Cayo Breton Cuba

We left Cayo Cuervo at 0815 on Sunday 17 February to continue our journey west along Cuba’s south coast. The sky was clear blue and we had a 10 knot wind from the east-southeast; perfect for a lazy downwind sail.

With the genoa poled out we sailed (and at times drifted) the 30 miles west to Cayo Breton.  On the way we ran the generator and watermaker ending up with full water tanks and the laundry done.  The galley was also a hive of activity and in the gentle sailing conditions we took the opportunity to bake a loaf of bread and cook up a chicken and mushroom casserole; the chicken we would have been eating if we hadn’t been stuffing our faces with lobsters!

The entrance to the Punta Breton channel

By 2pm we had arrived on the north side of Cayo Breton and the game was to try to find a suitable anchorage to protect us from the forecast overnight 15kt south-southeasterly wind.  At the western end of Cayo Breton is the Punta Breton island and separating that from the main part of the cay is a shallow channel within which is a recommended anchorage.  The chart said that the channel was 2 metres deep and with a little tide it should have been possible for us to get into the anchorage.  But it was not to be.  As we crept into the approaches to the channel there just wasn’t enough water for us so, with less than 10 centimetres under our keel, we aborted the approach and looked for another option.

Anchored off Cayos Cinco Balas. Cayo Breton off to the right

Two and a half miles east was a large cut through between Cayo Breton and Cayos Cinco Balas.  That was potentially and option but we guessed that BV would have been pushed around at funny angles between the effect of the wind and the strong tidal flow through the cut.  Instead we opted to anchor ½ mile off the north side of Cayos Cinco Balas. It was as close as we could get with the depth of water.

Not getting into the Punta Breton channel was definitely a bit of a disappointment.  Aside from the excellent shelter, there was also a large lagoon surrounded by mangroves that we had wanted to take our dinghy into to explore. Instead, we were anchored a long way offshore [Ed: though in not a great deal of water and it felt further offshore than it was as the cay is so low] and with the afternoon on the wane enthusiasm for exploring was not high.

As a consolation prize we fried up some pimenton padron to go with our sundowners rum cocktails before indulging in another lobster feast.  This time we baked them with garlic and herb butter; delicious.  Sadly, that was the last of our lobster stash – only a bucket of large prawns to go and we’d be back to normal BV victuals!  We rounded off the evening with a nice film night in the cockpit.

Cayo Breton, Cuba