UPDATE February 26th Ash Wednesday: On doing an early morning check on the weather, I decided to postpone my departure. The wind is dead on the nose, and the North winds will stay that way until the usual Eastern Trade wind returns on Monday. I prefer to pay 4 days moorage here and hav e a nice beam reach to Key West instead of beating my brains out against this northerly. So, you are all invited to the Big Party here on the 28th.

Carnival on the eve of Ash Wednesday have been a historic part of Cuba’s festivities. But Fidel put a demper on it and religion. No Joy here anymore. Since my last blog on the 15th., I have managed to get the critical repairs done. On Tuesday the Anchor winch was fixed, a broken fuse. On Saturday the auto-pilot was working again. I am not alltogether sure, but I believe it was just understanding the many different switches that had to be coordinated. Nothing broken. Each fix cost me $20, try that elsewhere. I had hoped to find someone to fix the Aries Wind Vane, but that will have to wait until Florida.

I was in the starting blocks this morning but smarter sailors than me, talked me out of it. Because of the weather conditions. And it would not have happened anyway because my $423 bill for my ten days here is still in limbo. But for sure, tomorrow morning, if I can get more evidence from the ABN-Amro that my bill has been paid. I wrote that that I had lost my Euro Credit card. I figured that I had enough cash $ to pay my bill. No, not really. So, what to do? They may chain my boat to the dock and send me to Gitmo (the USA lock-up on the Guatanamo Navy Base. ) But, lucky Jack, was able to wire transfer the bill in Euros from his Dutch ABN-Amro account. But the comrades have not been able to verify it yet. Just everybody count your blessings that most of you, unless you live in Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea, China, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia, do not have to put up with these robots. We, in the USA have narrowly escaped this for at least the next 8 years.

I will turn on my Tracker after clearing customs tomorrow morning. You know the link in the upper right corner of this blog. You may again see some weird tacks against the wind but eventually I should put tdown the anchor in Key West.

I left off on the last blog on Saturday the 15th. The next Sunday I missed my routine mass service. I was unable to find the schedule for the nearest church in Santa Fe. To go to the city of Havana with a 50/60 $ roundtrip taxi was beyond my sence of duty towards my faith. On Monday, without my trusty folding bike, I was going to walk the 8 miles to Santa Fe to get some vegetables, fruit and meat, but I managed to hitch a taxi ride with 5 other passengers for $1.50 and the same coming back. There were a few buses running, jampacked.

On the 21st., I invited my friends, Miralys Perez and Osmany, the couple I lodged with in their Casa Particular after my February 3rd 2022 shipwreck,  to dinner on the boat. This turned out to be another sample of the communists robots. I had to get pictures of their id’s and obtain passes for them. They had to be outof the marina gates by 5 pm. But, anyway, it was a good time as you can see by the pictures and video. I squeezed in some Nopalitos, fresh from the marina property. These are the young shoots on the large cacti. Very popular in Mexico. Some of you might remember that I survived on them and Porcini on Ibiza in 2013.

Miralys and Osmany

On Sunday my friends came to get me for the 9 am service in the O.L. of the Assumption church in Baracoa, where they live. The original church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Cathedral_of_Baracoa  was built in 1810 and because of the suppresion of religion under the communists it is now in a small parish church. But the cathedral building is still standing, waiting for a revival. The majority of the congregation were the students at the enormous campus of the Medical University of the Americas in Baracoa. Most of the attending students were from Africa. The choir in this picture sang in French, Spanish the Gloria in English and the Sanctus in Latin.

The African Choir

The Cuban priest

There were just a handful of local parishioners. I was introduced to one of them, Jose Cruz. This is another one for my “Small World” experiences novella: He had studied engineering in the United States. His best friend, who also studied in the U.S. and stayed there, began in a seminary and switched to pediatrics. He asked me where I was from and I told him that I was from the North West and it turned out that his friend lives in Puyallup. That is my current mailing address where my oldest daughter moved a year ago. His friends name is Quidio Penaliv (?) One of his five sons is the current president of The Seattle University. The first lay person to head the Jesuit university. Our Lisa studied at the S.U. I will probably get some reaction from my N.W. friends that they recognize the name. And when I visit Lisa next I will bring him Jose’s greetings.

