Party Cubano!

"The Chinese Box", containing a whole pig!














Coals are spread on top of the box.













Just after flipping the pig over...













Ready to eat at last!















Raphael - Master Chef. His work is done!















Tato and his lovely wife.

















Papa, Mama, and Susan















Eduardo, Manuel, and Mama

















Mama, Susan, Eduardo, and Walt















Tato, on his 28th birthday.













Friday afternoon, Tato invited us to a party at his house in celebration of his birthday on Saturday.

Tato is part of the Cuban family business led by Eduardo, Papa, and Mama, whom we engaged to lay the beautiful new flooring aboard "Kingdom". They did an excellent job, and are now working on repairing the dry-rot we found in the aft bulkhead of our Master Stateroom. We have learned to love this wonderful family! We have become friends, even though we don't speak much Spanish, and they are still struggling with English.

Papa, Mama, Eduardo, and Tato all emigrated from Cuba in the 90's in small boats. Papa told me that he was in a 21-foot boat with 10 other people and two babies for seven days before reaching Florida. This is a very common experience with this generation of Cuban immigrants. Many then had to spend up to a year or so in internment camps before being released to the general population here. Tato's father-in-law spent 21 days at sea in a 17-foot boat with 8 others aboard before making landfall in Florida. All of them detest Fidel Castro.

Their descriptions of life in Cuba are harrowing: Extremely low wages prevent earning enough to support their families; Not enough food or milk available for the children and old people; rampant corruption. You have to be desperate, to make the attempt to reach the US under the conditions many of them underwent.

Susan and I are completely in awe of the Cubans' resilience. We have experienced them as hard-working, skilled, ethical, dependable, and honest. In addition, we admire their family values and can-do spirit. They came to the US under the harshest of conditions, and are determined to make their own way to success. Nobody in this family is on any kind of government-funded welfare program. Everybody works long and hard for their living. No matter what work they do, they want to do it well, and be proud of their work. At Tato's party, we met family and friends of the family who are bakers, auto mechanics, electricians, groundskeepers, as well as medical technicians, doctors, and entrepreneurs.

Susan and I were the only non-Cubans invited to this particular party. We were treated as honored guests, and felt welcome and comfortable with everyone throughout a long, happy, day.

Tato had told us to come anytime after noon, so Susan and I arrived around 1:30 pm, thinking we would be there for an hour or so, have some cake and ice cream, and go about the rest of our day. That's not how the Cubans do it!

When we first arrived, we found massive amounts of food, and even more massive amounts of beer on hand, though there were only a half-dozen people on hand. Susan and I worried that there was far too much food for the gathering we could see.

Outside, we discovered Raphael just starting the coals for the "barbeque". This was unlike anything we had seen before. An entire pig, split horizontally and lying on its back in a rack enclosed in a wooden box lined with galvanized tin. The box was covered with a sheet metal lid, topped by a steel grill. This outfit is called a Chinese Box, and is apparently manufactured specifically for this type of cooking. Charcoal briquets are spread on the grill atop the box, and kept burning for about three hours. Then the box is opened, the pig is flipped over, and cooks another hour or so, or until the Master Chef declares it is done! No spices, basting, or sauce of any kind is used in this process. The meat cooks in its own juices, and it was indeed juicy and tender as anything I've ever eaten.

Dinner was served at about 11:oo pm. Besides the roast pork, there were big platters of rice and beans (unlike any I have ever tasted, and much better too!), rice and shrimp, salad, yucca (looks much like potato, but isn't), several dishes I couldn't name, but devoured just the same, and birthday cake!

Susan and I spent about ten hours at this wonderful party, helping as best we could with the decorating, and chatting with the other guests as they continued to arrive throughout the day and evening. As one guest told me, "Cubans love to eat, drink beer, talk, dance, and listen to loud music, all at the same time!" That is the perfect description of the party we attended. As the beer flowed, our Spanish slowly began to improve, and our hosts' command of English got better, too!

Thank goodness, Papa served us tiny cups of Cuban espresso at about 4pm, or we would never have made it to midnight, when we finally departed. I should also say that the party was only beginning to get into high gear when Susan and I went back to the boat and our bed. The men were just starting to play dominos!

