There is an awful lot of urban myth surrounding the situation regarding non-USA registered boats sailing directly from Cuba to mainland USA.
Many opinions are voiced here in the marina and the general belief amongst the American sailors is that any boat, regardless of flag, can and will be fined by U.S. officials if they sail directly from a Cuban port in to the US.
Well we spoke to a number of European boats doing just that whilst in Cuba and they have been told by the Treasury department of the US that it is perfectly legitimate to move from Cuba to America and that no fines will be levied. The practice only applies to U.S. flagged vessels.
S/v Hannah had some problems recently though and it seems that not all the officials that should know about the legislation are up to speed with their own regulation's!You can read all about their experiences on their website.
This was the statement they received from The Treasury department:
No, the regulations do not apply to foreign nationals and foreign flagged vessels and no if we wished to cruise TO Cuba from the US we couldn’t be stopped and it was our prerogative.
So there you have it, from the horses' mouth, so to speak!
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