I have about 30 sec. , we enjoy Cuba, speak to you later. I wrote that sentence almost two month ago in a hotel lobby, where you had access to a computer. The Cuban internet is prehistoric, painfully slow and very scarce to have. We are in Mexico now and have internet access on our boat, nice..but ...

The passage from Jamica to Cuba started with some strong winds and after two thirds of the way I put the engine on during my nightwatch, the wind just died down completely. We buddied with the German boat "Nirvana", they caught a Blue Marlin of 2,3 m , never heard of a sailboat catching a Marlin! It took Rolf over an hour to reel the fish in, it put up a mighty fight. We ate the fish in the Yachtclub prepared by the Cuban staff - what a toughy that was, very dry meat from that athletic fish, did not enjoy it much, in fact I could not eat it at all.
The checking in procedure was lengthly and very repetitive, we had 6 people coming aboard from different departments, the sniffer dog was cute, as much as the handler. All were very courteous and some spoke a bit of English. I had to show the boat to all of them and it was more like a visit than a serious search. Only one of them asked for something, he wanted a USB stick and Richard gave him an old one, he was very disappointed it was not 2 GB, days later another wanted a razor and was overjoyed when I gave him the whole packet. Things like that they can only buy in the Panamerican shops with hard currency.
The habour of Santiago de Cuba it indeed very polluted, you can see it, smell it and feel it everywhere, our boat looks dreadful, will take endless hours of polishing and cleaning. But I think it is worth it. Santiago is a very special place. We took a local bus into town, which is 16km away from the Marina, you have to make sure you take a seat before it is too late you will be squashed and you will not be able to hang onto anything. Walking down the "Music Street" during daytime hours is quite something, you come to the famous "Buena Vista Social Club" and there will always be somebody singing and playing the guitar or a band playing in one of the many café´s or bars. At night you have to pay entrance fees and put up with big loudspeakers, lovely to watch people dance. Taking Salsa lessons is one of the tourist attractions, as well as Spanish lessons.