Left Spanish Wells yesterday at 09:00, and as usual the wind not as expected. When out on the opened water very little wind, the forecast said wind around 12 to 14 knots close reach, that give us good speed, but not at all, most time we have been motor-sailing at low rev, doing reasonable progress but occasionally no wind and then progress rather slow. Our hull was full of growth and we have only had time to scrape away about 25% of it, that of course limits our speed as well. The remaining hull cleaning will be done in Bermuda. Sea state not to bad but waves more or less on the nose slowing down progress as well.
So fare we have made 130 nm the first 24 h, where of 68 sailing, Distance to go is 655 nm.
Now sailing with wind just aft of the beam true wind speed ca 10 kn. Three out of four Predict Wind models predict 12 to 14 kn , hope they will be right soon.
First day towards Bermuda
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Cuba
It was with some excitement we arrived to Puerto De Vita, Cuba, one has heard so much about Cuba, both good and bad about sometimes complicated administration. We called up the marina and got a quick response. The harbour master meets up at the jetty and we were very quickly moored and secured. First to enter the boatwas a doctor, asking about where we been and our health, he even token our temperature, and luckily it was OK. Kerstin have had a bad stomach bug with high fewer during our passage, but thanks to Alvedon the fewer was down when the doctor came aboard, more about the doctor and fewer at the end of this blog.
The customs, immigration and drug dog came aboard, everything went very smooth and we could relax after the 330 nm long passage through the windward passage, which can be very tough as the eastern trad-wind, usually blow rather strong and push large waves across, as well as some banks causing strange wave patterns tough to navigate. We had waited for some time in Jamaica for a good weather window and we were rather lucky. It started with ca 12 hours of good sailing, speed exceeding 7 knots, then the wind died out and we had to motor the rest. Usually we are not so happy motoring, but this time we were as the alternative is bashing into + 20 knots and rough sea. Especially as Kerstin did not felt good at all.
The day after arriving we arrange with the very supportive girl Janet who worked at the marina, to call a Taxi for us to get to the nearest town St Lucia to change to some local money.
Immediately on of the rumours about the well-kept America cars that should be common on Cuba materialized. This Ford from 1956 took us to the “town” St Lucia.
Where we saw more ancient transport vehicles
This nice motor cycles
Most locals use horse taxi, probably much cheaper
At the bank, there were many working on the contrary to Swedish banks, and they do have money! which very few banks in Sweden has!!? It is true if you want to get money from a Swedish Bank you must check if the branch “do money”, and if they do you probably have to call in advance to make sure they have cash enough??? That is Sweden today.
The bank in Cuba had cash, two types CUC, for tourists and maybe rich people and CUP for local people. There exchange rate is 24 to 25 CUP for one CUC and one CUC is about 0,93 Euro. If one manages to pay with CUP, the cost is very cheap, but if one pay with CUC the cost is rather high.
We wanted to eat in the village, and the Taxi driver said, you should try the restaurant around the corner it is very good.
We took the chef’s “recommendations”, well I can’t recommend it, in fact the food on Cuba was no hit, in general very over cocked. The cost for the above dish was 17 CUC which is about 16 Euro. The price for a beer was 1,5 CUC. Not to high you might think but given that a local worker earns 15-25 CUC a month plus tokens for rice, bread etc, the price is extremely high. One can barely survive on 15-25 CUC. Now side activities are allowed and encouraged, activities, such as B&B or Casa particular as it is called, Taxi, or gardening for vegetables. Outside each bus station there was people guiding travelers to hotels, Casa Particular or taxis, and for each guest they manage to get, they got a percentage of the revenue. I guess most people have some kind of side activity, else life would be very tough. We talked with one of the guides we meet in the Botanical garden in Havana, he said when he got his first baby, he earned 15 CUC a month, and life was very tough, the only way they manage was through gifts from Cuban relatives living in USA sending cloth and other necessities to them. Now he made better earnings as a guide, but I guess the main income was tip from tourist like us.
Internet is not readily available, but at some areas there are WiFi available, in St Lucia it was on the “Boulevard”
A WiFi moment on the main street in St Lucia together with the locals
Havana
We wanted to visit Havana, the “only” way was Taxi about 60 km to Hulgin, from there 740 km by buss to Havana. The cost for the bus was 44 CUC, so nothing for a Cuban’s with an ordinary salary. After ca 13 hours on the buss we arrived late evening to Havana. We have been told that there will be plenty of people there wanting you stay at their “Casa”, but no one was there to offer any “Casa.” When asking at the information desk, they did not understand what we wanted, so we stood there like a “stupid cousin from the country side” what to do? We asked a person we heard on the buss spoke some English and they just askes around randomly, and a person came by and say follow me. Which we did and ca 5 minutes’ walk from the bus station, he pointed at a house and there we found a nice room for 25 CUC, breakfast for 3 CUC. It felt as a relive to finally have a place to stay and rest.
