Hemingway Adventure

Havana, Cuba (seventh day)

Hemingway at his happiest, working the Gulf Stream.

In 1950, never really happy with any activity unless some sort of contest was involved, Hemingway started an International Marlin Tournament. Ten years later the competition was named after him, though he resisted this - 'A lousy posthumous tribute to a lousy living writer' - and the first prize that year was won by Fidel Castro.

One of this year's main fishing tournaments has been running for two days and has two more to go. There is only one Cuban boat in the competition, a couple of Canadians, and the rest, surprisingly, are American. The Cuban organisers are helpful and suggest we wait until the boats come in and ask if any would be happy to take us aboard tomorrow morning.

At six, the boats start to come back in and the lucky ones can be picked out long before they dock by the number of white pennants they have run up. One for each catch.

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PALIN'S GUIDES

Series: Hemingway Adventure
Chapter: Havana, Cuba (seventh day)
Country/sea: Cuba
Place: Havana
Book page no: 223

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Havana, Cuba