Elsie's Cuba diary - week 3

Friday 13^th March

Up with the larks and the sails were out at 0745. Breakfast was had on the move as we slowly made our way towards Manzanillo, about 50 miles away. The forecast was slightly better today and with one reef in we beat into a force 3 wind. It was good to be sailing and not have to listen to the engine even if we were going into wind, not my favourite thing. We had decided to forego a day in Niquero and push onwards as we were hoping to get at least some fuel in Manzanillo. There was no fuel dock but if we could borrow a few jerry cans from the fishermen and get a lift to the fuel station in town we would at least have another 50 litres.

casting nets

Manzanillo sounded an interesting place. It was famous in Cuba for its French barrel organs and they had a pig roast, music and dancing every Saturday night. There were some historic sites to go and look at and of course they had shops which sold fresh produce which we desperate to get. Last but not least Manzanillo is the home of Pinellas distillery which makes and sells its own brand of rum. It was rumoured that a bottle of rum could be obtained here for 1 CUC if you bring your own bottle. I had been saving up my empty bottles and now had 4 for this purpose.

After lunch, Lionel got an AIS target on the nav screen. It was Zwailer whom we had not seen for over a week so he called them up and got some very bad news. They had not been allowed ashore in either Niquero or Manzanillo being told to head to Cienfuegos International Marina or any other Port of Entry. Corona Virus had stuck Cuba and, with three known cases in Havana, boats were only allowed to dock at Ports of Entry. That explains why the crew on Wild Iris were not allowed ashore. Zwailler had family visiting at the end of the month and they were hastily making their way to Cienfuegos to find out what was happening and to inform their family. We had no pressing engagements so made the decision to carry on and act stupid when the Garda refused us to land. It sounded stupid as we all had not been near Havana and had been in Cuba for over a fortnight. But their country, their rules.

heron? fishing

We arrived in Manzanillo at 1730 and dropped anchor near the Garda office so they did not have far to row out to us. The Captain contacted us by radio and asked all the relevant questions but did not say if we could land or not so we got ready the dinghy. Just as the outboard was secured an old fishing boat approached with five men it, one of which was wearing the olive-green uniform of the Garda. He had a medical mask and disposable gloves on. He came aboard while the others chatted excitedly in the boat alongside. The boat had an engine, of sorts. It smoked a lot and made a put-put noise. They didn’t have the safety equipment so couldn’t get close to us in case they caught the virus. He explained in Spanish we could not land and we must make our way to Cienfuegos. Lionel argued that we had not been in contact with anyone from Havana and had been in Cuba for more two weeks so it was impossible for us to have the virus. He sympathised but stuck to his guns. I thought about turning on the tears as we were running out of food, fuel and water but decided to try humour instead and made out I was upset that I couldn’t get any of their world famous rum and could he try to smuggle some aboard as a huge favour for me. He smiled but that was it. He got permission from the Captain to stamp us out for tomorrow morning so he did not have to come out again.  When he boarded the little fishing boat, we realised why there were four men in it – it took that many to start the engine, which was an ancient single cylinder diesel – one to hand crank it; one to lift the de-compressor; one to dribble petrol into the air intake and one on  the throttle.  When, at the fourth attempt, they got it started, the whole boat disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke.  Li reckoned that the engine had not had new piston rings since 1959. We clapped and waved.

It was a huge disappointment. Lionel tried looking up bus timetables but it was nigh impossible to get to this coast from anywhere we would be. We discussed all our options and came to the conclusion that because this was a once in a lifetime trip we would continue sailing round the islands until we ran out of food and water then make our way to Cienfuegos and take the consequences when we arrived there. As the crow flies there was 212nm miles to Cienfuegos. We had three quarters tank of drinking water and about the same for washing which could be topped up with rain water if it ever rained this month. The diesel tank was half full so we had to sail at least half of these miles. We do like going off track and this would definitely be against what the Cuban authorities deemed correct.