I am save and bruised in Havana, and after a shower, a shave, and a Cuba Libra, feeling privileged and blessed. After three years fixing a boat, sailing is like skating, the same tricks can be applied not just on wooden boats. But for the ones of you who tracked me on Garmin In Reach, seeing the wild movements, no, there was no alcohol aboard. The very last strange move into Hemingway is due to the fact that I had intended to enter the marina Thursday night, but learned that that was a No-no and that the channel markers were not lit. So I decided to sail back to open waters under minimal headsail and get some sleep. It continues to be a learning progress. And I learned some on this maiden voyage, the bruised way. I should have listened  to my friend Thelma and done a few trial sails on the big lake in Rio Dulce. But how I was Med-moored in my marina spot, it takes a bit of work to cast off from the bow line anchors and reset the mooring process. Once the tardy iron mongers were finished installing the Aries windvane frame, I was all set to take off on Wednesday the 5^th. But when I tested the built in mechanical Ray Marine auto pilot it did not respond. It most likely was caused by the installation of the wind vane frame on the transom, right next to the auto pilot. The wires appeared undisturbed, but there was some heavy hammering done on the new frame. I wished I had this fixed before take off but I decided to use the back-up tiller pilot until I got to Florida. But it finally gave up the spirit in strong winds last Wednesday. Because it limited me to sail to the highest point of sail due to overreact to weather and falling in to “irons” when I was down below and unable to react in time. This meant tacking at the large angles you saw on Saturday against the highly unusual N.E. winds. But Sunday brought a welcome lift to a straight shot towards Cozumel and lighter winds and seas. The dolphins did a morning show and this turned out to be one  memorable sailing day to make up for the previous days. Going back to Wednesday. I anchored just before the gorge that brings you to the Caribbean Sea. A wonderful spot in a cove with a number of other stopover boats. I managed to use someone else’s Star Link wi-fi. But in the morning, hauling the anchor, there was load bang when the anchor came up to the roller and the anchor went right back down. Turned out that this anchor was meant to serve on a USN carrier and not fit for my muscle power which has always served me well on a one foot shorter boat. I had to tie a mooring line to the chain and bring it up with my Genova winch. I had to anchor out on the roads of Livingston to clear out from Guatemala and to wait for the highest tide to try clear the bar into the Caribbean Sea. Just to drop it down on the shallow bottom was enough to hold the boat in place. I intend to replace this spade monster with a Rohcna of half the weight. The previous owners happen to be on the south coast of Cuba and I hope to get his expertise on fixing the auto-pilot, tiller pilot and anchor winch. I already have several offers here from local mechanics. A video of part of the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOl13mEdNPM

So, in a nutshell: the unusual wind direction the near gale force parts and rough seas and my getting used to the new systems, the breakdowns were a negative but there was some great sailing, the full moon and the boat is a delight to handle. Exceptionally well balanced. When the tiller pilot broke down, right around the S.E. corner of Cuba, I was faced with hand steering the three day sail to the Lake Okeechobee canal and I must have hit a strong negative current because I ended up covering about 10 miles the entire night. But then I got a wind lift and discovered that the tiller pilot still was an asset without power to it. I could adjust the length of the pushrod by turning it to get the right rudder angle. I had used this trick on my previous boats but it usual was only good for a quick dip into the cabin, before the boat would go off course. But this worked so well that I managed to get some sleep without touching the helm. As a matter of fact it ran in a straighter line than the constant adjustment made to the compass setting when under battery power. But I remained limited to a lower wind angle. But it does speak highly of the boat’s design.

This is the first boat for me with roller furling. I have resisted it, but have become a believer. With the frequent wind strength changes it beats changing head sails with pulling a string in and out.

The chart plotter was a God sent to enter the tricky entrance channel into the Hemingway marina.

Being able to steer the boat with the GPS location on the cockpit bulkhead instead of my previous limitations with having my laptop on the chart table. A cellphone screen is a less desirable option. In 2022 on entering this same channel in nasty sea condition I ended up straying on the reef and had some nasty moments until a good wave set me free again.