Breakfast at the Havana “Casa”. The host did not speak any English and we no Spanish, but we manage to communicate, and he had of course a friend who could drive us down town in the morning for a few CUC.
Down town we did not really know where to go, but a young man asked us if we wanted any help, we said first day here, but we manage. He then pointed out that it is 50 years anniversary with Samba music at the Castro House, he walked us there just a few blocks away and we bought ticket for the evening.
The Castro House a house for culture, looks as it is in good condition, but that is due to photo taken at same distance, it was rather run down.
People was enjoying and some was dancing around the tables, this young man had the right moves. Most artists this evening probably performed when they opened 50 years ago, some still going strong others less strong. But it was a nice evening, listening to music is a must when in Havana.
So how is Havana?
Difficult to put an etiquette on Havana, it has some areas with very nice and well-preserved old houses
Some example on well-kept houses
Cathedral square very well preserved with many tourists and restaurants close by
Plaza Veija was another well-kept area
as well as the harbor area with a police station in the old fort
Another nice house, please note the “street roof” held up by chains, it appeals to a sailor
A well-kept pharmacy more like a museum
Havanna also have an internet square with WiFi
That attracts many locals as well as tourists
And of course, you see an abundance of old American cars on the streets
Some nice old American cars
More follow below for the one interested
The surprising thing was that many old trucks was still in duty as trucks.
Many houses are in very bad state and the old town need a lot of refurbishment
Would not fancy to live live in any of these houses.
Example of houses where only the front remains, most of the other structure looks as if it has collapsed
Nature is taking over some of the houses
If one looks in through the doors this is what one could find
Street view
People lives in the old town side by side with the still rather limited amount of tourists. Even though the streets are mainly in a run down state with poor and homeless people on the streets, one feels very safe walking around.
A bakery with very limited selection of bread.
Hemingway
When in Havana one must visit some of the places Hemingway used to visit, our choice fell on the old bar Dos Hermanos or Two Brothers.
The bar has been frequented by many famous visitors , not only Hemingway, but also Eroll Flynn who we “meet” on Jamaica.
This is how it looked in the old days
now à days
Dos Hermanos is situated just outside the old ferry terminal, now the terminal is very run down
Kerstin and I enjoying a Mojito and Cuban Music, very nice indeed, the orchestra approached our table and sang a few romantic songs for us, of course for tip, which we gladly gave.
Another Hemingway hangout was
La Bodeguita Del Médio, but that had turned in to a tourist trap, so we only passed by.
The second day in Havana started with Kerstin’s stomach was out of order again, so we needed a pharmacy, but as a tourist you are only allowed to use special pharmacies for tourists. With Spanish English mixture we explained the situation for our host at the Casa, and of course he had a friend who could drive us to the pharmacy, they had what we needed, and we took a Moped taxi back to the Casa.
View from the moped taxi, Not very continent at the corners or passing pot holes but fun to have tried. After we visited the Botanical garden in Havana, the guide claim that there are more than 100 different spices of palm trees on Cuba and that 90 % are endemic.
This palm tree is named “the old man” the fur/hair should represent the beard on an old man.
Forgot the name of this tree but the fruit can weigh up to 40 kg, supposed to be very good, we will try next time we see one in the market.
More from the garden
Innovative solution for the fire extinguisher
The very tranquil butterfly house
That ended our visit to Havana
Vinjales
Vinjales is a Natural reserve and an UNESCO world heritage, situated on western side of Cuba, about 4 hours bus ride from Havana. We arrived an afternoon and now there where numerous persons offering Casa Particular or B&B as we say. Who to choose among a few dozens of persons offering their services? Some people have the skill to approach others, I made the same reflection on Ila A Vache, Haiti, the young man we choose was obviously more successful than many others on the island, and the lady we choose, or maybe she choose us, I’m quite sure she get more guests than many others. There where 100 of Casas and most them have a sign with vacancies, Our Casa was now full i.e. three rooms that were taken. Some have the skill others not, it is the same where ever in the world and whatever trade, some are more skillful than others.
Our Casa on down the main road.
Nice porch outside the room to enjoy the morning coffee after a “nice shower”
Hot water shower Cuban style, I wonder how many are electrocuted each year. I do not think the Swedish authority would fancy such a solution!!!!
