Cuba

I have been to Cuba several times a year for 20 years, mostly by air but twice I have been on a boutique sized cruise ship, my employer operated Cuba Cruise for three years and we all got a cruise as a bonus twice. I can tell you that it is one of the safest islands to visit as long as you follow several simple rules. Health Insurance is mandatory and NEVER rent a car. Always hire a car and driver (that speaks English) and you are fine to go anywhere at any time in safety. On the cruise I visited Havana, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Isle of Pines. I was on the bridge of the 1200 passenger Louis Cristal leaving Cienfuegos at night, (nice employee perk) and that is an experience as they had approx. 20 yards on each side in a very winding channel with rowboat fishermen that just smiled and waved at 5 blasts until they realized that the ship does not have brakes. The Captain was a real card, we went out on the bridge wing in the narrowest part and he looked over and said, "look, they are having peas and rice tonight" Not quite, but we were pretty close.

silentfaith said:

well my comment was to the op. i do not know if laws have changed but if you ask the coast guard if you can take your boat to cuba they will say no and your insurance will be void while in cuba so unless many rules have changed that i do not know about it is still illegal.

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Many rules have changed. A lot has changed since 2003. Apparently many rules you don't know about. Actually the CG never had anything to say about whether you could take your boat to Cuba. Cuba did and then customs and immigration had something to say about whether you could return or not. Now, insurance may require a rider or one of the policies now being written just for travel to Cuba. Actually our insurance has no provision against Cuba as people they insure from other countries go there regularly.

cardude01 said:

What does Red Head weigh?

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180,000 lbs. I think she qualifies for 100 ton sea time.

Jeffrey S said:

180,000 lbs. I think she qualifies for 100 ton sea time.

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My guess would be 120-140 GRT and ITC

Jeff, I think you can get the 100 ton masters with sea service time on a boat as small as 34 GRT....

100 Ton NC requires 180 days of 51 tons or 360 days of 34 tons.

200 Ton NC requires 180 days of 101 tons or 360 days of 67 tons.

I'm guessing his boat is somewhere between 120 and 140 tons.

100 Ton OC requires 270 days of 51 tons or 540 of 34 tons.

200 Ton OC requires 270 days of 101 tons or 540 days of 67 tons.

You can stay for up to 30 days.

Capt.Bill11 said:

You can stay for up to 30 days.

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Things change quick but I believe you receive a visa for 30 days although the permit under one of the 12 reasons that US citizens can travel to Cuba under only allows a maximum stay of 14 days. You can get an export permit to stay longer but I don't think many recreational boaters can legitimately qualify for that.

All of this is changing very quickly. Official government documents should be referenced and not the memory of anyone here, including me.

Jeffrey S said:

180,000 lbs. I think she qualifies for 100 ton sea time.

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Displacement of the vessel has nothing to do with qualifying for a U.S. masters license.

"Gross tonnage (often abbreviated as GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage.[1] Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weight such as deadweight tonnage or displacement."

Capt.Bill11 said:

"Gross tonnage (often abbreviated as GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage.[1] Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weight such as deadweight tonnage or displacement."

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I estimated the tonnage at 120-140. What would be your best guess, Bill?

Jeffrey S said:

Red Head isn't the offshore boat that aCappella is. But the added beam and weight of Red Head help.

We put in 2 days off the coast of NJ in 3-4' beam seas and she didn't roll at all. The boat was chartered in the Bahamas for many years and previous captains told me that they'd gotten caught in 5-8 foot choppy Gulfstream waters and it still felt safe.

That said, we'd pick our day carefully to the Bahamas or Cuba. Yes, we plan to go to Cuba once you can stay longer than 10 days. It seems like a lot of effort for such a short stay right now.

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"didn't roll at all". You mean like none or just not too bad? No boat will not roll at all in a beam sea.

78puget-trawler said:

"didn't roll at all". You mean like none or just not too bad? No boat will not roll at all in a beam sea.

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She didn't move - full, dead-on beam sea rollers, 9-10 second period. We have a traditional inclinometer in the pilothouse and we were watching it in case we couldn't feel the roll. There was nothing.

Previous captains of the boat told me that there is no rolling until seas reach 5 feet or period gets much lower. The days were spectacular along the coast with the long period which is why we left.

On the Chesapeake, we had 3-5' choppy waves on the bow for half a day. We felt that although the boat bridges a lot of choppy waves and that helps.

Again though, this is no open ocean boat. We'll cross to the Bahamas or Cuba with small seas and long periods. We'll also stay more on the ICW since it only draws 4.5 feet where we'd jump outside with aCappella often. I'm interested in slowing down with Red Head.

Some kind of wonder boat I guess.

Diesel Duck said:

Ditto!

Definitely don't ask for 'papaya' while in Cuba, your wife may be upset with what you'll be offered. Just Sayin'

.

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Would paw paw be ok - that's what we call them..?

When buying Cassava, ask for Yucca. Cassava in Cuba is a dish that is made from Yucca and served on New Years Eve.

BandB said:

I estimated the tonnage at 120-140. What would be your best guess, Bill?

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Under a hundred I would guess.

It's a measurement of interior cargo carrying capacity after all. Which used to be base on how many "tuns" a ship could carry. And tuns were wine casks as I recall. And not all interior spaces are considered as cargo carrying areas during the measurements from what I understand.

Due to how the measurements are taken, a clever NA can design a pretty large vessel that measures out to under 100 tons if need be. Say a large dinner or casino day boat for example.

The 82' I'm on has a GT of only 112.

78puget-trawler said:

Some kind of wonder boat I guess.

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Capt.Bill11 said:

Under a hundred I would guess.

