February 26 – March 13, 2025; 17828 nm and 2184 days after departure from La Rochelle

Well at least that was what we had planned. Slowly heading to Mexico. But plans are just made to be changed, aren’t they? Especially with our life style they seem to be just a rough framework lately.
Anyway, at our first stop in Cayo Sal we had our first snorkle since a long time. It was great to be back in the water and even better as, only within 10 min, El capitano had caught a nice big lobster. We were all surprised about that fast achievement. Ok to be fair, the lobster was a bit crazy. It seemed that it literally wanted to get caught. Usually they hide in their safe cave and get as deep inside as they can but this one came out pretending it was a big guy and was proudly presenting its rattling claws. Too proud (or stupid?) to swim away it was an easy target -even for unpracticed Norbert- to get him. So that was why we were all surprised. Us having caught dinner so fast and the lobster being trapped in a lobster bag to get eaten. No doubt our surprise was the better one.

Also nice was the fact that we had caught up with Derya and Orhan on Gypsea at Cayo Sal. They had left Cienfuegos already a week or so ago. We shared our food and enjoyed a few days at that anchorage. Teased by our first lobster hunt we were keen on catching more of those beauties. Unfortunately we could not keep up with our first day success. Somehow it was already hard to just spot the lobsters and when spotted even harder to catch them. I am pretty sure the lobster WhatsApp group had spread the news about strange aliens with only two legs and arms and a long stick trying to get around their tails. It really seemed they had all disappeared. Well fair enough, who could blame them? I wouldn’t like being caught to be eaten either. Yet more annoying was that our outboard engine propeller was suddenly not pushing anymore. Or better to say it was slipping. And we had no idea why as we hadn’t touched anything. Noooooooooo! Not another significant project. I have to say I was indeed slightly fed up with things breaking. A not working outboard really really sucks, too! Ok you might think, what’s the problem? Just use your big strong arms, skip workout and just pull. Good idea when having a stable row boat. Only, inflatable dinghies are just not made for easy rowing, especially not when having to cope with wind, waves and current. It probably would be ok on a flat lake but not in sea conditions. In fact it could become even a bit dangerous. So again instead of enjoying the anchorage Norbert was trying to fix the propeller. He had found out that it was possible to screw three screws into the shaft of the prop to stop it from slipping. That worked for exactly 100m than it had slipped again. Scheisseeeeeee!!! (I thought maybe it’s not as rude to write swear-words in German?)

Yeah well, no outboard no fun at stopping at fairly open anchorages. So what to do? After thinking back and forward we decided that we need a new propeller rather sooner than later. And as we had learned already, Cuba was not the place to get anything. The only logical decision was going to Mexico earlier. It was not such a bummer but it would have been nice just to stroll further along the coast. So from Cayo Sal we sailed to Cayo Largo what we actually had intended to do anyway. Cayo Largo was a small and peaceful island resort located off the southern coast of the main island of Cuba. Its remote location gave it a desert island feeling. Undoubtedly very pretty with its super nice long beaches and its almost untouched nature though somehow it didn’t feel like being in Cuba. The main cause was that the island always had power, the nights were not completely dark like most of the time in Cuba. And secondly it was only possible to pay with credit card, cash was not accepted at all. Not that there was much to purchase but they had a few bars where one could get beverages or if desired food. The big advantage for us was the very protected anchorage and the possibility to anchor close to shore. Like that we didn’t need the outboard engine to enjoy the pretty beach and stretch our legs. Our arms could easily manage that distance. Another advantage was that we could internationally check out there to go straight to Mexico. Fortunately Gypsea had also decided to come to Cayo Largo and offered us rides in their dinghy to do the check in at the marina. That was indeed nice as it was a half mile trip from the anchorage.
Even though we got our prop fixed thanks to a British guy who had seen us rowing ashore. He came over to offer his help. Sailors are nice , aren’t they? With better tools and longer screws he did the same job Norbert had tried. Only this time it worked. That was a huge relief and we were of course very thankful. Still, as we could not know how long the repair would hold we decided to leave Cuba from Cayo Largo instead from the west tip Cabo San Antonio. I know we were chicken, but hey we are German aren’t we? It just does make us feel better not to take a risk! We stayed almost a week, enjoyed the island with its long white beaches, the calm anchorage and the possibility to just pick up conch. There were so many of them just laying at the calm inner bay beach side. We had never seen that before and almost couldn’t believe it. What an easy yummy protein catch!

24 hours in advance we had to tell guardia civil that we wanted to internationally check out. We had tried to get the despacho already in the afternoon the day before we wanted to leave but the officer had asked us to come back the next morning. They then usually prepare the zarpe / despacho which is always necessary for entering another country. So early in the morning of the 9th of March we went to the marina to pick up the ready despacho. Well, that did not work out quite as smooth as we hoped. The official needed to be called and I think he had just not done anything. When he finally arrived at his office he asked us to wait outside as he had an emergency. No idea what the emergency was of course. Anyway there was nothing we could do but wait. Thinking we would just be there a few minutes we didn’t take our credit card. So we couldn’t even get a coffee at the bar which had already open for the working locals. I was so desperate for a coffee and we could have slept longer! I’m not pleasant natured without coffee. Poor El Capitano had to cope with me whining about my missing coffee. It felt like the whole day but I think about two hours later we finally received the important papers.

A good thing that we had planned to shorten the trip to Mexico a little bit with a stop about 30 nm further west to Canal Rosarios. Like that we were not desperate to rush to leave. We first had a nice breakfast before finally leaving Cayo Largo. Food was good for my mood and off we were. At Rosario we stayed two nights to wait for the north wind to change to south-east to make the 300 nm Yucatan passage more comfortable. About two hours after we had arrived we saw a guy rowing in his boat to a spot not far away from where we were anchored. He dove down and maybe ten minutes later he came rowing towards us. In those ten minutes he had caught 4 lobster! Incredible! Just like that. With almost no effort whatsoever, at least it seemed to us. Of course we bought some of his catch. He was one of the rangers who spend one month on the island and one month at home. We gave him a beer, some food -he was so super skinny- and some dollars. For all of us a satisfying trade. No doubt we had a great dinner with such nice lobster until the evil started. Just when the sun started to say goodbye the mean blood sucking monsters attacked us. They came quiet, fast, almost invisible and especially unexpected. Completely flatfooted we were at the mercy of the beasts. It took us a few minutes to start our defence. Me, being starter, main dish and desert at the same time for the beast was the fastest in defending. Long pants, big socks, long sleeve shirt, scarf and face protection – I managed to put on all of that within milliseconds. Boy, was I fast! Fortunately the second day the attack failed thanks to the wind. Very much appreciated by myself. For me that was enough excitement before we left to sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Two and a half days later we arrived at Isla Mujeres around midday. It was a fairly good trip with one nice big mackerel and not too much bumpy waves. Viva Mexico!!!