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What an honor to have all of you aboard. Please, stay, enjoy, learn and share. If you just found our engaging little community, please read SPARS & SPARRING, .….it introduces my wonders and my wanders. ~J I received a dozen tornado watch notifications while still trying to revel in the magic of a hundreds-strong pod of dolphins on the equator. When the afternoon blizzard stuck, completely blocking my view of the building next door (I shit you not), I couldn’t resist my favorite sarcasm of the season, “Nice ladder-climbing weather,” because, of course, that is what we have to do to do what we have to do. Reality set in, I doubled up my Smartwool socks and headed out. Later on it was cold but we had a mix of sun and clouds; the sky seemed impossibly blue as I gazed up at the rig. I deconstructed the protective winter tent/greenhouse that allowed us to smooth and beautify our bottom, and are making tremendous strides finishing the rebuild of STEADFAST’s bow. Contemplating this week’s content, I came across this photo, which ties together everything this crew has been working toward; the crucial reconstruction project intricacies that still lie before us and what we will most certainly, most hopefully, encounter on our passages this fall and forevermore; Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.
Of most interest right now is the intricate, layered teak deck and the numerous rigging components, (which hasn’t looked like that in a long time); I imagine you’re as surprised to read this as I was to write it, dolphin-obsessed as I am. However, sometimes the practical things simply must capture our attention, even if we’re left-brained.(!) None of the essential topside deck or hardware is yet reattached, and none of the creatures on the left are ever guaranteed. There are no guarantees, but if you ever have this opportunity, and you lean over, dolphins will meet your eyes, which makes me tingle all over. OK, back to practicalities…
The aforementioned intricacies of STEADFAST’s deck are exactly why Sailor Steve is absorbed by engineering, calculating, measuring, defining contact points, angles, strengths and the like while collecting bronze rod, oak, teak and tenacity. Importantly, this is only a third of what his boat-loving brain is processing. (foreshadowing) Since we don’t do anything in particularly small style, STEADFAST is the recipient of an entirely new anchor system; that decision came with some difficulty and considerable financial burden but has practicality and safety on its side. Throughout the project we have insisted that all materials and a tremendous majority of the style components were original. We even reclaimed the planks from a factory built in the same era, long over a century ago. Traditional William Hand Jr designs nearly all had a starboard bow anchor hause pipe (a channel for the anchor chain and shank that goes from the deck down to the starboard hullside near the waterline) where the anchor is stored while underway or at a dock. This system saves space on deck, is a classic design of the times and eliminates traditional bow anchor chain stress. Unfortunately and importantly it also trapped moisture and perpetrated some deterioration of her hull, as seen in the photos below. Steve’s theory, the less holes in the hull of the vessel, the better. Whether you are experienced or not in the artful sport of using wind as propulsion, (and if you’ve read my more harrowing descriptions), you can imagine that the anchor, no matter how tightly it is restrained, can do some pretty impressive slamming on the bow as we spar with Mother Nature, borrowing her forces to propel us forward and being repelled (or additionally propelled) by what I consider the most powerful, consistent force on the planet, waves. Even tidal waves and currents are powerful and often underestimated—most of us know this simply by wading into a calm ocean on a picturesque beach; it’s impressive, surprising, and effortlessly tugs your feet from beneath you. Imagine the pressure and strength of waves that are many feet taller and pushed by not just the orbit of the moon, but winds which can be light, gusty, consistent, strong, and is nearly always unpredictable. Right or wrong, with forgiveness asked of the famed designer William Hand Jr, Steve decided to not replace the starboard hause pipe and rather to redesign the anchor system, moving it to STEADFAST’s newly reconstructed stem and bow. No small task, and no wonder his hair has gone a little (more) Einstein.
