"First US flagged yacht to charter in Cuba"... OH REALLY?

i read that there is now ferry service from miami but to even get on board to travel to Cuba you have to meet 13 requirements .

And for yacht charters how many requirements would guests need to meet to even be allowed to sail in and around cuban waters ..

There is nothing to prevent a non US vessel, picking up charters in the US and delivering them to Cuba, Cuban law would prevail. So I have been advised by a well respected and looong time International broker.

On the Superyachts website it says permission was given by US Treasury dept ..

quoted from the article ..

Performing the charter under a license granted by the U.S. Treasury Department to Paul Madden Associates, LLC., the charter began by processing applications through strict U.S. Visa Laws.

After several months of work, the yacht entered the country on a person-to-person permit, one of the 12 different types of exemption American citizens can apply for in order to visit Cuba.

I did a google check .. same headline can be found on other sites . again people in the journo world take things at face value as gospel truth ..


but if you don't pursue in what you believe is false truths being printed by letting such sites know the truth ....then more falsehoods will still be forever printed

Press Release:

Numarine and its Florida Dealer Citimarine LLC would like to clarify extra details as following:

-Numarine is the proud producer of the Numarine 78 Fly, named Still Water by its owner.

-Numarine and its Florida Dealer Citimarine LLC were not involved in any way in the direct organization of the cruise to Cuba.

-Paul Madden Associates, and Paul Madden Associates only, as charterers of Numarine M/Y Still Water performed the charter under a license granted by the U.S. Treasury Department, in strict compliance with U.S. Visa Laws and Procedures, without any illegal “bypassing” of any ban or embargo.

-Numarine and its Florida Dealer Citimarine LLC invite any and all American-owned vessels, American owners of vessels and American charterers of vessels wanting to visit the island of Cuba to to verify with US Authorities if they can legally visit the island before embarking on any trip, since violating the embargo is a felony under U.S. Law and can result in arrest, seizure of the vessel, and heavy fines.

-Currently, the Trade Embargo with Cuba - the Helms-Burton Act - remains in full effect.

-Paul Madden Associates LLC is the only company licensed to charter yachts from the USA to Cuba as of this dates as stated by Paul Madden.

-Numarine and its Florida Dealer apologize for any confusion the previous press release might have generated to media.

I had no problem visiting Cuba, you just cannot fly directly from the US (obviously). I went to Cuba this past winter flying from Canada with my US passport. I kindly asked that they not stamp my passport, and they happily obliged and happily took my money. On my return Canada did not have any issues with letting me in the country, or the fact that I had left and returned without a stamp in my passport. They will however hit all US currency with a 10% tax when you exchange money.

One can fly directly to Cuba from the US, I have done so twice in the last 4 years.

The Cuban customs/immigration officers will not stamp a US passport as they are forbidden by their government from doing so. (I asked them if they would stamp mine, and they apologized and said they couldn't.) They did however stamp my Visa entering and exiting the country.

There was no "tax" on currency exchanges. US dollars were exchanged for about .96 to 1.00. Cheaper exchanges can also be had.

Car rentals are expensive. Gasoline cheap.

I returned to the US with a couple of bottles of very nice Havana Club rum and a couple cigars, and the US customs guys just laughed and told me not to do it again...or they would have to confiscate. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

Wonderful people, wonderful hospitality, wonderful country, I hope the Cuban people prosper as the ridiculous embargo ends.

Paul Madden Associates, LLC's ("PMA") first commercial charter from the U.S. to Cuba since the revolution was legal. I helped PMA and PMA had all of its ducks lined up in both the U.S. (Department of Commerce? Check! Department of Treasury? Check! Department of Homeland Security? Check! And in Cuba all permits and licenses were also in order. And importantly, a good time was had by all!. I don't think the post trip marketing by PMA should be considered "shameless self promotion". He is in the BUSINESS of chartering Vessels to and from Ports of the U.S. and in and around Cuba. As his maritime lawyer, I wish him every success. Michael Moore

Hey Michael - great to see you onboard YF!! If you handled the transactions, I'm confident it was done properly. I hope you will be a contributor to other threads as appropriate. Your name has been mentioned numerous times in YF threads previously, all positive of course.

Judy

Thanks Judy....just thought of you the other day! How are you?

Great, thanks! Will send private email.

J

Greetings AffrayedKnot. 'Tis I who operated STILLWATER on it's charter to Cuba under my company's U.S. Treasury License, and our Commerce Department License; as well as a U.S. Coast Guard Permit to enter Cuban Territorial Waters. STILLWATER was built in Turkey and is registered in the BVI's, and my company filed all the paperwork in that regard and have never stated otherwise. Reporters do sometimes make errors and luckily they have readers to correct them.
Our press releases do tend to promote our company. Is that shameless? Perhaps it is...
We are still the only U.S. yacht company to hold a Treasury/OFAC License to operate vessels into Cuba, and to act as a "Carrier" under OFAC regs (in the same way that Carnival is a "Carrier"). We have run more vessels (U.S. and foreign) into Cuba legally in the last year than any other operator (U.S. or non-U.S.). Private owners may now self-license their visits to Cuba and more and more U.S. vessels are taking advantage of this, which is a good thing. This is still highly regulated and the penalties for doing it wrong may bring large fines and can result in criminal prosecutions. That is why we rely on lawyers like Michael Moore to advise us, and we stay in close contact with USCG District 7, along with U.S. Treasury and Commerce.

Welcome aboard Michael. Nice to see a familiar face, even if it is from across the Pacific!

While poker runs and fun runs are not typically discussed here, I think it should be noted that the Florida Powerboat Club did a run from Miami to Cuba with 20 boats, and roughly 120 people. Most boats were US registered, and most participants were American. This is something that was not possible long ago, so it is nice to see that Cuba, although probably a bureaucratic nightmare, is slowly becoming a viable option as a place to visit.