so productive for us. Once again, it's taken off, growing like crazy. We're often able to give away fresh herbs to cruising friends.

Right now she's growing Basil, Cilantro (Corriander), Italian Parsley, mixed Lettuce, Arugula and Rosemary. All this in a tub that measures just 570x400mm.

Light Weather, Heavy Boat, Off The Carolina Coast

The Admiral Enjoys The Warmer Atlantic Glow

Crystal Blues is heavy, real heavy. Absolutely stuffed with provisions, fuel, water and of course more than a little grog, she slid away from the dock yesterday after nine days in beautiful Beaufort, North Carolina. We  planned to stop in Beaufort for a week of provisioning, preparing for cruising the Bahamas and Cuba over the next five months.  It was a fine choice.

A Tough Career Choice -So Many Shrimp, So Little Time

Berthed at Homer Smith's Docks & Marina, we found ourselves in a family run marina that is relaxed and low key but with a great location and the support that only a family business can provide.

The berthing rate is only $6.00 per foot per week, including power and water. In US terms this is great value, but the deal gets better when they pass over the marina truck keys so you can do your shopping, then pass over a couple of pounds of fresh shrimp....

In fact the business still buys and processes shrimp and sea food direct from the trawlers, shipping fresh product to markets in the south. Within an hour of arrival I walked out of the marina office to find shrimp processing in full swing - where my questions lead to a quick stint on the production and sorting line.  Never ask questions.

Diane Tetreault (center) With Visiting OCC Cruisers

As members of the Ocean Cruising Club, there is another great bonus to being in Beaufort. Local OCC Port Officer Diane Tetreault is incredibly welcoming and supportive. There were several OCC boats in town, and nothing was too much trouble for Diane, who organised social events and repeatedly helped out with transport when needed. Hats off to Diane!

Amazon Calling

And then there was the shopping...

The admiral, with daily access to the marina truck, ran a fast provisioning schedule that saw Crystal Blues sinking lower into the water each day. Every cupboard and locker was audited and re-stocked, goods rotated, some thrown away and yet more purchased. To all that we added 900 liters of diesel and 900 liters of fresh water. She is now a seriously heavy boat.

We also discovered that Amazon was a great value source for bulk food supplies - tinned butter, milk powder. coffee, tinned foods and the like. All delivered to the marina within 48 hours at great prices.

Beaufort also provided us with another gem - while watching activity in the seafood processing area we met locals Libby and Jack Cox. Libby was up to her elbows in fish sorting at the time, and Jack was working with one of his boats that had just delivered the catch - they harvest bottom fish by line fishing. Next thing we knew they visited Crystal Blues, so we then joined them for Thanks Giving lunch. Libby & Jack are dreaming of a future on a cruising sail boat, so we had a lot to talk about. Friendships are born this way.

Crystal Blues should be in St. Augustine, Florida, by Thursday evening.

The Admiral & I At Dinner With Libby & Jack

Returning To The Boat - What Do You Carry ?

After two busy weeks in Melbourne we returned to the boat with over 120kg of luggage - thank heavens for Qantas being generous on the allowances. The flight landed in Dallas, where we loaded the super-Chevy truck and proceeded to drive back to Virginia, via Little Rock and Nashville.

We're frequently asked what do we carry back to the boat, so for those who are serious about this, here are our answers for this trip.

12 x 0.5kg jars of Vegemite (yeah, 6kg in total)
New 26kg regrigeration compressor
New electric jug
New electric toaster
1 x green cow hide (we like to leather things)

The electric items cannot be purchased in the USA, as the supply voltage and frequency are different ....
The balance of our monster cruising shopping list is below.

Cruising To An Oyster Roast In Reedville

Mary, Ley & Walter Sharing The Good Wine

Our journey back to Reedville was planned around a critical date - the annual Fisherman's Museum Oyster Roast. No true cruising sailor could miss this!

The simple little affair was planned to allow just 1000 people to fess up 50 bucks and then eat all the oysters they could ...... which is a lot of oysters.

While it sounds like a simple concept, in fact it takes a lot of effort to cater for 1000 people, while also providing unlimited beer, wine, BBQ meats, clam chowder, hot dogs etc. This is the major fund raiser for the museum, so dozens of volunteers chipped in.

We were among them, doing our duty serving wine to the masses for an hour or so.  Before that we managed to consume our fair share of delicious roasted oysters, which are heated over hot coals until they are hot and almost ready to open.

The Reedville Fisherman's Museum is the social hub of Reedville village in Virginia, a town that welcomes visiting cruisers and provides peaceful, sheltered anchorages.

South West, To Warm Water & Sunshine

Repaired & Heading For Warmer Water

Having completed repairs at the excellent Journey's End Marina in Rockland, Maine, we quickly made a jump south and west over the past two days, chasing warmer weather.

Penobscot Bay To Block Island Sound

Crystal Blues was launched on Monday at 13:00hrs and we fueled, conducted a small sea trial and finished rigging the boat that afternoon. Early Tuesday morning we struck out southwards down a very cold Penobscot Bay, dodging the ever present lobster traps all the way until we reached the open ocean.

