Accessing Weather Data in Cuba

[BluePeter]

After 6 weeks in Cuba, I would consider SSB a must. It certainly broadens your safety margin, and not only by way of weather reports. We used Chris Parker (do become a subscriber, for 200$ it's a deal, and cheap insurance). He can "customize" your crossings for you. SSB reception, even all along the south coast, was excellent. Ashore, we were able to download gribbs to an iPad using a Nauta card from Etecsa (1.50 an hour). These are available almost anywhere there is internet, which is few and far between, but available at most hotels. In the week we were tied up at hemingway for example, the internet was out 50% of the time. Another thing cruisers were doing was calling home on their satphones and getting US based weather reports (as well as by email). We were hailed on the radio several times by yachts seeking weather information. "You're kidding, right?" said our captain. "You're down here in the middle of nowhere and you don't have a weather source?" ("people are nuts, etc"). With Cp's help, we hit every crossing perfectly--the Gulf Stream from Miami to Andros, New Providence Channel, The Windward Passage, and the crossing back to Miami from Hemingway, among others. Good luck, be safe.