Caffeinated Adventure: Lake of the Woods Coffee Boaters Explore Cuba
Jeremy and Linda visit Havana yacht club
Feb 13, 2025
by Jeremy Brown, captain of SV Coffee Time and Owner/Operator of Nautical Coffee.
Last week Coffee Time was recognized as the first Canadian vessel to sail into Cuba’s Hemingway Marina in 2025. My business partner Hannah Henderson and I had the opportunity to have a very nice visit with Commodore Escrich of the Club Nautico Internacional de Cuba to mark the occasion.
During the summer months, Hannah and I operate Nautical Coffee, a Houseboat based Coffee Roastery and Boat up café on Lake of the Woods. A highlight of the summer is sharing with the crews of LOWISA, the celebrated cruising race in Lake of the Woods.
We are currently on this Nautical Coffee sailing expedition to make connections within both the coffee and sailing community. We hope to form relationships with the farmers who grow our coffee beans and learn more about sustainable and ethical coffee trade. This trip will create the story of Nautical Coffee, a roastery that connects people through a shared love of the water. We have been sharing our journey on our Instagram and Facebook at @nauticalcoffee.
The journey
In Early September we lifted the boat out of Lake of the Woods (LOTW) at Norther Harbour and towed it to the Thunder Bay Yacht Club where they lifted it into the water for us. After a week getting set up at the docks we departed from the Thunder Bay Yacht Club on September 15, 2024. We followed the north shore of Lake Superior, then along the West shore of Lake Huron, and then the South Shore of Lake Erie Canal to Buffalo NY to be one of the last boats to transit the Erie Canal before it closed on Oct 16.
After re-stepping the Mast at Catskill NY, we have been sailing our 1975 Alberg 30 south down the eastern seaboard of the US, then crossing the Gulf Stream between Marathon FL, and Havana, Cuba.
We have had a wonderful stay here at Hemingway Marina while also touring around Havana. We will be leaving Marina Hemingway tomorrow, February 5th and sailing towards new countries of coffee origin.
Our next destination is Isla Mujeres, where we plan to fly from Cancun to Vera Cruz to meet with some coffee farmers there. Our expedition is entirely funded by Nautical Coffee! We have a crew currently roasting on the houseboat (while it’s on the hard) and delivering fresh coffee to local stores back home. We sell our coffee year-round at local retail locations as well directly to consumers at our online store at
