|
Worlds apart.... So
here we sit in a wind swept, brown coloured and uninhabited river,
sheltering from the dreaded “northers” running riot down the Gulf
Stream and 2000 miles from where we last wrote up these pages. Actually
the colour of the water re-enforces the fact that we are, in our terms,
rapidly moving north. Gone is the-oh so blue colour of the water, where
the bottom of the keel is clearly visible even when the sea-bed is 12,000
feet below you. And other than when we’re in the Gulf Stream the
temperature of the water is noticeably colder. Ah well it’s what we
signed up for. We
left Boca Chica in the Dom. Republic having thoroughly enjoyed our time
there. Although we had cleared out we continued to anchor off various
islands as we made our way toward Haiti. Specifically, Ille A Vache. It
was only a couple or 3 days away and we had an easy time. Arrived off the
island as the local wooden, patched sails and all, fishing boats,
essentially nothing nore than a dugout with a bamboo mast, were making
their way out for the days work. These are mostly crewed by 2 or 3 men,
the smaller boats by 1 and don’t seem to have changed much in hundreds
of years.
A number of boats sported black sails which we eventually realise were tarpaulin and all looked precarious. As we entered the lagoon area we were approached by several dug-outs each paddled by a couple of local guys. All greeted us with enthusiasm and smiles, suggesting where to anchor then as we lined ourselves up do so asked why we weren’t going further in…..we should have paid attention to the signs….. With a boat either side hanging on we moved in and anchored. Immediately the approaches began. Did we need this or that? Work done? Local guide? “No” we needed nothing at the moment but peace and quiet and a chance to catch up on sleep. They left, we lay down and minutes later came a tapping on the hull…. another boat, another offer. And so it went on.
The only other boat in the anchorage was a French guy who had employed a local to sit on the deck and keep his neighbours at bay. We’d had high hopes of meeting up with Pete and Lucia here as an email had indicated they may well call in on their way to Cuba so were disappointed to find them gone. After a doze I rode ashore to chat to the local hotel and establish the procedure. When we arrive in a new country it is necessary to report to Customs etc and make your presence known. Haiti is no exception. Except. Everything we had read indicated that this island no-one bothered and the officials left everyone alone. Chatting to Didier, the French hotel owner, it seemed this was certainly the case but occasionally they would visit an fine boats heavily for not reporting in. But nothing seemed set in stone and Didier was less that complimentary about the famed market at Madame Bernard. So I left the hotel and thought we’d probably be best moving on. As I approached the dinghy I realised another boat had arrived as there were now 3 of us at anchor and unbelievably it was Pete and Lucia!! A joy to see them and it set the decision that we would stay. We caught up on news and decided what we’d do. All the time the locals would approach offering various items for sale. Pete, who speaks French, was invariably offered up to the boat boys and dealt with everyone very placidly.
A day or so later we
decided we would try the local market at Madame Bernard (a place not a
person) and had a troupe of locals coming along with us. Pete indicated
that we were not hiring them as guides but they came anyway. The market
was about a 5 mile walk away and as we were about to leave the guy who
babysat the French boat warned us that the Customs had visited the day
before and were pissed off with us for not reporting in. We set off and
various local factions formed each with a different take on the Customs
story, each vying to ensure that they were the ones we believed. And as
the journey progressed individuals would sidle up and ask each of us if we
would give them something or other. These “somethings” ranged from
money to face masks (snorkelling) to dictionaries. We got to the market
and found it wanting. We’ been told it represented Nat. Geographic of 50
years previous but it wasn’t my view. It all felt very voyeuristic as
the “whiteys” wandered amongst the bits and pieces for sale. We bought
some bread but little else but came away with one of the strongest
memories ever when, as we set out for the return journey, along the track
towards us came 2 young boys, perhaps 10 years old, struggling along,
carrying by the horns, the severe head of a cow. No photos were taken and
the four of us just looked at each other in amazement.
But
this is a desperately poor country where, apparently, education has to be
paid for by the parents and even if the local people can afford to travel
virtually every country in the world requires they have a visa including
their neighbours the Dom. Rep. The
journey back passed with the babysitter being revealed as a secret
policeman (who knows if this was true) and a repetition of the requests
for various items. We’ decided we’d had enough of Haiti and promptly
headed out for Cuba. The
journey seemed to start well but conditions deteriorated and we changed
course for Jamaica. We arrived on the morning of the 20 March in the
anchorage of Port Antonia having been left by Fair Grace a day or so
previously. No FG in sight as we anchored and we decided they had used
their speed to head on up to Cuba. An hour or so later they called us,
having arrived off the entrance last night, hove to awaiting daylight and
couldn’t believe we had thought they would desert us. So apologies in
print to the noble crew of FG are due. Port
Antonio is a pretty serious up-market marina that hasn’t yet really
taken off. The reputation of Jamaica stops most yotties going there so we
were happily welcomed along with a number of others who had pulled in.
