Even if it’s a long way from Cuba, 27 days, it din’t seemed long for us. We din’t stop at the Bahamas, nor at the Bermudas, we don’t have any hidden money in the “tax heavens”, but it was more because the weather was good to pass North of Bermudas and then heading East. A lot of fine weather, days without touching the sheets, wind from the beam, a lot of gulweeds too, then no fish, and a few days before arriving at Faial, the meeting of 4 blue whales that we cross very close, a big feeling. We will sail together for a time with Jean Louis Clémendot, but as he stopped in the Bermudas we will be waiting for him at Horta, in front of the roasted pork offered by the Peter Cafe sport, who celebrates also its centenary. Just a jump to Graciosa we didn’t yet know, and there, we fall in love with this island. All these islands are different, and at Graciosa we apreciate the calm of the port, the quietness of the island, the long walks, the traditional feasts.
It was planed, Stephane joins us at Horta with Enzo and Louison. Naturely Manon is here too. We have a straight program : the caldeira, meeting with the whales, visit of the Peter Cafe Sport with “Peter”Jose Enrique Azevedo, the renewing of the painting of Skøiern on the jety, and, for the men only…the climbing of the Pico, 2351 m, the Azores’s roof ! A revenge on the first trial in 2007, a promise done. It was gorgeous, and thanks to our guide Luis, not too hard. Horta it’s also the “Semana do Mar”, where the Captain, “Capi”, will be invited to row on a whale boat for the fishermen procession of Nuestra Senhora da Guia, whales boats regatas, parades, folk groups….Back to Graciosa with Manon, we visit the boiling bowels of Furna do Enxofre, meet Catherine, from a long time stranded sailor in the small village of Luz, more feasts, touradas…
Of course we think of the way back, then we go closer and we sail to Praia da Vitoria we love so much. No weather window, but a huricane that decide us to take shelter at Ponta Delgada, then, for the same reasons we went to Santa Maria.
At the end of October, as the weather is still in the same patern we take the decision to winter at Vila do Porto, well sheltered in this small island, our families and friends will have to wait some months more before we could meet again. Santa Maria is really beautiful, few populated, we can walk for hours in full nature, without cars, with our dog free for running and teasing the cows or Yann’s mule… The climate is better than in the other islands, more mediterranean, more aside the track of the big storms of the North Atlantic. We take also the opportunity of this wintering to do the works we had planed, the small yard in the port is very useful for us, and when you need something you don’t find on the island you just have to order, it takes some time but the parcels comes, and every time it’s like Christmas !
At spring we will sail for Britany, make a big feast for our boat before sailing for Grimstad and again make a big feast.

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Cuba, we wanted to go , see with our eyes the last socialist bastion which resist to his neighbour, the american giant, out of clichés and ideoligies. We entered at Santiago de Cuba, citadel where lies the ashes of Fidel Castro. At first it has been hard to bear all the burocratic rules, impeding us the use of the satellite phone, forbiden us to go out of the marina with Iris… but soon the kindness and pragmatism of the cubans let us forgot  all. Noël, the taxi driver will make me discover the town, taking me everywhere I will need with his sovietic taxi out of age, and also, and above all he will enlighten me on the cuban life. It’s not an easy life, the salaries are very low, 8 euros by month for a worker ! and many things are lacking, they have then to manage, have several jobs to get by. The education, the health care are free, but they have to pay the medics, even if they are cheap. The transportation are cheap too, even if some buses looks like trucks for cattle…An economy of penury, due for a great part to the blockade organised by the USA, which our european leaders follow quite subserviently…

Sailing along the South coast we will anchor at Marea del Portillo, a fishermen village, poor, really poor. Fortunately they don’t lack of food, it’s the country and the little black pigs run everywhere, but there is not much else. A little bit further, in Cabo Cruz, another fishermen village, we will find it richer, there is a school, the dwelers seem to be be happy. It will be the lead in Cuba, the differences can be realy important acording to the place, even from a district to another. From Cabo Cruz we will follow the reef, will anchor in the “Queen’s Garden” , with a  water of a rare clarity. It’s realy if we were in a garden, with the coral, the gorgones who swing in the surge, the remoras, huge, the baracudas sleeping in the shadow of the boat and where the fishermen come to exchange fish and lobsters for some beers.
Then Cienfuegos, a wonderful city, where tourism become more present, with a commercial street as we can see now everywhere. Here it will be Yasmani, the “bicitaxi” who will make us discover the town and will help us during all our stay. Brave Yasmani, who pedal all day long to pay the rent of his bici, but who will invite us to drink a beer, to us who earn hundreds times what his job give to him….There is Garijo, who welcome us in his garden, a paradise for sailors thursty of vegies, where all is bio ( as everywhere in Cuba as there is no money to buy fertilizers or pesticids ). He will have to sell a hen from time to time to get the food for the remaining ones…
Others anchorages of dream near Cayo Largo, then we will start to make East after Cabo San Antonio. Here, change of surroundings, we will anchor in Cayos de la Leña, in the middle of the mangrove, far from all, under the look of the herons and fishing eagles. We will have to leave this small paradise for Marina Hemingway, close to La Habana to escape the bad weather which is coming. Once again we wil make provision of lobsters on the way….
Marina Hemingway will surprise us. First it is very big, realy green, our pets will be able to leap on the lawn, and we will have many contacts with the other yachties, like Jean Louis, the round the world dialysed , and many others. Jorge, the taxi driver will let us discover La Habana with his Chevrolet of 1949, the Captain’s age ! He will first bring us to the 1st of May march, that we didn’t want to miss at any price : more than one million of cubans in the streets, childs, young ones, students, workers, militars, all this in a warm atmosphere, without police. We will fill our eyes and heart, and will even be interwiewed by the local press !
Then it will be the visit of the Finca Vigia, slendid property of Hemingway. Here too we will be surprised to see how strong is the memory of the friendship between Fidel Castro and Heminway. Friendship and mutual respect, for the men as for the Revolution. The yacht “Pilar” is here, perfectly maintained, and Jorge will take us at Cojimar, the small port where Hemingway sailed for fishing.
We will naturely visit La Habana, with the new district, very european, La Habana central, kept in the “Arts Deco” time, and Habana la vieja, as it was at the colonisation times. Many toutists for sure, but the town is so beautiful. “Fusterlandia”, near the marina, with its mosaics in the Gaudi maner, don’t escape to the rule.
We will leave Cuba with the memory of these hearty people, nobles, who fight a daily life sometimes absurd, but without rancor, whithout bitterness. A wonderfull country, privilegiated by nature but castigated sin mercy every year by the huricanes, a land of contrasts which don’t deserve the fate this stupid and dangerous fool of Trump impose to her.

