Destination Exumas

Destination Exumas - January 2013

Having arrived in the Bahamas a month later than usual we took the first weather opportunity to head for the Exuma island chain. We left the Sunrise Resort and Marina at 4 AM armed with our mega flashlight to light up the narrow channel that took us back out to the Northwest Providence Channel.

 The rock lined channel is very intimidating in the dark. You can never be sure if the lights on the markers are working or not.

The Northwest Providence Channel is a major shipping lane between the US and the Bahamas and other destinations to the east. We saw several large cruise ships, container ships and other cargo vessels. We were actually thanked by one of the ships for having an AIS system on board as they needed to ask us change course due to their limited space to manoever.

Empties returning to the US to get more supplies for the islands.

In 60 feet of water I could see little starfish on the bottom as we rounded the Berry Island group. We were truly back in the Bahamas. We had fishing lines out but both of the nibbles we got spit the hooks out before Tom could bring them on board.

Sea clouds.

Prior to leaving Lucaya in the wee hours of the morning another cruiser had hung a note on our life line asking if we would retrieve a jacket from the Clapboard Café where they thought it had been left behind. We would be passing by the Berry Islands where they were going to be anchored for a few days and would come out to pick it up from us.

 Rendezvous at sea. The errant jacket was passed off to its owner’s dinghy of Hoffmans Cay.

Sunset over the Berry Islands.

It was dark when we set our course for Goulding Cay, just off of the west end of New Providence Island. The city lights of Nassau were visible 30 miles away.

We had intended to round the corner at New Providence and continue in the dark along the south side of the island to arrive at Normans Cay in the morning. We had marked some coral heads on our chart plotter two years ago for the planned route but could not remember if there were any other hazards that we needed to watch for. As the winds were light we decided to wait until daylight before proceeding across the Exuma Bank. The south side of New Providence is not an ideal anchorage and we ended up with our anchor and chain mostly in a heap on the rocky bottom. We were a long ways from land and would have to drag quite a distance before it would cause us any problems. As it turned out we could have travelled all night as there were no hazards until we neared the Exuma Islands.

A conch gathering team. The diver in the water brings the conch up from the bottom and passes them to the driver. The water is only about 12 feet deep.

An inter-island work boat.

We passed Normans and dropped the anchor at Shroud Cay for the night and a refreshing swim. Shroud Cay is also part of the Land and Sea Park and a spot that we want to revisit.

A private island near Shroud Cay.

When we reached the park headquarters on Warderick Wells there was a ‘to do’ list waiting for Tom. What started out as a three night stop turned into a week.

 Beached dinghies at the full moon party.

Cuba 2012 - Southeast

Cuba 2012 – Southeast:

As with our previous trip, we spent our time in Cuba land cruising. In the southeast we revisited Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba with new destination sof Holguin, Gibara, El Cobre and the small village of Cauto Cristo. 

As we people watched in one of Holguin’s elegant treed plazas, we were approached by a school teacher who wanted to talk about the state of affairs in his country. He pointed out the line up at the Coppelia ice cream store as an example of good quality products not being accessible to all Cubans. We asked him for a recommendation for a good non-tourist restaurant for lunch and invited him to join us for a meal. While we waited for a table to become available he treated us to a personal walking tour of a nearby historic district of the city that has not yet made it to the top of the restoration list.

Public art is everywhere.

Our new friend gave us a tutorial on the difference between two of Cubas popular street refreshments; guarapo and granizaado. Guarapo is the juice squeezed from sugar cane that is sold at stands called guaraperas while granizado is crushed ice flavored with sweet syrup and usually sold from mobile street carts

International Women’s Day is a major celebration in Cuba. Every woman on the dock in Puerto de Vita was presented with a single, fresh red rose from the marina management. We were also invited to one of several parties in the village that night. A boom box was set up on the open air stage and a pot of mystery contents was brewing over an open fire nearby. A small crowd of girls and women gathered and the dancing began. The mystery meal, which turned out to be a flavorful vegetable stew, was dished out and a fancy decorated cake appeared to finish the celebration

Holguin’s street vendors were out in full force in honour of International Womens Day.

The autopista from Holguin to Bayamo passes through several villages. Cauto Cristo appeared to have opportunities for lunch without going too far off the main road.

