Southern Florida, Key West (Miles to date 8166)

One for the birds... Florida! I Leave Havana single handed and run under (new) autopilot for half an hour. It needs more work though and I hand steer the next 20 hours... <sigh> Wind is light and I have to motor. I arrive in Key west at first light as planned. The US coastguard had come alongside me at midnight and asked me various questions over the radio but did not board me. Apart from that it was a fairly peaceful crossing. I resolve to pick up a slip - a dock (or marina berth in European parlance) as I am unsure if the customs will want to board me. Key west is humming with all sorts of nautical activity and is a very confusing place. I find a set of docks at the Key west City Marina (all the marinas sort of merge into each other in the bay as the docking is continuous. I approach their fuel dock and ask where to go. They direct me to an easy berth. The fuel berth has telegraph poles on the side of the dock, with vertical rubber fendering and cleats afixed to the side of the poles - you don't need to put out your own fenders and this is very handy. The dock for the night is $120 and I resolve to move to the mooring field once I check in. The next Dock I pay for is St Augustine on 20th May as anchoring is cheaper.

Checking in is an interesting experience. In theory you phone 800 432 2216 - and I ask to use the marina landline. You get an automated voice and select the appropriate option, then silence. After 5 minutes it resets and you get the automated voice again, after 4 cycles of this the marina staff suggest it is broken and I should just visit the Customs and Border Protection office (CBP). A cruising couple  from Mexico are having the same problems and the three of us head off a few blocks to try and find the CBP. They are relocated in the courthouse since hurricane Irma. Getting into a federal building is tricky, you are not allowed to bring any electronic devices in with you and they photograph and fingerprint you (electronically). The Mexican skipper and I leave our phones with the skippers wife and meet with CBP. They are most courteous (but check my story by phoning the 800 number themselves) 25 dollars later and I have a 12 month cruising permit. Well, the boat has a 12 month cruising permit, I already have a 6 month multi-entry visa so in 6 months time I must leave the states for 15 days before re-entering. Hello Nova Scotia!

I move the boat around to a mooring field. The mooring bouys cost $20 but that includes use of a secure dock for the dinghy and showers. Dinghy docking is a big problem here and in a lot of florida. So much of available land is private and every private house has its own private dock that often getting to land is hard. The mooring field dinghy dock is over a mile from my buoy. Nonetheless I stay a week as I am to pick up John Henshaw on the 10th and I will do this near the top of the keys, which are 150 miles long.

KeyWest is the end of the mainland for the states and has a particular tourist feel. The temperature requires everyone to move slowly and be laid back. We were here 20 years ago with the McMillans and kids and had enjoyed that stay - wandering about the town, eating key lime pie and taking a touristy catamaran called "El Gato" to go snorkelling on the reefs. I still have the T-shirt! This time I found it very, very busy with tourists and everywhere was eating places and tourist shops. There was a few things to see like Hemingway's house and garden and a Rum Distillery.

 The dock runs everywhere, a scenic walk if you like the water, lined on the inside with restautants and souvenir shops.


And then the Cats - there are four of these and 4 or 5 classic schooners also offering rides on the sea. Big business.
A big cat - note the drop down ladder to make water entry easy.


And of course cruise ships. The top of these ships is far higher than the highest point in the keys.

In other parts of the town of key west I do find supermarkets - I have to ride my bike to the outskirts. I also find a West Marine store and can buy pilot books for the ICW, the next phase of the trip. It has very expensive electric fans ($80 to $120) and I am pleased to find a auto store (like Halfords) that sells plug in fans for $14.99 that are actually better then the "marine" ones. I visit a bookstore and get a couple of books, the old ladies serving me are lovely and chatty, my accent is a good intro! They tell me of a street parade of Kinetic art on bicycles starting soon and I go and watch it.
 Surprisingly amateur, obviously the locals are laid back...

 My favourite, piggy has a curly tail that moves.

