Remember those Cubans sailing in a Chevy truck? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Snibble · #1 02-06-2004, 10:24 PM

I think it was last year.. or maybe 2.. where CNN showed a group of Cubans trying to get to the US in an old Chevy truck turned into a boat. Well anyways, I guess you have "copy-cats" doing the same...

Here'a a floating 1959 Buick..

They should let those poor guys in just for their creativity and effort

EDIT: these ARE infact the same people that tried last year to come over in the Chevy truck

engatwork · #2 02-07-2004, 06:40 AM

It was my understanding, after reading the news report, that one of those guys in the Buick had been in/on that truck that was caught too. Innovative sucker ain't he.

Kuan · #3 02-07-2004, 08:13 AM

Imagine what the same team could do on junkyard wars.

Botnst · #4 02-07-2004, 10:22 AM

That's the kind of spirit and innovation we need in this country.

Peyton300TD · #5 02-07-2004, 10:41 AM

Yea really. the is actually very smart. to cope with limited public transportation, most of cuba is restored cintage american cars. maybe i should contact them about my floor pan replacement questions

but really it is sad though.

BENZ-LGB · #6 02-07-2004, 02:26 PM

I know that the subject of the Cubans in the Buick-boat has been the source of a great deal of kidding. I suspect that most of you you probably don't know many Cuban-Americans, so let me give a you a perspective from the other side of the headlines.

As you know, I am an American who was born in Cuba. Although I have spent far more winters in these shores than in Cuba, I always feel as if I live with one foot in Cuba and one foot in America. It sometimes makes for one tough juggling act.

The men who came to America in the converted Buick had already previously sailed from Cuba in a converted, 1951 ("vintage") Chevy truck. The truck made it almost all the way to Florida before it was stopped and seized by the Coast Guard.

Under current law, if the people in the raft make it safely to the US shores, they get to stay. If they are intercepted, even if they are intercepted within a few feet of shore, they are sent back to Cuba.

Those of you who are familiar with Florida know that the span of ocean between Cuba and Florida is one of the most dangerous in the world. Strong winds and currents can send you off course, or worse, sink your vessel. If your vessel sinks, the waters are infested with hungry sharks, only too eager to make a meal out of rafters. And if the currents and the wind and the sharks don't get you, the punishing sun might do the job. The fact that these men were able to jury-rig a raft, first out of a Chevy truck and then out of an old Buick, and twice make it across is a testament to their skills as boatbuilders and mechanics and as sailors.

More importantly, however, their dogged determination to leave Cuba is proof-positive (if proof was ever needed) what a POS Communism is and what horrible circumstances Cubans live under the current regime.

Think about it for a moment. Noone, NOONE at all, is building rafts in Florida (or anywhere else for that matter) and then braving rough seas and shark-infested waters to GO TO Cuba. All the traffic is one way--here. What does that say about the alleged "wonders" of the Communist workers' paradise.

And yet, American politicians like New York's Charles Chuckles Rangel and American celebrities like Steven Spielberg keep going to Cuba where they slavishly sing the praises of Kastro. Spielberg was quoted as saying that the 8 hours that he spent kibbitzing with Kastro were the most important hours of his life. I wonder how he'd feel if a person said that Hitler was a great man because he "invented" the VW, created the autobahn system and made the trains run on time???

Don't these people have eyes to see the suffering that Kastro has imposed on the Cuban people? Of course, when Kastro gives these bastards the "star treatment" it is hard for them to see the horrors that the Cuban people been subjected to for the past 40 years plus.

Some may argue that Batista, the dictator overthrown by Kastro) was a bad man. and that's true, Batista was horrible. But the existence of one horrible dictator does not justify the existence of a newer, worse one.

Other may say that the Cubans jumping on rafts and trying to make it to the US are doing so only out of economic necessity. That is only partially true. But what does that say about the Communist economy? But even during Batista's worse years there weere NO Cubans, NO Cubans at all, jumping on rafts to come to America. As a matter of fact, immigration from Cuba, in the pre-Castro years, was neglible. The only Cubans who came to the US in those days were entertainers like Desi Arnaz and Cesar Romero, plus the occasional baseball players.

The hundreds of thousands of Cubans that have come to America after Kastro's take-over is living proof of the negative impact that Kastro and Communism have had on Cuba and the Cuban people.

So I guess it is OK to have some fun with the story of the Buick-turned-raft. But also please remember how much those men, and the ones who have come before them, as well as the ones who never made it across, have risked and will continue to risk to live in the land of the free.