In many respects, this party was a perfect example of why we have chosen the cruising life. We feel we have made new friends, become part of a larger human family, and experienced a small slice of a culture previously unfamiliar and largely unavailable to us.

We hope you enjoy the photos.

ps. Though I did not take photos of the interior of Tato's home, it is gorgeous! Inlaid wood floors, beautiful tile work, and tasteful high-quality furnishings selected by his wife, attest to his craftsmanship, and their combined creativity, imagination, and hard work.


Walt and Susan

Flybridge Seating Arrives, Aft Deck Gets New Sunscreens

In my last posting, our dinghy was ailing. On Monday morning I called Suncoast Inflatables, a company recommended to us by our F-Dock neighbors. By Monday afternoon, they had picked up the little boat and she was on her way to the "Dink Doctor". While in for re-laminating, they are also going to do a thorough engine tune-up. So when she comes back, she will be as good as new!
Today we received the seating components we had ordered for our flybridge. Now we can actually seat more than the two of us up there. Once we add a table to the center of the seating area, we will be able to serve cocktails and light meals up there. We're also having a custom deck box made for the flybridge which will hold our existing ice-maker and drinks fridge. It should arrive any day now.
I'm also including two photos of the sunscreens we had installed last week around three sides of the aft deck. They are made of a high-grade plastic mesh material, which is very effective in creating shade without stopping air from circulating. They are designed to enclose the entire aft deck, but sections can be unzipped and rolled up to accommodate weather conditions, to provide privacy, or to create the view we want. Last night, for example, we had dinner in this space, even though it was raining steadily. Since the rain was coming from the east, and the aft deck faces west, we were able to roll up the curtains at the rear, and dine while watching the rain and a spectacular sunset!

On Monday, the custom linens for the V-Berth and VIP Staterooms should be delivered. Susan was able to buy standard linens, and the seamstress alters them to fit the unique shapes of the mattresses. She also makes a pattern for us, so Susan could use it in the future for new linens whenever necessary. We did keep Susan's sewing machine. She plans to make throw pillows from terrycloth for the flybridge seating area.

We've been looking for a licensed captain to assist us in our initial shakedown cruise. We finally found not one, but two! They are a retired couple who operate from this area. They're a bit younger than we are, but have a LOT of cruising experience. They spent three months cruising in the Bahamas this past year, for example. They do a lot of new and used boat deliveries for the Mainship and Luhrs Yacht dealers in this area. We will begin working with them the first week of October, and expect to leave Bradenton October 15th. They will be aboard with us for the first week, which should be enough for us to be in the Ft. Lauderdale area, and well on our way to Georgia.

Tomorrow, the wallpaper will begin going up! We've been patiently waiting for the installer to finish another project so he could begin our work.
Next week, we should have the new galley cabinet doors installed.
Once the Zodiac is back from the "dink doctor", we will feel much more ready to take the next step: Starting the engines!

The Dink

My project for the weekend was to get our RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat, aka Dinghy, or Tender) in the water and test the outboard motor on it. It is a very nice center-console Zodiac model with a 25 horsepower Yamaha 4-stroke motor. The boat is equipped with lots of little niceties, such as running lights, electric start, engine tilt-up, and electric bilge pump.

Yesterday, Susan and I used the davit crane to lower the boat from our flybridge to the water on the starboard side of the yacht. Once in the water, I learned that the RIB's starting battery was dead. The RIB has not been used for at least six to nine months. I thought perhaps I could charge the battery using the onboard chargers for the generator starting batteries, so I hooked it up to one of the chargers. This morning, I checked the status of the dinghy battery. Still dead. So, I took it over to West Marine Supply, and bought a new battery. The new battery was fine, and now the outboard was cranking, but not starting. Okay, back to West Marine for new spark plugs, and a spark plug wrench. While I was out, I also bought a 2-gallon gas container and fresh gas.

I installed the new spark plugs, added fresh gasoline to the tank, and tried again to start the outboard. No luck!

About this time, some of our friends from F Dock began wandering by, offering assistance, suggestions, and horror stories about their own dinks (yachtie slang for dinghys). In the end, two of their suggestions made the difference, and the motor started and ran beautifully. Let's just say these suggestions involved a rubber hammer and a can of aerosol starting fluid.

