Some times my humans are completely useless. How many years of sailing now and they still make stupid decisions. So what did they do?
They broke their rule of never arriving at a new port in the dark.
We were anchored up at the Marina at Santiago de Cuba and the humans wanted to continue their exploration of the south coast. The next port west down the coast had a shallow bar in the entrance (2m) that the humans did not want to risk running aground on. This meant that they would have to aim for the port after that, Ensenada Marea del Portello, 80 nautical miles away.
We do not count on the boat traveling at much more then 5 knots on average. More wind we go faster, less wind slower. That means that the trip would take about 16 hours. Not possible in day light hours. So the humans were smart and decided the best course of action would be to leave the port of Santiago de Cuba in the evening, sail through the night and arrive at Marea del Portello in the morning. If the winds were fair, and we were planned to arrive before light, it is much easier to slow a boat down then try to go faster. This was all a good plan, in my opinion, that is if the humans stuck to it. But they didn’t.
You are supposed to give officials 24 hours notice before you leave. So the humans told the Marina of their plans. With the day to ‘kill’ they decided to change the impeller on the water cooling system of the engine. A general maintenance thing that should have been relatively quick and easy. Of course it did not go well, and they also found that the raw water system had sprung a few leaks that needed fixing. All in all they were down in the engine room rushing about, missed lunch, and were still sure they would never make their 5pm deadline to see officials. So they canceled their departure and moved it for the next day.
They checked the weather forecast and got some bad news. The brisk winds we had experienced for weeks were set to die….completely. There would be days of no wind to sail and they would be stuck in port until they returned. Santiago de Cuba is lovely but it does have a few draw backs. First it is not free to anchor here. You have to pay the Marina $0.25/foot/day ($11/day for us). The other draw back is that the power station for the city is near the Marina. When the trade winds ease you get a land breeze moving the smoke towards the Marina area. The exhaust from the power station leaves small yellow dots on the outer boat surface. Really bad staining on boats anchored further west in the channel. So here is where the humans made a bad decision. They decided to use the last of the wind to sail out of Santiago de Cuba in the morning to arrive at Marea del Portello at night in the dark.
So what possessed them to make such a stupid decision?
They spoke to another sailing couple anchored off the Marina that had arrived from the west and had anchored at Marea del Portello. They told them that the bay had a wide open entrance, all the buoys were lit at night, the dock off the village was well lit, and that it would be easy to follow the lights in and use the depth sounder to pick a good anchoring spot. So the humans felt confident all would go well. It did start well. They had fair winds and a following gentle sea that made for a lovely sail. At dusk, as predicted, the winds collapsed and we were motoring the last short section. With no moon or wind the night was dead quiet and still. Luckily I have great hearing and I rushed forward with barking warnings as we passed unlit fisherman working in row boats off the shore line. The humans struggled to spot them to avoid collisions. When we reached Ensenada Marea del Portello there were no lit buoys. So the humans had to ‘feel’ their way around the outer reef using their GPS and depth sounder. They barely missed hitting the last buoy, on a sand bar, but managed to get comfortably anchored just off the village by midnight. Do not think they will try that again!
In the morning the local Guarda Frontera met me and one of the humans on the beach and asked to come to the boat in an hour. He arrived with another gentleman, from immigration, in a row boat and checked all our papers. He asked for nothing, but we sent them away with some fishing hooks. The man rowing the boat asked if we needed any fruits of vegetables for trade. He returned with a bag full of tomatoes, peppers and onions and we gave him some old fishing line, pens, pencils and an old skirt I never wear.
But the humans had no time to relax. The alternator, that generates electricity for the boat when the engine is on, had arched and burnt out on the trip here. They were disappointed as it was only a year old, replaced in St Barts. They thought is may have been the raw water leaks that had caused it. Luckily the humans had purchased a backup replacement, but it still was a whole day job to swap it out and get it all wired up again. With the whole day lost, the humans and I had only the last of the evening to go and visit the village.
There were two ladies at the town dock trying to sell some jewelry they have made from shells, but other than them the rest of the villagers are generally just warm and friendly. There are two hotels on the other side of the bay that bring in the occasional tourist, but other wise the villagers lives are very simple here. They grow their own food, the trees are dripping in ripening mangoes and they have fenced in yards with chickens, pigs and of course goats. There were lots of children running about and the humans pocket full of balloons was quickly depleted. An elderly couple, Victor and Julio, insisted that we come sit outside their modest home and have a cup of sweetened black coffee and a chat with them. They had learned some English and were happy to teach us a little Spanish. They were a pleasure to meet. Despite our protests, they insisted we leave with a bag of onions, plantain and dried beans. When we asked them ‘Was there anything we could bring them back?’, it was old clothes or shoes they said they needed most.
Unfortunately the sun is not kind to the humans clothes. They have very few items they do not wear until they fall apart, and shoes are something that do not last that much longer. Had we known that they were so desirable here in Cuba we would have stocked up on some simple T-shirts and flip flops from the thrift shops. Still, they have so little here, you can not help but feel very rich and obliged to share. Especially when they are so eager to share with you what little they have. Back on the boat the humans rummaged through drawers looking for something to pass onto them.
In the morning the local Guarda Frontera rowed over to drop off the despacho so we can now leave for the next port of call moving west. We plan to stop off at Cay Blanco, in the Bahia de Pilon. It is only 6 nm away. Remember no wind. We heard there is a lovely beach here and some good snorkelling. But before we go I sent the humans off with a care package of Victor and Julio. Not much, but they did find some liquid soap, empty butter tubs and a top each. Despite my instance they take nothing more from the friendly couple, they still returned with a care package they insisted that Victor and Julio pressed upon them. A bag of eggs, bread rolls and guava jam. To be so very poor, but to be so generous!
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Photos, charts and information add once we got internet use link below:
Review of Southern Cuba Part 1- including the pictures you missed
