Archive for August 2010

Cuba, Part III – Cruising the North Coast

Cuba was great. After just one day of partying with the people we were Cuba-philes. Castro was a wonderful guy. “Well, he must be, to supply all that cut-price beer and rum to the people!” Then we set off to cruise the north coast of the country – and that was where things started to go wrong.

Fautasi LED Cabin Light

All cruising boats must be self-sufficient in terms of electricity, and so the less of it which they have to use, the better. Lighting is a major part of the electrical consumption of many boats – but this consumption can be vastly reduced by using efficient lighting such as LEDs. In a previous article we discussed an excellent anchor light produced by a small company in Fiji called Bebi Electronics. This light is at least as bright as a conventional…

Cuba, Part II – Beer on Tap; Rum by the Rucksack

Having given Puerto de Vita and its environs a fairly bad press I am now going to tip the scales the other way, because when we think back to our fortnight in Cuba it is this particular place that we remember with the most affection. Puerto Vita is a bit of a non event – unless you happen to be there in time for the country’s biggest party. And when would that be? Would it be the day that Castro…