Enjoying Cuba

Darsena de Varadero

Somehow, I make it through this experience with some dignity intact and I am cleared to depart Bahia Naranjo for Varadero. This is to be my longest passage: Three days and nights, staying just outside the Archipielago de Sabana Camaguey. Initially, sailing conditions are quite favorable. The winds are brisk, out of the northeast. For a foresail I am still flying a storm jib that I first raised midway along Cuba's south coast. With the larger working jib, I was wearing myself out raising and dousing the jib as the wind conditions changed throughout the day. In calmer winds, I lose a little speed with the small storm sail, but these conditions to date have been infrequent

On the second morning of this passage, sailing conditions are still favorable. I unfurl the working jib. Big mistake. By mid afternoon I note that the wind is now out of the northwest and has increased to 20 knots, a sure sign of an approaching cold front, a norther. Before night fall I douse the jib and raise the storm sail again. The main sail has already been shortened to a double reef.

The wind is still howling as I near Varadero on the final, third day. While passing Peninsula de Hicacos as the sun rose on the morning of Christmas Day, I can see the waves breaking on the beautiful beaches of Playa de Varadero. I become concerned about entering the narrow channel to Marina Acua. The cruising guides are very adamant: Do not enter this channel, called Paso Malo (bad pass), during the northwest phase of a norther.

I try with no success to raise the port officials at Narina Acua on the VHF radio. After all, it is Christmas. Since the Papal visit a few years ago, Cubans again have been allowed to celebrate this Holiday. Finally, almost within sight of Varadero, I make contact with the port.

"No problema," the Dockmaster assures me. Yeah. Right. As I study the entrance for several minutes, watching the swollen seas surge into the narrow, shallow channel, I conclude the Dockmaster had in mind conditions in the marina when he made his assessment. I have never before entered such a narrow channel in such high seas. Today I did. I pushed the throttle of the diesel engine to wide open, hoping to keep up with the waves crashing on the shore. But the waves still push the Sirius II from one side of the channel to the other as we shoot through the gap. I shout at the waves. I curse the wind. I chastise the Sirius II and the people who built her. Then, it's over. The boat responds once again to my commands. It happened too fast to become scared, but I feel my hands shaking on the wheel for several minutes after the passage.

Once inside, there is no friendly Guarda to greet me, just a Cuban harbor boat prepared to exercise salvage rights on my vessel, if that were the case. So it seemed.

When I arrive at my slip, crew members from several cruisers are present to help me tie up. Some of them had watched my entrance from the Dockmaster's tower. After congratulations and Christmas Greetings, too exhausted to celebrate, I sleep the rest of the af ternoon.

Varadero is very enjoyable and quite popular with tourists. Although tourist facilities dominate, the delightful beaches, shopping areas, bars and restaurants can all be experienced without succumbing to the usual tourist traps. Again, being able to get around on my bicycle is beneficial. The locals whom I meet here are curious and outgoing. Some are transplants from Havana, relocating here to work in the expanding tourist developments.

Previous	Next
Bahia de Naranjo	Return