Amongst them was a boat we’d first met in Cork, then Trinni and now
here. Spent a few days there, no immigration or custom fees to pay and the
procedure is painless, but US10 per night to anchor. Good fruit and veg
market, some interesting buildings and a bit of an atmosphere I felt in
the town. We met another boat who’d returned from Cuba having not
realised that Santiago had shut its doors to yotties and spent a bit of
time chatting to them about their future plans so if Tom and Rowena read
this – keep in touch.
Jamaica does have a
serious violence problem although as Tom pointed out it tends to be
amongst rival drug gangs. Nevertheless it is a huge problem for those of
us looking in from the outside as, unable to differentiate between
gangland districts, it all appears as random violence and something to be
avoided.
So
Cuba beckoned and we headed out, on the 26 March, with FG, for Cienfuegos,
the port we had left from 4 years previously. The journey was ok other
than a moment when genny came off the traveller and in the melee that
followed the genny sheets flicked the boat-hook over the side. We had an
energetic hour getting the sail down and the traveller back in but arrived
with FG in Cienfuegos after 306 miles on 28 March. This time there was no
doubt about Cuba- we enjoyed our time there. The authorities have a
slightly more relaxed approach to yotties, which was certainly one of the
difficulties we had before-it is no longer required that you state, in
advance, every stop you intend to make-making life a lot easier. So we
wandered Cienfuegos, a lovely city, took advantage of Lucia’s Spanish
and generally had a good time. Whilst we were buying fruit and veg, which
is priced in local pesos the stall holder decided he would charge us in
Cuban convertible which multiplied the price by a factor of 25 and seemed
unabashed when we dumped the bag load we’d bought back on the counter!
Tomatoes are about 7p a pound and bread is about 1p a loaf but equally
wages are very low. It was an interesting comparison with Haiti and I have
yet to hear anyone hold that regime up to the microscope in the same way
that Cuba is. The
two crews decided to combine funds, hire a car (not this one!) to drive to
Havana and look around.
FG had decided to stay overnight whilst we opted to return to the boat. Havana is a very tourist orientated place, interesting buildings, the inevitable ‘50’s cars with modern retro taxis everywhere
but
not, for us, one of life’s great attractions. Me and Bee headed off
home, leaving Pete and Lucia to find somewhere to sleep. It is possible to
find cheap rooms in local houses but they were not so lucky and spent an
expensive night in the town and felt that we’d done the more sensible
thing. Our journey was ok, picked up a local hitch-hiker but what little
Spanish we had had deserted us so got to know very little about her. Back
in Cienfuegos the ever more social FG crew had met a local woman, been
invited to eat one evening and had been able to discuss politics and life
in Cuba generally. If you interested you can log onto the FG website (and
get a different take on the places we have both been to) at
But the treasures of Cienfuegos had been done and we wanted to get moving. Except that this time there would be no meeting up for many months as FG intended to go east and cruise the Gardens whilst we were heading west toward Cabo San Antonio. Mon 7 April saw both boats heading out and parting at the entrance in a lumpy and uncomfortable sea as we headed our respective ways. Hopefully we’ll all meet up again soon on the east coast of the US. For us the next 9 days passed quickly as we wandered westwards, anchoring in Cayo Largo, having had great difficulty with the entrance and then Cayo Real, where we sheltered from the northerly that blew up.
We’d tried another bay on the south coast that didn’t appear in the pilot book but looked promising. We closed the entrance as the light was fading but there was still sufficient to see that what looked like a clean entry on the chart was actually a bar and the tell tale still water on the other side alerted us to the fact that the days journey was not yet over. Hasty reversing and we made our way to Maria La Gorda, our final Cuban destination and found officialdom at its most relaxed. We signed in and out at the same time-despite not wanting to leave until the following morning
As
for Mar. La G. Well unless you’re a diver there is very little to draw
you. It is not really Cuban but just a holiday resort for Europeans which
may explain the relaxed officialdom. But it was a convenient stopping off
point and we left there with a positive feeling for Cuba and a
determination to return again. This time the journey to Key West proved easier; the winds were kinder if sometimes non-existent, the dolphins abundant and we got the currents correct so generally had a good time.
