have been talking with Dave, a Canadian who has his own yacht in the marina and he puts me in touch with a friend of his, Norman, who says he can sort me out good, clean, cheap accomodation.

After getting off the boat, I head down to Norman's yacht before the downpour starts. Eventually we get into his car and, as it turns out, fortunately, he asks me if I have a GPS on me: I do!

This is where the problem starts: apparently it is illegal to travel in Cuba with a GPS!! Now, obviously I didn't know this so we go and see customs and they confirm this and then that I have two options:

- Leave the GPS on the boat.
- Leave the GPS on the boat and then engage a bonded-customs agent to secure and transport the GPS to the airport for when I leave.

Another option of course is to say nothing and leave. However, this is illegal and when I leave by air, risk confiscation of the GPS a fine, and/or worse. Now I'm a great believer in staying within the law. Abroad there are so many things that, potentially, could go wrong so it's a no-brainer really.

Either way, I have to put the GPS back on board and now have the hassle and aggravation of having to sort out this customs agent: I can't leave the GPS behind. First of all because it is very expensive piece of kit and secondly, it is essential for my work - merde!! Norman reckons the bonded agent could cost around 150 CUC (about £120). Now the GPS cost me £500 so again, I can't afford to lose it.

Racking my brains for a solution I ask Adam - of catamaran Rhythm, who's going to Cancun - if he will allow me to place my GPS on his boat and I'll get it back from him in Mexico.

Adam agrees so we run the idea past customs who do agree to this. One of the officers comes to 'Rhythm' with me and tapes the GPS up in a bag and Adam has strict instructions not to open it until they have departed Cuba.

- Phew -!!!

Shown are noon positions:

View Larger Map

...and below is the track from my Garmin GPS:

I finally get an email saying to hand over to the Commodore of the yacht club (but that proves to be impossible).

In the end, I have to pay the marina fees, etc., until the owner arrives in order to leave the boat.

The boat is secured and 'taped up' and that's job over for me.

Get into Marina Hemingway mid-afternoon and have to go through the entry procedures.

All of it is done at the immigration dock and on the yacht.

Ministry for Health, Immigration, Customs, Coastguard, Ministry of the Interior, etc., all come on board and go through and fill-in the paperwork.

All told, this take just under three hours so by 1630 we clear the immigraiton dock and proceed to our berth in Canal 2.

A few beers and a meal with Will and Yuki before getting back to the yacht for some sleep before a full day's cleaning tomorrow.

No wind tonight so we motor slowly to the recommended track south of Saddleback Cay arriving, again, just before first light.

I see a monohull coming out of the anchorage there and call 'Colin Archer' on the VHF.

It turns out that they are also going to Marina Hemingway so we have a chat, review our respective routes through the bank and proceed West.

It's an absolutely scorching hot day with no wind so the sea is flat and ideal for spotting coral heads and the like.

Through the 'worst' of it by 1 pm, we stop next to 'Colin Archer' have a quick swim and wash and say hi to WIll and Yuki.

Pushed off after midnight on and sailed SW to the 'Wide Opening' at 'Danger Cay', Exumas arriving at first light.

A beautiful morning and the passage through the channel was straightforward.

A seven hour crossing of the shallow water to the deep water of the 'Tongue of the OCean' and we dropped anchor on the West side of Green Cay at mid-afternoon.

I don't want to cross the grand Bahama Bank in darkness so we stay here until midnight.

The main sail bracket arrived yesterday - big thanks to Steve and Tiffany at Cape Eleuthera marina for smoothing the arrival of this - but the wind was still too strong to enable us to get through the inter-island passages.

Can leave today though and the plan is to head slowly down to the 'Wide Opening' (in the Exumas), cross through after first light tomorrow.

Then to make our way down to the 'Grand Bahama Bank' to arrive by first light Saturday and cross during daylight, hoping to clear the shallows by sunset; then, proceed, as fast as possible, to Havana.

Happy days!

According to the Fedex tracker number, the part is in Nassau ...

Steve, Dan and myself went out to 'Fish Cave' to do some diving and Ollie and Natalie stayed on the boat as safety. We left a little early because of forecast 'bad' weather later on in th emorning.

The dive was good, a few big Groupers, a huge lobster, lots of Lionfish and a small manta.

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Cheers Dan, cheers Steve.

Steve, Ollie, Natalie and myself went conch diving in Steve's boat today. The first time I'd ever done this and it was dead easy.

Donning snorkelling gear we all entered the water and drifted with the current, staying close to the boat and dived down to catch conch.

