We had a rough passage from the Cayman Islands to Cuba but it was much shorter than the passage to the Caymans! We had two nauseated days at sea before we made landfall at Cienfuegos and began the arduous process of checking in. We saw the doctor, who gave the all clear after taking our temperatures, and then the customs, immigration, agriculture, and harbour officers all came aboard. After about 45 minutes we had filled out half a dozen forms, had the boat and our possessions thoroughly inspected, and had two different dogs sniff out any bombs and or drugs aboard. Everything was just as we’d remembered it.
The marina at Cienfuegos doesn’t have a lot of room for transient dockage so we anchored off with a dozen or so other boats. The harbour is well protected but there is an industrial area and a slaughter house nearby – or at least we assumed from the number of cow and pig bits that we saw littering the shore – which all goes towards making it less appealing than it might otherwise be.
During our stay in Cienfuegos we worked on some mechanical issues and joined up with a small boat flotilla. The flotilla was small in both size of boat – everyone coming in at 36 feet or less – and number of vessels – there were only three of us. The other two boats were American, although we didn’t hold that against them, and very well matched with us for cruising. It was fun to sail with, or against depending on whether Adam is telling the story, other boats for a change and we enjoyed the company. Cocktail hour was generally more exciting than usual with the addition of new sailing stories and we were given a conch harvesting and cleaning tutorial so we’ve learn a new, albeit useless for us, skill.
The marina at Cienfuegos doesn’t have a lot of room for transient dockage so we anchored off with a dozen or so other boats. The harbour is well protected but there is an industrial area and a slaughter house nearby – or at least we assumed from the number of cow and pig bits that we saw littering the shore – which all goes towards making it less appealing than it might otherwise be.
During our stay in Cienfuegos we worked on some mechanical issues and joined up with a small boat flotilla. The flotilla was small in both size of boat – everyone coming in at 36 feet or less – and number of vessels – there were only three of us. The other two boats were American, although we didn’t hold that against them, and very well matched with us for cruising. It was fun to sail with, or against depending on whether Adam is telling the story, other boats for a change and we enjoyed the company. Cocktail hour was generally more exciting than usual with the addition of new sailing stories and we were given a conch harvesting and cleaning tutorial so we’ve learn a new, albeit useless for us, skill.