Cruises in Key West, FL

I travel from Key West to Marina Hemingway every month on a 52 ft. M/Y. We'll be there next Sunday for a week. I can give you the most current information regarding current pricing, contacts, etc. when I return. You can email me at sharonkeywest@aol.com and I'd be happy to help any way I can. I can also ask our contacts at Customs there about the details regarding bringing a dog.

Marina Gaviota in Varadero, Cuba

Rick the Greater Antilles Loop that you will be following is a very popular one for circumnavigators. It is possible to run the perimeter of the entire Caribbean basin in legs of less than 24 hours with most being day sails. Mel's suggestion for storing your boat on the hard in Marina Gaviota Varadero is a good one. The facilities are clean, secure and designed to accommodate large catamarans without issue, if you discount the man eating mosquitos and no-seeums that appear every evening at sunset....even when its blowing 20+ knots. The area where the storage yard is located is a landfilled swamp and apparently the bugs did not get the memo! I will post a tour of the facilities later, but for now you can check out this link describing the marina facilities. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Cubalandandsail/permalink/1124272987628912/ The biggest negative for somebody on your route is the fact that Marina Gaviota is located on the north coast. Most vessels on your route make land fall in Cuba at Santiago de Cuba and travel downwind along the south coast of Cuba. While it is also possible to shoot the Windward passage and clear into Cuba either at Puerto La Vita or at Marina Gaviota itself, the cruising grounds on the North Coast of Cuba are not nearly as nice. Alternatively one could transit the south coast of Cuba, round the corner at Cabo San Antonio and cover the 200+ NM to Marina Gaviota with the current but somewhat against the wind. The benefit of the latter option is that you can stop in Havana enroute. A third option is to consider Isla Mujeres Mexico as your storage point for the season. La Isla is a short overnight sail from Cuban waters and we can discuss specific sailing strategies in a separate post. The Marina Isla Mujeres offers haulout and storage at reasonable rates, especially when compared against US yards. The added advantage of Mexico is that if your vessel requires work during the off season, parts and materials are readily available and labour is good quality and reasonably priced. You should reach out to one of our Cuba, Land and Sea administrators, Robby Bargielowski who lives in Isla Mujeres.

I am aware of two less expensive places to store on the hard in Florida. One is called "The Glades" and is located inland on the Caloosahatchee River between Ft. Myers and Lake O. The other is called Indiantown and is on the eastern side of Lake O. Both can be found quite readily with a google search. P.S. I was a friend of the late Teki Dalton of Canberra/Sydney. His video of sailing Nadia IV in the Sydney/Hobart race lives on via YouTube, if you want to check it out.

The easiest trip to Cuba from the USA is Marathon to Varadero. The 93 nm is almost current neutral although on days when the Gulfstream is running hard into an easterly wind, it is easier on the boat and crew to kiss the Cay Sal banks before turning on the rhumb line towards Varadero. With regards to costs most north coast Marinas are around $.70/ ft/ day plus power and water. The exception is Marina Gaviota in Varadero which is a top end facility with a top end price at $1.10/ft plus power and water....they do have toilet seats however. Living expenses will vary depending on your life style, but $40 -$50/day for the first few weeks sounds about right