Had
a close encounter with some sort of square rigger but slowly eased our way
toward the US. As we approached our 10,000 mile and about 15 mile from the
Keys we were approached, at speed, by a USCG cutter, who having circled
us, launched its rib to check us out. Q. How many Coast Guard employees
does it take to check a vessel? A: 7. Well 4 to sit in the rib and 3 to
come aboard. The usual questions followed and the same warning as 4 years
previously about our “out of date flares”. Interestingly they were
unperturbed about us coming from Cuba, merely asking had we enjoyed our
time there and had we any Cuban goods on board. They left us and we
carried on and anchored off Christmas Tree Island at 17.30 on Thurs 24
April. I rowed ashore and reported our arrival on the free phone number;
received no comment or condemnation about Cuba, were given an entrance
number and told to report to the local office and purchase a cruising
permit.
In
the end we went back to the CBP office for the last time to tell them we
were checking out and heading north. The Decal scheme could only be
explained in the vaguest possible terms but seemed that if we weren’t
near a Port of Entry we didn’t need to check in…… Hmmm didn’t seem
right to us but we’d see. We headed out aiming for Martha’s Vineyard
about 1000 miles to the north but rounding the bottom of Florida and
heading up the stream we were both below when we heard a loud bang and
came on deck to find the pigtail on the traveller had snapped allowing the
genny to fly. Got it under control, a replacement sorted and carried on.
Lot of ships about-too many for comfort and we were also buzzed by a
coastguard helicopter and then on one night two yachts passed close by, no
lights showing and no-one visible on watch. Taking trust in your
electronics a tad too far it seems to us. Finally we made Lake Worth
entrance and slid off the Atlantic and into sheltered water. Sheltered
from the elements if not from the authorities as 5 minutes into the inlet
we were hauled over by the police……….. However we did eventually get
to drop our anchor in Lake Worth and get ourselves sorted. You know the
sort of thing; ice , ice-cream… for several days running we could be
spotted in the car-park of the local Publix supermarket, sat on a shady
kerb edge, digging into the ½ gallon of ice-cream or frozen yoghurt with
the spoons brought along for just that purpose…. The
following day having failed to reach the department by phone we rode down
the highway to Riviera Beach and the dreaded CBP office. We presented our
decal to a bemused agent, as they’re called here. He listened to our
story and sent us upstairs to let them sort it out. The next two people
who dealt with us were both women and they handled us courteously and
within 20 minutes had heard the story, rung Key West to get their side and
issued us with a cruising permit. No,
the regulations do not apply to foreign nationals and foreign flagged
vessels and no if we wished to cruise TO Cuba from the US we couldn’t be
stopped and it was our prerogative. So there we have it. We’re in,
legal and constructing our letter of complaint about the Key West office
to the CBP. Watch this space. Time
came to be moving on and we headed out and into the Gulf Stream for a
current assisted passage. The weather looked to be favourable and we
settled down for an easy passage to the Vineyard…………. 24 hours
later weather came in indicating strong northerly winds in 3 days time
ahead and we decided to shorten the trip and head into Beaufort. The
following day the time frame for the winds was reduced, the wind strength
increased and our destination altered again. Electrical storms could be
seen on the next couple of nights as we worked our way over to Winyah in
South Carolina, passing a small pack of US naval ships, one of which
detached itself from the pack and came steaming toward us. It then seemed
to lose interest but we later heard it calling up other boats warning them
to stay clear as the pack were refuelling and unable to manoeuvre. We were
off the entrance around lunchtime on Sat with squalls coming across fast.
Into the entrance late as the tide had already turned and we slowly headed
up the channel looking for an anchorage. Ahead of us was a modern boat and
they too were struggling against the 3-4knot current that raged against
us. In the end we took the best spot we could and dropped the hook. We
spent 3 nights in this anchorage, moving once to get better protection and
whilst it certainly wasn’t perfect because of the tidal strength it
served us well. Lot of wild life and solitude. Moved
on up to Georgetown to see what South Carolina has to offer…….Our
visit has coincided with an annual bikers fest as some 300,000 Harley
riders arrive to pretend they’re Peter Fonda and that mortgages,
healthcare and pension schemes are for wimps….. Beards and bandana’s
rule as they strut their stuff and they’re obviously important to the
local economy as welcome bikers signs are everywhere. Other than that the
town is small but has an amazing library and the accent takes a bit of
getting used to. Weather is definitely cooler and we can see the stove
being “booted up” in the near future!! Bit
of a dilemma going on at present as the weather systems to the north of us
are producing 50 mph winds and the Greenland experience has left its mark
on us so we’re a little more cautious than before. It may be possible to
use the ICW for some distance but that’ll involve a lot of engine work.
However we would be protected to a large degree from the winds…. Finally;
2 items to end with. Of the many comments that are passed to us about
Hannah there is one that really pisses us off…..On replying to the
inevitable “Where are you from?” our reply so often gets a ”You
crossed in that!!…….” Anyone would think we were St Brendan in a
leather boat. And finally. Toots, chasing flies across the deck, almost missed her footing whilst leaping onto the capping rail. The local dinghy dock exhibits a stark warning…
|
