Wow! That Went Well!

Thank you everyone. The last post, on the Florida Anchoring Crisis, certainly got around. In just three days, it was seen by over 4400 of you, which is a almost a new record for LiveBloggin'. The only post to exceed that number, with 5318 hits to date, is the post I did on the Middle River anchorage in Fort Lauderdale, which you can view here. Seems you LiveBloggers are fanatics about defending our right to anchor!
The most important thing you can do now is to contact Florida legislators and let them know that you do NOT approve of these changes, and that you will not come to Florida if they go through. Even if you don't now own a boat, your dollars matter to these people as a tourist, so let them know, loudly.
You can get the names and contact information you need right here, from the SSCA trifold.
Stay tuned for more news on the Florida Anchoring fight, as it will be coming to a head very shortly. And be sure you speak up for your rights, before you lose them. Look at it this way...the sooner we win this fight, the sooner I can stop writing about it, and write about fun stuff instead...like the following.

HAVANA DREAMIN'...
In other news - I am about to complete a project I've been working on for a while now - a film to be called Havana Dreamin': A Cuban Exploration, about sailing around Cuba, discovering the country and its people. I've already been twice to Cuba, sailing the north coast, and this next trip I'll sail the south coast to complete a circumnavigation of the island at Havana. During this trip, I'll visit Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Havana and Varadero, as well as many inland destinations. Think rum, Cohibas and tropical scenery!
The end goal of all this sailing is to make this film available via public television and the internet, so that everyday Americans, and the rest of the world too, can see for themselves what the REAL Cuba is like. In other words, not the phoney, hyped up stuff that Conan just put out, or the 'beautiful people' garbage of Paris Hilton and her narcissistic online selfies. What these people are showing you is not what Cuba is really all about. I should know, I've been there, I've seen it for myself.

Revolutionary Signage is common in Cuba

To create a film like this takes money, a lot of money, particularly if you do it the Hollywood way. The problem is, do it that way and you then get a slick, mass produced type of film that feels and looks like a travelogue - and is about as dull as one.
LiveBloggers know that's not my style. My plan is to create a beautiful, simple film about Cuba that shows the true Cuba - its people, their lives, homes, work...their attractive countryside, scenic anchorages and much more. The plan is to film this quietly, without a Cuban government 'handler' attached to us, so that we can get real footage of real Cubans in real life situations. The 'real' Cuba in other words, the one you have yet to see.
To make this happen, I need to fundraise. So far, we've raised almost $4000 out of a total of $16000 needed. $3000 of that is from a Canadian sailing foundation which only came on board last week, so I'm very, very excited.
To raise the balance, I've created an Indiegogo crowdfunding program, which you can view here, at Havana Dreamin': A Cuban Exploration.

Entrance to Marina Hemingway Club Nautico

Take a look - tell me what you think of it, and if you feel inspired by this project, please donate. There are some truly wonderful awards we have for you.
At the very least, please share the link to Havana Dreamin' with your friends, it will help us out immensely.
That's it for this issue of LiveBloggin' - next edition, back to anchoring.... ok, maybe not then.