Commandeered to Cuba

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cpt Pat

. . A U.S. documented vessel is entitled to U.S. consular services. That too may have been helpful. A state-registered vessel is just another vehicle, like a car..

That old wive's tale again


Which consular services? And how would they help in this case?


In fact a U.S. vessel which is not documented, has the right to all the same consular services as a documented one; the difference is that an undocumented vessel doesn't get them for free.


However query WHICH consular services which are rendered to U.S. vessels (as opposed to the U.S. citizens in them) would be helpful? Certification of a crew list or log book? Issuance of an exemption certificate?



U.S. embassies and consulates are of precious little help if you get into a legal mess abroad. Mostly they give you contacts of local lawyers and wish you good luck.

[Tonali99]

Lots of interesting comments here. My suggestion is that he take a writing course online. Plenty of them out there. It might help him next time he tells a story.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Piracy then? We can argue over the exact definition but if true, I think a lawyer would have no problem finding an appropriate crime to attach to it.

I think the term you're searching for is "barratry."

Fake or true, we need the entertainment

[ben2go]

Originally Posted by Poche

"Dancing Loins" would be an interesting name for bar or something, lol!

In movie form, they'd have to bring in Tom Cruise or revive Patrick Swanky, I mean Swayze.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by ben2go

In movie form, they'd have to bring in Tom Cruise or revive Patrick Swanky, I mean Swayze.

Best movie with lions in the title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo

[SeaScribe]

Bill, if he's on the same flight as you, he could be arrested by US authorities on arrival, were you to file reports with the authorities, for kidnapping, among other things, especially as your partner claims to have proof of the incident. Contact the US embassy and US Customs about that. (It's always better to file incident reports with more than one authority.) Sounds very grim to have endured. Good luck!

[ben2go]

Everyone keeps talking about whats legal and whats not. If anyone here knows the law then post it. Otherwise it arm chair antics.

[CarinaPDX]

Most of this thread is armchair antics. The man came here for advice. Of course we did not get the whole story, and it was an odd one as far as it did go. But suggesting everything from mental illness (either or both parties) to drug smuggling is offensive, and seems to have chased the OP away. This is not the first time that rude insinuations have done so. It serves no purpose as it probably wasn't well received by the OP and it meant that we may never know what happened. Great way to welcome new members...

Greg

[Poche]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

It serves no purpose as it probably wasn't well received by the OP and it meant that we may never know what happened.

Greg

Anybody that presents a story such as this should have a certain amount of expectation of reactions from people.
Of course there's going to be speculation. As presented it was a very spurious sounding tale.
Nobody acted improperly if you ask me.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by lituya1617

Other weirdness in your story trouble me. If you could see the wind farm at Gibara (12, tall, white windmills) at the place you were initially anchored and your anchor was 300 yards offshore, the mutineer somehow managed to anchor in very deep water, possibly 500 feet deep, not 50 feet as you write.

I think he may have been referring to the Herradura windfarm near the Playa Azul - on the coast between Gibara and Puerto Padre, favouring the latter. There's shoals there that easily extend 500 yards offshore. Not entirely sure where he was towed to - can't find Bahia Vita. Could be Bahia Nuevitas or perhaps Puerto Vita. Would help if the OP returns and clears that up. Curious that neither seems particularly convenient, but if that's the port that the authorities came out of, that would make sense.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

I think he may have been referring to the Herradura windfarm near the Playa Azul - on the coast between Gibara and Puerto Padre, favouring the latter. There's shoals there that easily extend 500 yards offshore. Not entirely sure where he was towed to - can't find Bahia Vita. Could be Bahia Nuevitas or perhaps Puerto Vita. Would help if the OP returns and clears that up. Curious that neither seems particularly convenient, but if that's the port that the authorities came out of, that would make sense.

One thing Cuba seems fairly good at is keeping watch on boats entering their waters and making sure they clear customs. Lots of secret police and the general population is happy to get a chit by informing the powers that be if a strange boat comes up to the coast anywhere but at a POE.

I am in complete agreement that we are really not sure just where the boat made landfall. Also have to wonder about the boat being towed since that is not a service usually available in Cuba; they tend to like boats in a situation like this to stay anchored so they are able to leave quickly. No question there are shortages of everything in Cuba, worse not than in quite some time, and they often view something like this as wasting valuable fuel for the downside of having two more mouths to feed; not to mention possibly being COVID-19 carriers.

It is really out of character for Cuba to act the way they did instead of just saying don't go away mad, just go away.

[lituya1617]

Yes, the Cal 29 has a large hatch over the v-birth. Usually, this hatch has a Lexan cover (by now the original acrylic cover would have had to be replaced) and anyone "trapped" in the v-birth area would have an easy exit through the hatch. Of course, the hatch could be tied closed from the deck, I suppose, but it is really strange this detail was not mentioned. Indeed, the entire tale is akin to something down the rabbit hole.

[Poche]

I think the OP said he was trapped for four days down below. Can't imagine being in a Cal 29 V berth for that long. What about food and water?

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Poche

I think the OP said he was trapped for four days down below. Can't imagine being in a Cal 29 V berth for that long. What about food and water?

The heck with the inflows. What about the outflows? Yeesh. Really does sound like the premise for a 1980s horror movie, huh?

[Poche]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

The heck with the inflows. What about the outflows? Yeesh. Really does sound like the premise for a 1980s horror movie, huh?

It does. I looked at the diagram for Cal 29s at the boat data website. The head is outside the v berth partition.