I also visit the Hemingway Rum Company for a tour. A bit quick. They boil up raw spirit but import actual rum to blend. They market the blends as "Papa Pilar". They asked the Hemingway foundation to use the names and pay them for the privilege. Papa is Hemingways nickname and Pilar is the name of his boat. see   http://www.papaspilar.com/ for details. The blonde rum is very good, the dark one a bit coarse.

Key west is not all just restaurants, beaches and bars, and things to do if you are a tourist. The water colour reveals its tropical nature and real people live here - often on houseboats - some are minimal wooden shacks on a floating barge, but hey, its the tropics, There is a lot of building work going on - more docks being added or hurricane repairs I don't know which.


I liked Key West, although I liked it more 20 years ago. Soon it is time to move on. I buy a US phone so I can telephone CBP - I have to report every movement from port to port but at least I don't have to go in person. The phone gives me data too so I can get weather forecasts. Although in the states they have a really neat system where an automated voice is transmitted on the radio 24 hours a day, local to your area. There are 8 different frequencies and US VHF radios have these weather channels on them. Mine does not but I have brought ham radio transceivers that can receive the frequencies ok. Also I have to persuade my VHF to move from International marine channels to the US ones. Luckily my main ship set and handheld can do this -  after I read the manual!
My next stop is 30 miles up the coast - just in an anchorage. Like Cuba there is a reef a few miles offshore and the sea is pretty shallow for those 2 miles which means the sea does not get too rough. You can go North of the keys or South of the Keys and there are buoyed channels for both options. I quickly discover that a boat draft of over six feet makes the North (really sheltered) passage and even when in the South channel ("Hawke's Channel") the available marinas and fuel docks are all too shallow. Five feet is the norm and this accounts for the vast number of powerboats. There are dozens of marinas but none that suit Shadowmere. I anchor in Bahai Honda - there are half a dozen places in Florida with identical names to Cuban places. And move on at first light to Key Largo.

The old bridge has a small gap, I anchor between the bridges  - in a 2 knot current but have a peaceful night.

Key Largo is where I have arranged to meet John - he is greyhound bussing down from Orlando where he is staying with friends. I discover I have to anchor about a mile out on either side of an isolated island (Rodriguez Key). On going ashore to arrange a rendezvous I discover a waterfront restaurant I had wanted to use - free dock for patron had been destroyed by Irma (the hurricane, not an angry patron) I call at a deserted boatyard but the roadside has big big fences and electronic gates - I find a guy and he tells me about the destruction and that the site and ruin has been bought by a private individual and I must not trespass. "If you set foot ashore, you will get arrested" Welcome to Key Largo. After relating my dilemma he thinks a while and says there is an "easement" between two properties - a tiny 20 foot wide beach/launching spot with public access. I go there and find a father and son fishing. I can land the dinghy and padlock it and the outboard to a nearby high fence. I can walk up to a Denny's and wait for John. One of his buses is delayed and he gets an Uber from Miami - at Greyhound's expense. He arrives in the dark, we have a burger and pint and then head out.  We get a bit wet when we return to the boat. We use the tender to go two miles to get fuel in cans the next day.

 We dinghy up this long manmade inlet (there are 10 of these all parallel, every house gets a dock.

And find fuel pumps beside a pub. We also walk key largo a bit to try for some food. You need a car in America, every thing is too far away and it is too hot.
Fuelled up we head for Miami, no wind so we have to motor 55 miles

Cuba 7 A Cuban Roadtrip




Shirley brings me proper clothes – I have been using three sets of Rohan shirts, shorts and knickers and hand washing the current set every night  - looked a bit like a khaki warrior – but the Rohan shirts do wash and dry quickly!

