Position 22:07.5N 80:27.15W

WiFi access is virtually non existent in Cuba. Whether by design or circumstance I don’t know. We managed to get WiFi access at on of the new hotels in Habana and that allowed us to send the latst few blog postings.

We are back in Cienfuegos now and planning our next move. Paul is planning a push direct to the Azores, a passage of 3200nm in his 26ft Contessa. That will take him about 35 days. We are going to hop along the south coast of Cuba for few days and then make a push for Key West. For reasons associated with our US Cruising Permit which is too involved to go into we can’t make landfall in the US before 7 May. So if we get to Key West too early we may press onto Fort Lauderdale. We are not looking forward to landfall in the US. The authorities are generally not very friendly and usually start off the discourse by threatening you with a $5000 fine for any committed or possible committed offense. We don’t have a holding tank fitted for black water and I see that being the first problem. We have tried to make provision as we have travelled through the islands but without much success.  The best we have done, much to Norman’s disgust, is to procure a bucket with a lid on.

Cuba for us has been a revelation. Isolation from the US may have done the population her no good but from our point of view travelling here is a unique experience. Stuff is available in the shops if you can pay in the exchangeable currency, CUCs. Each CUC is about a dollar. The local currency is about 25 to 1 CUC and is only available to Cubans. The locals can spend this in the subsidised supermarkets which are frequently devoid of content.

Its carnival time in Cienfuegos so we will be heading off later today to see what going on. Not  a lot unless you want to stay up