The neighbor had a restaurant on which we of course got a special deal.
The restaurant
With a nice view.
Outskirt of Viñales Main Street, an observation when traveling by bus through villages, there was always a lot of people out on the streets, activities was always going on and the atmosphere as we interpreted it was friendly, happy and positive. With stalls for fruit, vegetables, a horse taxi and local bar/ cafe.
Old way of transport is still common on Cuba not only in Vinjales.
Most visitors took a guided tour in the valley of Vinjales, but we decided to walk around on our own, and we are sure we made the right decision. The surrounding was very beautiful, and we could walk around in our own pace.
Last Casa before getting out on the trail
That will take us around this mountain in the valley
A very beautiful landscape
With with many small farms
Organic pig farming, as organic as it gets. In Sweden one tries to market happy pigs, hard to beat this pig on happiness, very extensive farming. In general most of the farming was in very small scale and most of it looked very extensive and not very intensive. We saw no large field even though we made many 100 km by buss on the countryside.
Sand sleigh powered by ox’s
A real Cuban Cowboy or should I call him “Tobacco man”
Tobacco is the main crop in Vinjales
Again in very small-scale extensive farming, with old traditional methods
Tobacco plant
Pre drying on the field
Barns for final drying
Tobacco drying in in the barn
We were invited into a small farm by the young man to the right, he showed how cigars are made, I who always thought they were made by young women rolling the cigars on their thigh. But that was not the case unfortunately, but Kerstin was pleased to study this handsome young man making cigars, so she forced me to purchase a whole bunch of cigars even though we do not smoke.
The cigars we bought, packed in palm leafs, works as a humidor the young man claimed and Kerstin believed him.
They also grew coffee but most of the crop is tobacco.
Strange we saw pine trees we have seen them on other islands as well, for us it is trees for cold climate not hot and humid. These was three pin pine, in Maine we saw 5 pin pines, and in Sweden we have pins two and two.
It was a long, hot and dry walk for ca 15 km, at the end of the valley they had this very large painting on the massive Wall. Do not know the historia behind it, but impressive.
Luckily we found a horse taxi who took us the last few km back to the village
The captain at the “helm” I do better helming the boat.
It was a very long but very rewarding day, I felt a bit warm probably due to too much air-conditioning on the Bus and in our room. In the evening I did not felt very well at all, and in the morning, I had a bad cool with fever and a dropping nose. We relaxed during the day waiting for the 4-hour bus ride to Havana. The trip to Havana was not to bad, but in Havana our problems started, the evening bus back to Hulgin was full, if one is lucky one can wait and see if there is anyone not showing up as one must check in similar as on an airport. We were number 9 and 10 on the waiting list and of course there was not space enough for us, only three persons from the waiting list came with the bus. What to do, the morning bus was also full so not sure if we would get place on that either. We took the 5 minutes’ walk to the Casa we had stayed at to see if he had room for us, or if he had a friend who could drive us all the way back to Puerto de Vita. But he was not home. Back to the bus station, last option there was a bus leaving at 10 pm heading for Santiago de Cuba. The bus stop in Las Tunas, “only” 135 km from Puerto de Vita where we have Kerpa. The problem was that, that bus also was fully booked and we were now 7 persons queuing for tickets, luckily, we all got tickets on the bus. By now my fewer is close to 40 centigrade or close to 104 F, my nose is dripping badly. The air-conditioning is on full blast on the bus, experienced travelers have sweaters and hats on, we were not prepared only short trousers and short slew shirt, luckily Kerstin brought our rain Poncho, so we put them on and just endured this very demanding bus trip, and by now also Kerstin became ill.
The bus made a few pit stop during the night, and in the morning we had a short stop if someone wanted to buy a coffee or a sandwich, as an old man one has to visit the toilet now and then, and I can say the Cuban one do not belong to the best!
Especially not this one, just some concrete construction, I’m happy that I had no need for number two.
After about 14 hours bus ride we came to Las Tunas “only” about 135 km left until we are at Kerpa, there is a 1 CUP bus to Hulgin that would probably take another 5 hours or so and we would still have maybe 60 km to go, so we opted for a taxi. Our stance was not very firm, but we manage to negotiate a reasonable deal 65 CUC or 60 Euro to take us to the Marina. Finally we arrived to Kerpa. We just had a cup of tea and went to bed.
