Cuba - Warning non-American Boats

[markpierce]

Ice, you were "grandfathered." Seems like the right thing to do because later generations believe they're never at fault and somebody else has to pay for their blunders.

[pillum]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

I don't know about anyone else, but when I get together with a mate from another country, I stop country bashing after the second beer. By the 4th or 5th, I can almost speak the local languange.

With you all the way on that one brother...

[Maggie-K]

Yes, I know you have to buy a US decal. So do Amercians. Canada is in fact relatively unusual in having no check in fee at all (and yes, that's nice) - the majority of countries we have checked into have some sort of fee.

Not so Washington State residence require a yearly Permit for their vessel issued by the vehicle/boat licensing office. Canadian boats require a User fee Decal from CBP (Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPS) ). Both require a Boater Education Card.

As to paying nothing to cruise in Canada - as I said I had to pay to get an operators permit, which I was not required to have otherwise.

If you don't already have a Boater Education Card consider it part of you education , you don't need to get one in Canada you can get one at home ,be happy you are not charged a cruising fee .. I for one feel a fee should be in place to help offset the costs of maintaining navigational equipment and frequent Coast Guard calls. As I said I'm happy to pay my part to cruise in Washington waters.

[prof_mariner]

Interesting. Although a bit off topic from the OP's original post, according to that website California doesn't require a Boaters Education Card (at least not yet) making them the only state on the West coast that doesn't.

[Blue Stocking]

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As to the OP, suck it up. When you sail into a countries territorial waters all their laws apply to you, irrespective of the flag of your boat. I'm amazed at how people think a boat confers diplomatic immunity !!


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Dave[/QUOTE]

FINALLY, someone has said it!! YAH!!-- and the right to try to hammer down a tradesman bill.

[Ram]

If a non-US yacht was sailing from -Ile a Vache, Hati where would check in be in Cuba?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife

... Does this include the Canadian, coming from Cuba, wanting to sail home?

"... all people and organizations physically in the United States ..." would seem, to me, to include everyone, including Canadians, entering the US.

[bella]

Originally Posted by avb3

phiggins, we really need more details. I too am Canadian, and my boat will be registered as a Canadian one. AFAIK, we don't need a cruising permit for the US, it is implied.

The restriction is for US citizens to spend money in Cuba, nothing else.

If phiggins does not respond, would anyone else know these details?

Not entirely true.. you are quoting the 1918 trading with the enemy act.. in 2004 GWB signed an exectutive order that prevented a US citizen from importing stuff to cuba .. the fed consider taking your boat, importation.

I had occasion. in 2006, to move a boat from Havana to Miami, Canadian flagged. Customs dude was cuban, he ranted and raved in both english and spanish about my being there as a US citizen. If you get a latino and they give you grief, ask politely to speak to their supervisor. Cuban expats or kids of expats get rabid over the whole cuba thing.

I do know that "foriegn flagged" vessels are, theoretically, suppost to tell DHS everytime they move their boat in US waters.. I remember some threads here on the over the top stuff in and around Ft Lauderdale a few yrs back. Same boat went up into the Chesapeake only to be told that the local DHS guy didn't care what they did with their boat.

[bella]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Whenever the Cuban government compensates those, such as entrepreneurs, it stole from? When the Castros die off? Who knows?

I always find it amusing when people say the above stuff...
People convienetly forget revolutions usually happen for a reason..
People have deliberately forgotten that Bautista was NO boy scout.
HE was in bed with the Mafia, Big Sugar, Coca Cola to name three..

More than one economist or political analyst have commented that had we NOT continued this absurd embargo, Cuba would have been democratic again by now. This embargo is shoved down the throats of the Ameican people by cuban expats who simply cannot forget they lost it all.. but not why or take the time to analyze why and try to work to not let that happen again once the island goes back democratic, in theory, after the Castros die.. sigh... z

As for the country, lovely place... by the time the US wises up and lets us Citzens go back whenver we want, the Europeans and Canadians will have all the good land for houses and we will be out in the cold so to speak... our fault.

go to pbs dot org and search for "cuba the accidental eden" nice show worth the time it takes to watch..

[ice]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Ice, you were "grandfathered."

I guess so - but I don't feel that old

Originally Posted by Maggie-K

Not so Washington State residence require a yearly Permit for their vessel issued by the vehicle/boat licensing office. Canadian boats require a User fee Decal from CBP (Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPS) ). Both require a Boater Education Card.

