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| Justin, Anthony, Catherine, and Viv enjoying the fresh air |
The ocean swells were coming at the boat at a 45 to 90 degree angle from the wind, which caused the boat to roll, listing and pitching in all directions. Catherine, Viv, and Anthony suffered from a bit of sea sickness for the first 24 hours.
I volunteered to make dinner that first night because the boat was rocking quite a bit (which means that the chef gets thrown around while cooking), and because so many were filling ill (which is aggravated by being inside the cabin). So I made butter chicken while the crew stayed above deck.
We divided the night into 5 watches again, each 3 hours long. Catherine took the first 3 hour shift, which started at 6 pm. Anthony took the 9 pm to 12 am shift. I did 12 am until 3 am. Justin took the next 3 hours. The 6 am until 9 am shift was done by Viv. The remaining 9 hours of the day was alloted informally.
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| Sunset |
Sunday, April 30th was a very quiet and relaxed day. We played cards (Uno and Cambio). I sorted photos for the blog. I tried to read, but ended up napping instead. Justin made pasta for dinner.
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| Viv, Anthony, and Justin taking advantage of some down time |
The passage only took 36 hours, over which time we traveled 240 nautical miles. We arrived in Cuba at 3 am, and we had to sail in circles to kill time so that we could arrive when the marina opened.
On May 1st, we arrived in Puerto de Vita and anchored outside Marina Gaviota at 8:30 am. We played Uno while waiting for the officials to come to the boat.
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| Waiting for officials while under quarantine |
At 10:30, a boat came out to meet us. Only a doctor came on board "Just Dreamin." He was a doctor of tropical medicine and infectious disease and a professor at the University in Holguin. Apparently, the 1st is a holiday and the doctor had come from a party. He checked everyone out, including taking our temperatures. After he said we were all good to go, we dropped the yellow quarantine flag, and we drove to the dock.
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| Coming into the marina |
We had to stern tie in. However, there was no buoy this time, meaning that we had to drop anchor, and then back up the boat between two boats in a slip about 18 ft wide. Our boat is 15 ft wide. We also had 15 knots of wind pushing us sideways. This was our first time stern tying off an anchor.
Justin was at the helm and Anthony was manning the anchor. I was at the stern ready to jump off the boat to the dock if need be to tie off the boat. Viv and Catherine were watching the sides of the boat in case fenders needed to be moved.
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| Anthony manning the anchor |
Justin took the boat upwind of the slip, and turned the boat so that the stern was facing into the wind. We drifted the boat down parallel to the dock until Anthony signaled that the bow was directly halfway between the two boats. Justin kept the boat in place while Anthony dropped anchor. Then, Justin backed up the boat into the wind by a boat length and turned the boat 90 degrees so that the boat was perpendicular to the wind. By using the wind to push us sideways and by moving the boat backwards and forwards a little at a time, Justin pivoted the boat around the anchor until the boat was positioned in front of our slip. He then backed the boat in between the two boats while Anthony let more chain off for the anchor. I tossed the stern ropes to the marina staff to tie off the boat. Viv and Catherine weren't required to do anything. We didn't even need the fenders. The whole maneuver was executed like clockwork. The harbour master and marina staff clapped when we finished. I was so proud of Justin.
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| Justin after his expert stern tie manouver |
Customs and immigration came on board to complete paper work. Two cocker spaniels came on board, one checking for drugs and one checking for explosives. We were finished entry before lunch.
It was amazing! Thanks again for having me!
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