I have one nasty problem now with my Garmin In Reach tracker. The border guards taped it up while I am here (cell phone and Star Trek us is also Verboten) now I am listening to the annoying warning signal until it runs out of charge. I have had this problem before where there is no way to figure out how to shut the damned thing off. The last instructions I remember are that I need to hold the “on” button at the same time with “X” button. That does not work any longer. In the mean time I am charged for the actual usage. Why can’t they come up with a stop button?

My dear friends, the hosts at the Casa Particular, where I stayed while licking my wounds after the last shipwreck here in 2022, were the first to greet me here yesterday on arrival. They come to get me at 9 am. Miralys and her husband were of great help in the aftermath of my loss of Fleetwood #2. Like all the Cubans they live in very hard conditions. I was able to sent them some of the very essentials they cannot get here and I helped their son cross legally into the USA and become their “remittance” aid in Florida. I pray that our new government will do the right thing and back our close neighbors from this festering wound and injustice and back their desire to become a real Cuba Libre again. Remove the (Chinese?) Trojan Horse from our shores, at the same time. Venezuela and Nicaragua next.

With all the delays I may not be able to arrive in time to celebrate my 88^th birthday with my Cape Charles friends.

The Hemingway Marina is still the same rundown place with the remaining signs of the glory days.

But there are more boat guests. Including the 3 masted Brigantine Schooner? Windjammer “Regina Maris” flying the ensign of my home town Amsterdam. Probably a story for my next edition. Another visitor is Mike from Missouri on a 27 foot Cape Dory. Another single handed sailor and I sense another good friend. Mike offered me to use his Star Link access, when I was on my way for the long walk to the Hotel, where I used to do my on line affairs. When I mentioned the “verboten” order for the Star Link, he shrugged his shoulders and told me that this was not enforced in the marina, he offered to help me set up mine. But, Halleluia, I figured out mine and you are the first beneficiaries of the skills of our voluntary Vice President. My wind shade from the trade winds is my neighbor, the “Mahoa” a huge Lagoon catamaran that departed from Manglar Marina before I did. The owner is from Burgundy.

There is a “Dollar” store here, where you can purchase with only non US credit cards. But unfortunately I have lost my Euro credit card. My Euro debit card is not accepted. But I have enough cash US $ to shop there but there is no change for my $20 bills. So, I have to shop mathematically.

It is now late afternoon and I was the guest of my former Host and Hostess Miralys and Osmany Perez. Osmany traded his Suzuki motor bike for a 1975 Argentinian Fiat Cocinella ? This picture is for my sweet niece Mariken de Ruiter who drives an older Italian version in Lombardia.

The Argentine Fiat Cocinella

I had  a long conversation with Miralys on their roof top in Baracoa about the emergency the Cubans are in. They have bad vibes on Marco Rubio. I conveyed my expectations that he might turn out to be their salvation. That he and Trump will deal with a shame of our foreign policy towards our nearest neighbors that the previous administration had no clue on. The seriousness of their plight has been totally ignored and without some courageous action on our part will be a shame we do not want. Electricity was on today for 4 hours and then will be off for the next thirty hours. They have a small gas fired generator but are unable to purchase gasoline. Osmany is a retired Police Chief with a pension of $8 month. A teacher’s salary is $10 a month. There is no milk nor eggs, children will grow  up with severe deficiencies. They are unable to attract customers for their B&B = Casa Particular because tourist stay away from a country where there is no food to buy, the public transportation has no fuel. Three years ago I could get to Havana on the bus for about 75 cents. Now, a taxi, who still have some fuel access, is like $30 to Havana from the Hemingway Marina. The Cubans are in general a better educated with a rich Spanish and North American heritage than the rest of Latin America. There is little crime, addiction and homelessness. Please, pray and act with your USA representatives to focus our resources on a good neighbor instead of pouring out our resources on our adversaries.

I wish all a great weekend and thank you for your prayers for my safety. Love to all.

And a belated Happy Valentinas Day to all the Girls I love.