The next day I felt just a bit better, but at least strong enough to go up to the marina and tell them that we were back on the boat. Janet the care taker asked politely “how are you?”, and I replied (stupidly) politely not so good I have a bit fewer and Kerstin too, but we are much better now. Well I better call the doctor she said, that is not necessary I said, but she insisted and as the Doctor are on the marina, why not. The doctor came and token our temp and blood pressure, asked a lot of questions and finally he said, you need to go to the hospital, The ambulance will arrive in half an hour!!!!!, By the way you better pack some clothe as you will have to stray for a few nights!!!!, Wow what is this???, his English was not so good, so I said lets go and talk to Janet. She confirms this is standard procedure when one has fewer, normally one stay up to 5 days in a hospital when having fewer. I said I refuse, I do not think they are used to people refusing things on Cuba. Well to make long story short after a while the Marina manager came back and said if I refuse I have to go on anchor and are not allowed to go ashore, Are you kidding me? But not. By now I was full of adrenaline and did not felt my fewer very much, so I then said then you have to clear us out we will leave. They argued against it, but I insisted. The customs came and cleared us out and I had to write and sign a paper that I left on free will and was not forced. I had no problem with that, so I wrote and signed such paper. He then asked me when are you leaving? by 7 pm, then you need to be on anchor until then he said. Not possible I need to go ashore and check the weather on Internet, He first refused but I insisted and it was agreed that we could stay until 6 pm and that we were only allowed to go ashore for internet. We had planned to stay a few more days in the marina and had local CUC money for that. Luckily the marina had a very small shop with the necessities for a sailor, so I ended up with three cases of beer and 10 bottles of Rhum, guess we are stoked up until we reach Lagos Portugal.
We were watched by the marina manager and he was not pleased as he had to stay until we left, we pushed our luck and stayed until 7 pm mainly because we had forgotten that Cuba is one hour ahead of Caribbean time and we had not adjust the clock in our GPS plotter and it was on that I checked the time, hence we left 7 pm with a rather sour Marina manager at the dock.
After a few hours out on the sea the adrenaline level went down to normal and we both felt that our cold and fewer was back to more or less where what it was yesterday +39 centigrade, Alvedone makes wonder for your temp and the weather was “relatively” gentle to us, only some confused sea but not too much wind. When arriving Georgetown Bahamas after ca 230 nm trip we were again ready for a long rest in the bunk, to recover from what was a really bad cold.
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Jamaica
Next stop after Ila a Vache, Haiti was Port Antonio, Jamaica, about 160 nM due west, As usually we had not much luck with the wind.
The wind was absent, but the sea was rather spectacular anyway.
We arrive Port Antonio at noon time, and expect clearing in to be rather fast, but as many official, Doctor, Port Polis, Customs, and Immigration wanted to visit Kerpa, and it was rather rainy, it is raining around 300 Inch a year or 7500 mm/year that’s a lot. Some officials came by bike they postponed their visit until next day. One is not expected to leave the marina until cleared in, so we had to stay at the marina over night at a cost of just below 100 USD per night. If one anchor it cost 28 USD a night and then one can use the facilities of the Marina including the dingy dock.
Kerpa at the Errol Flynn marina Port Antonio
Piggy’s the best Jerk chicken in Port Antonia we where told, and we had no reason to doubt it, it tasted very good, so while waiting for the final clearance we tried the Jerk chicken, the souse was very hot!
So, we needed a beer to put out the fire.
The next day we could lay at anchor
Port Antonio is a small town, who have seen its best days, but a bit charming and one feel very safe.
Very basic buildings, and as always, some business activity is going on, a barber in this house
Not a very posh law office
This business looks as it has most things for a home????
Some houses are very colorful
They had a nice fruit and vegetable market opened two days a week.
There was a local election in Port Antonio, the old mayor had been shot we where told! The engagement among the population was very strong, many people was out with flags either red or green. The day of the election, several heavy armed army vehicles patrolled the streets, as well as dozens of polis cars, but everything went without any violence. But I can’t say I felt comfortable with army vehicles with machine guns patrolling the streets.
Blue Mountain
We were recommended to visit Blue Mountain, the high land on the eastern part of Jamaica. We rented a car and set of across the mountain on the other side one find Kingston with a Bob Marley Museum also on our list of to do’s. It became a very eventful day.
The scenery was very beautiful with very green rain-forest
The roads were very narrow serpentine type roads
One does not want to meet a truck on the road.