Saturday 14^th March

Happy birthday baby sister, 51 today. We don’t have internet but I did remember, honest.

Lionel had spotted a potential anchor behind a reef about 25 nm away so we headed for it first thing. The weather seemed to have developed a pattern in this area where there is wind from about 2000 at night to 1400 next afternoon then dies till the evening so if night sailing is to be avoided early morning sailing it is. We thought that each day we might get five or six hours of good sailing then when we anchor to make sure we had good shelter from the North East. Good theory. The wind died very quickly around 1230 but it was ok, we had made good time and had reached our unnamed anchorage by then. It was named Bajo Rubi Martes and Li christened it by swimming out to inspect the anchor which he could not see because of the cloudy water. Mangroves give the water a brown tinge and the nutrients from them make the water cloudy.

beautiful sunset

After lunch and a spot of sun bathing in the hammock we went out in the dinghy to inspect the reef and see if we could spot any lobsters which could be hooked from under their rocks by a sharp object. Nothing was found and the reef turned out to be a shallow area with some soft corals and an abundance of giant red starfish. It was very hot so I hid in the salon and played sudoku and read while Li sat under the sunshade and read his book. Dinner was chilli and I had soaked the kidney beans overnight but they were still hard after an hour of boiling so we reverted to the old favourite of bacon and eggs with a dollop of tomato ketchup on the side. Five of our twelve precious eggs used. Oh dear.

Ruby anchored in Rubi Matres

Sunday 15^th March

Today’s target was either 12nm or 25nm away. The wind had been blowing all night so we put the first reef in and sailed away in a north easterly force four towards our first choice. The wind quickly veered to the east and slowly dropped as we approached Cayo Rabihorcado. We dropped the sails and followed the authors detailed instructions. It looked delightful with a large expanse of sand on the lee shore which we were hoping to get over to for a walk. However, it didn’t work. We suddenly hit a shallow patch and Lionel quickly reversed and got back into deeper water. We go aground in 1.5 metres (we know this by experience) and the depth sounder had read 2metres. A bit too close for my liking and when Lionel asked if he would try again to get to the anchorage I answered no so we pulled away, raised the sails and started off to our second choice, Cayo Media Luna, Half Moon Bay which turned out to be an easy entrance and by 1300 we were anchored and tucked in behind a Cayo of mangroves, close enough to give us shelter from the nightly winds but far enough away the bugs hopefully could not reach us. A lazy afternoon of music, reading and catching up with the blog was had. Chilli for dinner.

I couldn’t help reflecting on the other Half Moon Bay we had visited in The Bahamas. That bay had been full of huge liners and thousands of people enjoying their day on a deserted island, swimming, paddle boarding, dingy sailing and horse riding with a few other people. In the Cuban version, us, sea, mangrove swamps and a few sea birds and millions and millions of stars. I wonder which one I preferred?

baby mangroves

Monday 16^th March

A 23 nm passage today to Cayo Granada. The sailing was completely down wind so we floated along with jib only at a reasonable speed and got there under 5 hours. The Cay was covered in more mangroves with nowhere to land the dingy so no walk today either. An afternoon of reading and listening to music. Lionel took it upon himself to bake some brownies and flapjacks. Neither of us have got used to the temperature settings of the new oven and now we are using a butane instead of propane the gas is burning even hotter but the baking results were good and it will keep us going in treats for a day or two. Instead of buying raw ingredients we had bought a few ready-mix cake mixtures by Betty Crocker, USAs answer to Angela Lawson we believe. We are still using grannies Anzac recipe for oatmeal cookies but have started to make then in a slab and cut them up like flapjacks. The lack of thick syrup makes them rather runny but the Barbados syrup gives them an interesting taste. I hope granny approves.

almost sand in the mangroves

Tuesday 17^th March

Our destination for today is Cayo Chocolate, so called because of the brown deposits of sea grass on the shore. The pictures in the cruising guide show a child frolicking on a beach so we had high hopes for a walk. 35nm later, some of it done under cruising chute with it poled out we had a disappointment. The beach was a few yards long and not really worth launching the dingy for.