Guarapo was on the lunch menu at this guarapera.

 Besides having  lunch our travelling companion was able to have some footwear repaired while she waited barefoot on the street …

 … and Tom got his hair cut for about 80 cents.

As we passed through other villages we saw …

… swimming lessons in progress …

 … fresh leaf lettuce for sale …

… strings of mandarin oranges in season.

In Bayamo, our casa particular host, Arturo, told us that the three room maximum has been eliminated for casa owners as one of many recent economic changes that have taken place in Cuba. Arturo was in the process of renovating the building next door that he had acquired to increase his number of rooms to six.

Posters publicizing the Pope’s upcoming visit were in abundance when we arrived in Cuba. Also advertised was a major anniversary of the Iglesia de la Caridad del Cobre, one of the locations in and around Santiago de Cuba where Benedict XVI was expected to make an appearance. We made a point of planning our trip to the Santiago area to NOT coincide with the papal visit to avoid having to deal with potential crowds, road closures and scarcity of accommodations. Juana, the older of the two sisters that we hired to do our laundry, is a staunch catholic. We promised that we would bring back some souvenirs for her.

The Iglesia is home to the Virgen de la Caridad , an icon that was reportedly recovered from the sea in 1606 by some nearly shipwrecked sailors who were rewarded with calm seas after rescuing it. Over the years the icon has become an important religious symbol in Cuba representing both the Catholic Virgin of Charity and Santeria’s Ochun or goddess of love.

The grounds and building were spotless. The famous golden statue is on display high above the altar.

On arrival in Santiago de Cuba we went directly to the same casa particular near the city center where we had stayed the year before only to find that it was already occupied. As always seems to be the case in Cuba, we were quickly shown to another casa nearby that had space available.

 The view from our casa particular lit by the early morning sunshine.The Cathedral on Parque Cespedes (far left) was in the final stages of a face lift in light of the papal visit just three weeks away.

Parque Cespedes is a great spot for people watching.

 From the balcony of the Hotel Casa Granda we were able to enjoy the performers without constsntly being hit up for tips.These two guys were my favorites.

We visited a museum in Santiago where one of the guides treated us to an impromptu rendition one of a song used to motivate the revolutionaries. The original recording was on display. Outside we met a former doctor who had been incarcerated for several years after giving a less than diplomatic response to a question about the state of certain health issues in the province.

 There were dance lessons and excellent late night entertainment at the Casa de las Tradiciones.

Evidence that the Canadian banking industry had a presence in Cuba prior to the revolution.

Coffee to go. No double double here.

On our final day in Santiago de Cuba we drove out to the marina and Castillo del Morro, a Spanish fortress built in the 1600’s, both about 8 km south of the city.

At the marina we met up with two boats that we had met in the Bahamas and were making brief stops before heading further south. The marina itself was in much the same condition as last year – in need of a good face lift.

The fortress was almost deserted. We wandered through the maze of rooms and enjoyed the magnificent views; south out to sea, west across the channel to Cayo Granma and north to Bahia de Santiago and the marina.

                              The fortress was built in the 17^th century to ward off pirate attacks.

                                       Several ornate canons line the road leading to the fortress.

With one day left on the rental car when we returned to Puerto de Vita we had time for a day trip to the fishing village of Gibara. The map book that came with the rental indicated a road that looked shorter that driving back to Holguin then north to the coast.

The map is pretty accurate with respect to the location of the roads but it falls short when it comes to describing the quality of the driving surface.

Cooling off.

When we arrived at the village it was soon obvious to us that this is not a place frequented by large numbers of tourists. Finding a place for lunch was going to be harder than we expected, that is until we met Leonardo. When we asked Leonardo about a restaurant he told us that his mother has a casa particular and suggested that maybe she could make lunch for us. He took us to meet her and have a look at what she had to offer. We agreed that we would return for lunch after a walk about the village.

 The ladies in this small cigar factory greeted us with smiles as we walked past the open windows.