Nor do one want to run into a road work, this was not the only one. At the next road work there was about a dozen workers putting asphalt on the road, the road was half blocked, and they started to vividly give signs that we should proceed forward and they stepped aside. It was still a very narrow passage for us between a big truck and the workers standing close to the edge of the road risking falling down the very steep slope. It did not go well, I manage to run over the foot of one of the workers, and he looked to have bad pain, the mode became very low and a bit hostile. It ended up in that I drove the man to a hospital just outside Kingston, I offered to pay for the hospital fee and as well as one week’s salary as I assume, he could not work for a few days. He was pleased with that and we parted without any hard feelings from any part. The foot was not swollen at all even after roughly an hour when we got to the hospital, so we did not expect it to be to bad with his foot. The other day we passed by the same working crew and they obviously recognized us and waved cheerfully at us and Kerstin though she saw the man whose foot we had run over. I do not know if they took us for a “ride” or not, but I felt we did what we could to take our responsibility of the incident.
While we were in Kingston we had time to visit The Bob Marley museum, it was the home that he bought in down town Kingston, “I get the ghetto to the uptown” he is claimed to had said. The house had his recording studio and it looks as he lived a rather plain life with his family and friends. He was a vegetarian and Bob cocked most of the food himself, but from the movie showed the smoke was very dense so despite the ascetic vegetarian life style I do not think he lived very healthy
Bob Marley home and now Museum
Paintings of his home where he was born as well as a replica of the home, Bob’s father was an Englishman who fell in love with a young girl and they got married.
After the Museum we found a Starbucks and had a good cup of Coffee and some internet
Kerstin is happy
The Lodge in the Blue Mountain
We had been recommended to stay at a lodge in the mountain, it was a very different and nice place.
The reception
Our cabin
At the sloop in the rain-forest
With great view
A fantastic place to enjoy both dinner and breakfast
Surrounded by humming birds
On the way back from the mountain the car started to give strange sounds and after an hour the AC stopped working and shortly after that the power steering did not work and it was hard work to steer the car. Finally, the car broke down totally and we were very happy that we this morning decided we had seen enough of the serpentine rods and had decided to take the coastal way back, the car broke down just in front of a gas station
We could just roll of the road and park beside the gas station
Just by this very basic bar that became our waiting space for just under two hours before the rental company delivered a new car to us. If we had kept our original plans to go further up the mountain, we have had to wait for probably 5 hours and then we would have had 5 hours night ride back to Port Antonio. So all in all an eventful trip that ended up rather well given the circumstances.
Reach Falls
Not far from Port Antonio there is the Reach water falls, we decided to pay a visit and rented a car now with discount from the same rental car company, this time we did the trip together with Colins and Kim from the English Catana catamaran by the name Umuya.
Our local guide “Stiches” who showed us the Reach falls.
Very beautiful
Soon the rain was pouring down, so we did get very wet
We had a very nice time navigation up the small river.
We ended the day by stopping at a famous Jerk place
But the chicken Jerk at Piggys is much better and that at only half the price.
Navy Island
Just outside the Errol Flynn Marina is the Navy Island, where Errol Flynn had his party place to which he invited friends and celebrities I assume they know how to party.
Not very much remain from the old dock
Towards the party….
But we came to late the party was already ended…
Not very much remains
Kerpa at anchor seen from the old restaurant
Another house on the island almost totally taken over by nature difficult to see, but one could sneak in
These buildings will soon be gone and forgotten, but I think Errol Flynn’s movies never will be
I remember seeing Captain Blood and other pirate movies with him when I was a small boy, that was really a moment of excitement It could not get much better in those days.
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Always at home
When cruising around as we do, one is “always at home” as the boat is our home, so even at the most exotic places, we are still “at home”. A bit strange maybe, but of course a big advantage, we do not need to worry to much about finding a hotel, where to eat, we have our necessary belongings close by, the list can be made long and it is rather obviously a great advantage. But it also has a few disadvantages, as we are “always at home” one could be a little bit lazy and just stay aboard instead of exploring the areas we are visiting. Maybe a bit like being stuck in your favorite comfortable chair at home in front of the telly, we have our favorite corners in the cockpit where we have our breakfast, reading a book, listening to music or just relax and enjoying life.
Kerstin in her favorite corner of the cockpit reading a book.
Ile a Vache
Visiting an interesting place like Ila a Vache on Haiti, cure most of the problems described above, one gets more eager to discover. Ila a Vache is a totally different world. The main task for people is to get food on the table for the day. most people only eat one meal a day, and the main ingredients are, rice, maniok or bread fruit. Haiti itself was severely hit by a devastating earthquake 2010 with 212 000 confirmed dead persons. After the earthquake Haiti suffered from cholera killing another 10 000 persons but as many as 800 000 was infected with cholera of the total population of ca 11 000 000. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, GDP per capita is just over 750 USD or on place 169 out of 185 ranked countries. Neighbouring countries like Jamaica has a GDP of 5100 USD and Dominican Republic just over 7000 USD, Cuba 8400 USD, all very poor countries, just to put Haiti’s situation in perspective. In the press one can read about riots on Haiti especially in the capital Port Au Prince. When talking to the local people they call it manifestation, mainly due to very high inflation, and corruption making life very difficult for them.
