Cuba - Part Two!!

We spent over a week in Marina Hemmingway and went into the capital of Havanna for a couple of days. The first day we took a bus into the city which was not too far but i was so exhausted by the end of the day that we decided the following day we would hire a car.

The City of Havana was fantastic but a lot more run down and neglected than we envisioned. The buildings were so delapitated and un kept mainly due to the American embargo which over the decades has screwed the Cuban economy and no more funds from the USSR I guess. The City needs a good few billion spent on it get it back in tact!
However saying that Havana had an amazing charm and the people are the friendliest you will ever meet.

Site seeing in Revoltionary Square





The city of Havana and all the beautiful cars





We were really looking forward to travelling along the northern coast of Cuba - hopping along some anchorages before crossing the Yucatan channel to Mexico.However we did not realise how much of a pain it would be. The officials told us when we left Marina Hemmingway we would have to check in and out of every anchorage we went to and provide them with a list of the places we were going and how long we planned to stay.
It all sounded like so much of a palavor - especially knowing how long it took to check in the last time. We were also on a time limit as we had our flights booked back to the UK for the beginning of June so we decided to sail straight to Isla Mujeres in Mexico.

AN UPDATE AT LAST

All i can say is the past few months i have been mega busy or lazy( which ever you want to call it ) and updating this has not been top of my priority list. Im going to blame it on being pregnant and tired all the time!So its Hallies fault not mine. Hallie is the name we have decided to call her. We were looking for something quite unusual but with meaning and found Hallie, which means "thinking of the sea" in Greek!!

A pic of me at 30 weeks when we just arrived back in the UK....Sym likes to call me the TRUCK!!



A pic of me at 37 weeks down Porthcawl - not as dreamy looking as the bahamas by no stretch!!



Anyway for those who still care, we are both fine and are back in the UK and our little girl is due in less than a week, Gypsy Moth is safe and sound ( fingers crossed ) in the Rio Dulce in Guatemala awaiting our return. We are going to wait a couple of months so Hallie can get her injections and get all her paperwork sorted and then go back to our amazing life on the boat( which we are missing more and more each day!!)

We ended up not having enough time to get down to Panama as i had to be home by 30 weeks and sailing towards the end got mega hard!!Especially the night shifts! So we found a lovely marina in the Rio Dulce which was dirt cheap and had a swimming pool!!

Anyhow ,I will keep you all informed on our new arrival and now I better get on with the ton of updating I have to do, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico and Guatemala!! Here goes!!

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!!

Bahamas - Part Two!

The following morning we went into the marina to part with our 300 dollars and clear into customs. Is it just us or does anyone else find that near enough every country they have visited the customs and immigration are the moodiest and rudest people known to mankind??

Anyhow the day got way better as within a hour of looking on the internet we had found a second hand sail (advertised as “like new” ) the right size for the boat and the location was Fort Launderdale. There is a company called GB express that fly everyday from Fort Launderdale to the Grand Bahama, and so it was all paid for and organized to be in Free Port( 30 miles away from where we were anchored) by the following evening...what are the chances of that?? We were so chuffed as we thought it was going to be a complete nightmare but it worked out way better than expected. ( The GB express only cost us 50 dollars for the delivery of the sail...and that was next day service...how good is that!! – Highly recommended!!!

With all that sorted we decided to go for a snorkel , a swim and a walk on the beach!



We planned to sail an extra 15 miles round to the south of the island the next morning as it was closer to Free Port where we were picking up our new sail and we were not that keen on leaving Gypsy Moth unattended for half the day...take a look at this picture of our anchor and you can see why!!



Again the cruising guide only mentioned the waterway entrance from the north and so we kept our fingers crossed it was dredged deep enough at the south entrance. Luck was with us and we followed the buoyed channel in and the depth never went lower than 10 feet under the keel. It was quite a tight hairy entrance and we would not of attempted it in higher winds - but when we got into the waterway it was so dreamy. It was calm and well protected, perfect for spending a few days to sort out the sail and other repairs.

Sym up the mast taping around the edges of the spreaders with lots of masking tape to avoid any other rips and cuts in our new sail!!!

