Florida vs Cuba?

seadaddler · Dec 20, 2014

??????/

Are you Crazy

they are watching and listening don't give them
any more

Nick

Terry in Naples · Dec 20, 2014

As a floridian i can truthfully say i have had NO problems sailing here in sw fl and the keys. Yes everywhere you sail communities are exploring ways to regulate anchoring, waist disposal etc etc. But thinking this will change because Cuba may open up is just waisting your time.

Sumner · Dec 20, 2014

Terry in Naples said:
As a floridian i can truthfully say i have had NO problems sailing here in sw fl and the keys. Yes everywhere you sail communities are exploring ways to regulate anchoring, waist disposal etc etc. But thinking this will change because Cuba may open up is just waisting your time.

Same wonderful experiences and agree with the later. If anything Florida might get more boaters. New ones on their way to Cuba. Still there are a lot of boaters that just don't feel comfortable going off shore that far. A number cruise Florida waters but never cross Florida Bay or go to the Dry Tortugas or make the crossing to the Bahamas. I don't think Florida is going to run out of boaters

. I think they are #1 in boaters now,

Sumner

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links[/FONT]

Benny17441 · Dec 20, 2014

No change at all; whether a stop over for the Bahamas or Cuba it makes no difference to FL perhaps the rush to a new destination may bring a little more traffic, but cruisers are no big spenders. Now if Carnival and other cruise lines book Havana in their itineraries then we'll see a bump in traffic boarding from our ports.

Bill1565 · Dec 20, 2014

Benny17441 said:
No change at all; whether a stop over for the Bahamas or Cuba it makes no difference to FL perhaps the rush to a new destination may bring a little more traffic, but cruisers are no big spenders.

I agree. The rich waterfront landowners couldn't care less. Make no mistake , these are the folks pushing their politicians to legislate cruisers out of " their " waterfront view.

Bob 04 H260 · Dec 20, 2014

I would not assume anchoring in Cuba will be easier, less regulated or the water police more understanding. It is not like going to the Bahamas

I have heard you need a permit to move from anchorage to anchorage in Cuba. That sometimes happens to Canadian boats cruising in the USA too, if they do not have a cruising permit we need a permit to proceed each time the boat is to be moved. Some Canadians with a cruising permit have to phone in each time the boat is to be moved and again when it anchors or goes into a slip. This seems to happen to boats on the east coast heading south down the ICW for some reason.

Bob

woodster · Dec 20, 2014

i know this is thread drift but since we are on the subject i would like to hear from some oz's on anchoring permits and moving around down there....

Sailm8 · Dec 20, 2014

Terry in Naples said:
As a floridian i can truthfully say i have had NO problems sailing here in sw fl and the keys. Yes everywhere you sail communities are exploring ways to regulate anchoring, waist disposal etc etc. But thinking this will change because Cuba may open up is just waisting your time.

I've got about 6 inch of waist to dispose of. If you find a place please post LOL.

Benny17441 · Dec 20, 2014

Bill1565 said:
Benny17441 said:

No change at all; whether a stop over for the Bahamas or Cuba it makes no difference to FL perhaps the rush to a new destination may bring a little more traffic, but cruisers are no big spenders.

I agree. The rich waterfront landowners couldn't care less. Make no mistake , these are the folks pushing their politicians to legislate cruisers out of " their " waterfront view.

Click to expand

It's a game, local officials keep passing new ordinances and regulations which are overturned on appeal to the Federal Government. No sooner one gets overturned a new modified one is proposed. This seesaw keeps the politicians extracting funds and votes from the landowners and the boater's association from their members.

Benny17441 · Dec 20, 2014

woodster said:
i know this is thread drift but since we are on the subject i would like to hear from some oz's on anchoring permits and moving around down there....

To be honest is not that bad unless you want to permanently moor your boat in front of a multimillion dollar house, a commercial marina or City Center and your boat looks like derelict with garbage or a clothline hanging on deck. We actually like to anchor away from these locations so we have never had any incident for anchoring overnight or a couple of days anywhere in Florida. We keep our boat clean and organized and the only noise you might hear from us is a generator running at night. Looking and behaving like a good neighbor and not overstaying a stay will get you through.

alexco38 · Dec 20, 2014

No worry mate. Give the Congress a year or two to bicker until Obama finished his term. A few more years later to have the rules and regulations to work itself out. Unruly tourist will flood it for a few years. Developer will exploit the place until it become totally commercialized. Until then, We'll be happy going to Cuba for inexpensive winter getaway.

Hey, it's a Canadian thing to go to Cuba in the winter. Baby it's cold outside !!

justsomeguy · Dec 20, 2014

alexco38 said:
No worry mate. -snip-
Until then, We'll be happy going to Cuba for inexpensive winter getaway.

That's what it's all about.

Forget the incidentals. An overriding US dictate hopefully will be discarded in favor of a greater freedom for its citizens.

RichH · Dec 21, 2014

Well, many distance cruisers are already avoiding Florida at all costs because of the 'hyper-control' of cruising/anchoring there.
You just leave 'friendly' Georgia, Carolinas etc., sail down the east coast to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, make a left turn across the Gulf Stream, never land in Florida ... and not have to put up with the 'gestapo-ism' that has overtaken Florida ... no 'sojourner' taxes, no FWC, no ultra-aggressive potty cops looking for a 'bust', etc.
When long distance cruising, 'life is good' when one simply bypasses Florida.

Cuba? bypass Florida along its eastern coast, sail on to the far southern Bahamas or the 'Turks', follow the easterly trades at your back into Cuba.

seadaddler · Dec 21, 2014

Florida

I don;t think florida is so bad and we anchor out all the time with no problems,when living up on LI,NY most times when trying to find anchorage and dinghy a shore was not possible because keep out signs all over or Marina's
not allowing dinghy access.
I was out in greenport and boaters would ask where can they go to a beach
and anchor and they were always told you are on private property and get lost.
Nick

Maine Sail · Dec 21, 2014

Guys let's please keep this thread out of the political gutter. As you know there is a very low tolerance policy for politics on the sailing forums.

As long as it is about sailing and how Florida/Cuba impacts sailing then all is fine. If it crosses into political undertones the thread will be NUKED.... Capiche?

justsomeguy · Dec 21, 2014

"Undertones"?

capta · Dec 21, 2014

I think the state of Florida would be overjoyed to get rid of the average cruising yacht. Even the average annual snowbird liveaboard is of little financial consequence in the grander scheme of things. Perhaps a few of the smaller communities like Marathon would be slightly affected, but I doubt it would really dent their bottom line.
Sailboats in general are just a headache for them and certainly are not the revenue generator a couple of mega yachts are, never mind the shore based tourist industry.

Merlin Clark · Dec 21, 2014

Yeah, were we to lose all out of state cruisers the impact on the economy would only be noticed by those marinas and a few other businesses along the ICW and the Keys that generate some income off of these folks.
Most Floridians would neither care or notice so it would be a pretty empty threat.