Florida Couple Wrecked In Cuba

[RumHead]

Interesting story - I didn't think you were allowed to sail that close to Cuba. Espcecially close enough to hit a reef.
Local couple spends Christmas in Cuba

[N0NJY]

Now they’re back working at The Other Place in Ozello and planning for their next sailing trip.

“What I’m doing next is making another boat out of Kevlar,” Vassallo said. “I’m going to use hydrogen motors and solar panels — no gas, no diesel.”

And no Cuba.

“I’ll put a little more distance between me and Cuba,” he said.

THAT ought to fix it.... especially that 'hydrogen thing"....

[RumHead]

Originally Posted by N0NJY

THAT ought to fix it.... especially that 'hydrogen thing"....

lol - Really, how does that prevent you from running into an island from Key West to Jamaica?

[Cruisingdad]

No... really. Cuba is a great place to go. Helpful. Friendly. I mean, where else can you shipwreck and barely escape with your life, celebrate that you survived the storm, then watch the military detain you as they tear your boat apart for their own uses? I am not sure who else can boast that... well, maybe Sudan can. After all, Cuba did not hold them for ransom, right? I just do not understand why more Americans do not make it a destination. And if you think that story is incredible, ask the locals in S Florida (refugees), or the kids who survived the trip across the stream, or family of the dead bodies washed up on shore who risk everything (their lives and those of thier kids) to make a 60 mile treck.

Maybe I should make that article a sticky for every dumb posting about Americans travelling to Cuba? Nah. I will just stay out of it.

- CD

[N0NJY]

The only trouble I ever had in Cuba was with the giant iguanas.....

Of course that was on US territory. LOL

[cnc33voodoo]

i have been to cuba three times and had a great time.
cubans are great people and very respectful of visitors.
i would have no hesitation going back.
then again im canadian.
cubas poverty is highly atributed to their relations with the u.s.
what happened to them is their own stupidity and poor planning.
were they expecting? for the military to bring them a couple pins coladas and shuttle them to a resort?
maybe if their boat was hydrogen powered this could have been avoided.lol.

[billyruffn]

Originally Posted by cnc33voodoo

cubas poverty is highly atributed to their relations with the u.s.

Gee! Of course! That's it!

Why was I so stupid to think that it had something to do with Marxism, lack of personal and economic freedom, absence of rule of law, dictatorship..............?

Wow! I now feel enlightened! Thanks, Voodo

what happened to them is their own stupidity and poor planning

You're probably right about this!

were they expecting? for the military to bring them a couple pins coladas and shuttle them to a resort?

They were probably expecting to be treated as they would have if they'd washed up on a Canadian or US beach.

[AjariBonten]

Here we go again .........................

[Tortuga12]

How a nation can spout off about it's sovereignty one minute, then claim the reason they're destitute is because we won't play nice with them the next is a larf to me!

Seriously, Canadians can go there, Europeans can go there, South Americans can go there, I'm assuming most Asians can go there as well. Unless THE REST OF THE WORLD has embargoed Cuba, I don't really see our refusal to deal with them as being the root cause of their poverty. I mean, it's not as if we've got destroyers hanging off their ports, sinking foreign merchants on their way in.

This is not to say that the embargo makes a lot of sense to me at this point. After all, if we can deal with North Korea and China, then Cuba shouldn't be a problem. But let's not kid ourselves here: Cuba's government is the root problem with Cuba's economy. Cuba won't get better until they shed the failed Marxist policies they continue to employ, despite the distinct LACK of empirical evidence to support the theories of Marxist Communism/Socialism.

However, once this happens, I believe Cuba will have a bright future! I'd love to move there, just to get away from the slow-driving snowbirds, and the mentally unstable Florida Crackers!

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by cnc33voodoo

i have been to cuba three times and had a great time.
cubans are great people and very respectful of visitors.
i would have no hesitation going back.
then again im canadian.
cubas poverty is highly atributed to their relations with the u.s.
what happened to them is their own stupidity and poor planning.
were they expecting? for the military to bring them a couple pins coladas and shuttle them to a resort?
maybe if their boat was hydrogen powered this could have been avoided.lol.

I'm glad you had a great time. There is NOTHING (repeat NOTHING) wrong with the cuban people. They are a great people - period. I got to know many of them.

But before you pass too much judgement on how great things are at Cuba, point your compass a little further north. Stop off at the Dry Tortugas (closer to Cuba than to US Mainland). It shouldn't take too long to have a few refugee boats show up. Ask them how many survived the 60 mile run across. Ask them why anyone would risk their kids and family's lives to leave. Go to Ft Myers or Miami. Talk to the Cubans there. Ask them how many lost everything in Castros regime. Ask them how many family members have gone missing in the middle of the night. Ask them how much property Castro's boys have stolen at a whim. Where is CardiacPaul when I need him???

You blame the US for Cubas woes. What a crock. I blame Canada and the rest of the world who still trades with them. You are the ones that have made our embargo worthless and kept a dictator in power. Do your homework. Don't go to Cuba and ask them how great things are with a political officer listening beside you. GO to the US and ask them. And as a word of warning - don't tell the Cuba refugees in the US about how Cubas problems are the really all because of the US. They take the matter serious.

- CD