01
Jan
The crossing to Cuba from Key West was rough (13- to 15-foot seas and 30- to 40-knot westerly winds). But the 88-foot, steel-hulled schooner Ocean Star motorsailed at 1,500 rpms under the storm trysail and fore staysail, easily handling the gale conditions, although many of the crew were seasick. Within 24 hours of departing Key West we were approaching Cuba's 12-mile limit. I contacted Marina Hemingway on channel 16 only to be informed that the marina had closed due to the dangerous conditions in the marina's entrance channel, which I remembered from a visit two years before as a dubious,…