Sailing Into Freedom

We move from our friends in Cayo Campos and head East to Cayo Rosario. We sail over some shallow areas very slowly but even with Margarida keeping lookout on the bow, we hit a rock.

I go diving and discover lobster everywhere… so many in fact that there were not enough proper hiding spots. I even got charged by one, classic! I feed another moray eel and boy is she hungry taking 3 bloody fish. After that I shoot a trunkfish… oh no! These are the crazy looking triangle fish but the cubans tell me that they are great taste like chicken so I try it out and let you know. Margarida has seen enough and is keen to get to Cayo Largo to pick up her parents so we visit the well and fill up our tanks and all our gerry cans. Its interesting to note that even though we were not strict on out water consumption knowing there was a well available we still only used 4.5 litres per person per ay (about 1.2 gallons). And yes we are again having dinner with our Cuban friends and it is going to be a feast with conch, lobster, fish and hutia the rat like rodent again… wooo hoooo. Good buy to our Cuban friends!

It has been a long time since I have been with Margarida but I am well enough to sail to her now. An impending norther will wreck my window for another 5 to 7 days but if I leave now the conditions just prior to the norther will make it a better sail so I leave….but you know this vlog, things don’t quite go to plan….

Margarida shows us a bit of domestic life on the boat while I go out and get some dinner. I return and am greeted by a smiling darling wife ready to go to the beach but I sort of stuff it up by opening my mouth and giving some advice… nothing but quality people! It’s amazing that gravity works especially hard on deserted beaches because all of our clothes fell off, who would have guessed that. And yes we are invited over to dine with the Cubans again… I wonder if I was alone if I would be that popular…

The Cuban locals love Margarida and have invited us over for dinner again. The culinary adventure continues but this time we are going to eat the hutia that we saw in the previous episode, the one in the cage… that’s right people the rodent that looks like a large rat. Large rat for dinner, we must be special guests. I film the preparation of the little beast from the start so if you are squeamish don’t watch! We finally get to see more of the island wild life, the monkeys which turn out to be Sailing Into Freedom fans just like the iguanas. In Cuba we are definitely a very partially successful vlog.

Hey Guys 👋 were back to our episodes in Cuba. Enjoy!

After a very easy overnight sail we are rewarded by seeing waves breaking on the outer reefs. We meander through but there is a problem… we have to stop. I recall its been more than 2 months since I have eaten fresh fish so in I go to see what there is to offer… Cuba does not disappoint people. Afterwards we head to a safe anchorage at a place called Cayo Campos. We are immediately invited over for dinner by the locals. They are having turtle which Margarida has never had before so she is keen to try it. Cayo Campos we are here to stay!

An unexpected weather event stresses my taxed body and I get worse and worse before I begin the long slow haul of getting better.

Don’t panic people I have Covid. The trouble is I am again in the middle of nowhere and have to deal with it myself. It is definitely the worst flu I have ever had and what’s more it seems to be the flu that keeps on giving.

We hope you’re having a fantastic holiday, we are taking some time to recharge ourselves and sort things out. New Year ✨ new episodes! We are back to our usual series chronology where we are in Grand Cayman. Our excellent fans, Stephanie and Kyle take us for our final shop and surprise us 😲✨

We go through our preparations to leave the country: fill up on water, laundry, uploading episodes, checking out, get our spearguns dropped off to us and then we are off. But things are not quite right and we are forced to aim for a very secluded bunch of islands far far west of where we ought to check in….it is tragic news indeed. But the sailing is great and we are well on our way to an offshore sailing to Cuba….enjoy!