A Cold Captain

From there it was SSW to the Cape Cod Canal, a 150
nautical mile run that we covered in around 22 hours of mixed motoring and motor sailing.  We zoomed through the 9 mile canal in just under an hour and continued WSW down Buzzards Bay in light airs. Sunshine and warm air lightened the mood - Ley turned to the galley and produced multiple loaves of fresh bread from the oven.

What a difference a solid day of travel can make - by 4:00pm yesterday we were anchored in the Great Salt Pond on Block Island, stripped of our multiple layers of clothing and enjoying balmy conditions around 25degC. We had passed the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and were into warmer Rhode Island waters.

Thick fog shrouded the boat this morning, so we delayed our departure until mid-morning when it had mostly cleared. It was a glorious day for sailing with 12 knots of wind and smooth seas, so Crystal Blues was in her element. It was our best sailing day in many weeks.

We romped along at 8 knots for most of the afternoon, hard on the wind with only a light salt spray decorating the foredeck. Six hours of travel now finds us back in New York State, in Greenport at the home dock of our friend Arthur Stroem. It's damn good to be away from the cold, and even better to be away from all those rocky reefs and ledges .....

Warm Air & Sunshine At Last - Approaching Long Island This Afternoon

Here in Greenport we'll do a complete rig survey - it needs to be carefully checked since our incident with the rocky ledge. Then we'll look for a weather window to take us safely south to Reedville, just off the Chesapeake Bay. September is the major hurricane month on the US East Coast. While Texas and Florida are cleaning up from the last two hits, hurricane Jose is hanging around out there in the Atlantic, and two more disturbances are now rated 70% chance of forming hurricanes in the next five days. You can update on those right here.

A Busy Month For Atlantic Tropical Storms

Cruising The Lobster Coast

Goat Island Lighthouse Greets The Full Moon

We worked our way north from Boston, stopping overnight in Portsmouth  before another day hop to Cape Porpoise Harbor, just a few miles north of Kennebunk. It's small harbor, almost full of moorings but with space for perhaps three yachts to anchor just inside the sheltered zone.  During high tides a little swell does cross over the reefs, though it was never uncomfortable in the time we were there. Strong onshore winds could change that, so Cape Porpoise needs to be treated with respect.

It also has an incredibly dense field of lobster traps at the entrance - a huge tangle of floats on the surface, almost blocking the entrance - though with care we found a pathway through.

Crystal Blues At Anchor, Cape Porpoise Harbour, High Tide

Inside, the harbor looks huge at high tide, but is reduced by almost 70% at low tide to a much narrower channel between the islands, with dozens of lobster trap boats lying on moorings. A processing plant sits on a pier head with the two good restaurants adjacent, plus a large dinghy dock. The local supermarket is only a half mile walk, and has everything a cruiser could want.

The Admiral In The Lighthouse

At the entry to the harbour, the Goat Island Lighthouse is fully functional (using an LED light source we noted), with the historic site and buildings maintained by the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, who open the site for visitors most days.

The small floating dock on Goat Island can be accessed for an hour or so each side of the high tide. We used our dinghy to cross the pond, climbed to the top of the lighthouse and enjoyed the warm sunshine - something that was becoming scarce as we moved north east.

Lobster Dinner, Of Course, With Ralph Hurlbutt

Here, close to Kennebunkport,  we enjoyed a great reunion with Ralph and Louise Hurlbutt, whom we had last seen in the year 2000. We had worked with Ralph in Sydney, and even lived with Ralph and Louise in their Sydney home.

Stowaways In The Forepeak

Of course they cooked up a storm of local lobster, clams and seafood, and we shared a grand table with Ralph, Louise, their family and friends. Later, we played host to them onboard Crystal Blues, where the kids explored the boat while the adults explored the local wines, a perfect arrangement.

Lobster Madness

A Carpet Of Floats

Coastal Maine is famous for it's lobsters - last year they landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster and exported over $200 million dollars worth of live lobster, with the majority flown to Asia. Along the coast, lobster shacks decorate every harbor, serving the thousands of tourists that flock to this coast in the summer months.

Cape Porpoise Lobstermen Landing Their Catch

Each lobsterman can have up to 800 traps in the water, and there are more than 6000 licensed boats out there. 

Estimates put the number of lobster traps in Maine waters at over 3 million, and I figure we've seen and dodged the floats marking half of them.

In fact sailing on this coast is hard work, with constant vigilance needed to steer around the thick carpet of floats that dot the water. In places you could walk across the floats with snow shoes.

On foggy days the navigation work load increases even further. Watching the radar for traffic, dodging floats, managing the navigation and constantly peering into the fog means that even a short four or five hour coastal passage is exhausting - we prefer not to go to sea if it's foggy here.

So how do you deal with this carpet of obstacles ? First, we simply don't navigate at night, but there are other things that help .....

Crystal Blues USA Land Cruise - Where Should We Go ?

