A Taste of Cuba

Article and photos by JOHN SCHELLENBACH

This winter CYC member Phil Boardman and I joined a group of sailors from Chicago for the Conch Republic Cup. Our crew consisted of members from Chicago Yacht Club, Jackson Park Yacht Club, Columbia Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club. The allure of visiting an island which has been inaccessible for 50 years was very attractive.

The schedule of the CRC was half racing and half party. To me, it looked like a tri-state race on steroids.

KEY WEST TO VARADERO

The first race was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 28. Due to winds from the south at 20 – 30 knots, it was postponed 24 hours until 5 p.m. on Friday.

We left the dock Friday afternoon, excited to see how the Bella Maggio, our chartered Salina 48, would perform. We had seen the America’s Cup catamarans racing in San Francisco, and were hopeful that our high performance catamaran would deliver an equally exhilarating ride.

Well, it turned out that our catamaran wasn't very high performance. There were no foils, no spinnaker and nothing was made of carbon fiber. Instead, we had air conditioning, a freezer and a washer/dryer. We moved along at about the same speed as my T10 Mutiny would have sailed in similar conditions.

We had a perfectly timed start, and were the first multihull off the line. Unfortunately, our lead didn’t last long. The privately owned boats behind us hoisted their spinnakers and rolled past us. We ran a barber hauler for our genoa and made the best of the equipment on board.

The seas were fairly smooth and we sailed along, a little east of the rhumb line, where the wind was forecasted to be stronger. Like on Mutiny, we cooked dinner on the grill. After a couple watch rotations, the sun came up and we could see Cuba in the distance. We were now in Cuban waters!

VARADERO

The Varadero peninsula is full of resorts. Marina Gaviota, which was recently constructed and has very nice amenities, was a fun area where all the sailors could hang out together.

Because of our delayed start, we lost a day planned for Varadero. There were buoy races on Sunday, but we decided to skip them to do some exploring. Some of the crew went to the beach,

some went to the swimming pool, I went to the town of Varadero at the base of the peninsula to see some of Cuba that was not part of the resort.

VARADERO TO HAVANA

A forecast of light wind had us decide to skip the second leg of the race and instead leave Sunday evening for Havana.

Before we left, we went to the awards dinner to collect the trophy for our second place finish in the Key West to Varadero leg.

After dinner, we cleared customs and headed to Havana. As the sun rose Monday morning, we could see Havana in the distance.

HAVANA

Hemingway Marina is much older than Marina Gaviota. It is nice, but in need of a facelift. After getting settled, we heading off to find the villa I had booked on Airbnb, which proved to be a bit of an adventure.

The villa was in the neighborhood decorated by artist Jose Fuster, known as Fusterland, where the buildings are famous for their bright mosaics. Without the internet, video games, or cable television, the Cubans were forced to hang out on porches and talk to their neighbors. The sounds of children playing soccer in the street and laughter from the adults enjoying a few cervesas permeated the air. It must be terrible living without technology…

We then headed to Hotel Nacional, home of the Mojito. An observation I made while in Cuba was the number of different ways people make Mojitos. Even when in the same establishment, different bartenders had different methods, but everyone used Havana Club rum, mint and lime. At Hotel Nacional, it was mint, lime, raw sugar, soda water, light rum, a dark rum topper and a dash of bitters.

We spent the next day exploring Havana. First, we went souvenir shopping in Plaze de Armas where people were selling relics of the Cuban revolution and other antiques. In one of the booths, I saw a pin from Superbowl XX, which I found amusing. (And a bit upsetting, that a pin from an event I clearly remember was mixed in with a bunch of antiques.)

We then headed to the Havana Club Distillery for a tour of how Havana Club rum is made. After our tour, we stopped for lunch at Dos Hermanos across the street from the distillery. The food was a much needed improvement from our previous dining experiences, and the live music was excellent. The singer was very entertaining and bid farewell to us personally when we departed. continued on next page

After lunch, we spent a few hours wandering an old sea port terminal that had been converted into a place for artists to sell their work. There are many very talented artists in Cuba. I bought three paintings, but could have happily spent much more time and money.

After exploring downtown Havana, we returned to the harbor for a party at the Club Nautico Internacional Hemingway. Commodore Escrich gave a very enthusiastic speech thanking the racers and expressing his optimism for improved relations between our countries. Burgees were exchanged, followed by a pig roast.

After dinner, we went to Hotel Habana Libra for live music on the rooftop stage. The hotel was formerly a Hilton opened a year before the Cuban revolution The building features a stage and dance floor with a roof that opens. We watched some very impressive dancing to lively Latin pop music under the stars.

HAVANA TO KEY WEST

The start window for the final race was between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. By the time we cleared customs and motored to the start area, it was 3:45 p.m. We recorded our time and sailed toward Key West. The wind was out of the East around 17 knots. The gulf current flows from West to East at about 3 knots. The sea conditions when the wind and current oppose each other can be challenging. Unlike ocean waves with a nice swell, these were choppy waves like on Lake Michigan, but with a much longer fetch.

As we continued toward Key West, the wind built to 24 knots. We went from our first to second reef, but the boat was still launching off waves and crashing into the troughs. Our catamaran creaked and groaned as it crashed through the 810 foot waves. One such wave pushed the boat about 10 feet sideways and knocked a crewmember standing next to the helm off his feet.

After a few hours of futile attempts to sleep, and constant wondering how strong the glass escape hatches in the bottom of the boat were, I went up to relieve the skipper. We were about halfway to Key West. We had a brief discussion, and agreed on something that neither of us would usually decide –we were going too fast! We put in the third reef, the boat calmed down and our ride became much more comfortable. We also slowed down a couple knots, so my competitive instinct immediately questioned whether we should shake the reef.

As we approached Key West, the seas calmed and we had a nice sail to the finish. We radioed to customs and were told to go to the airport immigration the next day, and spent the rest of the week enjoying Key West, which isn’t a bad consolation for the time missed in Cuba. We were awarded a DNS for the final leg of the race since we missed the start window, but I was happy to have the extra time in Havana. Despite only finishing one race, we ended up 3rd overall in our section.

CONCLUSION

All of the Cubans we met were very friendly and seemed excited to welcome visitors from the United Sates. From what I could tell, there was not a lot of crime despite some areas of Havana that looked pretty dilapidated. There was a lot of work being done in the old part of the city to brighten up the appearance.

Still, there are signs of the tension that existed between the countries. During a taxi ride, we drove past the recently reopened US Embassy. I asked what the building had been used for while the embassy was closed. The driver said there had been a pro-American organization which had put signs in the windows with propaganda against the Cuban government. The Cuban government had built a field of flag poles to block the view of the building.

The Cuban people have a strong sense of pride in their country. It appears that the pride in the past is also held by the government. As a result, there is a tendency to preserve items that make the country unique. From what I can tell, this extends to state owned items such as buildings and landmarks, as well as more personal aspects such as cars, music and traditions. Hopefully, this pride will help protect the special quality that makes Cuba unique while relations with the US are restored.

The Conch Republic Cup had some kinks which need to be smoothed out, but overall did a great job of providing a way for a large group of sailors to visit Cuba. I look forward to visiting the country again, and hope that improved relations between the countries will help improve the lives of the Cuban people without losing some of their enjoyment of life as it was in a simpler time.