light bulb moment
 

Now here is one that might really get you thinking.

Before too long there will be car ferries running from Florida to Cuba. Several companies getting ready. My lovely and very innovative wife asked me, "Why not hitch the trailer and the boat to the truck and take it all to Cuba?" Why not indeed? It would be one heck of a trip. Cuba has more beautiful and undeveloped anchorages than most dogs have fleas.

Does anybody know anything about Cuban roads? Boat yards where you could get the boat in the water (I doubt boat ramps exist)? What would you need for such a thing? Slings, lifting points? What do the Cubans have? Is good fuel available? Are there safe places to leave a truck and trailer for a week or two, maybe leave the boat and trailer and come back more than once? Anybody know anything about cruising the Cuban "out islands"? Any other info out there?

Speak to me, O ye experts!

I think a new gathering opportunity has just arisen! I'm in!

Bay of Pigs II
 

Si, me Amigos.
Bahia de las Cochino, Segundo.
As Mark Twain said "What turns out to be Trouble, usually starts out as Fun".
I think they still have firing squads down there.
But, I'm in too!

As luck would have it Blondie and I just renewed our Pass Ports..:)

September is out for us, as Mexico and the Caribbean is on the menu. :eek:

We are in for this one !!

IT is holding out here.
Havana to GC?
More pics please.

I think I will make it in a two stage trip. Cayo to Key West then on to Havana. I don't want trailering to KW to suck any of the fun out of this. I also want to ave an intact truck and trailer when I get back.

That's a couple of long rides. Cafe cubano será muy necessario. Sounds like a great adventure. Wish I could commit to such a trip. Gunkholin' Cuban calas must be awesome. I imagine there are some lightly trampled reefs and wreck all over.

Looks like I might be able to scare up some company.

A brief look at Google Earth shows zillions of fabulous looking anchorages, reef, mangrove fishing areas, etc. Now, just how doable is this? I've got some feelers out and done a little research. Car ferries will run from Miami and maybe Key west. The Cuban road system is quite good. You can get to most major destinations. Secondary roads can be rough, but, with some research, that ought to be solvable. Gas apparently is available most places. Two big issues are how to get the boat in the water and how to find protected parking. Another is how protected will Americans be who are trailing around very expensive toys.

Anybody with any info, please chime in.

More than a toy. A way out. Don't imagine you can take anything more than a flare gun.

Also a way to make some real money with fares back. Not trying to bring you down.

Well, if we trailer to Naples and find a decent place to park for a week it's only 90 miles to Key West, less than 4 hours running 25 knots. Grab a room on the water or just snooze on the deck, fuel up and strike out first light and be smoking a fine Cuban by noon in a cabana bar. If I didn't do too much running around I wouldn't even need fuel until I got back to KW.

The wife is completely on board and excited to get moving forward with a plan. I'll start doing some research but there are already major fishing tournaments scheduled there next year so the logistics may already be in place.

I'll go to Bring back a 2dr '57 Belair that Hurricane Andrew took ........ Among other Fine Autos.........

PS... Ken You Still need to put some Shades on..... Your Eyes are Killing You...Us.....!

Yo Capt. Brad you ole' coon dog you....:cool:
I will get some cheap sunglasses as long as your sorry butt
shows up next weekend with some "Devil Dust" :eek:;)

Looking forward to seeing you!

Hey guys...as you may or may not know, I have just gotten back from Cuba...Long story short as of right now you can not boat to Cuba Period (from the US) the Cubans don't care, but coming back home would not be pretty.

You still can not go to Cuba without a visa and health insurance. To do this, you must get a cultural exchange visa. This will not be easy for the near future. I am not an expert , but the for the week I spent there, I have learned a great deal. The short story is Cuba is ready for us. But the our government is not ready (just yet) to leave us go over there at a moments notice. Also it is not as easy as just boating over....there is a lot of stuff that has to be adhered to. For example money exchange...they do not take US $. Surprise surprise.

I will be more than happy to carry on this conversation when things truly loosen up.

The interior of Cuba
Attachment 10142
The Hemingway Yacht Club
Attachment 10143

Before things changed you were allowed to go ashore if you needed fuel or medical attention. just needed to have receipts on board if you got stopped. I new the Feds would screw it all up. Another way to visit is with your church. Humanitarian visas seem to have been a pretty simple way in the past as well. I'm sure the loopholes will float to the top shortly.

The boat thing was closed up after 9/11. Matter of fact when we were there and visited the yacht club...the Head Honcho came out and talked with us for 15 minutes begging us to talk to our government to let the boats come back in. Some of you might remember that there was a Tampa to Havana regatta back in the 90's.

The church thing is one way to get visa...but in the near future I do not see any easy way of boating over there...and the way our government is coming down heavy handed on minor infractions these days, I would not want to see the 21 sitting impounded somewhere.

Things will change...but it will take a while .

Agreed, but they are working on it. US resort and infrastructure developers are flying there weekly making plans. I'm sure it will be as screwed up as the rest of the island nations before its over with.

Fishin' Mission
 

Ken, you must of course be referring to the Mount St. SeaCraft Holy Roman African-Methodist/Episcopal/Baptist/Lutheran/Unitarian Temple-Synagog-Tabernacle-Mosque and Fibergalss Shop's Caribbean Fishing and Rum Tasting Outreach Missionary Program. The most Rev. C.B. Davis, presiding.

Yea, I'm on dat team too!

Peace be unto thee, brothers. Now get thee to Sportsman's Lodge.

C. B. Davis

P.S. Its a great warm-up for a bigger trip.