(Illustration credit: Marianna Baldo)

December 2024 – January 2025

Our plan for cruising in Cuba was to sail from east to west along the south coast which would put the prevailing wind either on our beam or behind us. The most logical port of entry would be Santiago de Cuba but I had read some discouraging things about the anchorage there -oil slick in the water and air pollution leaving a stubborn yellow deposit on the deck, and no doubt some deposits in lungs as well. In addition, it would be a tight angle to sail there from Port Antonio in Jamaica. Instead we had thought we would sail north west from Port Antonio on the Jamaican north coast to Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba. The downside would be that we would miss the eastern end of Cuba. Phil was keen to maximize our coverage of Cuba and we had heard some recent positive reports about the friendliness of the authorities in Santiago and reasonable water quality -it seemed the oil slick problem had been solved. But the air pollution from nearby industry was still an issue. The clincher was the weather -there was a good window and while it would be windward sailing, it would only be 24 hours. Our friends on Anthem were also keen so Santiago de Cuba it was. As it turned out, we had an easy overnight sail there arriving around 9 in the morning. 

Once tied up to the dock, the clearance process began and, while everyone was very friendly, it certainly took some time. The doctor visited dockside and once satisfied that we had no symptoms of illness or disease and had no pets on board, took us to her office where we completed various forms and the guarda fonterra (coast guard) also processed our entry. Then it was off to the marina office where a very friendly and helpful woman named Elizabeth arranged for our stay in their anchorage. Immigration would have to wait she explained until the right person arrived in the marina. Back on the boat still dockside, we were inspected twice by customs -once by the officers, and the second time by a sniffer dog who seemed happy enough doing his job, but who himself had seen better days. Cuban customs are concerned about drones, guns, drugs and stowaways. Once the formalities were done, we anchored out and had a snooze. 

The Santiago anchorage was some miles from the actual city and so we asked Elizabeth to organise a taxi into the city. The taxi was one of those  legendary old cars in Cuba -might be a romantic notion but what a bone rattling ride it was! There was virtually no suspension left which made for a very uncomfortable time for our friend Adrian who was recovering from a very nasty dose of shingles. 

As soon as we pulled up to the kerb, we had a small posse of street “hustlers” wanting to sell us SIM cards and change money, both of which we needed but we were very cautious about using their services. We knew that it was common place to exchange money “on the street” as opposed to the banks as the exchange rate was orders of magnitude better. 

We found our way to the Cubicel shop, Cuba’s main internet provider, with a chorus of hustlers telling us that Cubicel did not have SIM cards. We didn’t get into the shop as there was a long queue and the security guard on the door confirmed that there were no SIM cards. Who knows if she was on the hustlers pay roll? Anyway it seemed that if we wanted internet, we would have to do business with our mates. So a deal was done -I bought a SIM card, clearly pre-used, from one guy for US$30 (!) and then one of his mates adjusted the settings in my phone, put some data on the card, and I was connected again. The process for topping up the data was explained to us but we were extremely dubious that it would work. However, it worked exactly as they said it would when we found a top up “shop” a few days later. So while the SIM card was overpriced, it didn’t turn out to be a scam. In fact we learnt later that the SIM cards normally sold to tourists are only valid for one month but the card we had must have been a local one as we were able to top it up right beyond the one month point. 

Now the money exchange was another matter. We were approached in a park where we had been eating our lunch by a couple of guys keen to exchange some US$. We agreed on the rate, 320 Cuban pesos per dollar, substantially better than the official bank rate of 32 per dollar. As we wanted to change $100, this was a lot of pesos to count in 500 peso notes. We knew we had to be careful with the counting, as we had heard about others being short changed at this point. So I took the money and counted it out into Phil’s hands and it came up short. Then the money changer got me to count it again, but this time into his hands. Phil was watching like a hawk. It came up short again so the guy made up the difference and handed us back the wad of notes. The police were nearby so as soon as the deal was finished, the money changer vanished. When we got back to the boat and counted the money again , we were somehow missing 10,000 pesos (about US$30), even accounting for the cash we had spent that day. Moral of the story is don’t let the money back into their hands once you have counted it! 

We spent a pleasant day wondering around the city, taking in the atmosphere, enjoying the architecture and marvelling at the old cars. We were surprised by the cleanliness of the city and how well dressed the people were. There were queues outside the ice cream shop so some people clearly have money for little luxuries. 

There were some gorgeous buildings in Santiago de Cuba

Not everyone gets to live in a beautiful building though

Not much on the shelf in the pharmacy, and on the left is one way to move people around

Some of the old cars

The former Moncada Barracks still bearing the bullet marks from the armed attack led by Fidel Castro in 1953. The attack failed but it marked the start of the Cuban revolution. Fidel was arrested and sent to Mexico where he recruited other revolutionaries and planned his next moves.

We spent a very pleasant day exploring the area around the Santiago anchorage. There was an old fort to visit, San Pedro de al Roca Castle, and also Granma island. The province of Granma was named after the boat in which Fidel Castro, and others, arrived to Cuba from Mexico in 1956.

The walk around to San Pedro Castle – we found out later that we missed the turn off which is why we had to cross this rather delipidated bridge.