Sitting in the unusually chilly waters of New England, we've started to dream about another type of voyage. This time, we plan an anti-clockwise circuit around the central USA, by car, taking in the north, the midwest and the south - the American heartlands.

So now it's your turn, please - tell us your favourite places to visit in the US, your favourite restaurants, bars and music clubs. Plus the cities and national parks that you love.

We're building a custom Google map to guide us on our travels, and we'll add selected locations to build a route for our land cruise. Note - we'll be starting and ending the cruise in Virginia, not far from Washington DC. Our timeline will start in early September and run through until early November.

Please comment below or email us with your ideas!

An Ocean Garden

The things we miss most when at sea? Let me think - it has to be fresh greens!

Onboard Crystal Blues, the Admiral maintains a garden of green, in a (relatively) small plastic planter tub. Right now its growing Basil, Italian Parsley, Arugula (Rocket) and Rosemary.

At least three times a week we get a lovely fresh leafy salad off the garden, and Ley also makes fresh Pesto when we really need to tame the Basil, which is growing like crazy at the moment.

The planter tub is tied down on the port aft quarter, and yes, we do have to "tack the garden" sometimes when sailing - those plants really do not like salt spray. In poor conditions we move the planter to the bathroom, which I think it kind of secretly enjoys....

The planter is a Greensmart large size pot, available in cream or black.  It has a magical self watering design that simplifies the garden maintenance.

This pot worked for us right across the Indian Ocean and then down to Chagos, though the plants suffered badly on the way south to Rodrigue, when we were hard on the wind for many days - we abandoned the remains in the southern Indian Ocean. However its perfect for coastal cruising! Click the link below for an image of the pot on deck.

In One Day, In New York .....

The Guggenheim Experience Is Mind Expanding

OK, so our last post didn't really cover the New York experience ... suffice to say it was a mix of excitement, culture, history, art education and grief. Our first stop, the impressive 9/11 Memorial, certainly brings home the scale of the disaster, and I'm not showing images here, simply because they don't do it justice. Its a powerful place.

 The amazing Guggenheim Museum filled most of our time, with the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture competing with (and in some cases dominating) the great master art works on the gallery walls. It's a staggeringly beautiful building.

New York is BIG, so big that moving around town efficiently means spending big on cabs, or using the subway.

I'd forgotten just how tricky the subway system can be - in the image at left I'm sitting happily on a platform waiting for a train that eventually never came - that wiped the smile off my face. We were on the wrong platform, in the wrong station. Not very efficient.

We finished the afternoon at the Russian Tea Room on West 57th Street, right by Carnegie Hall. We had cocktails, they make an outstanding dry martini, though the place has lost some of its former charm following a refit in 2009. Still, we both loved it for the decadence, and the Faberge eggs were very New York - BIG. Back on the train at Penn Station, we were home to Port Washington in time for a late dinner. Didn't see a show, didn't hear any jazz, but had a great day.

We'll visit New York again later in the summer, for music and retail therapy, though I'll need more training on those subway numbers and routes.

The Russian Tea Room Also Plays With Your Mind, With A Different Aesthetic

Cruising USA - Generous Folk In Every Port

This is Ben, a clam fisherman who works the waters of Sandy Hook Bay, just 20 miles south of New York City. Ben is a "clammer" - hard work on these cold waters, as all the retrieval is done with muscle power, no engines permitted when actually fishing - he rakes the bottom with long rakes. He's also a sailor, and one of the very many Americans who have been incredibly gracious and generous hosts to us, since we arrived on the East Coast of the USA.

Fresh New York Clams

When we anchored in the Shrewsbury River near Pacific Highlands, Ben was on his way home.  He stopped his boat and said he'd like to offer us a meal of New York clams - could we pass over a bucket ?

Of course we could, and Ben loaded us up with a decent meal of large clams. They were delicious, and we owe Ben a beer or two when we pass his fishing grounds again in a few months.

Ben isn't alone in his generosity to cruising travelers - from the first day we arrived in Charleston (South Carolina) people approached us, seeing the Australian flag, and offered to help. In two days on the dock in Charleston we were offered moorings in three different harbours on Long Island Sound. One passing sailor watched me removing the Raymarine wind vane from the top of the mast and immediately offered us a spare that he had at home in his garage. Others have simply been there when we needed them, helping with local transport and sharing local knowledge, opening their homes and sharing meals and social time together.

Some of the support is tendered through connections with sailing associations - the Seven Seas Cruising Association and the Ocean Cruising Club in particular - those clubs have a network of friendly volunteer port officers in many of the harbors and towns along this coast. Club membership does have it's benefits.

Frankly, we've never felt quite so loved, there is a real sense of engagement and support here that we didn't expect - despite the many times we've toured and worked in the USA in the past. Yacht Club members are quick to offer support and if possible share their club facilities. So, hats off to the friendly people of the US east coast - from the Carolinas, to Chesapeake Bay and on to Long Island Sound, it is a delight to cruise here - we thank you all!

One Of The Protected Berths We've Been Able To Use - Thanks Walt & Mary !