Thanks to everybody who made Slow Boat to Cuba a #1 bestseller in sailing eBooks on Amazon. With all those royalties, I got a small cappuccino at Dunkin Donuts :)! I’m thankful, nevertheless. The 650+ folks who snagged a free copy on the first two days after launch is also a record for one of my books. Here is the pricing schedule for the rest of the holiday weekend.
1. November 23, 2016, $.99
2. November 24, 2016, $1.99 (Turkey Day)
3. November 25, 2016, $2.99 (Black Friday)
4. November 26, 2016, $3.99
5. November 27, 2016, $4.99 (the everyday bargain basement price!!)
My book Slow Boat to Cuba is launching on Amazon on November 21, 2016. To celebrate I am giving away the eBook version on Amazon worldwide. Here are the free and discounted days.
We briefly hit our first $20 per episode goal and I will make Slow Boat to the Bahamas free on Amazon’s worldwide sites for 1 day in December 2016 or January 2017. Subscribe to my free newsletter at www.slowboatsailing.com to get notified of the exact date.
When we hit $80 per round the world vlog episode or podcast episode, I will give away 2 weeks in a private berth for two to one of our Patrons. Patrons will be randomly selected based on their long-term support on Patreon. This is several thousand dollar value. Captained charters of similarly sized monohulls usually exceed $400 per day. Thus, this reward is over a $5,000 value. The timing of that berth depends on the schedules of the winner and Captain Linus Wilson.
Slow Boat Sailing is making a podcast and vlog about sailing around the world part-time. The podcast interviews the most interesting cruising sailors in the world, including the crew of SV Delos, White Spot Pirates, Chase the Story, Sailing Miss Lone Star, Wicked Salty, SV Prism, and many more. This costs time and money and we love our supporters who subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and YouTube as well as those who support us on Patreon.
We will be running contest where our most loyal Patreon supporters can become part of our crew literally as we explore the paradise islands of the South Pacific. Patrons of the round the world vlog and podcast get bonus podcast episodes and free audiobooks of How To Sail Around the World Part-Time and Slow Boat to Cuba. They get never before released audiobook chapters of Slow Boat to the Bahamas.
The rewards of being a Patreon far outweigh the costs.
Since starting the podcast and YouTube channel we have had to upgrade our cameras, computer hard drives, and audio equipment. Podcasts must pay hosting fees. We have incurred high internet access fees in foreign countries to put out a regular podcast and to upload videos. For every hour of podcast or minute of video many hours of work must go into them to produce them. We only produce highly edited podcasts and videos because we believe our listeners and viewers time is so valuable.
We make content that is for all audiences and will not sacrifice safety or our relationship with our loved ones to create suggestive thumbnails. Our crew wears life jackets and harnesses in all weather. We don’t cut corners on crew safety to get exciting video.
The vlog is also a video cruising guide of the places we visit focused on the seamanship necessary to visit the exotic foreign ports that we visit. The vlogs recount the adventures of the Slow Boat Crew.
The host of the podcast and the captain of the Slow Boat is Linus Wilson who holds a “six pack” captain’s licenses issued by the United States Coast Guard.
The “Slow Boat” is an Island Packet 31′.
Hopefully, we will have the support to film many more seasons of our round the world voyage. Season 1 goes from New Orleans, to Florida, to Cuba, stops at Providencia, though the Panama Canal, and across the equator into the South Pacific.
I will likely be in the South Pacific in December with limited access to internet. The next podcast and vlog will likely be released in January 2017. Happy holidays!
Thanks for joining the voyage! Check out my book How to Sail Around the World Part-Time, which is now available as an album on iTunes or Amazon. Links to my books are at my website. BuyHow to Sail Around the World Part-TimeorSlow Boat to the Bahamasat Amazon. Both books have been #1 bestsellers in the Amazon sailing eBook categories. (If you are a non-US Amazon customer, e-mail me at linuswilson outlook [dot] com, and I’ll send you the link addresses for your country’s site.) Like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and tell your friends to do the same. I’m putting up more videos of the Slow Boat crew on YouTube. Also check out my new study guide entitled Navigation Rules: International and Inland (Abridged), Study Guide for Uscg Captains’ and Merchant Mariner Exams. Episode 6’s South Pacific Weather with Met Bob has became anAlbum on iTunes. Subscribe to my free newsletter at http://www.slowboatsailing.com for free books and boat repair and upgrade tips. There you can also find a orange banner link at the bottom of the page and promo code to save $15 off your next purchase of $200+ at West Marine. Write a review on iTunes for the podcast or on Amazon for my books. Finally, have some fun on the water!
