Cuba, Si! Travel, No!

The pearl of the Antilles is so close and yet so far.

By Marilyn Mower   Photos by Jim Raycroft

A few weeks ago during a discussion session at the Marlow Owner’s Rendezvous, cruisers were talking about their voyaging plans. David Marlow asked for a show of hands of those who would like to cruise Cuba; every hand in the place went up. Then to everyone’s surprise, one of the guests announced he had been there in his own boat—twice. If that isn’t a way to gain instant celebrity status among a group of boat owners, I don’t know what is.

I can go to Cuba because I’m a

full-time journalist. You? Probably not.

Yes, there are people who have visited Cuba, legally and not, and a decidedly smaller group who have gone there by boat, some legally and some not. There is a six-page document available on line at the Department of State for U.S. citizens about travel to Cuba with carefully worded sections on permits.

What it boils down to is, I can go and you can’t—unless you have family there or  foreign citizenship, or you work for an international organization like the Red Cross or a telecoms company, or a bunch of other things—I said it was a six-page document. travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html.  To apply, you first have to read an 86-page document called Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-related Transactions Involving Cuba by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. cubatravel.ofac.treas.gov. It’s not supposed to be easy.
I can fly there, but going by my boat, or your boat, is a different matter, especially if your “boat” is less than 328-feet in length. If that’s the case, the U.S. Coast Guard will need to issue you a permit to leave U.S. Territorial waters, enter Cuban waters, and then re-enter U.S. waters. The Sarasota Yacht Club has been trying (and failing) to get permission to hold a Sarasota to Havana Race for three years.
Right now, it’s best to think of Cuba as the nicest nearby place you can’t cruise to. By all accounts, even though the latest Navionics electronic charts will get you to the harbors, and Nigel Caulder’s Cuba, A Cruising Guide, with its maps and sketches will provide the details, clearing in and out, according to Baird Tewksbury, who made the trip with Cruising Club of America members from Canada in 2002, is complex and laborious. The various officials at each Port of Entry—a parade of eight to 12 officers accompanied by drug-sniffing dogs—are very serious. Beyond the U.S. licenses and an entry visa, cruising Cuba requires a cruising permit from the Guarda Frontera, which is stamped at each succeeding port.
So, even though you can’t go there now—President Obama last September extended the trade embargo another year—it stands to reason that one day you can. After all, Cuba is busy building marinas on both the north and south coasts for just such an occasion.
José Miguel Diaz Escrich, a former Cuban Navy officer who is now the commodore of Club Nautico and Marina Hemingway, is also part of the Marlin Marina Group, which operates 10 marinas in Cuba and is building more. Gaviota, the government-associated marina group, is building marinas of its own, including a 1,200-slip marina in Veradero of which 400 slips are expected to be ready by the end of 2010.
Despite the fact that Cuba’s marinas are not set up for megayachts, 135 yachts of more than 78 feet have visited Cuba in the last five years, said the commodore. “Now, many European charter companies are sending boats to operate in Cuba. These bases are on the south coast at Cienfuegos and Trinidad.” Americans cannot charter.
As journalist and cruising guide editor Peter Swanson says, “Cuba will be a fabulous cruising ground for American yachtsmen. It has a 3,300 nautical mile shoreline and four groups of offshore island groups—imagine getting lost along that.     Cuba’s coast appears as the rest of the Caribbean did in the 1950s, preserved, as if in amber, by the fallout of the Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.” In fact, Cuba’s Law 81 protects the aquatic environment with 253 preserves accounting for 20 percent of the coast. Cuba boasts 50 species of coral, 200 species of sponges, and 500 species of fish.
According to Peter, who has set up a clearinghouse Web site at cubacruising.net,  Cuba truly welcomes mariners of all nations. Canadian and European mariners unaffected by the U.S. travel ban visit Cuba in droves. “The people are very friendly and you can buy very nice art so inexpensively. Most of the young people speak some English,” he said. Another valuable source is a Web site called Cubaseas.com. Here you will find the latest travel and port details, map links and hotel information.
In May, Cuba has announced plans to allow foreigners to develop golf courses, marinas and related land projects to boost the nation’s tourism industry, and the government is reportedly considering granting foreigners medium- to long-term leases of real estate, as Cuba prohibits foreign ownership. Last year, some 2.4 million tourists visited Cuba.
“I have been the commodore of the yacht club for eighteen years. Twenty months ago we were asked to head the development of a nautical museum. To me, that means that recreational boating is closer to reality now,” said Commodore Escrich. “The most important thing to tell you is that we see many people in Cuba committed to maritime development. Despite worldwide economics, we are optimistic and work toward this dream: To navigate to sail and to dream, having the stars to guide us.”