Washington boaters would definitely require a decal if they wanted to come back into the US after sailing in Canada. You are correct they don't require one if they are just staying in Washington, just as Canadians would not require one if they were just staying in Canada.

I don't know about Washington, but in Vermont (where my boat is registered), if the vessel is USCG documented it does not need a state registration or permit.

As to the boater education . . . as you see from the discussion above . . . it's not as simple as 'both require a boater education card'. In Canada it is a uniform federal requirement (do I have that correct?), while in the US it differs state by state (some having no requirement at all - as in many of the major northeast coast boating states) and then within states (like Washington) some people are required to have one and others are not (sometimes by age but also by other criteria).

If you don't already have a Boater Education Card consider it part of you education , you don't need to get one in Canada you can get one at home, be happy you are not charged a cruising fee .. I for one feel a fee should be in place to help offset the costs of maintaining navigational equipment and frequent Coast Guard calls. As I said I'm happy to pay my part to cruise in Washington waters.

Personally I think the Boater education cards are of essentially no value in improving safety. And I think their adaption (at least in the USA) has been driven by the homeland security types as a way to force boaters to carry ID. I know (from discussions with the people involved) that since 911 the homeland security guys have been tearing their hair out about small vessels - with (at 911) essentially no reporting or tracking requirements and no ids and they have been trying to 'fix that problem'.

But I try to follow the rules, and I got my Canadian Operators permit some years ago, before these US education cards were available (or at least I was not aware of them). Last year, in Nova Scota, we were boarded by several Canadian officials (they seemed to represent several different departments) apparently as a training exercise (so they said) and were asked for our "Operator's permit" but they way they asked I got the feeling they really did not expect a US vessel to have one and would not have held it against us, and were surprised when I showed them a Canadian card.

I am not much fussed about check in fees one way or another. The US decal is inexpensive compared to fees we have paid in other countries, and Canada check in being free is nice but I would have no problem with a $25 fee either.

Originally Posted by GordMay

"... all people and organizations physically in the United States ..." would seem, to me, to include everyone, including Canadians, entering the US.

Back to the OP, agreed, that was my point, it is certainly very possible to interpret the rules/laws as applying to foreign flagged vessels while in US waters. There was a time during the Bush years when the official interpretation (of the laws still in force today) was that the USCG could impound a foreign flagged vessel that was in US waters and even just 'planing to visit Cuba'. No vessels were ever in fact impounded under that interpretation but there were a few that were threatened (because they had Cuba cruising guides in plain sight when boarded).

Again, I think the most difficult part of the US policy is that the interpretation and enforcement of the laws changes dramatically year to year and officer to officer, so you never really know what to expect.

[AllezCat]

Originally Posted by bella

I always find it amusing when people say the above stuff...
People convienetly forget revolutions usually happen for a reason..
People have deliberately forgotten that Bautista was NO boy scout.
HE was in bed with the Mafia, Big Sugar, Coca Cola to name three..

agree - and I think the big-corporate political influence is stronger than the expats...

"..the Europeans and Canadians will have all the good land for houses.."

not to be self-deprecating(american bashing) - but we have ways of extricating people from their land...

[phiggins]

BTW the problem is not just in Key West. A friend of mine, also Canadian, checked into Fort Myers last year coming from Cuba and six officers and the local police came on board with a dog. Guess the dog was trained to smell Cuban cigars or maybe rum because they found them and confisicated them and threaten to seize his boat.

A little while later he got a letter from the Treasury department asking his permission to sell the cigars and rum. I wonder who they sell it to

I guess the Pope better not come to the USA now that he has been to Cuba, they might seize the Pope-Mobile.

[goboatingnow]

not to be self-deprecating(american bashing) - but we have ways of extricating people from their land...

Yes but after your finished ( being deprecating) , none wants it.

Dave

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by Ram

If a non-US yacht was sailing from -Ile a Vache, Hati where would check in be in Cuba?

Ram, If you are sailing the south coast, your first check in opportunity would be Santiago. Chuck

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

Ram, If you are sailing the south coast, your first check in opportunity would be Santiago. Chuck

Thanks Chuck, it would seem so-but I had heard that was not the case recently- any updated info on this ?