Susan and I were now ready for the maiden voyage in our own personal dink! We made a couple of idle-speed rounds of F-dock, just to make sure the engine wouldn't quit, then headed out through the breakwater into the Manatee River. We opened up the throttle, and were merrily bouncing over the waves, when we noticed that our feet were becoming progressively wetter, and water was rising in the bottom of the boat. We looked at each other, and said, "Is it normal for water to enter the boat between the fiberglass hull and the inflatable tubes?" Picture a bathtub half-full of water, floating between two large inflated sausages.

So we headed back to the marina, very slowly. We were not frightened at any point, as these things are almost impossible to sink unless you rupture the inflatable tubes.

Fortunately, once back at the dock, our handy-dandy bilge pump automatically emptied the boat. In addition, we learned from our buddies on F-dock that it is common for these types of boats to become de-laminated after 4 or 5 years of use. That means the seal between the inflatable tubes and the rigid part of the fiberglass bottom separate, and allow the boat to take on water while under power. We also learned that there is a repair readily available.

Pictures of Kingdom's dink are included here.

We Get To Sit! And Cook!

At last, we get to actually sit on furniture!
We moved our furniture, lamps and linens aboard yesterday, so now we have a place to actually sit and relax. And a table to eat on. And a stove to cook on. And good sheets and towels! Here are pictures of the salon showing the arrangement. We found two small end tables and two cool ottomans at Pier 1 Imports to go with our leather furniture and drop-leaf table. Our lamps worked out perfectly. In addition, all of the metal window blinds (seafoam green, ugh!) were replaced with wooden blinds throughout the boat. We are very pleased with our new "living room".





























During the past week, the galley has been torn apart, awaiting installation of the new Cambria countertops, stainless steel sink and faucet.

Galley under construction - Stove opening, sink opening.














Midway thru countertop installation.

Finished countertops, stainless sinks and faucet.





















The "before" look of the galley. It was all done in stark white formica and plain white Corian countertops. It was too much like a sterile operating room to suit us. When I found that much of the original teak underneath the formica was restorable, we decided to remove the formica and restore as much of the teak as possible.


We also reduced the width of the "L" part of the counter by eleven inches, which added an additional seven square feet of living space in the salon. Every little bit of space counts, when living aboard a boat!

The new look is warm, cozy and inviting.

Heads Up (for updating)

It's Labor Day weekend. We slept in this morning 'til almost 7 am! We take our Holidays seriously.

Boy, did we labor today!

While the head (bathroom) in the Master Stateroom is just fine the way it is, the three other heads were in need of various levels of updating. The lighting in all three was horrible. Fortunately, new lighting was all that was needed to bring the day head up to date. In both the VIP stateroom head and the crew head, one of the past owners had covered the beautiful teak paneling around the medicine cabinets with mirrordc panels. That would have been okay, but the mirror panels that had been added were becoming de-silvered around the edges and looking really ugly. Susan came up with a solution for the VIP head using glass "frosting". The first picture is of the process, showing the masking tape and paper covering the parts not to be frosted. We ran out of the spray "frosting", so we need to buy more before we can take down the masked part. When it is finished, we will post the "after" image.

The day head only needed new lighting. The mirror was in good shape except for a bit of de-silvering at the very bottom. We just cut a bit of teak molding and placed it over the bad part, and installed new lighting.

The crew head required the most work. The mirroring surrounding the medicine cabinet was so bad we couldn't save it, so I removed it. Whoever installed the mirror panels used both mastic glue AND double-sided tape. The tape was bad enough, but the mastic glue took out chunks of the wood paneling as it came out. That is some fierce glue! So, we will fill the gaps with wood filler, and apply wallpaper around the medicine cabinet, since the rest of the walls will be papered anyway. It should blend just fine. The picture shows the medicine cabinet with its door off, surrounded by the remains of the double-sided tape and mastic scars. We'll post pictures again when the room is finished.

Last night we learned how to use our propane gas oven. We cooked a frozen entree to take to a pot-luck dinner that was held at the Marina pool. So tonight Susan is preparing our first "home-cooked meal"; roasted chicken, baked potatoes, green beans almondine, and iceberg lettuce wedge with chunky bleu cheese dressing. YUM!

We're pooped after our Labor Day labors, but the sunset tonight is fantastic, and we are happy with the progress we are making with our projects to create our "dream boat."

Love to all,

Walt and Susan