The lighthouse resembles a rocket, maybe Castro’s little
joke for the Americans? Or maybe the designer read TinTin…
Next day I sail onwards towards Cayo Largo – I
sail inside the reef which theoretically means less sea. I still get a sea that
rolls me as I am on a dead run, I am in 6 metres of water most of the trip – or
less, spooky how clear it is.
Being an engineer who has studied astronavigation and knows
how high the sun is, I sit and ponder how I can judge the depth by looking at
the shadow of the genoa on the seabed and estimate its width relative to its
distance from the boat. Passes the time… singlehanded helming with no autopilot
is boring. Shadowmere has a long keel so I can lock the helm and dash down and
light the kettle, dash back to the wheel, when I hear its whistle I can dash
down and make coffee and dash back, I can dash down and make a sandwich or a
cabbage and pickled onion salad too! I keep a bottle in the cockpit but I won’t
say why…
The water is so clear I have an exciting moment
when two large black shapes come roaring in from the side – Sharks I think, but
it is my friendly dolphins, they don’t jump but come and go for the next hour.
The marina has charter boats and dive boats, there are 3 or
4 cruisers passing through and there are sheltered anchorages with another 3 or
4 boats in them. Pire the dockmaster is very friendly and speaks good English (pire1958@yahoo.es or pire58@nauta.cu )– as do the office staff.
The approach is well buoyed although neither of my
electronic charts are much use, the pilot book by Nigel Calder is better
although he talks about a white sand bank incorrectly, stay in either of the
buoyed channel and keep your eyes open and you will get in successfully. The
free online (downloadable) cruising guides by Frank Virgintino also cover it
very well. I crept in using an East route, it would have been less stressful
coming in the main channel – saved a mile but I went at half speed so it saved
no time. The marina has docks and lots
of room, tie up and Pire and/or the Guarda will visit. I mistakenly went around
to a commercial dock a quarter of a mile away and walked back to the marina as
I had intended to anchor. In the marina office they got a phone call from the
docks and I walked back and moved the boat to the marina – suited as I needed
to re-glue a patch on the tender anyway. Everyone was very nice about the
mistake… silly foreigners
A lovely place suits tourists. It has Wifi near the etecsa kiosk or you can
get a bus for 5 CUCs to any of the hotels and they will get you a taxi back for
5 CUCs.
The marina complex has shops and a bar as well as some
tourist attractions.
Despite being an island a few miles long it has an
international airport and fleets of buses to take tourists to and from the
airport, the hotel and the marina complex and the beaches – which are superb –
I have only seen then from seaward.
The
bar has its terrace set over the sea and they light the water at night – I had
spotted large fish in the marina and notice they are attracted to the lights at
night – they are 3 to 4 feet long and I
was told they are Tarpoon
I
ask at the diveshop if they have dives available – they are booked out for the
next two days but I am put on a cancelation list and get a dive on the second
day
They
had promised a 30m dive but the wind was up and we had to go on the shallow
side of the reef – back to coral gardens. But the fish life were interesting
There are some new fish for me too – these are quite exotic
and BIG
She is about 2 foot long!
Is this my best side?
The exotica continues, I spot a crawfish (they call them
lobster here although they have no big claws like UK lobsters) Unfortunately I
catch the dive leader’s eye and point it out – he tinkles his little bell and
the other 11 divers on this dive come roaring in with selfie sticks, within
seconds the silt obscures the crawfish and no-one gets a good picture.
I notice later when a diver comes up to the
leader, puts her hand up like a fin from Jaws and points. I am second to the
photo-shoot this time. If you can’t beat them join them
My first shark! Although the sleepy old thing is about as
docile as a dogfish. He is about 4-5 feet long. He is camera shy and tries to
hide
About as much use as an ostrich playing hide and seek. I did
contemplate grabbing its tail and throwing it as I have done with dogfish – you
grab their tail , they curl around and try and bite you so you whirl it round
and round so centrifugal force keeps it at bay. You then have to hurl it away
from you and it runs and hides… I am less cruel these days, and have a keener
sense of self preservation so I leave it alone. I feel a bit sorry for it too…
See what I mean about divers stirring up crud.
We also come across a Yacht mast – a sobering reminder to
take care in these waters!
And
then our dive boat ties itself to a wreck, it had moved to allow us to move
down current. The leader navigates well. Although the vis is so good it is not
much of a challenge I suppose
We also see this lovely beauty – they are quite shy and move
fast so I had to zoom in a bit to capture them.
Finally a video – you can finally say … Ian McCrum, he
sleeps with the fishes..
The journey continues I am to get diesel at 7:30 am by
taking Shadowmere to a fuel dock a quarter mile away and then will press on.
Diesel is only available then (you prepay the day before in the marina) and you
must not be late!
I then have 23 miles to run to the Canal Del Rosario, a
narrow channel that affords a sheltered anchorage. The next day, I run 38nm to
Ponta Del Este - a small anchorage on the bottom right-hand side of a large
island called the Isla de Juventid. Then 42nm to Caleta Puerto Frances on the
bottom left-hand side and then 19nm around to the Bahai de San Pedro and the
Marina Siguanea where they might have Wifi! That’s the plan, let’s see what
actually happens!