News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

Sailors
in Cuba
By Gretchen F. Coyle
Young sailors on a variety of craft in Bahia de
Matanzas in Cuba. In this shot, there are several
Optimists, a couple of Windsurfers and some
unidentified bootleg-rigged boats. Dave Ellis identified
the red-hulled blunt-nosed boat in the background as
a Cadet, “a mostly UK junior trainer of times past.”
Unfortunately, there are not many opportunities for
American sailors to sail to Cuba. Certainly less for Cuban
sailors to sail or race to America. During a March 2011 visit
to Cuba for research on the 1934 cruise ship Morro Castle Fire
(sailed weekly between New York and Habana), I found
there could be and should be…
Imagine my surprise while traveling in a 1953 bright
blue Chevrolet on the road to Matanzas, Cuba, when I suddenly
looked off to my left and there were young Optimist
dinghy sailors. If only this young generation could do what
stubborn U.S. politicians and stubborn Fidel Castro and his
brother Raul have not done: reconcile differences between
our countries.
Races like the St. Petersburg to Habana race should be
annual occurrences. Imagine old friendships being
renewed, new ones blossoming. This past winter, a group of
Travel to Cuba Opening Up for Americans This Year
The U.S. government is expected to open up travel to
Cuba in the near future for any American (and it could
have happened by the time you read this). Trips will
have to be educational, and the U.S. Treasury
Department is requiring that these “people-to-people”
tours must guarantee a “full-time schedule of educational
activities that will result in meaningful interaction”
with Cubans. This policy is basically the same as
that enacted by the Clinton administration in 1999—a
policy that was rescinded by the Bush administration
in 2004. One previous requirement that is no longer in
place is the necessity to file an itinerary previous to the
trip. With these educational requirements, trips made
purely for relaxing on the beach, drinking mojitos and
listening to music will not be acceptable, but you never
know. Sailing with Cubans can definitely be “peopleto-people”
education, in this editor’s opinion. After all,
the purpose of allowing these trips is to bring regular
Americans and Cubans together—but they must be
“educational.”
Many American organizations are already offering
trips to the island in anticipation of the new rules being
established any day.
Steve Morrell
Editor
sailors from the Sarasota Yacht Club wanted to sail to Cuba.
Several reasons were given for the sail being postponed.
One I heard was that the U.S. OFAC did not answer applications
sent by members in an appropriate amount of time.
In the Miramar section of Habana, once home of luxurious
yacht clubs and numerous boating events, Marina
Hemingway sits almost abandoned, in decrepit shape, four
lagoons with concrete bulkheads just waiting for visitors.
We saw only a handful of sailboats—two from Canada, one
from Venezuela and two that looked abandoned flying no
flags at all. Maybe a dozen powerboats were tied up along
the docks.
Many of the old buildings around Marina Hemingway
have been vandalized or not worked on in half a century.
They are “under restoration” according to official sources.
Some apartments on the water are rented to European and
South American visitors, though people and cars were
scarce. Swimming pools were empty, cluttered with palm
fronds and debris. A ship’s store was padlocked. When was
it last open
A small food store with European goodies had many
empty shelves. What once had been a large cooler stocked
with fresh produce was turned off with its doors open. After
a week of chicken, pork, and rice and beans, my co-author
and I were anxious for a junk food fix. We purchased $14 (in
CUC) worth of chocolate and sugar, only to guiltily remember
minutes later that many Cubans are not paid that much
monthly in government pesos (one peso is worth only 1/25
of a CUC, the currency used for all visitors. Roughly, one
CUC = $1.00).
Across the street, a restaurant and nightclub advertised
a band playing that afternoon. Wandering over to see what
was happening, we discovered it was filthy. A few tourists
were sitting nursing a Cuba Libre or a beer.
Three hours away, at the entrance of the Bahia de
Matanzas, young sailors in Optis yelled to each other, hiked,
and wore the universal uniform of life jacket and hat. The
Federacion Nautica de Cuba is a member of the International
Optimist Dinghy Association, International Sailing
Federation and the Pan American Sailing Federation.
Cubans are wonderful people—proud, friendly and
helpful. They love Americans, and we love them. Not being
facetious, maybe the key to American-Cuban friendships is
through sailing. After all, for over five decades, politicians
on both sides have not accomplished a thing. Nor do they
seem to want to.
32 July 2011 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com