Also remember, that while many US-born Americans, and a lot of immigrants for that matter, make it a sport out of bashing this country, Cuban-Americans remain among the most loyal, most enthusiastic supporters of this country.

Thanks for reading.

VIVA CUBA LIBRE!

koop · #7 02-07-2004, 03:55 PM

I just wish the Cubans would do one thing

Move to Denver. I can't get a good cuban coffee to save my life. I ordered a collata at the only psudo cuban resturant here and they brought me an expresso

I got a cuban sandwich and it was smeared with some kind of oyster sauce.

Twenty bucks for a plate of vieja ropa. I'll sponser those guys if they promise to move here and open a cafeteria (with the mandatory igloo cooler outside)

Seriously, if someone want to get here bad enough to float 90 miles in an innertube, sign him up. That goes for Haitians too.

engatwork · #8 02-07-2004, 04:59 PM

BENZ - what do you think will happen when Castro dies?

I lived in Key West for a period of time after college and got to know some folks from Cuba. They were some of the most pleasant people that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. Some of them had come over in boats that were probably just a little more seaworthy than the Buick. I liked some of the foods that they

served, especially the black beans.

Oh yea, the guy that built the Chevy and Truck boats, he ought to be let into the country and given a job at NASA

. On a more serious note though he could probably publish a book and get rich from it if he ever does make it.

mikemover · #9 02-07-2004, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BENZ-LGB
More importantly, however, their dogged determination to leave Cuba is proof-positive (if proof was ever needed) what a POS Communism is and what horrible circumstances Cubans live under the current regime.

Think about it for a moment. Noone, NOONE at all, is building rafts in Florida (or anywhere else for that matter) and then braving rough seas and shark-infested waters to GO TO Cuba. All the traffic is one way--here. What does that say about the alleged "wonders" of the Communist workers' paradise.

And yet, American politicians like New York's Charles Chuckles Rangel and American celebrities like Steven Spielberg keep going to Cuba where they slavishly sing the praises of Kastro. Spielberg was quoted as saying that the 8 hours that he spent kibbitzing with Kastro were the most important hours of his life. I wonder how he'd feel if a person said that Hitler was a great man because he "invented" the VW, created the autobahn system and made the trains run on time???

EXCELLENT point!

When is the last time you saw someone try to float an old Chevy Impala or something to Cuba? Doesn't happen.

I can't for the life of me understand how so many people can ignore this overwhelming proof of how desperate these people are to get out from under Castro's oppressive rule.

Mike

mikemover · #10 02-07-2004, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by engatwork
BENZ - what do you think will happen when Castro dies?

I lived in Key West for a period of time after college and got to know some folks from Cuba. They were some of the most pleasant people that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. Some of them had come over in boats that were probably just a little more seaworthy than the Buick. I liked some of the foods that they served, especially the black beans.

Oh yea, the guy that built the Chevy and Truck boats, he ought to be let into the country and given a job at NASA. On a more serious note though he could probably publish a book and get rich from it if he ever does make it.

Hey, Jim! I didn't know you had lived down there!

When I lived in FL from '92-'96, the band I was in at the time used to play in Key West often...A place called Dirty Harry's on Duvall St...We used to have a blast!

I haven't been down there in a few years though....I miss that place, and still have some friends down there. I need to go visit, and do some reef diving and jet-skiing and eat some conch fritters and key lime pie!!!

Mike

engatwork · #11 02-07-2004, 05:18 PM

I was there around the fall of '83 starting up some new equipment at the city owned powerhouse. Was there for three months.

mikemover · #12 02-07-2004, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by engatwork
I was there around the fall of '83 starting up some new equipment at the city owned powerhouse. Was there for three months.

Ahhh....that was a bit before my time. I wasn't touring until after I finished college, in '91.

I bet it was a lot less developed and "touristy" back then, eh?

Mike

engatwork · #13 02-07-2004, 06:14 PM

The first time I ever went was around '67 or '68 when the family went down for a couple weeks worth of vacation. That was the absolute BEST Key West. No tourist yet

. There were alot of changes from then till '83. I have not been back there since but thoroughly enjoyed the times I have been there

.

engatwork · #14 02-07-2004, 06:22 PM

Getting back to Cuba. African-Cubans in the news:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/06/trv.keywest.ap/index.html

I just stumbled accross this on cnn and was not aware of it till reading this article.

Botnst · #15 02-07-2004, 06:24 PM

I go there every couple of years as a stop-over to research sites at the Dry Tortugas. Key West is interesting but becoming more like Bourbon Street each visit. I've never been there long enough to be more than a cheaap-ass tourist, though.

What's with the "green flash" thing?

B