149: Cuba! With Chris Museler

Episode 149 is a fascinating conversation I had recently with sailing journalist Chris Museler, comparing and contrasting each of our recent passages to Cuba. You’ll most likely know of course that Mia and I just visited Havana aboard Isbjorn last month, sailing over from Fajardo, Puerto Rico on what was truly the adventure of a lifetime, both for us and for our crew. 

Chris sailed to Cuba by another means back in January of 2015, aboard the wooden schooner Charlotte, a custom boat built by Gannon & Benjamin on Martha’s Vineyard. On that voyage, they took a more circuitous route - Chris actually flew in to Haiti, where he met the boat (only after a frightening and exciting four-hour journey from Port au Prince to get there). They continued on to Port Antonio in Jamaica before making their Cuban landfall in Cienfuegos on Cuba’s south coast.

Chris describes the fear and excitement he experienced in Haiti, the ‘two sides’ of Jamaica, the emotional roller coaster on sailing between vastly different cultures in a relatively short period of time, what Cuba is really like, how he ran out of cash getting to Havana and much more. Throughout our conversation, I chime in a describe what our experience was like on the north shore of the island where we left Isbjorn in Marina Hemingway and stayed ashore in Havana for five days. Chris and I go back several years and it’s always fun to catch up with each other and hear about our latest projects. Don’t miss Chris’ recent coverage of the America’s Cup in New York City in last week’s New York Times.
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As for Isbjorn, by the time you hear this we’ll be back offshore, bringing the boat home to Annapolis from Ft. Lauderdale. If you got our recent newsletter you’ll know we’re all but sold out for 2016 - just one space remains on the Ireland-Portugal passage in September - but our 2017 calendar is open and we encourage you to join us on the high seas! If you DON’T get our newsletter, go to 59-north.com/news to register. We only send updates once in a while so won’t flood your inbox.

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