It's a measurement of interior cargo carrying capacity after all. Which used to be base on how many "tuns" a ship could carry. And tuns were wine casks as I recall. And not all interior spaces are considered as cargo carrying areas during the measurements from what I understand.

Due to how the measurements are taken, a clever NA can design a pretty large vessel that measures out to under 100 tons if need be. Say a large dinner or casino day boat for example.

The 82' I'm on has a GT of only 112.

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Is that the GT or GRT? Sounds like GRT which would be close to our 85'.

I'm well aware of the measurement. Most boats I'm aware of have volume tonnage greater than their displacement. Now, if that boat has ballast, must take that out of that thought. But on all our boats the GRT and the ITC are 120-150% of the displacement tons. I don't know what length his boat is.

If the boat is documented then Jeffrey should have the tonnage number available to him. That displacement seems very high too. I would bet your 82' has considerably less displacement than he gave for his boat. I don't know why he gave the displacement since it is totally irrelevant. What length is your boat, Jeffrey?

Where the clever NA's really get cute is on 160-165' boats, designing them at 499 tons. People wonder why so many boats those lengths and not 150' or 170', well it's to get every inch they can and be under 500 tons.

The coasters have a pretty low main deck for a lot of her length....but a hight bow area.

I think many will be suprised of her tonnage....much lower.

The low main deck might knock some tonnage off.

Still a nice boat and a lot of boat to handle with a small crew.

I think the documentation page for her has her at 60gt.

Is this the Cuba thread?

menzies said:

Is this the Cuba thread?

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No, you're obviously confused. Ok, you're right. Back to Cuba.

BandB said:

I don't know why he gave the displacement since it is totally irrelevant. What length is your boat, Jeffrey?

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Displacement is the only number that really matters. All the others are just made up, BS numbers when used in the recreational world. The displacement provides help in understanding the capacity of the lift needed to haul out of the water.

Unless you're a delivery captain or run your boat commercially, the whole 100 ton captain's license makes me chuckle a bit. I'm shocked by the experience I've seen with "captains" who have their ticket. It's kind of a joke. Take a weekend class to memorize a set of rules, then document your "sea time" and whammo, you're a "captain." I know a guy who took it so seriously, he has captain stripes epaulettes on a shirt he wears to cruising parties.

Red Head is 65'. If you tried to push her off the dock, you likely wouldn't question the displacement value I provided.

Jeffrey S said:

Red Head is 65'. If you tried to push her off the dock, you likely wouldn't question the displacement value I provided.

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Well said, nothing like a dose of physics to prove a point through reality.

Jeffrey S said:

Displacement is the only number that really matters. All the others are just made up, BS numbers when used in the recreational world. The displacement provides help in understanding the capacity of the lift needed to haul out of the water.

Unless you're a delivery captain or run your boat commercially, the whole 100 ton captain's license makes me chuckle a bit. I'm shocked by the experience I've seen with "captains" who have their ticket. It's kind of a joke. Take a weekend class to memorize a set of rules, then document your "sea time" and whammo, you're a "captain." I know a guy who took it so seriously, he has captain stripes epaulettes on a shirt he wears to cruising parties.

Red Head is 65'. If you tried to push her off the dock, you likely wouldn't question the displacement value I provided.

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You're the one who brought the 100 Ton Sea Time into the discussion.

Then you feel necessary in attacking those with captain's licenses and diminishing that. Weekend class, memorize rules? You obviously have never taken a class. Sea time? Yes, important and must be documented. There are many professional captains on this site including Bill. My wife and I are among the few here who got licensed with no commercial needs and continue to upgrade our licenses and work to improve our skills but we've never worn epaulet's, but the vast majority use their licenses as professionals, professionals you now choose to put down.

I didn't know the length of your boat, which is why I asked. A 64' Nordhavn weighs about the same, so it makes sense.

Your boat looks like quite a nice, rather spectacular boat.

Now, either take it to Cuba or don't.

I'm not trying to insult people who get their captains license. Great for them. I personally think it's rather amusing when you have no commercial need and get the license anyway. And yeah, I know pretty well what the class is all about and the hassles involved in keeping it. Heck, there are online captain's courses where you can sit at home and learn the rules enough to pass the test too. I don't think it makes anyone a better pilot. Although it does seem to scratch an ego itch that many "captains" appear to have.

So on your boat card, do you list something about your 100 ton license? I know you won't show it because you keep totally anonymous. But I can still wonder.

Jeffrey S said:

I'm not trying to insult people who get their captains license. Great for them. I personally think it's rather amusing when you have no commercial need and get the license anyway. And yeah, I know pretty well what the class is all about and the hassles involved in keeping it. Heck, there are online captain's courses where you can sit at home and learn the rules enough to pass the test too. I don't think it makes anyone a better pilot. Although it does seem to scratch an ego itch that many "captains" appear to have.

So on your boat card, do you list something about your 100 ton license? I know you won't show it because you keep totally anonymous. But I can still wonder.

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No. First I don't have a boat card. Second, our licenses aren't 100 Ton. And it's nothing about ego itch, it's just about learning. We came into coastal and ocean cruising brand new to it. We also got considerable training by a captain. Then some courses like Advanced Firefighting and Medical Person in Charge and Survival Craft and Rescue Boats are courses we hope are never needed. Some courses we love, some not. Celestial Navigation reminds me of astronomy in college and I didn't like it either. We both have one more course to take this year to be STCW compliant by December 31.

We have friends taking the basic captain's courses with no intent to ever get a license or it will be years away, but they just wanted to learn more in a formal environment.

We've not taken any of the courses online.

Beyond the initial courses very little is about rules.

Back to the topic of Cuba, we're waiting to hear from others like Bill who are making the trip. Normal people making a normal trip there, other than claiming one of the 12 reasons.

I wish one of 12 was to drink beer and party! Then I could go too.