Mitch has kindly given permission to pull a few of the stories of their journeys off their old blog and this was one I thought everyone would find interesting. I know I would love the opportunity to visit Cuba by boat.. maybe one day soon they will lift the ban. So here it is. I believe this is from the late 90’s
Sunshine, palm trees, Latin music, communism….communism? Yep, communism. Although to an American visitor to Cuba, the role of communism is significantly played down. We sailed to Cuba with the Havana Cup Regatta. The regatta included almost 200 boats and was granted ‘fully hosted traveller’ status by Marina Hemingway. This meant that we did not have to pay marina or customs fees and therefore did not violate the U.S. embargo laws regarding spending money in Cuba.
On May 25th, my wife and I cleared into Marina Hemingway in Havana aboard our 32′ sailboat Hetty Brace. We spent the next three days looking, learning, and meeting some of the nicest people found anywhere.
We left Tampa Bay on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Havana early Sunday morning. Although we could see the lights of the city 15 miles out, the pervasive smell of the refineries sounded an even louder signal of impending civilisation. After 3 days at sea, the smell of land becomes more acute – and the smell of Havana could not be ignored.
At 12 miles off the coast of Cuba (the beginning of Cuban territorial waters), we called into Marina Hemingway to announce our arrival. We were welcomed to Cuba […]
Mitch has been kind enough to let us republish a recent series of articles he wrote that are at the Observer News. I have included a link back to the original article on the Observer News website at the bottom of the article here.
Helping Hands
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
The circus has moved down the road. All along the way, I’ve heard stories of the southbound cruising fleet crowding bridges and marinas along the Intracoastal Waterway bound for Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean; but by the time I arrived the marinas were empty. It’s spooky being the only one aboard in a marina, but it turns out there are a few people even crazier than me still in the Chesapeake. I feel sorry for them — and I feel a certain joy in knowing that I am out of that beautiful, but boisterous, body of water.
On my first full day in the ICW, I had the waterway to myself for hours. It was calm and stunningly beautiful with late fall colors still lingering in the trees that thickly lined the shore. By late morning a trawler slowly passed, followed by a larger and faster sailboat. I’m not pushing Shadow Marie too hard. She has been seriously neglected for the past 10 years and I’m not anxious to find her breaking point in the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina.
I was tied to an 800-foot long dock that ran along the ICW in an outpost named Coinjock. There were two boats sharing the dock with Shadow Marie, but neither had anyone aboard and it appeared they represented dreams either interrupted or shattered. Captain Mark Goodbrand was working at the Midway Marina. He said that just a month ago boats were tied to the dock like jigsaw puzzle pieces. I looked […]
Mitch has been kind enough to let us republish a recent series of articles he wrote that are at the Observer News. I have included a link back to the original article on the Observer News website at the bottom of the article here.
Coming in from the cold
Part four of an Observer News feature series
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
I had never been so cold in my life — and that is saying something coming from a former Minnesotan. The wind blasting across Norfolk harbor shook my spine and instilled fear deep into my heart — not a life-threatening fear so much as a will-I-ever-get-out-of-this fear. I wanted it to end. I wanted a 737 to take me back home. For the first time in days, I didn’t miss my wife. I wouldn’t want her to endure the cold and choppy waves blasting spray over the deck.
One of the mightiest ships on the sea viewed from one of the smallest: a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in Norfolk harbor. MITCH TRAPHAGEN PHOTOS
Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the icy cold hand clutching my heart began to release its grip. By the time I sailed into downtown Norfolk, conditions were almost pleasant — at least as pleasant as things could be with a temperature in the 40s. But as the waves subsided and the sun warmed my skin (what little was exposed) and I remembered why I was doing this, my outlook brightened with the rising temperature.
If you have a bad day or reach a point in your life where you wonder if there is any good left in this world, I can assure you there is. Let me introduce you to Captain David […]
Mitch has been kind enough to let us republish a recent series of articles he wrote that are at the Observer News. I have included a link back to the original article on the Observer News website at the bottom of the article here.
Sailing in through the out door
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
Reedville, Virginia, is a quiet community on a creek just off the Chesapeake Bay. MITCH TRAPHAGEN photos
The quiet in the cabin echoes. All of the activity and the excitement of preparing the boat with Michelle are now recent memories. I can still feel the energy but I am alone. In the time it will take Michelle to drive a thousand miles back to Tampa Bay, I can, at best, make 100 miles under sail. This is not a journey for the impatient. I am struggling to learn patience. But first, I must overcome the quiet echoes in the cabin.
Gale warnings for the Chesapeake Bay delayed my departure for the beginning of the protected waters of the Intracoastal Waterway in Norfolk, Virginia. The bay doesn’t relinquish her grip easily — especially for fools who tempt her by leaving late in the season.
Since the day I bought this boat I have been sailing in through the out door. In other words, I have been moving in the opposite direction of the normal cruising flow. Each year hundreds of people sail their boats north for the summer and south for the winter in a never-ending quest for 75 degrees in temperature. When the days grow short and cool in the north, the cruising fleet, made up of everyone from retired couples on immaculate yachts to young drop-outs on small boats experiencing adventure before becoming tied to mortgages, point their bows south for Florida, the Bahamas and […]
Mitch has been kind enough to let us republish a recent series of articles he wrote that are at the Observer News. I have included a link back to the original article on the Observer News website at the bottom of the article here.
My wife Michelle flew in to help prepare the boat for the voyage home. The tanks and lockers are full. It is time to sail home. Saying goodbye to Michelle was the hardest part.
Part two of an Observer News feature series
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
The Chesapeake Bay is beautiful, historic and the entire area is a national treasure. Part of what futurists Herman Kahn and Anthony Wiener termed the BosWash Corridor; 50 million people, nearly 20 percent of the population, live in the region stretching from Washington, D.C. to Boston, on only two percent of the U.S. land area. The Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Eastern Shore, is a respite from the crowding. The bay plays a prominent role in our nation’s birth and history. While the Founding Fathers created the concepts in Philadelphia, much of the blood was shed for freedom on these waters.
For a boater, the bay appears to be nirvana. There are hundreds of rivers and creeks offering protection from adverse weather. There are also hundreds of historic, picturesque waterfront communities to visit. Years could be spent cruising here without seeing it all. But the Chesapeake is also temperamental and, in fact, can quickly become downright grumpy.
Last year I sailed for the Chesapeake from Cape Cod, through New York City, then sailing offshore in the Atlantic to Cape May, New Jersey. From there I sailed up the Delaware Bay to the C&D Canal, which brought me to the bay. The stark, desolate landscape and the steel gray water of the […]
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