We decide to hire a car and get away from the city for a couple of days. There are hire car outlets all over the place – every hotel and one on the marina grounds. I cycle up and am told that they have no cars – they are in short supply and Cuba is hoping for a container ship to arrive soon with new stock. All their cars are booked on the internet weeks in advance and paid for. The guy has been sitting in his office all week 9 until 6 without anything to do. <sigh> He does tell me to try at some of the bigger hotels in the town. I then try the marina office and they kindly phone 4 places, same story. So it is a case of “on my bike” and off I go to track down a car. It is a very hot day and I cycle 3 or 4 mile to Third Avenue where there are half a dozen luxury hotels. After 4 tries I succeed as long as I bring it back promptly in 4 days. I can have a fairly large car which can take the five of us. I walk around the car as they point out the minor dents and missing trim - I video these with my smart phone as I always do when hiring or returning cars.

The next day we head for the Bay of Pigs. The road system is wide but potholed. A six lane motorway goes through the spine of Cuba and then we have 40 or 50 mile of poor roads. The tourist guide talks about a beach resort that has good snorkelling and we finally arrive, we pay to go in but get unlimited food and drink and sunbathing privileges. I think it was 10 CUCs.





We all have a go snorkelling in the lagoon, nice and warm and plenty of fish and coral.



On land we spot Geckos with curly tails and Rachel finds a crab




Rachel kindly takes the crab and puts it back in the water but it doesn’t seem too pleased. A passing guy laughs and says that returning land crabs to the sea is a mistake. Oops Rachel. She retrieves the crab and it is still alive…

We motor on towards Cienfuegos to find somewhere to stay for the night. En route we pass a lady delivering a cake – as a passenger on a motorbike, can’t be easy!


 We ask in town about a hotel room but are told it would coast 261 CUCs  - an outrageous price so we look for some Casa Particulares (Bed and Breakfast!) on the peninsula of land near the marina where I had called about 4 weeks previously. We find two Casas and the kids take one and Shirley and I take the other. 20 CUCs and 30 CUCs. Shirley and I have a lovely room with sea views front and back, a balcony. The room is clean with airconditioning, a shower and a toilet with a seat and paper! Soap too!!!. Perfect. The kids did have a cockroach - theirs was a ground floor room and the windows were open. The room did seem clean.
 Note the blue anchor - an official Casa Particular


We have a pleasant meal in a nearby restaurant/hotel and visit the town in the morning. We buy some objets de art from some stalls but fail to get an ice cream from the Coppella as again the queues are too long. We drive on to Trinidad de Cuba and visit the beach hotel and marina at Casilda, A day of lying on the beach is called for.






Before again looking for a Casa – we find a most well appointed, beautiful place near a local village, 60 CUCs for the two rooms and a good breakfast, in fact they offer a nice meal for a further 12 CUCs a head, really good food and well worth it.




The next day we book spaces on a catamaran that takes us to a deserted tropical island where we can snorkel, have a free lunch and an open bar as we sunbath the afternoon away. A good days outing.



Ah, that's the life...

Shadebathing, it was really hot!

But the iguanas seemed to like it (he was two and a half feet long!)



We actually snorkelled off the boat on coral outcrops - high fish density as usual!

Matt lets his primitive caveman urges come to the fore and attacks a coconut with a couple of rocks before presenting Amy with rum in a coconut.





Finally a shot of us leaving the island and heading for home. We depart Trinidid at 4pm and I just get to the motorway when the heavens open with thunderstorm downpourings. The rain is awful and awesome. I drive back for the next 5 and a half hours down the middle lane of three lanes just able to see the white line to the right and left of me. I am somewhat fatigued when we finally arrive back at the boat, the rain stops about 30 minutes before we arrive! We had also had to slow down for roaring flames almost engulfing the motorway as sugar cane had been set on fire – probably by lightning.



This finished a bit prematurely as my digital data collapsed on my phone - I have bought a US burner phone with 2G of digital data that I was using to blog with whilst on anchor off the Floridian keys (see next blog!) However when I went to top it up with a UK credit card (for 5 Dollars!) I was unable to do so as the online website wanted a five digit zip code. As did the telephone support <sigh> Anyway, here I am, a few days later. updating the update after visiting a store in person and paying the 5 dollars in cash.