With each rebuild, an opportunity to improve…. On STEADFAST, it is the physically smaller of the crew who manages the anchor deployment and retrieval (yep, that’s me). While that should not matter, it’s in the forefront of this relatively new sailor’s mind. Perhaps the most important thing in a boat is not how it goes forward, but how to keep it in place when necessary. After all, if we cannot do that, dangers abound close to shore, perils that can and will destroy, debilitate and least of which embarrass to no end. It’s ironic that what is a final step in the long rebuild process, and not as grand as new planks and a glorious exotic stem, is also the most technical and essential to what we have already accomplished. The smooth new teak ridge on the left is inelegantly referred to as a ‘mud board’ which was designed to deflect dirty water from anchor retrieval back into the sea rather than down our decks. On the right is the glue-laminated oak anchor platform, which is currently being meticulously encased in teak. The new system is designed for a large primary anchor on starboard and a secondary storm anchor on port.
The top component on the left, the bitt, is the bottom component on the right. We are STEADFASTly moving forward, and I hope warmer weather will prevail! March 20th was Equinox, so no matter if you are moving into fall or into spring, beautiful change is in the air. Until next week….thanks for staying on board; it’s crucial ballast! ~J If you think my work is worthy, restack this baby and then, if you have time, tell me what you liked. Or not. No pressure! Glad we’re in this together. Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE In case you missed how we (painstakingly) found the proper planking, enjoy. Lots of other stories in the archives, too, on my home page.
And a harrowing experience:
I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!
© 2026 Janice Anne Wheeler
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“I think Cuba, in its own way, tourism and everything else, it’s a beautiful island, great weather. They’re not in a hurricane zone, which is nice for a change, you know? They won’t be asking us for money for hurricanes every week. I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba.” —President Donald Trump, March 16, 2026
Introduction: Yes, the hapless guy with the hurricane Sharpie says Cuba—one of the most hurricane-hit places on earth—is not in a hurricane zone. This man also happens to live in Florida and yet is somehow unaware that many hurricanes that hit his state got there by crossing the Florida Straits from Cuba.
Havana, at the center of this historical NOAA track map below, is like ground zero for cyclonic mayhem.
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Yet, having said that, we owe our leaders the benefit of a doubt. Maybe the Commander-in-Chief was channeling a Loose Cannon story written a couple years ago that described a section of Cuba’s North Coast as having been historically free from direct hits, while blessed with several sheltered bays. Enjoy.
Now would be a good time to talk about how government stupidity on both sides of the Florida Straits is keeping us away from some historically proven hurricane holes, which happen to be in Cuba.
Most cruisers have heard of Luperon Bay in the Dominican Republic. Geography has made Luperon a great hurricane hole for several reasons—some obvious and some not.
A narrow entrance opens into two basins, both of which are surrounded by hills and have deep sticky muck for holding. But it has a climatological advantage as well. The best shelter in the world isn’t much good if the location itself is a hurricane magnet. The opposite is demonstrably true in the case of Luperon, which has not had a direct hit since hurricane tracking began in 1851.
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Luperon’s cruisers fretted at the approach of Irma and Maria in 2017, but the eye of each came no closer than 65 miles as they passed to the north—as usual.
Cruiser weather consultant Chris Parker noted that being on the left-hand quadrant of a hurricane is fortuitous in its own right,¹that being the orientation of Luperon vis-a-vis Irma and Maria. Then he explained the role of topography:
No location in the western North Atlantic is completely safe from hurricanes, but if we were looking for a relatively safe spot, it would lie on the north coast of a large, mountainous landmass. Almost all hurricanes move in a general westerly direction during most of their time in the tropics. Later they turn north, then northeast or east-northeast. There are exceptions, but this is the usual pattern.
If a west-moving hurricane passes along or just north of the north coast of our large mountainous landmass, then harbors along the north coast will experience the less-strong south side (left-front-quadrant) of the hurricane.
