Bobthebuilder's next adventure - Key West to Havana, Cuba

[MarylandMark]

Thanks Hans!

Escorts in Cuba with Mojitos- man life is good!!

 

[Sea-Dated]

Congrats on Making it Bob!!!

 

[JupiterSunsation]

I would suspect they haven't seen too many Nortech's over there! Glad he made it....

 

[rockstrmkr]

Update from Bob -

"Incredible experience today.
Highlights: Intercepted and stopped by Cuban Coast Guard 6 miles out.
Circled us for 10 minutes with guns out while awaiting instructions from superiors.
We had quarantine flag up and kept repeating Canada/ M Hemingway.
Then they escorted us there.
All good now. We feel safe and are going for dinner soon."

 

[Tom A.]

That is one h@ll of a welcoming committee!

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Just a note to say I'm online. Wi Fi here and I brought my laptop. Will post as I have time. All is well. Some great adventure stories to tell. More later.
Bob

 

[Tom A.]

We need lots of pictures Bob! Enjoy the trip!

 

[Salesmanship]

Wanted to let everyone know that Bob and crew have arrived safely in Havana, Cuba.
They are there and evidently were escorted by the Cuban Coast Guard.
All is well and they are ok....
I'm assuming it's Mojito Time!!!!!!!

The "Real" Cuban Coast Guard?
Hey Bob Glad you made it and I hope your spanish has improved a bit since Cancun...

Terry

 

[Bobthebuilder]

The "Real" Cuban Coast Guard?
Hey Bob Glad you made it and I hope your spanish has improved a bit since Cancun...

Terry

This is a cell phone pic of them following us into Marina Hemingway. We had to be discreet taking pics of them as it was a no no. We have much better ones of them running beside us and video which will have to wait.

 

[Sea-Dated]

Sounds like an interesting experience for sure. Can't wait to see vid and pics.

 

[Bobthebuilder]

I am on the VIP floor of the National. When I went for breakfast this morning all the staff was gathered around this girl taking pics who was an obvious celebrity. I got in on the action as well. ( see pic below LOL) She is a latin singer Olga Tanon from Puerto Rico. When I spoke with her she said she has a home in Orlando as well.

When we showed up in our red Team PREDATOR shirts and hats for checking in they were all trying to figure out who we are. Thought some baseball team. LOL We still have them confused .

 

[Tom A.]

Here you go Bob, this will keep you in the loop there.

San Juan, Sep 16 (Prensa Latina) Puerto Rican singer and Grammy-winning artist Olga Tañon turned down threats from a group of Miami residents of Cuban origin due to her announcement to join Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes in a free concert in Havana.

The artist assured she is a peace lover, that she wants a better world for her children, reason why she accepted to join the string of international entertainers who will team up on September 20 to perform in Juanes' concert at Havana's historic Plaza de la Revolución in Cuba.

The artist announced in a radio interview that she would take part in the second "Paz Sin Fronteras" concert despite the heated debate that surrounds the show, because she said "I believe in peace and I want a better world for my children".

No threats, not even the one menacing to disappear all my albums and those of other international entertainers who participate in this concert, will prevent me from delivering Cubans a little bit of joy.

 

[cigdaze]

How far is "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"


I was lucky enough to get past several big V's in the first mile or so of river. Kinda funny seeing the look on peoples faces when they see me commin past on one sponson or the other getting thru the washing machine. Fortunately, a few of the bigger guys made some space and let me thread thur to get to the cleaner water so I could open her up for the run up stream. Down stream was 17 miles of no one infront of me but for one 36 Nortech cat and he was a 1/4 mile ahead so we let her eat all the way back down Best comparison I can think of is a formula one road course for boats. Lots of turns and straight aways. Tight corners and then WFO blasts to the next corner and so on for miles. YeeeeeeHawwwwwww

The guy in the red 28 did take a pretty serious chance passing where he did IMHO too. Some of those corners in the river get very tight and go way beyond 90*. If you don't know the river ( I do ) or don't have a local guide like Bob did, it can get pretty un nerving heading into a decreasing radius corner with lots of trees on the outside.

Locals know we are coming. Same time very year for 20 yrs now. They hold poker run parties and line the banks and salute and wave etc. Very little boat traffic on the river during the run BUT still, a little scary to be passing there, there are plenty of straightaways for doing that that greatly reduce the risk to everyone.

The river run is the highlight of the poker run circuit here every year. We finally got Bob to come and as you noticed from his giggling like a little girl at a Jonas Brothers concert in the video, he apparently liked it too.

Way, way cool. Thanks for that story. Sounds like a great time!

 

[cigdaze]

Alec was loaded up with about 14 freeloaders ( LOL ) and cruised along nicely. We kept ahead of him until I threw a blade a few miles from the finish. I backed off on the broken prop side and was able to keep on plane but at that point he did catch us. Now if he would just bring that bad boy to Cuba with me we could make a li'l money coming back. LOL

Ya, he told me about his new-found friends. Thanks!

 

[cigdaze]

Update from Bob -

"Incredible experience today.
Highlights: Intercepted and stopped by Cuban Coast Guard 6 miles out.
Circled us for 10 minutes with guns out while awaiting instructions from superiors.
We had quarantine flag up and kept repeating Canada/ M Hemingway.
Then they escorted us there.
All good now. We feel safe and are going for dinner soon."

Thanks for the report. I'll bet that was a little unnerving for a while there.

 

[cigdaze]

Just a note to say I'm online. Wi Fi here and I brought my laptop. Will post as I have time. All is well. Some great adventure stories to tell. More later.
Bob

Have a great time, Bob. We're watching and waiting for the stories.

Baseball team...that's great!

 

[Airpacker]

I am on the VIP floor of the National. When I went for breakfast this morning all the staff was gathered around this girl taking pics who was an obvious celebrity. I got in on the action as well. ( see pic below LOL) She is a latin singer Olga Tanon from Puerto Rico. When I spoke with her she said she has a home in Orlando as well.

When we showed up in our red Team PREDATOR shirts and hats for checking in they were all trying to figure out who we are. Thought some baseball team. LOL We still have them confused .

LOL Bob. I know its totally not your style but I think you gotta go with the celebrity status, hang by the pool, have a few rums and a good cigar while you're there

 

[Ms PatriYacht]

and while you at it get a VIP invite to the concert. Glad you made it safe and sound.

From the looks of the cars I cannot imagine the reaction your boat must be having on the locals. I can't remember if you mentioned it but hopefuly you have a safe place to dock it while you are there.

 

[Ms PatriYacht]

something tells me Olga might wind up on Predator for a FL poker run one of these days, make sure you give her a Team Predator hat :biggrinjester:

 

[MarylandMark]

and tell her MarylandMark said HI...