Between us, in an hour, we had about 20 of them.

Afterwards we dropped anchor on a sandbank, Ollie beat them out and then Steve 'prepared' them.

Back to the marina and later that evening it was over to the restaurant here where the chefs prepared us (and Steve's wife, Maggie) a conch dinner.

- Conch salad to start
- Conch chowder with local sweet bread
- 2 rounds of coch fritters
- Conch in bread crumbs with rice and potato salad (and a piece of lobster in garlic butter - lush!)
- Ollie speared a small grouper on the dive and this was prepared but not eaten as we all felt like Mr Creosote after the first 5 courses :-)

A fantastic meal and big thanks to Steve and the chefs at Cape Eleuthera marina.

Routine maintenance is ongoing on the yacht whilst we're waiting on the part for the mainsail.

All is not work though...

Steve (the General Manager here) give us a lift into one of the settlements one night for a local festival. Lots of rum, conch fritters, live band, dj and more...

Always nice to get up in the morning before the days work commences and go for a quick swim.

Good thing about this marina is it's nice and warm and you see some interesting creatures...

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We arrive an hour before last light, refuel and then moor up in the marina.

Wind is still blowing 25-30 knots so it's quite fresh in here.

My estimate for this delivery was 11 - 12 days to Havana. We provisioned for 14: today is the 13th since Annapolis so we're low on pretty much everything in the food department. We haven't run out of anything but we have 2 tins of chilli left, some rice, some pasta and half a dozen eggs. The milk is on it's last day, no bread, no fruit and we could really do with some restaurant fodder.

Unfortunately the only restaurant is closed; the marina shop has basic stuff but is does have bread, it does have bacon and, best of all, it does have beer :-) Bacon and egg butties, an ice cold Kalik beer and a good nights kip - bliss!!

Sail across to Highbourne Cay but the wind is hitting 30 knots occasionally (and constant force 6+). The local weather forecast says this is going to blow all day and same tomorrow. Way too dangerous to go through so we turn around and head for Cape Eleuthera marina and hope to clear in customs and immigration there.

I call them on the VHF but get no answer (turns out that they can hear us but we can't hear them!!).

Get into and through the sound and make the recommended anchorage south of Davis Harbour just at last light .

Plan to leave here just after midnight to cross the 30 miles to the channel and to arrive just after sunrise.

The grib file is showing 16 knots so happy days (if it's right!)

Reliance are trying to sorting out a replacement main sail bracket so we're heading for Nassau to facilitate delivery.

Once again we're close-hauled in 30 knots of wind and through the binoculars I can see chafe on the rigged bracket. Don't want to lose the main so a change of plans and we head south, downwind, to cross Eleuthera Sound and to close Nassau from the East through Highbourne Channel.

No wind today so motoring [slowly to conserve fuel] southerly.

We have a quick stop for half an hour to recharge [our] batteries and to check the propellors and rudders :-)

27 degree water and it's blissful.

Not going to elaborate here but, surprise, surprise :-) the grib was wrong again!

Only 49 knot winds this time (that's true wind speed, not apparent) but this depression was a little more tiring than the others as we were in it for 48 hours solid!

Nice to be in deep water, good to have a solid 'big' boat, and good crew in Ollie and Natalie (only Nat's second ever time at sea).

Hoping it'll be downwind all the way to the Bahamas after this (Hope!)

24 hours later the remnants of the previous depression have well and truly departed and we're sailing slowly south having jury-rigged the main sail.

The grib is showing another depression forming and 33 knot winds this time (and we can all testify to the accuracy of them can't we? :-)

We stream warps from the stern of the yacht and run slowly under bare poles (basically, no sails up).

The wind increases to 35 knots, then to 40. The barometer is still dropping rapidly and has gone from 1013 to 1001 in about 7 hours: a storm is coming.

We stream more warps from the stern to slow the boat to around 5 -6 knots. The wind increases to 45 knots, gusting 50, then to 50 gusting 55 - 60. We're now getting 55 knots of wind and gusting 60+.

Visibility is appalling, radar shows no other vessels close (fortunately) and we're moving along at 10 -11 knots in the gusts. Boat is handling it well but it's not the best of nights I've had at sea I can assure you :-)

Lightning flashes are getting closer and closer, rain is sheeting it down, visibility decreases, and the noise increases as the cold front approaches. Frequent gusts of over 60 knots now and we're surfing fast. Fortunately the warps are doing their job and the boat is holding well. The cold front is getting close now: GPS, VHF radio, Epirbs, laptop, iPod, mobile phones, etc., all go into the cooker - just in case :-)

Lightning is now overhead and the noise is deafening, the wind increases rapidly once again, the boat accelerates and the wind speed indicator shows 65.4 knots (75 mph) in that last gust. Once the front passes through, the wind rapidly veers to the NE so we can, at last, head southerly.