Most of these short passages have taken us through deeper cuts in the shallows which the Cubans call Canals. They have imaginative names such as Canal de Tunas, Canal de Breton and one of my favourites, Canal de Chinchorra, it just sounds wonderful. The chart shows navigation markers of green and red but most of them are missing and the ones that are there are usually rust or white coloured – age and birds- so it pays to concentrate. The depth can change very suddenly as well and even the sonar charts cannot be truly trusted. Sand bars shift. The local fishermen don’t seem to have the same problems and we have seen them happily going over banks which our chart says are less than half a metre deep.

No chocolate was found so a packet of mini Snickers was dug out of stores and enjoyed.

tiny fish

Wednesday 18^th March

Washing water was becoming worrying low and we needed an internet fix. Lionel downloads a digital copy of The Spectator every week to keep himself informed on what is happening in the UK and it was almost two weeks since he got a new copy and we were quickly running out of Archers episodes – is Linda still alive after Grey Gables explosion? Tonight’s anchorage was in the National Park, Los Jardines de le Reina, named by Columbus for his Queen, Isabella. There was reportedly a floating hotel with internet. We were also intending to ask for 2 jugs of water, about 45 litres, which will keep us going for another 4 or 5 days. We might even splash out and pay for a meal if they serve non guests. Our destination was Canal de Caballones a mere 18nm so we left after 0800 and sailed downwind with the Jib only. We glimpsed a moored boat in one of the small bays which we rightly identified as the floating hotel. Lionel decided to anchor in the Canal instead of the marked anchor to cut down the dingy journey. The wind was still blowing so the channel was quite rocky but soon calmed down after lunch and we launched the dingy, put on more respectable clothes and made our way to Tortuga Jucaro, the boat which was used as a hotel for the well-heeled guests who came here to dive and fish under the supervision of the resort manager and his staff. We knew we were not allowed to dive, snorkel or fish here. The reason was a mystery as most cruisers are well aware of how to safeguard the marine environment. “Leave only footprints, take only photographs” is the slogan posted on most marine park beaches and Websites but their country, their rules.

coconut fish

The floating hotel was a rusty old boat that obviously had been moored in the bay for a very long time, surrounded by other smaller similar crafts which we presumed were staff quarters. There was a wooden jetty on the port side of the approach but we thought we would probably get a better response if we approached the main boat. The stern of the boat was set up with table and chairs for guests to lounge in after the days’ activities and as we approached there didn’t seem to be any staff in evidence just some English and American people getting ready for a dive. To say they were not too friendly would be an understatement. I felt like a Pariah. One woman in particular, looked down her nose as she answered Lionel’s question about where were the staff and answered with a sniff and comment that they had all been tested for Coronavirus and she didn’t think we should come aboard because we hadn’t been. Fair comment but she could have got up and gone to look for a member of staff who would have helped us instead of carrying on with her conversation and occasionally glancing at us if we were bad smells. At last a lovely lass came and explained that we could not come aboard for the reasons mentioned already. We understood the concern but asked if we could have some water. At first, she was very reluctant and said we would have to wait for the resort manager to come back but when she saw we had our jugs with us she happily filled them and sent us on our way saying we could expect a visit from Jaime, the manager. There was no internet. We left them to their holiday which allegedly cost about $3000 per person.