Ila a Vache is an island 13 by 3,2 km with ca 20 000 inhabitant, no electricity except from a few solar panels and a few generators.
When we approached Ila a Vache, in the dark an early morning, no lights were to be seen either on the island or on the mainland. We had the radar on as we made “landfall” just at dawn. The radar picture was strange, there is a reef we need to pass north of, but I saw a lot of echoes just in front of us, could it be that the reef extends further north with some rocks above the water. But no, it was the fishermen that was out in the very early morning in small traditional sailing boats and dugout canoes.
fishermen out in the early morning
A small island just outside Ile a Vache with very basic housing for the fishermen.
When arriving into the anchorage we where meet by and overwhelming number of local fishermen and others which wanted to sell all kind of services to us, such as, polishing the hull, the stainless steel, guide us around, try a home cocked meal at their home etc, etc. It was not easy to navigate around all these offers. We decided to choose the first young man who meet us in his dug-out canoe outside the anchorage to be our cicerone his name was PiPi. There were many kids coming out asking for all sorts of gifts candies, head phones, etc. it was very difficult to say no all the time, but else we would never had been left alone, cruel? Maybe yes, but we had read that it was an home for orphan children on the island and we had on beforehand decided to give a donation to the orphan home as our contribution to the community. We also had some ropes to give away to the fishermen which was highly appreciated, as well as a snorkeling mask. For you who plan to go there which I really do recommend, and like to contribute something, snorkeling gears and fines are very appreciated as well as ropes. The orphan home is short on infant formula 0-6 month which is also very expensive on Haiti, so bring that to the orphan home and you will be highly appreciated. The orphan home is driven by an old nun and hear aged sisters, it is a risk it will cease to exist soon.
Kerpa at anchor in the very protected anchorage, the boats in the most protected corners called Port Morgan, after the pirate Captain Morgan, are permanent moored and they stay the whole season, so “visitors” have to stay in the outer part of the bay.
The story of captain Morgan is interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morgan
He became a night, not a bad carrier for a Pirate, even though he got a “letter of marque”, the right to pray on Spanish ships and colonies. He lived a large part of his life on Jamaica hence maybe the Rhum Captain Morgan.
There is a local clear in decided by the mayor, a 10 USD fee per week to anchor claimed to be used for cleaning up the bay from debris and it looked rather well kept.
The clearing in guy is leaving us in his “modern” canoe
The inner anchorage Port Morgan please not the ambulance boat.
A guided walk on the island
PiPi took us for a walk on the island, to see different aspects of the island
The men on the beach are collecting sand to mix into cement for constructions, everything by hand and carried manually.
In the back ground one sees part of a resort, does not look very large on this photo but it was a large resort, could probably take a few hundred guests. It was opened and we talked to the owner, and he confirmed my fear, he had no guest, main reason for that was the manifestations and that it is on a remote island. We talked a bit about the island and then he mentioned deforestation due to charcoal production, people cutting down trees but do not plant any and the island becoming more and more deforested.
We saw one charcoal stack, not very large but there where large areas without trees
Only few trees here
Number one charcoal producer world wide is Brazil followed by Nigeria, in Nigeria this is a major deforestation issue and if continue in current rate Nigeria will not have any forest left already by 2047, Nigeria has lost ca 50% of its forest the last 20 years, if you are interested in the subject you can click on the link, and that is for a country with plenty of oil, The world is strange
Deforestation due to charcoal production is very seldom mentioned, could it be because it is “Green”??
We saw two more rather large resorts with no or VERY few gusted
In all we only saw two guests in total on the three resorts.
It was an interesting tour with PiPi showing us a small part of the island
Seeing the landscape
How people lived houses and different neighbourhoods
Some of the boats
A few very slim cows
The other day we took a long walk about 2 hours to the village Madam Bernard, where it is a market two days a week.
The main road with kids on there way to the school
Occasionally it was rather muddy and other areas was more dry, this is fare from the worst section, on some areas the mud was piling up under our sandals, and they needed to be cleaned every few 100 meters.
and thgis section was very dry.
