Sailing to Santiago de Cuba

Leaving Molasses Reef on Great Inagua

Our studying of the weather forecast prompted us to leave Great Inagua on Wednesday 30 January, a day earlier than we had originally planned.  It would be around a 200-mile passage and so, working on the basis that that would take us a day and a half, we left Molasses Reef at 1000hrs so that we would reach Santiago de Cuba in daylight.

Our first sighting of the eastern end of Cuba

Punta de Maisi

The unusual 12-20 knot northerly wind was the reason for our early departure but that meant that we had fabulous fast sail and we actually averaged 7.6knots over the whole passage.  Our route started with a 50 mile south-southwesterly leg which took us past the eastern end of Cuba, Punta de Maisi.  As we entered Cuban waters we called up the Guarda Frontera on the VHF radio but got no reply so, as per the guidance, we made an information call letting them know our intentions.

As dusk fell, we had passed Punta de Maisi and the next headland along, Punta Caleta, and turned onto a more westerly heading to track along the south coast. By now the wind was up at 20 knots and so we put 2 reefs in to make life easy overnight.  On the new point of sail, even with the reefs in, we still bowled along at 7 knots and with Georgina (our windvane) steering it was a very easy passage.

A little over half way between Punta Caleta and the entrance to Santiago de Cuba is the controversial American base at Guantanamo Bay; on our chart marked as “Cuban Land illegally occupied by the USA”.  As you can imagine, there is a large prohibited area around the base which stretches about 3nm out to sea, so our route took us further offshore than the straight line ‘ideal’ track to ensure that we did not upset any gun-toting protection force.

The beautiful hills on the eastern south coast of Cuba

There are quite high hills on the eastern end of Cuba and these created a bit of a wind shadow.  As a result, we had a 3-hour window from midnight where the wind was down below 10 knots so we motorsailed to keep on our timeline for arriving in daylight.  By 4am we were sailing well again and come dawn the troublesome hills became a spectacular backdrop.  Looking at the lack of development and rugged hills it was clear why this end of Cuba has for years largely been cut off from the western end of the island.

At dawn we hoisted the Cuba courtesy ensign which was quite a poignant moment for us.  It had taken a reasonable amount of planning and preparation to visit Cuba and it felt good that we had managed to make it happen.

The morning’s sailing was quite gentle and so we used the time to run the water maker and clear the backlog of dirty laundry.  I’m not sure if the extra windage helped BV on her way but we arrived in port with all of the laundry clean and dry.

El Morro Santiago de Cuba coastguard station

Just east of the entrance to Santiago de Cuba is the El Morro coastguard station.  We had already made several calls to the Guarda Frontera informing them of our progress and intention to check in at Santiago but so far with no replies.  With El Morro in sight we tried again but again with no success.  Half an hour later though, they called us.  Comms were difficult but we understood that we had to call the Santiago pilot before we entered the harbour and also the marina.

Approaching the entrance to Santiago de Cuba

As we approached the entrance to Santiago de Cuba we adjusted our speed to fit in between 2 arriving cargo ships, dropped our sails and switched on the engine.  As instructed, we called up the Santiago pilot; we think that they act as a sort of harbour master.  Having firmly stated that we did not need a pilot service to get into the harbour, they approved our approach as far as the marina at Punta Gorda.

The entrance to Santiago de Cuba overlooked from the right by the impressive Castillo del Morro

The navigation advice in our guide book for entering Santiago de Cuba stretches over 5 pages (one of which is a chartlet) and gives a blow by blow series of steps to get the mile as far as Punta Gorda.  We’re not quite sure why, the channel is 13 metres deep, well-marked and there is only one real turn of just 30 degrees to get from the entrance to Punta Gorda.

Castillo del Morro high on the right, the Punta Gorda Marina is just visible left of centre, and between the 2 are the distinctive smoky red and white towers of an industrial facility, more about which I’ll explain later

Castillo del Morro

But the simple pilotage meant that we could enjoy the views.  On the right of the entrance is a high cliff stepped down with the different fortification levels of the 16^thcentury Castillo del Morro (or more accurately Castillo San Pedro de la Roca) that guards the entrance and approaches. It made for an excellent end for our passage and arrival into Cuba.  The El Morro castle was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982 and having seen it close up, it was now definitely on our list of must visit locations.

Approaching the Marina Marlin Punta Gorda

Our clearance was as far as the state-run Marina Marlin Punta Gorda and no further.  It was here that we needed to formally arrive in Cuba and I have to say that we were wondering how complicated it would all be.  However, as soon as we were in sight in the entrance, we were called up by the duty manager, George, and we were looked after fantastically.  George gave us clear directions on where we were to moor and came out to the quay waving a white handkerchief to make it even more obvious.  We tied up on the quay at 1300hrs on Thursday 31 January.

Moored up on the marina quay to complete the arrivals procedures

George’s English is excellent and having warmly welcomed us to Cuba he instructed us that the medical, customs and immigration staff would be along shortly.  Once they had finished with us, we were to report to George in his office so that he could tell us everything we needed to know as first-time arrivals in Cuba.

The medical and customs officers joined us on board to take our temperatures (we proved not to be a suffering from fevers) and to start the paperwork.  We then moved into their office to complete the rest of the documentation and to have our passports checked and photographs taken by the immigration officer.  Interestingly our visas were provided later by George, but then stamped by the immigration officer, and the fee added to our marina bill [Ed:  cost approx. £75 each as opposed to £25 each had we arrived by air, harrumph!].

After an hour of officialdom we moved into George’s office for a briefing on ‘the rules for cruisers in Cuba’: outboard motors must be removed and locked to the yacht at night; dinghies need to be lifted out of the water every night; no Cubans are allowed on board; and any guests must be cleared in through the marina; we were at the limit of how far we could go into the harbour; no dinghy excursions are allowed in a commercial port except to get to and from the marina if your yacht is at anchor.  However, as well as the official rules, George also explained the country’s 2 currencies to us (one for tourists and one for locals) and checked our understanding by waving different bank notes at us which we had to identify.  He also explained how we could get into the city using the local ferry, where we should exchange money, advised that we avoid the black-market peddlers of rum and cigars, and generally gave us a crash course in how to successfully start our time in Cuba.  It seemed like a lot to take in but it all proved to be very helpful advice.

At 1510 we fired up the engine again and moved 100 metres away from the marina and anchored (approx. 28CUC per night in the marina vs 10CUC per night at anchor).  Safely anchored as far away from the nearby bar’s blaring reggaetón as we could get [Ed: what happened to Cubans listening to traditional son and samba-dancing music?] we cracked open beers and toasted our successful arrival in Cuba.

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba