Cuba, anyone?

[tomasrey88]

I know, I know... the Cuban embargo has been in place since forever.... I read somewhere (I forgot where) on the web that you could go to Cuba and not get in trouble by sailing to Bahamas first, then continuing on to Cuba (so you're not on the Coast Guard sonar screen as a Cuban-bound vessel from the USA). Then, when you get there, you could bribe a corrupt Cuban immigration official $5 to NOT stamp your US passport. Another way to go to Cuba would be to get a press card (you work part-time for a newspaper as a freelance writer and you're working on a Cuban story). Are the truths or urban legends? Does anybody have any first-hand experience to share with me?

I heard that there are some really nice first-class yacht clubs and accomodations there for 1950's era prices in Cuba. Plus, if you were single, babes will run to you like bees to honey. A beer in a Cuban bar is only 40 cents. Is this true?

I heard second-hand reports from a fellow I met at the Royal Hong Kong yacht club who had talked to a fellow that sailed from Havana to Hong Kong on a circumnavigation. They have recipr0cal agreements with the Havana yacht club. This means that members of the fraternity of recipr0cating yacht clubs would treat you as one of their own members if you are a member of one of the yacht clubs on the recipr0cating list. However, I do not place much stock in second-hand reports, so if you have first-hand experiences in Cuba, please let me know. Thanks.

If you've "been there and done that", then I'd like to follow you in my Mac on your next Cuban trip. Sorta like a Conch Cruiser trip, but to Cuba instead of the Bahamas. I can speak fluent Espanol and dance the Salsa, too!

Factoids: Havana is only 90 miles south of Key West.
Website of the Cuban Yacht Club, Club Nautico Internacional Hemingway de La Habana:
http://www.cubanacan.cu/ESPANOL/hemingway/marina.htm
Pics of Cuban ladies: http://www.cuban-girls.net/cuban_ladies.html
Some Cuban chick's Myspace page:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... D=87767724

[pokerrick1]

I think you can go to jail for that (the 17 part) Otherwise I'd LOVE to go to Cuba. On a Royal Carribean cruise to Puerto Rico we sailed pretty damn close to Cuba (20/30 miles?) and I was shocked by it's size.

Rick

[impinnacr]

I may be way off base here, but why in anyone's right mind would you want to go to Cuba? I can think of a zillion reasons why that is a bad idea, starting with lack of diplomatic relations with the US and ending somewhere in a cuban jail. Sounds very risky to me.

There are so many cool places to gunkhole (sp?) on the thousands of miles of US coast as well as inland waterways, British columbia, Catalina, the Chesapeake, etc, etc

Call me a pollo (chicken) but I don't think I would risk it.
Chris

[Chip Hindes]

It is illegal for U.S Citizens to travel to Cuba except under a few very specific circumstances, none of which invlove being a tourist or phony journalist. Even if you qualify under one of the few exceptions, securing all the necessary permissions and paperwork is a multi-agency bureaucratic nightmare and can take literally, years. A number of the original Conch Cruisers (Billy and Luke among them) attempted the legitimate route beginning, I believe, in 2004, and they are either still waiting or have given up. As it was explained to me, no one federal agency would assume repsonsibility for a final decision, and each time they jumped through a particular bureaucratic hoop, the "rules" such as they were, got reinterpreted so as to require something different or a new set of approvals from a different agency.

By current regulations, if you spend a dollar in Cuba you are considered to have contributed materially to the commerce of Cuba, which is illegal. So unless you can figure out how to go to Cuba, stay there for some amount of time, then return to the U.S without having spent any money there, you're in violation. The penalties are pretty severe, including, I believe, jail time, huge fines and confiscation of your boat.

In any case, I guarantee that none of the legitimate methods for getting to Cuba involve leaving from a third country so you can avoid radar detection.

[David Mellon]

You can sail to Cuba, they will keep your boat of course. Why would you want to give a perfectly good boat to the local police chief. Just donate it to your local Sea Explorers Base, or perhaps use it as a planter. Another question comes to mind...how do you expect to get home?

[DeMaster]

Didn't Capt. Ron do it?

[NiceAft]

Forget the idea of being under the radar! With Homeland Security eyes everywhere, they read your posting before we even saw it.

Ray

[Chip Hindes]

You can sail to Cuba, they will keep your boat of course.

It's not the Cubans who will take your boat. It's the U.S. Gummint.

[Chinook]

Safest way to go to Cuba is to really practise up on your "Eh's" and other Canadian accent techniques, and of course have the passport to back them up. A couple of years ago, Cuba seemed to be a popular destination for autumn southbound ICW boats flying the Maple Leaf flag.

[tomasrey88]

The oil companies are lobbying Congress for business permission to go to Cuba due to a discovery of oil in Cuba. They are very pi$$ that the embargo is keeping them from all that good oil. As soon as Castro is officially dead (some say that he's already dead), this will forge ahead. I have a friend who is an oil exec. He says that's the plan. There is already a fully manned "American Interests Center" in Cuba. As soon as Fidel's dead, the name on the front of the building will be changed to "American Embassy".

The Chinese are competing with America on this one, however. There are hundreds of thousands of "advisors" from China in Cuba. China has been a major business partnet of Cuba for years. They've filled in the power vacuum after the Russians backed out.

So are the Europeans. They've got much of the drilling rights to the oil.

Post-Communist Cuba is going to be a wild-west free for all as there is also the matter of property rights. A lot of property was seized from Americans decades ago. This same property has been "sold" for pennies on the dollar to unsuspecting (or risk-taking) European and Chinese investors.

