Cuba Trip and a Sailors Musings

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Fin-bulb keels

Plans are shaping up for my first passage to Cuba this summer, and already, Ive been getting some flack from the friends and family in Miami. My stepmother is from Cuba, so most of my growing up was steeped in the traditions of La Isla, as well as the ire of a generation uprooted by the revolution.

As novelist Joseph Conrad often pointed out, a sailors national identity is inherently problematic. At sea, a sailboat is an extension of the country under whose flag it flies, but once you enter port, you are necessarily bound by the written and unwritten norms of the host nation. Though many find the clearing-in routine (agricultural inspection, medical report, cruising permit) to be a nuisance, the bureaucratic rigmarole has a bright side. The forms and stamps of officialdom offer the sailor a stark reminder of the landlubbers fixation with a world that can be labeled, categorized, and archived. The passport stamps, signatures, and inspection forms are offered as proof of the stability and order of life ashore, which, as any cruising sailor comes to recognize, is about as organized as a fourth-grade bake sale. The economic meltdown and halting recovery during the past decade offer ample evidence that the chaos on a storm-tossed sloop is nothing compared to the underpinning bedlam ashore. Its no wonder that so many friends rocked by the recession long for a miserable day at sea.

The voyager has the advantage of a perspective shaped by self-reliance. He has the opportunity to reinvent himself with each new landfall, to adopt the admirable habits of his hosts, and to reject those that serve no good. And then, like a filter for the human condition, he carries the most favorable notions to new landfalls. While a few cruising sailors choose to hold steadfastly to their language, to their culture, to their personal beliefs no matter where they find themselves, the cruisers I most admire arrive with an open mind.

I would truly like to go to Cuba free of any biases, but the island still casts a dark shadow. Stories of the atrocities under the Castro regime hold such a powerful sway over South Floridians that true openness is nearly impossible. Amercanism versus communism was an important part of school curriculum while I was growing up in South Florida. Text books were imbued with anti-Castro rhetoric. For more than four decades, narratives designed to divide-paper walls-have been erected on each side of the Florida Strait.

With luck, the voyage to Havana will ease my conscience and allow time for reflection. The world of wind, sea, and sky that knows no flag will once more erase any unfounded, preconceived notions. Ill have the chance to forget the political traps of life ashore, but still remember what the people of Cuba have so long endured; for as the French philosopher Michel Foucault put it: In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates.

In this light, bringing more voyaging boats to Cuba does not seem like such a terrible thing.

Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Supported entirely by subscribers, Practical Sailor accepts no advertising. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him by email at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.