Cuba

[FLLCatsailor]

Has anyone been to Cuba lately? I am doing a delivery of a motor yacht from Miami to Cozumel, and have to refuel in Cuba.

Planning on pulling into Marina Hemingway, fueling up spending the day in Havana and heading onwards the following morning.

What are the custom's and immigration fees? Anyone have any clue on the rough cost of diesel in Cuba?

[rgscpat]

Noonsite you may have already visited? It seems to have info from within the past year.
Cuba — Noonsite
Hemingway Marina (Havana) — Noonsite

and
http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Cu...eServices#Fuel

[FLLCatsailor]

yeah I saw the info there on noonsite. I was hoping to an up to date pricing on fuel... I'm going to be taking on 500+ gallons...

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

yeah I saw the info there on noonsite. I was hoping to an up to date pricing on fuel... I'm going to be taking on 500+ gallons...

Wow.. 500 gallons from Miami to Havanna?! Also make sure to bring enough fuel filter elements and prepare a way to clean them like in a bucket of diesel.

[Teknav]

Cuba's diesel comes from Venezuela; at a deeply subsidized price. However, it is heavily taxed when sold to the public; estimated at about $5 USD per imperial gallon. It is much much cheaper to buy fuel in Mexico than in Cuba. Mauritz

[AnchorageGuy]

Pat, A couple of issues. First, as in the U.S., the price of diesel tomorrow, let alone next week or next month will most certainly change. You don't say when you are going. The other problem you may have in Cuba is whether or not they will even have fuel. It's not unusual for the marinas to run out, if they even have it, or the local supplier be out if they need to bring it to the boat. If you need to purchase from a supplier, they will more than likely bring the fuel to the dock in 55 gallon drums. Havana is a bit more modern, but I would suggest you research the situation with Hemmingway just before you leave and even then, if they tell you they have fuel, consider that the situation may be different when you arrive. Cuba has no provisions for stopping by to fuel up and then leave. You may very well have to go through the entire check in process and pay the fees. The fees are not very expensive. Chuck

[cheoah]

Good advice from Chuck et al. I'd contact them and ask about fuel prices and other details, caveat being that things do change in Cuba a lot, and flexibility is key. Fuel price should be close though if you check prior to shoving off. Just look up their website and get the email, I don't want to post it here.

They have pretty good pizza right there at the Marina, but by all means, try out the Paladare "Vistamar", which is just a little east of Hemingway. Very good restaurant for Havana. There are others of course but this is one of the best and very convenient to the marina.

[jeremiason]

What is the range of this vessel... I don't know if price is an issue, but if it is you might want to consider fuel bladders... Fuel in Mexico is about $4 per gallon, which is a significant savings when purchasing in bulk, as you know.

[FLLCatsailor]

Is the quality of fuel that questionable in Cuba? I've got a range of around 340nm's at 24kts so I'm going to have to stop for fuel regardless.

I've never been to Cuba, so I'm excited to stop there...

[jeremiason]

Have you thought about cutting back to ten knots and going straight to Mexico?

[Overlord]

just been to Cuba. Fuel in marina $1.20 a liter. I took my jerry jugs into town and had a local fill them for me for .60cents a liter and a 10$ tip. Plenty of diesel everywhere and it was clean. They have many top class buses running around. Forget about a 24hr turnaround ! it could take 2 days to get paper work done. For a first timer its novel

[FLLCatsailor]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

Have you thought about cutting back to ten knots and going straight to Mexico?

Where is the fun in that?

[FLLCatsailor]

Originally Posted by chris smith

just been to Cuba. Fuel in marina $1.20 a liter. I took my jerry jugs into town and had a local fill them for me for .60cents a liter and a 10$ tip. Plenty of diesel everywhere and it was clean. They have many top class buses running around. Forget about a 24hr turnaround ! it could take 2 days to get paper work done. For a first timer its novel

Chris, thanks for the info. I'll just be buying fuel from the marina... Is it any slower than any other Caribbean country, or average?

[Overlord]

Not sure what you mean. can you expand a bit more

[FLLCatsailor]

You said it can take up to two days to do my clearance? Was that an exaggeration?