The title (Tomorrow is for Ever) has a double meaning in this blog. A popular song and current Mexican video novella. Firstly it is about my struggle to get going North.

Wasting away again in Margaritaville. Juice in the blender. As long as you can adapt to the Mañana attitude you should be able to surrender. I am retired, why the anxiety? But my Anglo/Saxon pre-Boomer Calvinist upbringing struggles with being promised by my Guatemaltecos iron mongers to start the installation of my Aries Windvane on January 17 and so far they have put in a few hours on Friday night. But it may all turn out just fine, as always. I still would like to make a stop at the Hemingway Marina in Cuba, but just like my failed effort in 2017, the trade winds have been right on the nose. But there is a good window with mild northerlies between February 10 and 12. Which I should be able to catch if these iron mongers can be converted to my way of perfection. I would need to leave Livingston, my Guatemala check out port, by February 6^th.

I am super anxious to hit the trail again with my Fleetwood IV.

Yesterday, I managed to learn the intricacies of bending on the mainsail with lazy jacks. I never had these luxuries, nor the 12 V fridge with juice in the blender and being able to keep my vegetables/meat fresh for much longer, the mechanical anchor winch, roller furling an so on. I also went to the bright side of satellite communications, I bought a Starlink Mini enabling me to stay in contact with you from the middle of the ocean and check the weather. Please, do not use my email address for long emails, once I am underway. The roaming charge is stiff and I plan to use it sparingly.

I will turn on my Garmin-Vesper Satellite tracker when I leave Rio Dulce and you can follow my progress at: https://share.garmin.com/JackvanOmmen   It is also shown in the upper right corner of my web site.

With a little luck I hope to celebrate my twin brother’s 88^th birthday in Cape Charles, Va. on February 28. I have lost track of my adjusted age according to the formula where I go back one year for every year sailing the oceans. It has been a while since I did any serious passages. Matter of fact, it is exactly three years today since my sailing came to a full stop on the North Coast of Cuba, on my way to Rio Dulce. And instead of pulling sheets and a hand on the tiller, I spent three summers replacing rotted plywood on “FleetWood III” in Amsterdam.

I received some good news on the attempt to recover a good part of my costs on the repair from the crooked seller. My lawyer discovered that it looks like he is the son of the marina owner where I bought the boat. I thought he was just a hired harbor master. I count on all of you to join me in a January 6, 2021 (peaceful) like march, with our red hats, on the marina, if he does not pay the damages.

My interrupted sail from Havana on February 3^rd 2022 was meant to check out Rio Dulce as a possible winter home when I grow up and quit crossing oceans. I will never manage to save enough to own a home, since my 2000 bankruptcy. Though my home port is in the Pacific Northwest, I have no appetite to live there on a boat in the winter. Mexico would be great but not in the summers and the voyage back north is next to impossible for a small sailboat, because of the prevailing north wind and current. The Atlantic Coast is a much better choice to move with the seasons. I definitely consider Rio Dulce now an attractive choice, I had a good time here and felt at home with the kind of cruisers I met here.

The second interpretation of the title has today with Rose Marie. Today is also the 57th. birthday of our 2^nd oldest daughter Rose Marie. She passed away, suddenly on June 2^nd 2019 from a Pulmonary Embolism. We all miss her very much. She was an exceptional woman. And she left us with many wonderful memories. But the best is that she left us her contact address where anyone can meet up with her again. Through God’s unending mercy, I happened to have a phone call with her two months before her death, I called from Virginia to her in Washington state. Her first news, with some excitement, was: ”Dad, I am praying again”. My response was: “Rose Marie that is the biggest gift you could ever give me!” She was raised in a Christian environment and parochial grade school. Married in the church. Addictions of her husband (since, thank God recovered) broke up the marriage and she dropped attending church. If I had never had that one phone call, it would have been an enormous loss to carry. Now I have a reason and another reunion to look forward to. God is Good.

Here are a few scenes of my Rio Dulce Visit:

From bridge looking north.

The “lanchas” terminal. For many shoreline spots there is no road access

The Egrets returning to the River for breakfast