Finally, we came to Madam Bernard
The “harbor”
The market, we bought some bread fruit, manioc and some other vegetables, as the walk was both long and dry, we became thirsty and decided to find a bar to have a beer. PiPi guided us to a more pleasant or should I say in his view more up market place, unfortunately it was closed but when he asked, they said we can open for you.
The bar, when we got our beer a woman came in and asked if we would like to have some lunch, she had chicken and plantain (food banana), as it was soon lunch time we thought why not lets try it. This is a land of no hurry. The woman now had to get all the raw material, light up the charcoal “stow”, all in all it took close to two hours, but then we were served a nice barbecued chicken with deep fried plantain and salad.
Kerstin and PiPi enjoying the food
The kitchen
Is this the salad chef? do not know, but the food must have been clean no problem with our digestion, we have probably been a bit multi-resistant by now.
The way back we took on a motor taxi, one adventure on its own.
I mentioned earlier that we were invited to try home cocked food at a family it was the family of one of PiPi’s uncles
The uncle told us to be there at 6 pm, a good time we thought, but obviously we are not the only couple who communicate poor between each other. This family had obviously not communicated about the time for our arrival. When we arrived home to the uncle, the wife was not there, she came after a while, did a few things before she started to prepare the food, shortly after 8 pm the food was ready to eat. It was an interesting evening in their plain home.
Place where we had the dinner, Haitian do not like to be on photo, so unfortunately, we have only few photos on persons. In this case I just forgot to take photo on the food and the home.
Boat taxi to Les Cayes
We had not cleared in and that one has to do, I know some does not bother but we decided to follow the rule and are very pleased with that, it gave us another experience/adventure.
Boat Taxi to Les Cayes the nearest main land town (ca 100 000 inhabitant) to Ile a Vache ca 6 Nm just across the strait.
On our way to Les Cayes
When we arrived the first real surprise, we anchored 50 meters from the shore then an smaller boat came to pick us up
Note the smaller boats close to the shore, but it was not enough with that, to get ashore we were carried on the back of men who had that as an “occupation” to take travelers to the shore. I can’t say I felt very uncomfortable to be carried ashore by a stranger who had as his main income.
It was a vivid place with a lot going on, market, transport and a smell of food, garbage and sewer
Note the “larger” freight vessel, the mast is not very straight.
Views from the window where we cleared out
Street view
On the journey back “home” we were among the first to board the water Taxi, when we were about 20 persons aboard each of us with some sizable cargo, we had a case of beer and a propane tank, so 20 people aboard including cargo containing even a few chairs it started to get rather full, but after a while several new small boats showing up with more people including cargoes small infant children, I thought they will never get space. Guess what I was wrong, we were at least 35 persons aboard the water taxi, when it left.
This is Taxi after 5 persons and their cargo had left the taxi,
The day after we sat sail to move our “home” to Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, Jamaica.
Again it was plenty of dugout canoes and small vessels out fishing
And also, this larger boat with a massive amount of sails.
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Dominican Republic
We left Puerto Real, Puerto Rico and sailed towards Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. It was a gentle breeze, so we sailed slowly westward. I looked around the horizon and saw some strange water spouts, could it be whales? The binocular confirmed my suspicion finally we saw whales, after a while they came closer maybe 300 meters away so not very close, but close enough to admire them, we could see two or more Humpback whales jumping and diving over and over again for maybe 15 minutes, the they disappeared and we sailed into the sunset towards Boca Chica.
Boca Chica
Boca Chica is a very unique natural harbor protected by a long reef with a commercial deep water harbor, two marinas and a very long beach with various services from very basic sheds serving beer and basic food at low prices to more upmarket establishments.
We arrived at lunch time to Marina Zar Par, we called them up on VHF, but did not get very much answer but a boat came out to guide us in. Rather soon we realize they do not speak very much English here! and we do not speak any Spanish! After that we had tied up, signed in to the Marina they asked us if we needed help to clear in, but we said we do it our self, as the cost was about 50 USD for the service and how difficult can it be? Well it started very easy, first a man from the drug enforcement agency came aboard and had a look, it went very swift, the immigration was situated at the marina so that went also well, and customs should be just down the road, maybe a few hundred meters. We started to walk in the very hot sunshine towards the commercial harbor, but no customs were to be seen and the neighborhood was very scruffy, we did not felt totally comfortable walking the neighborhood. We asked but as all only spook Spanish we did not get very much help. Then someone said “Comandante?” and we said “si” and finally we were directed towards a building and found the “Comandante”. He looked like a question mark and asked what are you doing here??!! To make a long story shorter. We were driven back to the marina by a soldier in a car in by fare the worst condition I ever seen, most of the interior was ripped out such as all the interior side panels, all windows was cracked, no ignition key hole, most of the front panel was gone, back in Sweden it would not even served as a spare part car, but it went slowly forward making all kind of strange noises. At the marina the same man who had offered us to clear in for us, now had to do the job anyhow, as the “comandante” did not had the right papers at his office. The guy at the marina token it with a smile even though he did not get paid but said, when you clear out I can fix it for 20 USD, and you do not need to go all the way in the heat. We agreed to that.
