included, but were not limited to, guided walks through Havana’s Old World streets, museums and nightclubs; rambles through Pinar del Rio’s tobacco growing region; and visits to UNESCO heritage sites, such as Trinidad. But there were also SCUBA diving tours to the Jardines de la Reina (Queen’s Garden), a vast region of healthy untouched coral off Cuba’s south coast, and there were even sport fishing expeditions for tarpon and bonefish off the Zapata Peninsula. Boating in Cuba As seasoned Cuba cruisers not used to encountering other vessels sailing the coast, our biggest surprise occurred in Bahía de Nipe, a pocket bay on the northeast coast. Here we met a Canadian-run cruise ship in the process of lightering American and European guests ashore to Antilla, a small village that receives less than a handful of foreigners a year. It was uncertain who was more shocked—us or the locals standing agog watching their main street swell with sightseers. I’ve heard a recent announcement that two more cruise ships will be operating in Cuba this winter, and one operator has received Article authors Cheryl Barr and her father, Don Barr, at a local market in permission to fly their guests to Havana from Miami to Santa Marta, a small village by Varadero. Don, a retired tall ship captain, does the illustrations for Cheryl’s Cruising Guide to Cuba. board the ship. There was a small increase in the number of foreign cruising boats in 2014—we estimated that number to be less than 100. With such low dockage rates and the removal of the boat importation fee, it’s a wonder there weren’t more cruisers. For now at least, we still have our pick of marina slips. U.S. Policy on Travel to Cuba This brings us to the second most frequently asked question, but one that is asked by only one nationality: “What does U.S. law say about sailing my boat to Cuba?” There are different laws that, over the years, have gone to the Supreme Court concerning U.S. citizens traveling abroad. In each and every case, the court has upheld the right to travel. For much of U.S. history, the right to travel is a liberty under the 5th Amendment and has also included the right to travel by the vehicle of one’s choice. If that liberty is to be regulated, it must be by act of Congress. Interestingly, the word “travel” or the “right to travel” is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. It is, however, firmly established in law and precedent. It was included in the Articles of Confederation that preceded the Constitution, so maybe “framers of the Constitution” thought it so fundamental that there was no need to include it in either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. In addition, in U.S. Constitutional law, there is something called “a Rational Basis Review,” which refers to the level of scrutiny applied by the courts when considering constitutional questions. The Rational Basis Review simply means that enactment of any law in question must be rationally related to a legitimate government interest. This Review includes “equal treatment and protection” under the 5th and 14th Amendments. News & Views for Southern Sailors
SOUTHWINDS
February 2015
37