So Cuba... I reflected on the country in my last blog (Cuba 6) but in summary. I really enjoyed my time here, the sailing on the South coast is the best in the Caribbean, the beaches, the coral reefs, the fish life. The infrastructure for being a tourist in the country is very difficult if you are an independent traveller (ok if you are resort based though). If you persevere you can succeed. Getting food is difficult because they do it differently - the supermarkets do not have fresh produce Meat, groceries, bread or eggs. And are weak in their range of produce. Once you know to search out the outside markets and back of vans and bicycles it gets easier. You need local knowledge but people will help you. Using taxis or public transport is difficult but it does exist. Hiring cars and getting anything specific you will have to ask a local and many do not speak very good English. It is not a very cheap country and you will pay "tourist prices" because the alternative cheaper options are too much hassle to track down. Nonetheless, a fascinating county, busy being itself. The people are universally cheerful. I do not see why America does not trade with them. It would surely be to America's benefit. If America can trade with China then why not Cuba. History and smarting pride perhaps. I am minded by a UN resolution to remove tariffs that was voted almost unanimously... only 3 countries voted against - the US and two small "dependent" countries in the Pacific. Perhaps some day...

Meanwhile I have made it to America and am moving up the Florida coast. The weather gets serious thunderstorms and lightning and John joins me. See the next blog.

Cuba 6 Havana, Habana, Have and Have not


Do not underestimate the cunning of man when he needs to get into his coconut - to enhance his rum drinking!

After settling Shadowmere into her berth in Hemingway Marina I am introduced to Josh. A taxi driver and fixer, he gets me a gas cylinder with an American fitting and an American gas regulator. The marina staff wire up my 110V autotransformer to the electric and I have mains electric again. (Thank you Screwfix for getting me the autotransformer for £60 – about a twentieth the price of a marine power supply). 

Josh takes me up to the airport and Shirley arrives after taking an hour to get through customs – carrying a second hand autopilot controller and various glues and chemicals with no problem. She also has a new ensign for Shadowmere.

 This is what 8000 miles does to a flag

Nice new one - thanks Shirley

Whilst waiting for Rachel, Matt and Amy to arrive we visit the Hemingway Yacht Club – premises on the Marina site. The marina site is huge in fact, it has 4 long canals all parallel with strips of land between them – housing a hotel and several restaurants and cafes as well as a couple of shops – the supermarket has about 30 types of thing in it you get 10 feet of shelving all loaded with one type of pasta. It does have beer and there is a butchers that has cooked ham and cheese (and ice cream…) one of the other shops sells cigars and rum. What’s not to like?

The yacht club has an interesting building, we meet a lovely Canadian couple a few boats down from us that I had met very briefly when travelling along the North coast towards Havana – Mary and David in Wandering Rose.



Shirley and I went into Havana to await Rachel’s arrival by bus and we sit in a café with a lovely Jazz singer, she had eyes that sparkled and told a story – she looked at me and winked at Shirley, I wonder what the story was…



Rachel arrives next and brings hats for herself and Shirley
When the Rachel, Matt and Amy arrive we have some Rum, some of us smoke some cigars or cigarillos, some enjoy these some do not. Rum is best drunk out of coconuts of course – an American called Chris had stopped by with Shirley and I a few days earlier and opened a coconut husk using a machete, we had then drunk rum with coconut water with him, nice!
I used more mundane tools, but did succeed – see later for Matt’s attempts using rocks!

 From that big husk comes quite a small coconut - these two were just lying on the path  - the marina is full of coconut trees
 Success
 Getting close to rum time
 Note the half coconut on the table
 Rachel does sophisticated quite well...
Well.... hmmm.
We also engaged in more esoteric activity – Amy and I play Matt at Chess

I can think you can tell from the look on our faces that Matt is screwed… – to be fair he did give us Rook and Queen odds.

