Canal de los Barcos, Cuba to Key West, FL

Katharine Smith

7-13 knots true wind close reach sail or upwind motor. We spent a day and night tacking upwind off Cuba and not making a lot of progress. Finally, decided to head to the Gulf Stream and we motored across obliquely to Key West. Waves were 1-4 ft and mostly from the front or corner front. Starboard engine would not start and this was troubleshot just anchored before key west in which the starter bushings were stuck. The parts were cleaned and lubricated and engine started up. Watermaker blew a fuse and is also out of service until new membranes can be obtained. The current membrane appears partially occluded with the underperforming 25 gallons per hour metrics. This trip to US continues to be difficult and hard on the boat.