Marina zar par
The Marina drew us to the local supermarket where we bought high quality fruits and vegetables to an attractive price, highly appreciated.
Part of the waterfront in Boca Chica is very basic but charming, during the weekend particularly on Sunday’s families meet and have fun together.
A Fun day at the beach for the families
The ones who are better off spend the day on their boat. All playing extremely loud music, with competition from the shore from this car
Who is just a “music machine”
Santo Domingo
One day we took the local bus to Santo Domingo (founded 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus brother to Christopher Columbus) the capitol of Dominican Republic, we headed for the “Colonial Zone” an old part of the city just near the water front. It was rather interesting and a nice part of the city.
With historical buildings from the old days and an old fort
In 1509 the new viceroy Diego Colombus with wife arrived in Santo Domingo, while his residence was built, he moved into the fort while the warden of the fort Diego Lopez de Salcedo was out, and refused to leave, it ended up that the King Ferdinand the Catholic ordering Colombus to move immediately or severe punishment would be given. Not the best way to start a new relationship
Central Colonial zone
On the way back we asked for the way to walk to the nearest bus station, but we were firmly advised not to walk “it is not safe”, we do not walk our self so take a taxi to the bus station they said. We asked a taxi driver for the cost to go to the bus station, but he asked for our final destination, and for 22 USD we got all the way to the Marina.
Jarabacoa
We wanted to see some of the inland, so we took a tour up in the mountains to Jarabacoa National Park. The main attraction was some water falls
Salto De Baiguate
The water temperature was like in the Baltic a good Swedish summer
Salto Jimenoa
But we thought the reception park was the highlight a very peaceful place to just walk and relax
A side observation, soy beans are a vital source of energy and protein for a lot of people worldwide, this is how they look, just by chance the guide showed us some of the crop they had in the area and one of them was soy beans.
According to the guide it only takes 6 weeks from plant to harvest! Anyone know?
Isla Beata
From Boca Chica we sailed the 120 n to Isla Beata, and island inhabited by fishermen during the winter, a very beautiful island but I assume the life is rather harsh no service what so ever (no electricity, no water etc)
Kerpa at anchor outside the fishermen settlement
Very basic living quarters
Lobster pots we assume
We were very quickly approached by a fisherman who offered sell us some lobsters and We bought some from him, tasted good especially the soup Kerstin made it was Micheline class on that one.
shore line of Isla Beata
This is how they transport goods to the island
Transfer supply from the larger boat to the smaller local boats, everything by hand of course. There were a few very basic “shops” for the fishermen, some of them had their wife’s with them, but men was in large majority.
The island is well known for its abundance of Iguanas, maybe they are so large as they are feed on fish?
Another type of Graffiti
We had a magic evening there with the moon just above the settlement
Kerstin enjoying the sunset with a glass of wine,
Maintenance
When we arrived Isla Beata it was a rather fresh wind and when furling the head sails it came some very strange sounds from the top swivel, that made me very concerned as we now are on places where service and spare parts are not easy to get,
We took down the head sail and found, that one of the stainless bars that is preventing the top swivel from rotate when furling the sail was lose and severely bent. If that is the only problem, no big deal.
It is supposed to be strait, it was a little bent before but now it is very bent and how to straighten it?
One need a fixed object we do not have a vice large enough for the task.
The outboard crane and some very thick washers to reinforce the stainless steel structure solved the issue, a fixed point and some brutal?? force from my self and the bar was soon “straight” again
Now back in place and after hoisting the head sail it furled so gentle again and the captain was happy again. We also notice that the winch was very sluggish, and it was obviously why when taking it apart, it was time for service, cleaning and lubrication.
Bahia de las Aguilas
Last stop in Dominican Republic was Bahia de las Aguilas, a very remote and tranquil beach/bay, according to the pilot book visited by very few, but obviously no hidden gem for very long, a few local tripper boats and a dirt trail now leads to the beach, but we were alone during morning and evening and to share such a huge bay with a few people is no big deal.
Chrystal clear water
Miles of pristine sand
Next stop Ile a Vache Haiti
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S/Y Kerpa 
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