Caption: In May 2016, Neuva Gerona, Cuba’s transport options were on display: a motorcycle, a truck from the 1950s, and horse and buggy.
“The statements coming out of mouths of the President-Elect and Speaker of the House indicate that Americans will no longer be able to visit Cuba after inauguration day, January 20, 2017,” said Dr. Linus Wilson, author of the new book Slow Boat to Cuba.
“Repealing controversial executive orders on day one is low hanging fruit for an incoming administration. President-elect Donald Trump can pay back his debts to the Cuban-Americans who helped him win the key state of Florida. Many older Cuban Americans oppose any normalization of relations until pre-revolution reparations are paid and the Castro’s are out of power,” said Dr. Wilson. “An American who wants to visit Cuba should seize the day and travel before inauguration day. You might have to wait another 50 years for the chance.”
“What most people don’t realize is that Obama Administration executive orders led to the sudden surge in travel between the U.S. and Cuba over the last year. They are narrow regulations that no other Presidential administration has interpreted in this way. There is absolutely no support among the majority in the House of Representative or the White House to repeal the 50-year-old embargo.”
“All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro Regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them – and that is what I will do, unless the Castro Regime meets our demands,” said Donald Trump on the stump in Florida prior to the election.
Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was even more direct when speaking to Miami voters before the November 8, 2016 election. He said “Well, let me make you a promise. When Donald Trump is president of the United States, we will repeal Obama’s executive orders on Cuba.”
“As the past two years of normalizing relations have only emboldened the regime at the expense of the Cuban people, I fully intend to maintain our embargo on Cuba,” said House Speaker (R-Wisconsin) Paul Ryan in a statement in October 2016.
“My book Slow Boat to Cuba shows that the number of US boats going to Cuba legally went up by over 9,000 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.” Dr. Wilson said. “I saw first-hand how engagement was allowing ordinary Cubans to surf the internet and learn about the outside world. Tightening the embargo would be a human disaster that has been condemned by every country in the United Nations except two.” The U.S. and Israel recently abstained in a United Nations resolution condemning the embargo.
“The embargo has failed to lead to regime change for over fifty years. It is hard to see a more ineffective policy,” Wilson said. “The only hope is that cruise ship companies and airlines such as JetBlue can successfully lobby the new administration to not roll back the relaxation of travel restrictions which started in late 2014.”
“Unfortunately, raising trade restrictions was one of Donald Trump’s core promises in the campaign. There is no more extreme trade restriction than an embargo,” said Dr. Wilson. “Trade and travel restrictions make Americans less productive and poorer. The protectionist policies proposed by President-Elect Trump are bad for the economy and will lead to lower U.S. incomes and economic stagnation. We don’t want to turn back the clock on American prosperity. I saw plenty of cars from the 1950s in Cuba. The 1950s are not the good old days. Just ask any Cuban.”
A recent Bloomberg article alleged that Trump representatives may have violated the embargo with Cuba, trying to get approval to build a golf resort in Cuba. “Since Mr. Trump has put his children in charge of his companies and his transition team, President-elect Trump may have a genuine conflict of interest on his Cuba policy. His use of the power of the presidency may favor his business ambitions on the island nation of Cuba. It does not take much imagination to see how Mr. Trump could get approvals for his golf resort or any other development by threatening to repeal the executive orders that opened up Cuba to many Americans. What assurances can the President give us that this is not leverage for more Trump company projects or pay back for rejecting his golf resort all those years ago? President Trump’s Cuba policy could be more about crony capitalism than legitimate public policy,” said Dr. Wilson.