After lunch Leonardo took us to see his house. He felt fortunate to have a place of his own with his wife and young son. He explained to us that Cuba the divorce rate is very high because most young couples do not have a choice but to live with their parents. The small two room house where he lives belongs to his aunt who did not need the space. It has a small yard where he can keep a few chickens. He talked to us about his dreams for the future. He is studying several languages (mostly self -taught using multiple dictionaries) to improve his chances of being able to work at the small hotel that is being restored to increase tourism in the area. Eventually he would like to have his own casa particular.

This is the view from the bar at the Mirador del Gibara – Los Caneyes where Leonardo works. It is open 24 hours and he is able to study during the long night shifts when it is not too busy.

We were honoured to be invited to Alexi’s home for dinner with his wife Cecilia and their children on our last night in Puerto de Vita. This was another example of the changes in Cuba since our last visit. Alexi is an employee of the marina and fraternizing with the guests used to be discouraged. Inviting them to your home was not allowed. Now it is possible as long as permission is requested and granted in advance.

Alexi and Cecilia preparing our meal.

 Tom gets painting lessons in Spanish from Maria.

I'm Back - Mid January 2013

I’m Back – Mid January 2013

OK already. It has been a long time since my last entry. Sometimes retirement life gets in the way of writing.

Yes, Polar Pacer is still out and about and the adventure continues. 

We have just cleared into the Bahamas for the fourth time after a rather bumpy ride across the Gulf Stream from the Florida Keys. We left from the northern end of Key Largo via Angelfish Creek and pointed our bows east towards Bimini. The plan was to get close to Bimini, turn north, round North Rock and turn southeast across the banks to Bullocks Harbour in the Berry Islands. We expected the trip to take around 24 hours.

 One of several protected side creeks off of Angelfish where it is possible to stage for a nighttime departure. We stayed at Pumpkin Key and left early in the afternoon.

After several hours of being uncomfortable with little chance of the conditions changing in our favor we modified the plan and Sunrise Marina at Lucaya became our new destination. We had had a pleasant experience there two years ago and were not disappointed this time either. Dockage rates are $1.00 per foot (less 20% with proof of Boat US membership) with nominal charges for water and electricity. There are a Batelco office and grocery store within walking distance and taxis are available to take you into the cruise ship area of Lucaya.

We were greeted on arrival by Bumble Bee, another Prout Snowgoose that we had recently made acquaintances with.

www.sunriseresortandmarina.com

After conch fritters and a cheeseburger washed down with Sands beer (a bargain at 2 for $5.00) we wandered through the maze of straw market stalls and souvenir shops of the Port Lucaya Marketplace. With no cruise ships in the harbour the place was almost deserted. Of course a ten degree drop in temperature from the previous day didn’t help much either.

The unique paintings in a small art gallery caught my eye through the window. Inside we met the artist, Leo Brown, self-proclaimed “Impressionist of the Bahamas”. Leo was eager to talk about his technique of applying thick slashes of paint to his canvas with a knife. He gave us his polished patter explaining the symbolism in his series of uniquely Bahamian scenes representing the different forms of energy and the limitless possibilities of what women can accomplish. He was apparently ‘discovered’ by some millionaire who recognized that he had talent and offered to pay for him to attend he choice of art schools. I would love to be an owner of any one of his original works but the $6000 price range just does not fit the budget.

www.bahamasvacationguide.com/leobrown

Ready and waiting for the next cruise ship arrival.

With a late start to the season we are anxious to get to the Exumas soon and hope to be at Little Farmers for the 5F Festival. Our stay in Lucaya will be a short one.

Considering the amount of water that we took over the bows we felt lucky to have only discovered two minor leaks. One from the front window over my feet when I sleep and one around the new bow locker hatch where the reefing line jammed under the lip of the hatch and must have lifted it slightly. Both leaks needed to be repaired before we head out for another overnight trip. 

 Tom’s solution to the reefing line problem. He manufactured the bracket holding the block to the stanchion manufactured from a piece of stainless that he obtained from the boatyard next door.

We discovered that the leak over my feet was due to our new (fall 2011) front windows were starting to pull away from the hull at one corner. The only short term solution was to drill some holes and put in a few screws then apply a liberal coat of sicoflex to the leak area. Sicoflex has a short shelf life and fortunately the special order tube (most places do not keep it in stock) on board was still good.

Before 

After

Stay tuned for some catch up posts on Cuba 2012, a summer camping adventure and New Years in Key West.