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It will not take us a long time to come from the Maroni river to Le Marin in La Martinique : wind and current with us, a clean hull, in a few days we enter the bay of Le Marin were hundreds, if not thousands of sailing boats of all kind come together,in the marinas, in the ancorages ” huricane hole”, everywhere….Hopefully we went here only to do what we couldn’t do before : the paintings and varnish below deck. We take the oportunity to admire the yoles running in the trades, wonderfull sailing boats run by extraordinary sailors, was it in regata or with the family.
We went to the veterinary to sterelize Iris, we don’t want to have a litter of puppies as a crew !
We will leave La Martinique after the anchorage of Trois Ilets, contemplating the Diamant rock on the way. La Montagne Pelée, for her own, will stay hiden in the clouds.

The trade winds are vigourous and push us up to Portsmouth, in the Dominica island. Poor Dominica, devastated by the huricane Maria. It’s like the vegetation had been smashed with a chain saw…At night, while at anchor, two fishing boats brake their mooring chain and one of them enter in collision with us. The bow sprit will resist, but went 2 millimetrers back, not hurted, but scared. The two fugitives will be picked up back the following day, after one night playing the gost ships.

We enjoyed much Deshaies, a well sheltered bay in the North West of the La Guadeloupe. Here Iris will make real walks and every evening the dolphins enter the anchorage, the kids play with them, when it’s not the turtles who are wandering.
We could have stayed more, but there is still a long way to go….

Santa Cruz de Barahona will be our call in the Dominican Republic. What a difference with the West Indies ! Here it’s Africa, the streets bustle of people, the “conchos”, moto taxis weave their way, loaded as well by the corpulent mamy as by bunch of bananas or by the bloody veal just cutted in pieces ! It’s a commercial port, with big cargo ships loading sugar or anything else, wich don’t prevent the lamentins, mother and child, to wander around, with just the snout out of the water, when the weather is calm. We could also, and fortunately, replace our main alternator, which had broken down when leaving the Guadeloupe. Fernando, the port oarsman, will help us for a lot of things, the shoeshiner will have his material stolen, we will savor the grilled fish at night at the Club Nautico El Manati ( lamentin in spanish).

More to the west, it is at l’Ile à Vaches, in Haïti, that we will stop. We didn’t thought to do it, and however, what a call. It’s poor, for sure, Haïti is one of the poorest country in the world. But we are welcomed with a smile, in good french, we visit the village of Caye Coq with the young ones, they show us the Community Center, were, in spite of the needs they make paintings, art and crafts. The kids come regularly with their dugouts to see if we don’t have some useless staff to give, then we give. More there is their fishing boats, perfect sailing boats we met in open sea, engineless but with a huge sail. We are lucky to be here a day of regata, it’s simply wonderfull.
When leaving l’Ile à Vaches we will though for a long time of these people who have nothing, who welcomed us, who look us passing by, us the french who didn’t have helped them much, not to say more, since they became the first black Republic in the world.

100 years ! One century that “MARS/SKØIERN” went out of Jørgensen og Viik shipyard, in Grimstad, Norway. Christian Jensen can be proud, his first 12 meter is still alive. More, she is not languishing in a museum, no, she is sailing on the seas of the world. For sure we have something to do with this, we have sailed some 100 000 nautical miles since the day I discoverd her, stranding alonside the Moulin Blanc slip, in Brest. There have been hazars, stories, crews, Captains, to get to this point, get trough war, abandons, bad moments. But her star is here, she’s shining and protect her.
Now, we will go on sailing with our centenarian, we will get old together, in our common elements, the sea, the winds and open sea birds.
We are very happy

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