Browsing: Cuba

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Travel Ban on Cruising to Cuba

About 20 years ago, I cruised to Cuba with Scott Porter, the president of Formula, on one of his new 40-foot cruisers, and it was one of the best trips ever. We did it right. From the time we docked at Marina Hemingway, when were checked in by two Cuban officers in combat boots and Fidel-type fatigues, to when we were checked back into the U.S. by the Coast Guard in Key West, we played by the rules; we had all the proper paperwork, the appropriate clearances. I’ve always wanted to go back to Cuba, but the rules kept changing,…

Cruising Life
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Cruising a 27-foot Avalon Pontoon Boat from Key West to Cuba, a First

It’s not news any more that Americans are cruising to Cuba. I went there myself in with Scott Porter, the president of Formula, on one of his 40-foot cruisers way back in 1998 (and it was one of the best trips ever). But it is news to cruise there on a pontoon boat, a vessel usually found on inland rivers and lakes. Here’s a fun story from Boating World about how Jim Wolf, the CEO of Avalon pontoon boats, and three friends drove a 27-foot Avalon from Key West to Cuba. Actually, they took the boat much farther, from Clearwater,…

Cruising Life
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President Trump Orders Tougher New Rules for Americans Going to Cuba

We still don’t know exactly what this means for Americans cruising to Cuba on their own boats, but President Trump has just reinstated some travel restrictions making it harder for Americans to plan their own trips there. In a six-page directive, which he signed after making a speech in Miami’s Little Havana, President Trump ordered the Treasury and Commerce Departments to write the new restrictions in the next 30 days. The new regulations will end some of the more relaxed travel policies that President Obama had started in an effort to normalize relations between the two countries. The New York…

Cruising Life
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A Well-Traveled Couple Cruise to Cuba on Their Ranger Tugs 25. Read Their Report

Cheryll and Rich Odendahl from Algonac, Michigan, have the travel bug. So far, they’ve visited 47 countries, including the usual suspects – France, England, Mexico – and some more exotic spots – the Mount Everest base camp, Iceland, Fiji. Then there are their boating trips. In 2011, Odendahl retired after 30 years at General Motors, and he and Cheryll wanted to spend time cruising. They bought a trailer to tow behind their Chevy Silverado and drove to San Diego, where they bought a 2008 Ranger Tugs 25. Ranger Tugs, of course, are designed as trailerable cruisers for a couple. And…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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What’s Next for Cuba?

What are the chances you’ll ever see the picture above, in person? It’s the entrance to Marina Hemingway, the largest marina in Cuba, lying about eight miles west of Havana and about 100 nm from Key West. Until the past few weeks, I’d say the chances were pretty good, if you had wanted to go there. Indeed, last year President Obama himself went to Cuba in an effort to normalize relations, the U.S. opened an embassy in Havana, and the Administration eased regulations restricting travel, banking and even recreational boating. It seemed that Cuba, with 3,000 miles of coastline, scores…