Cuba - Part one

It took us three days to sail to Cuba, it being so slow due to the current we were sailing into!The last night was really uncomforable with the wind just forward of our beam. The sea state was really choppy and condtitons were not great, but as we came into sight of Cuba by sun rise we changed course and sailed west along the coast. We were now sailing down wind at about 6 knots and the sea was flat and gentle.....well deserved after a couple of choppy days.



We were really looking forward to visiting Cuba and could not wait to do a bit of site seeing. We were expecting the whole checking in procedure to be quite time consuming as we were told by other people how strict they were to visiting boats!!God that was a bit of a under statement to say the least. We had all in all 15 different people come aboard and it took about three hours!
The first people who came aboard were really welcoming and nice but then after we were done put their hands out and asked us for a tip....to tip what i dont understand as they were just carrying out they job...but we felt obliged to give them something and quite embarrassed really. I was pooping it thinking OMG im not keen on tipping bloody 15 people...but they were the only ones who asked thank god!

We were finally allowed to go and get our berth in Marina Hemingway - where again we had to check in and have someone inspect the boat which took another hour. I was so tired and really glad to have arrived. We spent a couple of days chilling out in the marina complex ( which had a lush swimming pool in the hotel ) so i spent most of the day in the pool cooling off...cos it was soo hot...it was 90 plus degrees the whole time we were there.

We met another British boat who came in the day after us called SARK and the were sailing with a lovely couple from Germany!! Hi guys if you are reading! I lost your details so get in contact with us on facebook.We spent a few nights on each other boats ( me drinking water AGAIN ) oh i was missing my wine and gin and tonics so much!



Me in Marina Hemmingway

Bimini

The last Island in the Bahamas we visited before leaving for Cuba was Bimini. The entrance was a bit tricky to say the least and that year a few boats had sunk. We ended up bloody running aground on the way in ( only sand thank god ) but it was so poorly marked, the buoys were more of a hinderance than a help. After pooping it , we eye balled our way through to the anchorage which was really well protected.
We stayed here a couple of days to wait for a good forecast before heading to Cuba.
Sym got to try it his new Hawain sling, where he went hunting for dinner and came back in less than five minutes with a massive lobster!!

Nice pic of Sym being a hunter / gatherer!!!



we later found out that it was out of season for hunting for lobster and there was a massive fine! so we did not do that again while we were there, even though it was sooo tempting, the water was so clear we could see all the fish and lobster when we went out in the dingy.

The Island was really beautiful and the beach was fantastic and we spent our time there going for walks , swimming and just chilling out waiting for a good forecast to sail to Cuba. The weather was not good and we had 30 plus knots for a few nights, so it was not the most relaxing!!

Check out these pics of the beach!!





Yet again immigation and customs were rude and miserable when we went to check out. We left with a good forecast but we were not overly looking forward to it. Firstly because we were sailing directly into the gulf stream which was about 2 knots against us so it would be a really slow sail and secondly because i was heavily pregnant and it was getting quite uncomfortable towards the end!!