We visit the capital – and see the capital building, an impressive structure

And of course we see many beautiful old buildings and cars.













We relax for a coffee, lots of live music about – good musicians too.


Havana is a city of two halves – if you arrive into a hotel you will probably only visit the old town, and the better parts of the old town, maybe you will take an excursion to see specific things – like the Havana club rum museum that I cover later. Also if you arrive in Cuba to a resort you will probably not leave the resort much as it has everything you need and can conveniently organise anything you ask for. Our experience as independent travellers is that it is much more difficult to get things done. Everything is difficult, buying food is organised slightly opaquely – supermarkets do not do fresh food, just a few varieties of bottles, tins and packets of long life stuff. Butchers are few and far between and don’t carry a variety of produce. Fresh vegetables and fruit, or eggs can be obtained – if you know where the backstreet markets are and when they open. There are very few bakeries or pastry shops. (I saw one that sold out its bread every morning early). Public transport was tricky too – there are four different types of bus and three or four different types of taxi. You could pay a few coins, a CUC (about a pound) or 20 CUC for the same journey.

It would probably help if you spoke Spanish. Having said all that Cuba has the best tropical Islands, beaches and reefs in the Caribbean that I have seen, stunning scenery. And the town of Havana has many, many lovely old buildings, parts are majestic.

We did also enter a maze of small streets were a lot of locals lived and clearly a very poor part of town. All capitals have these of course. Counterbalanced by taking a wrong bus and touring the suburbs for 50 minutes exposed us to vast numbers of very nice, large houses (as well as streets full of 15 foot wide single storey buildings and dozens of street eating places) – It was dark, so no photographs of that excursion unfortunately.



Of course there are lots of cars and taxis




We also visit an old castle museum at the port of Havana


We also visit the Caf̩ Paris and have the worst waiter service we have ever experienced, and food delivery that missed a meal and was wrong. I think they modelled it on the French waiters of world renown 50 years ago. In contrast we visit a modern caf̩ bar called Restaurante Tabarish Рit had a Russian feel to it.

We often judged places in Cuba on their toilets, often they were clean but the real test was if it had toilet seats, soap and paper provided (always travel with some toilet paper in your pocket!) The Tabarish was thoroughly modern and Western (and had seats, soap and paper in its spotless loos) Recommended

We saw this interesting entrance to a jazz club but it was unfortunately shut. In fact Havana is fairly dead after 10pm so I suppose lack of tourists does have an effect. I am amazed at some shops that have staff waiting to serve someone and might have complete days when no-one comes into the shop. I suppose the government can afford the loss of income in one area if it can make up for it in others. It is not efficient.

We also visit the Floridida Bar where Hemingway drank Daquiri. As I look like Hemingway it seems only fair that we drink Daquiri in his honour.



Tres chic, all three ladies! (Photos courtesy of Rachel and her camera - thanks R )

We also visit the Hemingway Rum Museum – recommended.


I like the old wooden machines for pressing sugar cane to get the juice out and also the old barrel making machines that the coopers would have used





The real star of the tour is a scale model of the distillery – complete with a working model train that was used to transport the cut sugar cane quickly to the press and mill.






Remember the scale of a model railway when looking at the photographs below!









Finally the end part of the tour finishes in the bar! The wall of which lists cocktail recipes!



And us (Rachel behind the lens )



We get good sunsets at the Marina. We decide to hire a car for 3 days and travel back to the South coast to visit CienFuego and Trinidad. We visit a beach resort in the Bay of Pigs, the beach at Casilda (the coast at Trinidad) stay in a couple of Casa Particulas (B&B!) and take a 55 foot catamaran to a tropical island for snorkelling, lying on a beach, eating and drinking from a free bar. That’s next.