CUBA LIBRE

SUZY CARMODY DISCOVERED AN UNSPOILT PARADISE IN SOUTHERN CUBA'S JARDINES DE LA REINA

- SUZY CARMODY

Pirates and Spanish galleons, gangsters and chrome glistening Chevrolets, folk heroes such as Che Guevara and Fidel Castro: Cuba has long held a fascination. After a month cruising in Jamaica aboard Distant Drummer, our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sloop, we were in Montego Bay and waiting for a fair wind to carry us north across the Caribbean Sea to the island which was once the jewel of the Spanish Crown.

We'd planned to break the passage from Jamaica to Cuba at Cayman Brac, a rocky island about 80 miles east of Grand Cayman. However, north-east trade winds funnelling through the Windward Passage were forecast to veer and strengthen during the week making the anchorage there untenable. So we set a new course direct to Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba, and as we departed Montego Bay and headed north-west the conditions for the passage could not have been better.

A fresh breeze on the starboard beam and a moderate sea made for a fast reach across the Cayman Trough, then as the wind eased and veered in the lee of Cuba we poled out the jib and had a beautiful run-up to the Cuban coast. We entered the lagoon at Cienfuegos and zigzagged our way between the red buoys which mark the channel to the city on the eastern side of the bay. Anchoring outside the marina we went ashore to complete the entry formalities, which were straightforward as the marina is a one-stop shop for the harbour master, customs, and immigration.