Sunday, the 15th was the last day of the festivities for the Miami to Havana Sailboat race. Forty Five boats had participated in the race. Having timed our arrival with this race had its good and bad points. The downside was space. The marina was pretty full so finding wall space for us was a challenge and we were packed in tightly. The upside was getting invited to attend the awards dinner and party at the yacht club Sunday night. Woo Hoo, Party! Party! Cuban Style! How did we get invited? Our group was sitting by our boat when Peanut decided to jump back on the boat. She missed and fell in the canal. Before I could say she knows what to do, Kathy laid down on the wall and tried to reach Peanut. Next thing we knew Kathy fell in! A gentleman heard all the commotion and came to the boat to see if we needed help. There was a ledge along the side of the wall so Kathy was able to stand on it and get out with assistance. She of course had Peanut. When she laughed and said at least I saved Peanut we explained that the dog has fallen in so many times she knows to swim to the swim platform so we can reach her. We had a good laugh and the guy who stopped by invited us to the party.We arrived at the yacht club and found a table for all of us. Ladies walked around with trays of food for tasting including pork from a pig that had been roasting all day. The music beckoned us to the dance floor. It was fast and fun! Can we Salsa? Nope, Did we care? Nope! After several hours of eating, drinking and dancing attention was given to the trophy table. Once the trophies were presented the party slowly broke up and we headed back to our respective boats. We met some nice people including an American who came as a fisherman year after year for many years then when the embargo happened and he retired he decided to move to Cuba. He has lived here for three years and loves it.
This is the back side of the Hemingway Yacht Club. It faces one of the canals
U.S. and Cuban flags fly together as a backdrop to the awards table
A triathlon took place on Sunday morning. They swam in the canal, YUK, and rode their bikes in a loop around the arena. The USA had a team. It was the second time they had been allowed to participate. Not sure how they did overall.
This gentleman sits in that chair all day and hand turns the pig on the stick for dinner. He also does this every Friday for the Friday evening barbecue at the yacht club.
The band that played at the awards ceremony. They were really good! I think all the free rum and cokes, (Cuba Libras), helped us feel the Cuban beat!!
Our group that came over to Cuba together; Kathy, Vic, Jerome, and Larry. Larry is a retired pharmaceutical salesman. He bought a brand new sailboat, had it loaded with everything and set out to circumnavigate the world! Vic and Kathy met him in Baltimore then ran into him in Key West as we were waiting to go. He decided to tag along, illegally. After two days he had to go back to the US as he had not brought enough funds and didn't know he couldn't access them in Cuba. Didn't do his homework. Tom has a few more funny Larry stories that he would be glad to share!
The Yacht Club hangs bur gees given to them from all over the world
There are photos on the wall of Mr. Hemingway talking with Castro as well as Hemingway and Castro fishing together.
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