The Bahamas - Part One

As we had no luck extending our visa waiver in the US we were forced to leave on tuesday the 6th April, even thought the forecast was not the best. We got up at first light and left the anchorage of West Palm Beach , heading for the Island of Grand Bahama.It was 60 odd miles and with sailing across the gulf stream we were not sure how slow we would be going so we had 14 hours to make it before the sun went down. This was our first actual sail on Gyspy Moth out at sea. The wind forecast was on the nose so we thought it was going to be a bumpy ride.
Ahead of us by a few miles were four other boats and after getting out there is was choppy but nothing major or worth worrying about.We hoisted the main sail ( for the first time )...so much smaller than Quartermoons rig..i think Gypsy moth under full sail is more or less Quartermoon second reef!!! and sailed as close to the wind as we could with the engine on to keep us at a good speed to get us to to anchorage before the dark.
After 5 minutes we saw the three catamarans in front turn around and head back for west palm beach...shortly after we were called on the radio by this couple we briefly met the day before asking if we were carrying on with the trip. Sym informed them we were carrying on and told them it was flat as a pancake and he said that in America they prefer their pancakes a bit flatter!! HAHA!! as it was too much for them and they were turning around too!! I was absolutley god smacked!! Dont get me wrong i hate bad weather and will do anything to avoid it, im a right pansy, but this was nothing!! the seas were four foot at most( it was choppy dont get me wrong ) but all the bloody boats turned back - crazy Americans!! No offence!!
Anyhow we were loving being back out on the water, both of us grinning when the head sail back winded and got caught on the spreader..we looked up to see a tear about a foot long ... a second later i looked up and the whole lenth of the sail was shreaded to pieces!!! What a sickening sight, we were horrified!! Especially as we had left the states so we would have to first look for a new one then get it shipped to the bahamas... this puppy was beyond repair - god knows how long this would take...and we had just spent 500 dollars on getting a lovely navy blue sacrifical strip to go on her to match the rest of the canvas work...arrrggg!!!

Sym taking down our ruined sail!!!!



Anyhow we finally made it to the anchorage of West End and dropped the hook a couple of hours before nightfall. To top it off what a crappy anchorage.. it was really rolly and exposed and we only had a couple of foot under our keel. the floor was rocky with few sand patches so whenever we swung around when the current changed we were pooping it th anchor were not going to re bite. Check out these pics!!( at some point the following day we were inches above rocks)







Although the anchorage was awful, it was amazing to be in clear water again...we had been so long in the inland water ways, it felt soo good to dive in and swim around the boat...it was the first time since we bought her we actually saw what she looked like underneath, lol



Me and Hallie enjoying our swim...there were loads of Rays around





Oh and before i forget those who are looking for a cruising guide to the Bahamas...dont get the one we have as its completly shit! Its called " A yachtsman guide to the Bahamas".We bought it off Amazon and so did not get much info on it before buying, but it is written by a power boater and therefore 99.9 % of the anchorages listed are for really shallow drafts less than 4 foot! After spending hours reading through and searching the book there were only a handful of anchorges mentioned for boats of a draft of 6 foot or more. The only two places that we actully anchored on Grand Bahama were not even mentioned in the sodding book.

Daytona Beach - West Palm Beach

Words cannot describe how glad i felt to see Sym and be back home. The following day we celebrated my 27th Birthday by having lunch out in the marina overlooking all the boats...it felt good to be in the sun again!!
Sym had got loads of work done on the boat when i had been gone and completly built two tables( one for the saloon and a fold up one for the cockpit) and re varnished all the exterior wood work. It looks brillant and has gone from looking quite tatty to brand new!

Sym studying our charts on our new cockpit table



We did not have much time to chill out when i got back as Sym visa run out on the 6th April and we went to go and see customs ans immigration at the airport and there was no way we could extend his visa...so that left us with 5 days before we had to leave the states. It was a bit if a bummer really cos we really wanted to see Miami and hop down the Florida Keys, instead our only option was to sail to the Bahamas. We were not planning to stop at the Bahamas, just because it was out of the way and we had alot of miles to cover (heading south to Panama) in a short time , before we fly back to the UK to have our little girl.Secondaly, it costs 300 dollars to get a cruising permit.....how mad is that?? Out of all the countires we have visited the most expensive by far was 70 UD dollars to clear into Columbia. We would not have minded so much if we had a few months to chill and hop around loads of the islands but we only have time for a couple and need to start making a move to Cuba as soon as possible.

Anyway, we had 5 day to sail from Daytona to West Palm beach before having to leave and it was about 180 miles so it would give us all of a day or two to pray for a good weather forecast to cross the Gulf Stream to Grand Bahama Island.

Me chilling on deck catching some rays



The waterways were much busier as we headed south and to be perfectly honest got a bit boring after a while...its alright for the first week or so, but then it gets quite monotomous...especially with having a six foot draft and at low water, we were bearly floating in lots of places( the depth alarm beeping like crazy).

However it was very different in West Palm Beach compared to the rest of the trip...the money there is out of this world!! I have never seen so many expesive boats racing around with teenagers all drinking and partying in boats with engines more expensive than our whole boat out together...CRAZY!!

Me and my fat belly admiring the houses in West Palm Beach




This was one of the small ones:



Only joking!!
The houses on the waterways were amazing( must have been worth millions), each with their own pontoon with their sailing yacht, motor yacht and jet skies all moored outside. We arrived in west palm beach on the bank holiday weekend of spring break so you can imagine how hectic it was. Imagine Cowes week in the Solent , with boats being skippered by everyone under the age of 18 and it was way worse!!!
It would of been an amazing party town..if i was not pregnant and able to drink..lol..arrrggg!!!!

Im gutted i did not get to take any pictures of all the madness as at the time we were pretty stressed out trying to avoid crashing with everyone!!