Bareboat in Cuba

[donjoz]

Can anyone recommend a good bareboat company in Cuba? Any personal experiences sailing there? I am looking to do a week there at Christmas.

From my research it seams that there is not a lot of info on sailing there.

Any help appreciated. I am hoping not to get one of those political discussions going.

Cheers,

[Efraim]

Originally Posted by donjoz

Can anyone recommend a good bareboat company in Cuba? Any personal experiences sailing there? I am looking to do a week there at Christmas.

From my research it seams that there is not a lot of info on sailing there.

Any help appreciated. I am hoping not to get one of those political discussions going.

Cheers,

This is simple... don't bother looking there are none.

[Tropic Cat]

I'm deadset against the outdated American Policy toward Cuba, but it's the law down here. Americans who ignore the boycott are harassed or arrested.

There may be a few Canadian or European lurkers on the board who can offer this information but I doubt any of the Americans here can help.

[GordMay]

Google < cuba bareboat > , and you'll get several relevant returns.

[cccrafael]

There are many excellent charter companies, both European and Canadian who offer professional and reliable sailing charters out of Cienfuegos, in south Cuba, a beautiful venue for boating. Hundreds of sailors have vacationed in Cuban waters safely, unharrassed and cheaply. Politicians and rabid exiles in Miami prevent us U.S. citizens from enjoying one of the best sailing spots in the world. Sorry, but I don't agree with that privation of opportunity for power ego reasons.
China is Communist and we deal with them, Vietnam is Communist and we deal with them.
Try: Sail Cuba sailing in Cuba information.
Cuba Select Travel - SAILING IN CUBA

There are hundreds other companies.

[camaraderie]

Ah yes...the Cuban Workers and Sailors Paradise. Too bad that reality is a bit different. This from the www.cubacuising.net:

British sailor Ray Oliver’s account of how Cuban bureaucratic indifference, if not actual corruption and malice, cost him his beloved sailboat Cymar. His story illustrates the point that it is not just heavyhanded U.S. foreign
policy that prevents Cuba from becoming a great cruising ground, but the failure of Cuban officials to appreciate the importance of being cruiser friendly. As often noted on this website, the only thing that Havana and Washington seem to agree on is that traveling to Cuba by boat should be as difficult as possible....

...and here's the WHOLE story:
Shipwreck

(note mods: I believe this is in compliance with CF guidelines in that I credited the source and only used the intro to their article with a link to the rest.)

[Fasttimes]

Originally Posted by donjoz

Can anyone recommend a good bareboat company in Cuba? Any personal experiences sailing there? I am looking to do a week there at Christmas.

From my research it seams that there is not a lot of info on sailing there.

Any help appreciated. I am hoping not to get one of those political discussions going.

Cheers,

Hello,I doubt if you can bare boat Cuba,Ive just returned from there in my yacht... I had four months..its very strict on movements..i was berthed in Varedero ...every time you leave your berth you must clear with customs.no coming and going as normal marinas...the fleet that used to be lies a sorry sight in marina, you can cruise and anchor off but you are regularly boarded by gunboatcrews.....the marina was locked to cubans and under 8man constant guard..if can tell you more id be happy to oblige

[AnchorageGuy]

Don't miss Cuba. It is a cruising paradise. We have seen inaction on officials parts in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and more. If you can't get yourself out of trouble you need to stay at the dock. Cuba is what the Caribbean was 30 years ago. Untouched reef ,abundant fishing and the friendliest people we have met in all of our travels. We were there on a journalist license so had no problems. Even all of the officials we met were friendly, helpful, courteous and very professional. This is a third world country under communist rule. Deal with it if you go there, otherwise go somewhere else. As soon as the current administration changes and life gets back to normal we will by all means go again. Now is a great time since the cash separators in the tourist trade have not yet taken over the cruising aspect of their territory. Most officials don't quite know how to handle a pleasure vessel so it can be a small annoyance. But that is part of the adventure. Things are hard to come by but with a bit of effort anything can be found. Yes you must clear in and out of ports, but our own customs require that of foreign flagged vessels at times also. We were never boarded by gunboat crews but did have some interesting conversations with some of their crewmembers along with afternoon beers in our cockpit. It was a wonderful experience which we documented for Soundings Magazine a few years back.

[Fasttimes]

Originally Posted by donjoz

Can anyone recommend a good bareboat company in Cuba? Any personal experiences sailing there? I am looking to do a week there at Christmas.

From my research it seams that there is not a lot of info on sailing there.

Any help appreciated. I am hoping not to get one of those political discussions going.

Cheers,

My boatbuddy is still berthed in Cuba,ive emailed him to check out bareboat opportunities,I am am also returning there before Nov so ican check out cienfuegos,i was there but never looked into this subject,,I agree with all that it is wonderful place but you must be prepared for lengthy visits if cruising around,the south coast is deserted mostly ,a real haven.For others information ...after three months the dockage comes down to approx$ 50 a week for my 37ft boat plus a buck for water and another for electric.fairwinds

[phiggins]

I looked into this back in 2002. A company at www.sailing-adventure.com said they would do it for about $1500/week out of Trindad Cuba. I never pursued it, instead I bought my own boat and sailed there in fall of 2005. It was a great place to visit. As someone already said the people are the friendless anywhere.

You have to be very careful about breaking any of their laws. A buddy of ours tried to smuggle in some DVD players and ended up in prison for 6 months. We were very worried we would end up there from guilt by association with him but in the end they cleared us.

As for that incident mentioned about the guy having his boat plundered after running aground on a reef, this happens in a lot of places not only Cuba. After we left Cuba we went to Mexico (Isla Mujeres). There a guy from Switzerland ran aground south of Puerto Morellos. He was unable to get anyone to pull him off for less than $12,000 USD which he didn't have. When we were there helping him, his dinghy drifted to shore. When we went to retrieve it on the beach a bunch of Mexican soldiers said they were going to keep it but eventually gave it back after much arguing. Eventually he left the boat and it was stripped within days.

Paul

[DeepFrz]

That doesn't just happen in Cuba or Mexico. It happens in the US, and probably everywhere else. If you can't protect your boat when it runs aground it will be stripped.