If a west-moving hurricane passes over our large mountainous landmass, dry air and tall mountains disrupt the hurricane’s structure causing rapid weakening of the entire system. If a west-moving hurricane passes south of our large mountainous landmass, then it is so far from the north coast that conditions on the north coast are mild…
In order for a west-or northwest-moving hurricane to affect Luperon, it would pass over 100-200 miles of the mountainous Dominican Republic, including several 10,000-foot-plus peaks located south of Luperon. This would severely weaken the hurricane, minimizing damage in Luperon.
In his analysis, Parker also mentioned Puerto Vita in Cuba, which happens to be the easternmost port of entry on that country’s North Coast—same phenomenon. What he didn’t say is that—unlike the D.R.’s one-of-a-kind Luperon—Vita is just one of seven pocket bays on a 100-mile stretch of coast fronting on the Old Bahama Channel.
From West to East, they are Nuevitas Bay, Puerto Manati, Puerto Padre, Puerto Vita, Naranjo, Banes Bay and Nipe Bay. And these are just the bodies of water with marked entrance channels.
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But even during Obama’s second term—when we were allowed to take our boats to Cuba—we wouldn’t have been welcome at any of the places mentioned here except Puerto Vita, which is a port of entry and has a marina operated by a company that is a subsidiary of the Cuban military.
In fact, unless you were seeking refuge from a storm or experiencing a medical or mechanical emergency, there’s a high likelihood that a foreign boat arriving at the other six bays would be told to leave immediately or first thing the next morning.
No point going through all the trouble of maintaining a police state, if you’re going to let folks wander around wherever they please.
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There’s not a whole lot in any of these places for the cruising crowd anyway, except maybe Puerto Padre. I have not been there, but descriptions make it seem like a nice place.
Ports like Nuevitas and Manati feature crumbling commercial facilities. Some like Vita are bordered by thick mangroves. Naranjo is a base for excursion boats serving guests at a nearby resort. Nipe, a huge bay, is surrounded mostly by forest and pasture, the view dominated by a power plant at the small bayside village of Felton.
Nope, Vita aside, nobody wants us in the Cuban hurricane holes—not at the moment. But the potential…ahh, the potential.
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LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
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“Prudent mariners know the right-front-quadrant (relative to its forward motion) of a hurricane is typically the most dangerous part. In the right-front-quadrant, not only do winds blow toward the path of the hurricane, but strength of wind increases by the forward speed of the hurricane, and we typically find about 90 percent of tornadoes and waterspouts and most destructive microbursts in this quadrant.
“Conversely, left-quadrant (relative to its forward motion) of a hurricane is its “navigable semicircle”. In the left-quadrant, wind blows away from the path of the hurricane, we subtract two times its forward speed from the “max sustained wind” (usually found in the right-front-quadrant), and we typically see fewer severe weather events. Let’s illustrate the difference in wind speed due simply to storm motion.
“Let’s examine a stationary Category 2 hurricane with 90 knot sustained winds. Now put the hurricane in motion at 10 knots of forward speed. The moving hurricane will support 100 knots (Category 3) winds in its right-front-quadrant, but only 80 knots (Category 1) winds in its left-front-quadrant. In addition, although hurricane structure varies, with most west-moving hurricanes along he latitude of the Northern Caribbean, the bulk of inbound tropical moisture feeds from the south into the right-front-quadrant while air feeding into the left-front-quadrant is pulled from the north (less-moist mid-latitudes).”
I was considering subscribing to Peter's vlog… until I read the initial paragraph.
That's when I discovered that the author was into making jabs at a politician, ( I'm sure just for the effect ).
I get enough of that sort of junk from the news. I don't need it on, near or anywhere in the vicinity of a boat!
