By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Bloomberg.com. Fri, 14 Jul 2000, 11:06am EDT
Cojimar, Cuba, July 12 -- If all goes well, some time this week, Gregorio Fuentes will go down to El Torreon, the old fort that guards the entrance to Cojimar's harbor, and pour a glass of rum over the bust of a man facing out to sea.
The brass sculpture is of Ernest Hemingway and this week Fuentes will mark his own 103rd birthday by spilling the rum over Hemingway's likeness, though he'd prefer his friend be there to share it with him.
``Of course I miss him (Hemingway). He loved to fish,'' Fuentes said, speaking through a translator from inside the living room of his small pastel colored home at Calle Pesuela 209, a few blocks from Cojimar's harbor. ``He was a skilled fisherman, one of the best and he loved Cuba. Cuba was his
real home.''
The pouring of the rum, though some said it began with whisky, is a ritual Fuentes has repeated numerous times since the fishermen of Cojimar first erected the bust on July 21, 1962, (Hemingway's 63rd birthday) to immortalize the Nobel Prize winning author.
It's said every fishermen in Cojimar contributed brass fittings from their boats, including old propellers, so there'd be enough metal to cast Hemingway's likeness.
From 1935-60, Fuentes and Hemingway were almost inseparable. Fuentes skippered ``Pilar,'' Hemingway's custom-built Wheeler sport fishing boat, which was berthed in Cojimar, a few minutes from Havana Vieja.
Today, the fully restored Pilar sits in a wooden cradle in an open-air shed at Finca Vigia, Hemingway's hilltop home in the town of San Francisco de Paula.
Fuentes said he hasn't seen Pilar in a long time but he recalled how he and Hemingway would spend hours trolling Spanish mackerel and little tuna for blue marlin in nearby Gulf Stream.
Quiet Cojimar
Coming out of the tunnel under the mouth of Havana Harbor, and away from the hustle of Havana, Cojimar is about a 7-mile drive from Havana Vieja.
Despite its frequent tourist traffic, Cojimar remains a quiet little fishing village perched on the side of the meandering Cojimar River.
The river, at times no more than a shallow rock-strewn stream, begins its journey to the sea about 6 miles south at Embalse Le Ceiba, a reservoir, near the small town of La Lima.
To the northwest is the Gulf of Mexico and to the northeast, the Straits of Florida.
Because of its proximity to the Straits of Florida and the adjoining Florida Keys, Cojimar was the point of departure in 1994 for hundreds of Cubans who used makeshift rafts to travel to the U.S., seeking political asylum.
Within eyesight of Cojimar's small inlet, the shallow waters along the rocky shoreline plunge to 1,800 feet. The currents caused by the sudden drop trap the baitfish that attract the big predators like the marlins, swordfish and sharks.
The plunging depths, bait and nearby Gulf Stream are what make the fishing so good here, Fuentes said.
Besides being Hemingway's home port when he lived in Cuba, Cojimar was also the backdrop for Hemingway's classic short story ``The Old man and the Sea,'' and his unfinished novel, ``Islands in the Stream.''
While many writers have suggested that Fuentes was the model for Santiago, the aging angler in ``The Old man and the Sea,'' the old skipper of Pilar said Santiago could have been any number of Cuban fishermen.
``They tell me I am the one. Perhaps; I don't know,'' Fuentes said.
Polite Refusals
Slowed by recent surgery for skin cancer and using a cane to help him navigate, Fuentes is lucid and articulate, despite his 103 years. When he sees me he immediately extends his arm for a handshake.
What surprises me are his large hands. Worn, wrinkled and scared with sun cancers his grip is firm and all encompassing.
I can tell that in his youth very few big fish escaped his clutches when it came time to grab the leader and haul a marlin alongside Pilar for gaffing.
Normally, Fuentes politely refuses visitors to his home because he said such encounters disturb the rest of the household, but my friend Tania Pedroso's relationship with the family helped overcome this obstacle.
Her respect for Fuentes' privacy was also enough to have the old man waive his normal $10 visitation fee, a stipend he said helps buy clothes and food for his great-grandchildren.
Despite his age, Pedroso told me that when he's up to it, Fuentes can usually be found regaling tourists at La Terraza, a nearby restaurant, with his tales of Hemingway and fishing.
La Terraza is immortalized in ``The Old man and the Sea.'' Called the ``Terrace'' in the story, this is eatery where the young boy would go to fetch Santiago (the old fisherman) containers of black beans, rice, fried bananas, stew and coffee.
After a long day on the water, it was in La Terraza where Fuentes and Hemingway would take refuge from the hot Cuban sun.
Tucked into the left corner of the dining room and flanked by two windows that look out to the Gulf Stream is the table where Hemingway and Fuentes sat to drink and eat.
It's also at La Terraza this week that the people of Cojimar will gather to celebrate Fuentes' birthday.
Life's Secret
Seated in a comfortable red chair with a portrait of himself with Hemingway, and Pilar in the background, Fuentes said his secrets to longevity are, ``Plenty of Cuban rum, good cigars and lovely women.''
Lest one think he's lost his touch with the ladies, Fuentes turns to Pedroso and says, ``Despite my age, my heart beats strong for a young woman like you.'' We all laugh and the old boat captain asks, ``What's so funny? It's the truth.''
Fuentes is well cared for by his family, but they have problems keeping him housebound, even after his surgery.
``When he was 98 years old, he was sick and had an operation and none of us thought he would live to be 100,'' said a family member. ``Well, he surprised us all and he's coming back from this surgery, too.''
As much I would have loved to linger, I could see the old man was beginning to tire and we didn't want to overstay our welcome.
As we got up to leave the old man asked, ``Are you coming to my birthday party?''
I told him I was leaving Cuba the next day.
``Then sign my book before you go,'' he said. ``My family reads me all the good wishes.''
Signing the book and looking at the names I was surprised to see that a fisherman from New Jersey had stopped by to see Fuentes the week before I arrived.
``All the fishermen come to see me,'' Fuentes said. ``They want to se me before I get too old.''
As I was leaving I wondered just how old is too old.
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