On return to Ruby we filled the aft water tank hoping that when Jaime came to visit, he might give us some more water. The beach looked very inviting so we went for a walk (me), stomp, (Lionel). He needs to walk fast to burn off energy and get his muscles working. I just stroll along and enjoy the feeling of terra firma. We saw a speed boat approach Ruby and circle around her. Our frantic waving from the beach attracted the occupant’s attention and we met Jaime, the resort manager who explained he needed to take a picture of Ruby’s ID number and send it to the authorities to verify we were legally in Cuba. He also repeated what we already knew, no fishing, diving snorkelling or visiting the hotel and he suggested we move around the corner into the designated anchorage after our walk. We agreed and parted on good terms.

beach walk

As he suggested we moved into the anchorage after our cup of tea and brownie. Surprisingly there was what seemed like mooring balls and after some investigation we deemed they were safe and secured to huge concrete slabs on the sea bed and prepared to tie up on one. Now, in my experience there are two types of officials in Cuba, ones who will say anything that you want to hear and make you happy (rather sleezy in my opinion) and ones that shout and point and will not deviate from Party Policy. At the moment we were trying to tie up to our chosen mooring ball we were approached by a boat containing some of the latter. Lionel, quite rightly, asked them to back off and we would talk to them when we had secured Ruby to the ball but they still insisted he give them their full attention so we aborted our mission and asked them as politely as we could what they wanted. The interpreter, not the official in the uniform, took charge and told us we could not anchor here we must tie up to a mooring ball, we cannot do any activity of any sort and we must leave first thing tomorrow morning. He seemed to think he was doing us a huge favour letting us rest for the night. I tried to tell him we had already spoken to the resort manager and had he had Ok’d us to stay for a couple of days and let us walk along the beaches. This made it worse and he demanded to see our cruising permit which had not been stamped since Manzanillo where we had been told to go to Cienfuegos which we had decided meant as long as we were going in that general direction, we would be OK. This shouty man told us we must go directly to the city tomorrow. He looked at our documents. I’m not even sure he gave them to the official inspector and seemed satisfied but insisted we tie up to a mooring ball and not anchor. What did he think we were trying to do when he approached us, but I held my tongue and smiled, something I must try to do more of in this country?

We successfully tied up to a ball and got the dingy back onboard as it looked like no more beach walks here. The small boat with the official hovered about a half mile away watching to make sure we did as we were told. He obviously had missed the customer service course in his training.

hotel clients being taken to diving site, note the speed

Thursday 19^th March

Just for the sheer hell of it I was going to suggest making it a very late start this morning but I didn’t and we set off for Cayos Cuervo with two reefs in the main sail and a scrap of jib out, it was beating into a force 4 to 5 NE wind today. It would be worth it. We had been reliably informed this anchorage was where the shrimp boats congregated and the fishermen would exchange some of their catch for coffee, lip balm, T shirts or anything else you had to exchange. I could taste them already, prawns dripping in garlic butter on a bed of noodle and maybe a curry the next evening. It was only 18nm today but as we approached our preferred spot nothing seemed to be the same as on the chart. Yes, sand bars moved but wrecks and pilings don’t. A navigational post marked the end of a long sand spit which was clearly visible from the end of one of the mangrove cays.

navigational pile

 Lots of birds were flying around and some came hopefully towards us. Obviously, the fishermen fed them and their reaction to a boat was to fly towards it for food. They were disappointed. We anchored, had lunch and went for an explore in the dingy, having a ten-minute walk on a bit of sand the mangroves hadn’t covered yet and going around the pilings which seemed to have a skeleton of a wreck attached to them. This must have been one of the fabled fishing stations that the cruising guide talks about but which we have never been able to find. A quick blast round some of the mangrove swamps, they were becoming ten a penny to us now and an investigation into another wreck which looked like it had a cannon on top of it but Lionel maintained it was an old engine block which was all that was left of a once proud ship then back to Ruby and the long wait. Yes, you guessed it no shrimp boats tonight and we had vegetable stir fry instead. Tinned vegetables with fresh onion and garlic.

another cay

Before bedtime we went up to look at the stars. Fantastic. I actually saw the whole of Orion for the first time in my life. I could always see the belt and sword but could never pick out the head and shoulders but the sky was so clear tonight that after ten minutes the milky way was there, with The Plough pointing to the Pole Star. Some people would freak out being so far from civilisation that there was no light pollution in the night sky, we love it.