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism. The Great Escape: Three ‘Trafficked’ Dolphins Make a Bid for FreedomSold to a Park by Che Guevara’s Daughter in Communist Cuba
There’s a place in the Dominican Republic called Ocean World, the Dominican version of SeaWorld in America, and Sir Richard Branson doesn’t like either of them. Back in 2019, long before he was found inhabiting the Epstein Files, Branson made news by declaring that his travel empire would no longer sell tickets to any park that kept whales and dolphins in captivity. This was considered moral high ground at the time. Public opinion was beginning to turn against the notion of enslaving these clever marine mammals for the sole purpose of our entertainment. Maybe this will entertain you instead: A story about how a trio of dolphins gamed the system. Once upon a time, my boat was anchored in Luperon Bay, and I was working for the tourist cats at Puerto Plata. I was skippering and maintaining the boats. At the time Ocean World was opening nearby. Just a few miles to the east of Luperon is a fabulous little day anchorage called Cambiaso, and next to Cambiaso is this tiny little cove overlooked by rock bluffs. I heard from my friends in the tourist industry that Ocean World people had stretched a mesh fence across the mouth, and they were keeping dolphins there while the water park was being finished. Owned by a German billionaire, Ocean World had bought three juvenile dolphins for $50,000 each from Cuba. Havana needed cash (as it always does) and was engaging in a worldwide dolphin trafficking scheme. Cuba was the world’s leading dolphin exporter, and by the time Ocean World was coming online, it had sold more than 100 dolphins for between $30,000 and $130,000 each, according to news reports. The dolphins-for-dollars scheme was being run by none-other than a daughter of Che Guevara—Che the Beret, Che the freedom fighter. As it happens, Celia Guevara was a veterinarian by profession and a marine mammal-monger by necessity. Of course, Loose Cannon had to have a look. Cambiaso was so isolated back then you could hardly get there by road. True, there was a road, but it was awfully rough, so I borrowed a dirt bike. Once arrived, I dismounted and walked toward the little cove, and, behold, there it was—the Army of the Dominican Republic. The place was cordoned off like Area 51, and a platoon of soldiers stood guard, M-16s slung over their shoulders. Dominican authorities may have been worried about animal rights protesters. Who knows? So, I spoke to the soldiers, telling them that I was all by myself, and I wanted to go see the dolphins. “I am sorry, sir, you may not pass. No one may go further than this point.” Meanwhile a college-age woman wearing shorts and a white blouse strode right past us toward the cove. “What about her,” I asked? “She is the Cuban woman in charge,” one soldier said. “She may pass.” As a newspaper reporter, I had learned that sometimes there was a way around a police cordon, especially out in the country. As I was walking back to the bike, I saw a Dominican guy about my age who looked like a fisherman. “Amigo,” I said. “The Army won’t let me look at the dolphins. Is there a way around the blockade?” There is, he said. I told him that I would take care of him, if he could get me to where I could have a good look.
We went to the shack where he lived with his family. He came out with two fishing rods, one of which he gave to me. Follow me, he said, explaining that there was a path to a good fishing spot that the Army by law cannot block—something akin to aboriginal rights. His fishing spot happened to be on a bluff overlooking the dolphin detention center. Rods in hand, we sauntered over and pretended to fish. There they were: Three dolphins fenced in, swimming in circles. Sad—that was going to be their forever-life. Soon after, we heard the shout, a old woman. The mighty Dominican Army couldn’t stop us, so they sent the fisherman’s mother. The jig, so to speak, was up, and at her insistence we retreated back to their humble home. I thanked my man and paid him 15 bucks for his help. Key fact: This cove is open to the north, so it’s got protection from the prevailing easterlies, but when a frontal system rolls down from the U.S. or there’s a far-off storm over the ocean, waves will roll right down its throat. Apparently, according to my tourist industry friends, Ocean World had been warned about this but didn’t listen. One very fine northerly day that’s exactly what happened. The waves rolled in, each time completely submerging the fence. And that allowed $150,000 worth of teenage dolphins to get inside those waves and swim over the fence and away from the cove, never to be corralled again. They lived happily ever after. The end? Not quite. Ocean World had to go back to Cuba and buy some more. The dolphin show must go on.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid. |
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