San Pedro Castle and a very elaborate Spanish canon

Granma Island, and a typical house on that island

Unfortunately, the Santiago anchorage is near an industrial area and boats tend to get covered in yellow spots of acid rain. We could also sense the air pollution ourselves so we were not keen to stay there any longer than necessary.

Looking in one direction, the anchorage seems rather nice but…. look in another and here is the offending factory

After getting the “despacho”(cruising permit) from the guarda fonterra, we headed off to cruise along the “foot” of Cuba on the south coast. It was explained to us that we would need to present our despacho to the guarda fonterra in each anchorage where we stopped. We were in company with our friends on Anthem, and a lovely German couple, Norbert and Sabine, who we had met in Santiago. 

With our new friends Norbert and Sabine, and long time friend Marianna, farewelling Elizabeth the very friendly and helpful marina manager at Santiago

We stopped at two villages along this coast where our plans for Christmas in particular were frustrated by the officials. We had arrived at the first village, Chivirico, in the afternoon and had gone ashore for a chat with the fishermen and a walk through the small town. The next morning, we woke up to find a guarda fonterra standing on the shore staring sternly out at us. We gathered that he wanted us to come ashore to see him as he did not have a dinghy. We later found out that he had arrived by bus from the closest guarda fonterra station in Pillon. So we dutifully went ashore and he very politely told us that this anchorage is only meant to be used by us as a refuge from bad weather, and that we were not allowed ashore. We didn’t mention our sojourn the previous day and managed to convince him to let us stay for the night and depart the next day. 

In the Chivirico anchorage (left), and lots of horse and carts on the road in the village

The Chivirico village had a mix of small houses, and also a couple of rather stark apartment buildings

Onto the next village, Marea del Portillo. By now it was Dec 23 and we planned to stay in this anchorage for Christmas. The next morning, Christmas Eve, a very young guarda fonterra came out to the boats, rowed by a buxom local woman, Josephina. We had heard that she is very helpful, can do laundry and find fruit and vegetables for us. All was looking promising until the guarda had to make a phone call to his boss who told him in no uncertain terms that we could only stay for two nights and that we were not to go ashore. This timing would have us underway to the next anchorage on Christmas Day! Not at all what we had planned. So once we realised that we were not going to be able to talk our way out of this one, we lifted anchor and moved onto Pillon. Fortunately this was fairly close and we were settled in that anchorage by mid afternoon. As there is a guarda fonterra station here and they could keep an eye on us, we were allowed ashore and could stay for a few nights. However, there were still restrictions there as we were told we could not all go ashore together – one person had to remain on each boat at all times.

Forbidden shores – our view of Marea del Portillo

The people in both Chivirico and Pillon were definitely poorer than those we saw in Santiago. While the housing was basic, the villages were very neat and clean. It wouldn’t be so pleasant in the wet season as the dirt paths between the houses would no doubt become very muddy. Unless they had mosquito nets, there would be little protection from those biting insects. The people seemed cheerful and no one was obviously starving. The traffic on the roads was probably the most mixed we have seen anywhere -pedestrians, horses and carts, donkeys, motorbikes (notably some were electric), bicycles, and some old cars and trucks. 

Around the town in Pillon

We had a lovely Christmas Day together on Norbert and Sabine’s boat. Food and drink was shared over the course of a very leisurely lunch and simple and creative gifts were exchanged. There was much bonhomie as we made the most of being good friends together in this unusual location for a day we would normally be sharing with our families. 

Our Christmas menu, beautifully drawn by Marianna

Santa came for Norbert and Sabine

Marianna and Phil in the Christmas spirit, and Adrian models one of his presents

After recovering from Christmas, we moved on for an overnight at Capo Cruz before rounding the western corner of the “foot” to begin cruising through the many islands dotted along the southern coast. 

The first cayo, Cayo Granada, was a real disappointment and left us wondering how others could spend weeks idling in this area. It was a mangrove island with a tiny sand spit -at least it looked like sand but we quickly realised it was soft sandy smelly mud. We thought that maybe snorkelling would redeem this cayo but, as might be predicted, visibility was very poor. 

We moved onto Cayo Bergantines -ahh now this is the type of Cuban island about which we had heard -crystal clear water, sandy beach and fine snorkelling. And not another boat or person in sight. 

Beautiful Cayo Bergantines

Lots of interesting natural things washed up on the shore: very pretty sea urchin shells, the frame of a soft coral (nothing soft about it!), and a delicate white sea plant of some kind

We continued in a generally north west direction inside the protection of the reef that runs off shore along most of this coast, enjoying champagne sailing on flat green water with the wind aft of the beam. We stopped at four more Cayos, some prettier than others.

Phil loves his coconut drinks. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite get up to the top of this tree to replenish the stocks

Our friends on Anthem caught up with us and we enjoyed a celebratory lunch together on New Years Day.

Later, Norbert and Sabine caught up to us, as did Sven -a German solo sailor, and we all enjoyed a very pleasant sundowner around a fire on the beach at Cayo Cuervo. 

Idyllic beach at Cayo Cuervo

We arrived in Cienfuegos, where we were planning to base ourselves for some land travel, in time to celebrate Phil’s birthday.

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