from the ridiculous to the sublime. . ..

Mawari
Bob & Sue Dall
Sat 14 Jan 2012 02:07
23:05.329N 82:29.872W
I'm still trying to summarize the last 36hrs but I will try!!!
On Monday evening I thought we were going to The Dry Tortugas, on the southern most tip of the Florida keys for a few days. . . . By 7am on Tuesday morning ,Bob announced that there was a weather window to Cuba, . . . .and so it came to pass that by the end of porridge we were on the Rum line to pastures new. I had been clinging to the possibility of downloading some Spanish lessons before we set off, but the new year was already getting old. . apparently.. . .so was the weather forecast, After 7 months, we were about to leave the USA. AGHHHH
The plan was to reach Cuba before the devastating Norther. No pressure then. The Adverse current was relentless and so were the 30kt winds, by 2 pm, having tried every combination and heading we could think of, we were still hammering into the wind and the gulf stream , making 2 kts over the ground. The smell of Cuban cigars wafting across the water softened my temper momentarily, until Bob announced the engine was over heating . . . .12 nms from Cuba I made contact over the radio with Hemmingway Marina, 2 hrs later, with no engine, we were still 9nms away. The wind was determinedly from the south ,our heading and a prerequisite to the devastating Northerly, and all the Cuban officials were waiting to board our boat. ...By 3pm the dock master gave us a severe weather warning, even if we made Hemingway Marina before the bad weather, we still had hours of beaurocracy to look forward too. ...
And here we are..still a couple. .on a boat. . . witnessing the most spectacular thunder storm known to man, safely tied up on a canal in Cuba!!!!! What a wonderful place. and so dear Captain , all is forgiven. .. .

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com