January 30, 2011 (Marathon, Florida – Boot Key Harbor)
We finished getting the boat ready to go and saying our last farewells to old and new friends. Our next stop…Varadero, Cuba, just 95 nautical miles south. We left the harbor around 2 pm. We motor sailed for about 1 ½ hours (needed to charge our batteries) and headed to the Gulf Stream. Once we passed Sombero Key, the seas were a bit rough but the wind was perfect, so off went the motor. We sailed all night and at dawn, we could see Cuba in the distance.
At about 12 nautical miles from shore we contacted the Guarda Nationale, the transmission was scratchy and our Spanish is not that great. We continued forward. As we now had our land markers in site, we contacted the Marina Darsenia again. They asked for our approximate time of arrival and that they would be there to greet us. We arrived at 8:00 am. We are tired but we need our second wind to enter the country. We had ensured that we did not have any of the wrong goods aboard. These included veggies, eggs and meat – frozen or fresh. These are not permitted.
The first person aboard was the Coast Guard, then the drug sniffing dogs, custom officials, the doctor, the vet, the harbor master and a few more “officials”. It took about 2 hours to finish the process and be awarded our “Visitors Visa’s”. There were 2 more sailboats that arrived later in the day. We are tired and head to bed for a few hours of much needed sleep…..We made it!
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| Land Hoe Cuba in the Distance |
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| No Keys tied up at the dock in Varadero |
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| Pelicans, Wrens and Seagulls watching from afar |
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