Those getting in on the ground floor on trading rights with a post-Fidel Cuba are going to be filthy rich. If I can talk to my oil exec friend so that I could be in the delegation of one of the first to enter Cuba legally, I'd be in on the ground floor of all the exciting revolutionary changes.

It's in the developing countries where the most revolutionary changes are happening....

[NiceAft]

tomasrey88,

Mi M es su M. Donde esta la marina?

Ray

[Catigale]

This borders on Pub material, but it still bothers me that the goverment has the audacity to tell me where I can and cant go in the world...when you have a system that works, if you believe in it, people should be free to go where they wish....sorry for the soapbox..

As a dual citizen I can easily get to Cuba 'without a trace' but with two kids to raise I dont think I need that kind of excitement.

I guess this is the Libertarian in me coming out...

[tomasrey88]

Pokerrick1: I looked everywhere regarding a law "17" saying that it is illegal to go to Cuba, but could not find anything. Then, it suddenly hit me. You're referring to the 17 year old girl's MySpace page, right? It is perfectly legal to dance the Salsa with her and if your wife is not jealous, it's O.K. As long as you're not thinking of something else....

Impinnakr: You are obviously a married man. I am, too. That's why I didn't even examine that Cuban chick's webpage more closely. However, I have some very fond memories from my youth of a sexy latina feeding me snacks under a coconut tree on a tropical island. If you've never danced the Salsa with a saucy little latina and felt her hips wiggle beside you then you've never lived. If you've never smelled the heady aroma of female sweat mixed with coconut oil, and perfume, then your nose has been sensory deprived. If you've never had a cute young latina whisper naughty wishes in your ear while the ocean waves lulled you to sleep, your ears have had wax in them your whole life. If you've never had a latina queen cook you a tasty meal of fried platains and cheese with rice, a meal fit for a king... on your FIRST DATE, then you have been a beast of burden for women all your life. If you've never seen a curvy latina come out of the water after a swim, saying, "Te quiero," then your eyes are Ferraris that have been delivering pizzas all your life. All over latin america, the chicks have been "Americanizing", getting more materialistic and demanding all the time. Cuba has been isolated from America for decades. I hope that means Cuban women are still like the latinas of my youth, simple, genuine, and sexy..... You ask what man in his right mind would go to Cuba. To that, I reply, "What man in his right mind wouldn't go to Cuba?"

Niceaft:
GPS Coordinate de La Marina Hemingway esta 23°05.3'N, 82°30.6'W. Mas informacion esta http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Cuba/HemingwayMarina . Hay arricifes acerca del entrada. Es muy peligro durante las tormentas. Pero, con el 50 hp Macgregor, no hay nada problema. Hiciste una viaje al Cuba? No quiero ir al Cuba sin otra persona que ya fue al Cuba.

P.S. Assorted Latina memories from my youth;
I taught English in Venezuela.... I rented a yacht to take us offshore to the island of Los Borrachos. I did not know that the islands are infested with rats. When the little black "rocks" started to move, she squealed and jumped into my arms... (that was back when my back was still good and stout).

I lived with a cutie. Everyday before I went to work, she would straighten my tie. I could barely feel her wispy fingers, but she would always have it straightened for "mi hombre".

On the tropical beach of a desserted island, a torch was blazing. Her eyes glimmered while living shadows danced on her sweaty body. She giggled as she mischieviously slipped an ice cube in my pants. In "anger", I wrestled her to the ground and she said that she was sorry and would make it up to me....

[Billy]

On sailing your Mac to Cuba, Chip is right. The way most did until a few years ago, was go direct to Cuba, then to the Bahamas. Then when US Customs/Immigrations asked for your last port, you can be honest.

However things have changed. Luke (DreamChaser) and I worked on a permits for over 2 years. We had all the related humanitarian permits for ourselves (OFAC & Dept of Commerce). A few days before our scheduled departure, a new law then required our vessels to be exported to Cuba by a BIA permit. (No application form available. No assistance was volunteered. We did get some in the department that were sympathetic to us but their actions were limited.) It seemed each time we met the requirements, our paperwork was held up until a new requirement/ruling/law/directive was implemented. We ran through most (all we knew of) appeals. After 2 years, they finally wore us down and (gosh, this is hard to say) they beat us. Without the influence of a senator, you're probably not going to legally sail your Mac to Cuba. The US govt. doesn't want you to see it.

It's my understanding, you will be welcomed in Cuba. On your return, you will possibly get stopped by Coast Guard, Homeland Sec, etc. Possibly your equipment taken--GPS, computer, cameras, and maybe your boat and have to stand charges. Well, do you feel lucky?

I know of 1 person that still sails to the Dry Tortugas and then to Havana and back. Before he leaves, he checks with a few to see if they have any humanitarian gifts they want delivered. Doesn't bother with regs.

BTW, the US does not believe it when you are "fully hosted". Usually Cuban immigration does not stamp your passport.

Most US citizens' knowledge of Cuba and its history is what their government has told them. (I'm not going any farther on that subject.)

So now you know how to do it (or how not do it), are you going? Need a deckhand? (Your boat, not mine. )

[Lovekamp]

As I understand the current administration's take on Cuba, even if they suspect you MIGHT go to Cuba, they can confiscate your boat. It's interesting that this "guilty until proven innocent" philosophy violates the traditions of American law; however, sexual harassment is treated this same way.

I truly believe the oil companies want to swoop in on Cuba. I suspect most American businesses are trying to find a way to exploit Cuba when they get the chance. Nevermind the culture or the scenery: rape, pillage and burn! Nothing personal; it's just business.