I get Nat on deck to watch the helm whilst I get the warps in. Problem with the wind shift is now we're heading south we're going right into the BIG seas and swell of the last 12 hours, very lumpy. At least it's not 60 knots of wind though, merely a force 9, severe gale.

We were hoping that this was going to blow through and settle in a few hours but 10 hours later still sees us in force 8's and 9's. Downwind is definitely bearable though :-)

At 1930 hours I'm on watch, the wind has been building slowly and the barometer has been dropiing rapidly: 6 mb in the last 5 hours (this indicates gale force winds imminent). We're currently close-hauled in 30 knot winds and the auto-helm is struggling to hold us on the wind - there's 18 degree rudder on and it can only keep us about 75 degrees off the wind, I want it at 55-60!

The previous Salina 48 I delivered had a steering problem about 5 days into the delivery so I go through all the checks I can think of and still, we can't keep on the wind. At a loss for a moment, a quick glance to the top of the sail and the main is not attached to the track at the top

Ollie and Nat come on deck and we drop the main. The bracket has sheared off!

The wind is building so no alternative in current conditions but to head downwind as slow and as safe as possible until this '32-knot-forecasted-system' blows through.

After a hectic and fairly sleepless night we're finally motoring south with little wind.

The grib file is showing another depression forming and the forecast is 32 knot winds.

Now past experience shows that the gribs tend to underestimate the wind speed so, once it forms, we're in for a rough ride.

Slightly more wind than the forecast force 7. Gusting up to 49 knots (force 10) saw us creeping east and with poor visibility, watching the radar closely.

A radio conversation with a US Navy warship and we're told that this system is due to last for 36 hours so we're just going to have to grin and bear it :-) Nice one grib file!!

It looks like Paloma has broken up over Cuba so we're ready to go.

The forecast was good weather all the way out of Chesapeake Bay (which it was) and blowing up later Wednesday night into SOutherly force 7.

The plan was to head East and get into deep water, let the system blow through (in 24 hours) and then have faily light northerlies to enable us to head south.

So, we depart Annapolis today and motor through Chesapeake Bay.

Hurrican Paloma has now been downgraded to a Tropical Storm again, but its path is still uncertain as you can see.

See what happens when it clears Cuba and the centre is over water again...

As of 0900 (US time) it's a Category 4 hurricane and wind speed is around 120 knots (140 mph) - good decision to stay

The NHC website is giving the following wind speed probabilities:

- 89% of developing into a hurricane by 1pm Friday.
- 93% by 1am Saturday.
- 85% chance of TS status Monday.

Weekend in Annapolis then!!

The system developing off Nicaragua has deepened yesterday into a Tropical Depression and last night into a Tropical Storm.

It's current location is off the Honduras/Nicaragua coast:

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...and guess where it's going to go?

Can only wait here and see what develops.

Had a nice few cold days in Annapolis preparing the boat and getting supplies for the approximate 10 day trip.

All we need to do now is diesel up and then leave...

...unfortunately there's a system developing off Nicaragua which could prove nasty...wait and see what develops.

Well it wasn't the road trip I had ever envisaged happening, but after nigh on 900 miles I eventually arrived in Annapolis and got onto the yacht.

Salina 2 is a Salina 48 catamaran which the owner wants delivering to Havana, Cuba.

I have crew for this trip, Ollie & Natalie who are staying in Annapolis at the moment. They are coming down to the yacht on Sunday.

Looking at the weather and there's a depression forming south of Cape Hatteras on Tuesday and we'll make no headway until that forms and moves east...ho, hum, things to do in the states...

The boat was ready for handover yesterday but I don't have any details from the owner of who I am handing over to.

Ollie and Natalie leave the yacht and head off to their accomodation in Old Havana. It was good sailing with them and I hope they both do well in the future. Evening time I go for a meal with Adam, Emily and family (who are on catamaran Rhythm which is moored just behind us).

They plan on leaving over the weekend, heading for Cancun (which turns out to be quite handy for me (post 'Problemo!!') and offer me lift if I want to go with them: I have a flight from Havana to Cancun on the 19th December and plan on going there/Cozumel for Christmas. It's an option and worth considering. Problem is I've never been to Cuba before and want to look around and have a few days chilling...we shall see.