Day 1: Sailing to Cayo Largo: A Night Beneath Caribbean Stars (March 18 2025)
We all met for the first time in Cienfuegos – a charming, slightly crumbling Cuban port where colonial elegance meets Caribbean bustle. Hummingbird lay ready, sails stowed, gently tugging at her lines as if eager to be off. The crew assembled with that mix of anticipation and mild confusion that tends to accompany the first day of an adventure. What now?
After the usual polite discussions, a look at the chart to size up the weather and weigh our options, and a little local fare for lunch, we decided not to linger. The wind, such as it was, was forecast to die the next day. Best to make use of it while we could. Ahead lay Cayo Largo, a speck of paradise 75 nautical miles to the southwest. Not exactly the Queen’s highway, but a route promising stars, sea, and something altogether different.
We set off under a gentle sky, Cuban regulations insisting on a 10-mile motor before we could hoist sail and truly bring Hummingbird to life. Once out in the open ocean, sails were set, and we trained – both on the boat and, perhaps more importantly, on each other. Then westward, timing our passage so we wouldn’t find ourselves nosing into Cayo Largo’s shallows in darkness. The sea stretched out, a curious shade of pewter, and the wind – light, indecisive, and almost directly behind us – nudged us along. Not ideal, and a little rolly, but manageable.
We gybed our way gently through the night, sails swinging with the rhythm of the sea. It wasn’t fast, but it was calm, and oddly hypnotic. Above us, a sky dusted with stars – the kind you usually only see in planetariums or textbooks, now scattered across the heavens like confetti.
There’s something about a night sail in the Caribbean. It’s peaceful, slightly surreal – as if you’ve wandered into someone else’s dream and been allowed to stay. By morning, the sea shifted from deep navy to impossible turquoise, and Cayo Largo appeared – a strip of sand, palms, and almost nothing else.
We anchored, a little weary, thoroughly salty, but utterly content. A journey begun. A small triumph. And the first taste of that peculiar and wonderful freedom only a boat can bring. Keep following the fun here!
