our position now 19.54.82N 77.43.19W
Chaser 2
Yvonne Chapman
Fri 11 Apr 2008 14:26
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We've finished our tour of Cuba, Chaser ll
and Waylander have now been making their way back east along
the Cuban coast stopping at various cays overnight along the route. On our
arrival in Cuba we couldn't stop at any ports or towns because we hadn't checked
in with customs, but upon leaving Cienfuegos we cleared out internationally from
Cuba, which again means on our return route we can't enter any towns on route,
just anchor out to sleep before moving on. We saw a lot of Cuba
anyway, albeit mainly by road, so we're happy now to just make
our way back east as quickly as possible with our final destination being
Venezuela.
We have been disapointed with some aspects in
Cuba, finding lobsters being one of them. We'd heard they were easy to catch or
easy to buy from a fisherman, but until a couple of days ago we had no
luck. Part of the problem while at anchor was that in many places the water was
surprisingly murky, and if it was clear the wind was so strong that the sea was
too choppy and uncomfortable to swim. Much of the time too we had to have the
dinghy on deck because of customs regs, but mainly it was the weather. The
time came though having anchored in one of the cays on our return that a
big old Cuban fishing boat came past and asked if we wanted any lobster,
after all this time! Are you kidding? we said. They anchored nearby and
fortunately we had our dinghy in the water. I quickly jumped in and went over
for a chat.I jumped on board their concrete and iron boat, I felt like
Captain Bligh with his arrival in the Pacific Islands, the Captain and all
the crew, about ten in all, lined up to greet me and shake my hand. I was
waiting for one of them to say 'How is Queen Elizabeth'. They were lovely
genuine people, but it was time to get down to business. I'd like some lobsters
10 for me and 10 for my friends, I said, but I don't have any money. OK, was the
reply, what do you have? Beer, rum and whisky I told them and the deal was
done.
I went back to Waylander with the news,
they passed down some rum and beer, then Tony and me went back to
Chaser for our supplies of whisky and beer and off we went to
trade. Our bag and bucket was full of lobster, we had a quick chat over an early
morning rum with them, then back in the dinghy to prepare them for freezing and
eating. Needless to say we had lobster that night for dinner, it was so good. We
both cleaned and delegged the beasts, one of them being a giant 3kg and stored
them in our respective freezers. Lobsters are giant animals and twenty filled
two big buckets, but once decapitated and delegged we found they took up
little space in our freezers.
Overnight we could here the revelry going on aboard
the fishing boat as a result of their newly aquired alcohol. The next
morning a voice came over the radio, it was Chris asking if we had any room
in our freezer as they had. Yes, why I said, she said I wouldn't
mind getting a few more, do you think they have more. So, back in Digby
over I went, Buenos Dias they all said, come with me, they showed me all
the empty rum, whisky and beer bottles and cans. Wow, I said you must have a
sore head. They all laughed and asked if I'd like some coffee. While
talking I asked if they would like to trade anymore lobbies, they asked if we
had any T shirts, soap, and hats. Leave it with me I said, I'll get twenty
lobsters worth. Do you need cooking oil I asked, because sometimes they are
short, but they said they were ok for that.
Back on Waylander and Chaser we dug out any T shirts that
we did use, sweat shirts, jeans, some soap, a couple of caps, some various tins
and tomato pure, aswell as a little more beer and rum, that we'd bought
especially for this type of encounter.
We put everything in the dinghy and Chris and I
took it over to them. I introduced Chris and again handshaking all round, they
showed us the lobster hold, it was in the centre of the boat, basically a sealed
chamber with holes out to the ocean so the water could come in and keep the
lobsters alive. They'd even caught a saltwater croc! They offered us some
coffee, I accepted and Chris said no thanks, so they gave her a plateful of fish
in sauce to eat. Should have had the coffee.
The Captain sifted through our gifts and was over
the moon, coming again to shake my hand to thank us. Out popped the lobsters,
they filled our bags with twenty six, beautiful specimens. Back aboard our boats
having decided to stay another day for a rest, we prepared the animals for
freezing. It's a lot of work, getting the meat out of the legs being the
hardest. So much for a rest, it took us nearly all day. Later that afternoon we
heard the laughing of the fisherman and some scuffles as four of
them tried to get in their dinghy, unsuccessfully for one, but his mates
pulled him out of the water in to the boat and over they rowed to us. Oh my god
we thought, they want to come aboard, now we have nothing against them at
all, but four drunken sailors, a foreign language, we had cleared out of Cuba
therefore weren't permitted to fraternise with the enemy let alone invite them
aboard. What do we do without causing offence, I got in the dinghy as though to
go to Waylander but as they rowed up they just asked if they could have
some cooking oil that I'd previously offered. Yvonne grabbed three half litre
bottles for them, for which they were most grateful, then of course they asked
for a tow back as I was in the dinghy. Later that afternoon, while chilling in
the cockpit we heard the splashing of the oars and alongside they came once
again, but this time with four more lobsters beautifully cooked with rice and
plantain chips, plenty for the four of us and thanked us once again for the
supplies. They rowed back and I delivered the two meals over to Chris and Tony.
They were all a very friendly bunch, which was in fact typical of all the Cuban
people we had encountered except those maybe that worked in the marinas being
accustomed to tourists, these guys, security and customs tended to scrounge all
the time, no matter what you gave them they always asked for more. I suppose
with our marina bill amounting to 3 years of their salary it is to be expected
to a certain extent, but that's the way the system works in Cuba.
Poor wages, about 12$ per month, free accomodation
and basic foods with electric and water thrown in, is the way it is and only
recently has a little but highly regulated, bit of free enterprise been allowed.
A lot can be written about this country, but even now I still can't get my head
around it. There is no real poverty, yet they have nothing, everyone is happy,
there is nothing to buy, so they can't spend money much if they had it.
There are two currencies which causes many problems, a local one and a tourist
one, but the Cubans need the tourist one to buy things that local money isn't
permitted for. Its all very strange, but an enjoyable experience for us all.
Would we (Yvonne and I) come back, I don't think so, there is something lacking
here, I'm not sure what because it has so much, we love the country and the
people, the richness or the land and mountains, the architecture and history, it
just doesn't grab me like Spain or Venezuela, but I don't know why, because it
should. No doubt we'll be thinking and talking about this for some
time.
I'll update some of the more recent blogs with some
photos now that we are back in Jamaica
IMGP4226.JPG Non catching Jack IMGP4230.JPG me and Crevally Jack IMGP4235.JPG Chris and dinner IMGP4241.JPG Non and Tony preparing IMGP4238.JPG Chris and our 3kg Monster IMGP4247.JPG our friendly fisherman These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google. Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/ |