Dr. Linus Wilson traveled to Cuba in May 2016 on his 31-foot Island Packet sailboat under a U.S. Coast Guard permit. Slow Boat to Cuba is his third book. It is set to launch on Amazon worldwide on November 21, 2016. His previous two books Slow Boat to the Bahamas and How to Sail Around the World Part-Time have been Amazon bestsellers. He earned a doctorate in financial economics from the University of Oxford in England in 2007, and has been teaching finance at the college level for over a decade. He is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Stevie and I leave the boat to hike up the highest mountain in Providencia, Colombia. To our surprise we found a well marked and maintained trail. It was as high quality as you would find as in any U.S. national park, but we only saw one other couple hiking the trail. Compare that to the 1,000s that hike Diamondhead in Oahu every day. The views at the top of El Pico in Providencia, “The Peak’, were magnificient. You must do this hike if you visit! If you can walk a 5K, you should be up for this challenge. Just take lots of water!
The El Pico, “The Peak”, hike begins is in the Bottom House neighborhood of Providencia. It is almost on the opposite side of the town and ferry dock.
It probably takes about two hours up and one hour down. Give yourself plenty of daylight. (You could kill yourself in the dark.) There is no guard rail at the end and the path is narrow. We did not have a guide and I don’t think one is necessary. It is better to hike it when its dry otherwise the path will be muddy.
When we hit 500 subscribers, I will give away the first print copy of Slow Boat to Cuba to one of my YouTube subscribers. To be entered in this free contest send me a personal message via Facebook to
Include your USA mailing address. This free book drawing is only open YouTube subscribers with USA addresses.
We will be running contest where our most loyal Patreon supporters can become part of our crew literally for up to two weeks as we explore the paradise islands of the South Pacific. Patrons of the round the world vlog and podcast get bonus podcast episodes and free audiobooks of How To Sail Around the World Part-Time and Slow Boat to Cuba. They get never before released audiobook chapters of Slow Boat to the Bahamas.
Slow Boat Sailing is making a podcast and vlog about sailing around the world part-time. The podcast interviews the most interesting cruising sailors in the world, including the crew of SV Delos, White Spot Pirates, Chase the Story, Sailing Miss Lone Star, Wicked Salty, SV Prism, and many more. This costs time and money and we love our supporters who subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and YouTube as well as those who support us on Patreon.
We will be running contest where our most loyal Patreon supporters can become part of our crew literally as we explore the paradise islands of the South Pacific. Patrons of the round the world vlog and podcast get bonus podcast episodes and free audiobooks of How To Sail Around the World Part-Time and Slow Boat to Cuba. They get never before released audiobook chapters of Slow Boat to the Bahamas.
We briefly hit our first $20 per episode goal, and I will make Slow Boat to the Bahamas free on Amazon’s worldwide sites for 1 day in December 2016 or January 2017. Subscribe to my free newsletter at www.slowboatsailing.com to get notified of the exact date.
When we hit $80 per round the world vlog episode or podcast episode, I will give away 2 weeks in a private berth for two to one of our Patrons. Patrons will be randomly selected based on their long-term support on Patreon. This is several thousand dollar value. Captained charters of similarly sized monohulls usually exceed $400 per day. Thus, this reward is over a $5,000 value. The timing of that berth depends on the schedules of the winner and Captain Linus Wilson.
The rewards of being a Patreon far outweigh the costs.
Since starting the podcast and YouTube channel we have had to upgrade our cameras, computer hard drives, and audio equipment. Podcasts must pay hosting fees. We have incurred high internet access fees in foreign countries to put out a regular podcast and to upload videos. For every hour of podcast or minute of video many hours of work must go into them to produce them. We only produce highly edited podcasts and videos because we believe our listeners and viewers time is so valuable.
We make content that is for all audiences and will not sacrifice safety or our relationship with our loved ones to create suggestive thumbnails. Our crew wears life jackets and harnesses in all weather. We don’t cut corners on crew safety to get exciting video.
The vlog is also a video cruising guide of the places we visit focused on the seamanship necessary to visit the exotic foreign ports that we visit. The vlogs recount the adventures of the Slow Boat Crew.
The host of the podcast and the captain of the Slow Boat is Linus Wilson who holds a “six pack” captain’s licenses issued by the United States Coast Guard.
Hopefully, we will have the support to film many more seasons of our round the world voyage. Season 1 goes from New Orleans, to Florida, to Cuba, stops at Providencia, though the Panama Canal, and across the equator into the South Pacific.
SLOW BOAT SAILING 