CUBA: LAND OF RUM, RHUMBAAND REVOLUTION

• How to go legally with or without a boatHow to go legally with or without a boat

With Nigel Calder & Peter Swanson

Cuba by the numbersLandmass: 44,000 square miles

Climate: Tropical in the trade-wind belt, modified by frontal systems from U.S. and by hurricanes

Shoreline: 3,000 nautical miles

Circumnavigation: 1,650 nautical miles

Islands and keys: 4,195

Percentage of coastal shelf navigable by boats over 25 feet: 70 percent

Quality of Cuban marine cartography: Good

Marinas: 15 with 2,000 slips (but there's a catch)

Planned marinas: 23 additional with more than 5,000 slips

Major colonial port cities: 6 (Havana, Matanzas, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Manzanillo, Santiago and Baracoa)

Distances to Florida: 90 miles Mexico: 110 miles

Cayman Islands: 170 miles Jamaica: 80 miles

Hispaniola: 45 miles The Bahamas: 45 miles

Turks & Caicos: 110 miles

The legalities:

• Still technically illegal to go except for 12 classes of allowed travel…

• Must fill out USCG paperwork • Leave from and return to USA • Maximum of two weeks • Severely limited legal cruising options… • There are charter fleets on the south coast

(Cienfuegos; Cayo Largo), and at Marina Gaviota

12 General Licenses (according to OFAC)

“Family visits; official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations; journalistic activity; professional research and professional meetings; educational activities; religious activities; public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; support for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes; exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials; and certain authorized export transactions.”

COMMERCE EXPORT LICENSE:

14 days in Cuban waters, no paperwork, if you qualify for a General License.

More than 14 days by application to Commerce, explaining what you are doing and how long you need. Go to this website to apply:

https://snapr.bis.doc.gov/snapr/exp/UserLoginLoad

“Advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives by ensuring an effective export control and treaty compliance system and promoting continued U.S. strategic technology leadership.”

Boat insurance is available but…

• Only US citizens • From Florida back to Florida • Two week limit • The boat and its crew must comply with

all applicable regulations • Increased premium & doubled deductible

OTHER RESOURCES: Yacht Pilot's Guide to Cuba by Cheryl Barr

A Cruising Guide to Cuba by Amaia Agirre and Frank Virgintino www.freecruisingguides.com

Cuba: Land & Sea group on Facebook, managed by Addison Chang.

Cuba Bound by Waterway Guides.

The Nautical Landscape: A Counterclockwise Circumnavigatio

Plans to clean up and shift commercial activities to Mariel

The 3 essentials when dealing with officials:

• Patience: – Lot’s of officials – Lot’s of paperwork – Multiple clearances

• A sense of humor • Don’t pay bribes • Sealed meats; boiled eggs…

Cayo Levisa

Cayo Paraiso