"One night in August 1994, 19 people squeezed into the 20-foot fishing boat Analuisa and motored out of Mariel, Cuba. Their destination, 90 miles away, was Florida and freedom. The Analuisa, now preserved at Mystic Seaport, is part of a larger story as well. For hundreds of years, the sea that divides Cuba and America has also tied them in an often contentious connection. In an engagingly objective way, Dr. Roorda reviews the long history of Cuban-American relations through wars and liberation, slavery and freedom, economic embrace and bitter embargo, artistic endeavor and cultural conflict, vacation revelry and family upheaval--a relationship that remains emotionally charged to this day."
Description of: Cuba, America And The Sea: The Story Of The Immigrant Boat Analuisa And 500 Years If History Between Cuba And America By Eric Paul Roorda
The Analuisa on exhibit at Mystic SeaportS
o in 1959...hmmm okay I can't procrastinate writing my paper for that long....this will be quick, I promise.
Imagine the worst turbulence you've felt on a plane than add a side to side rolling motion and keep that constant for a couple days. And this wasn't even a real storm. These small 10-12 foot waves caused 48 hours of non-stop rolling back and forth that can't quite get captured in a photo or video clip. I learned that any picture of waves in no way shows true depth or height. We were in a tall ship...but the waves often washed over the sides...so anyone who came on deck had to clip it to a line running the length of the deck. [My story about gimbled tables to come soon].
30 second video clip
Sailing 12 NM from Cuba, perhaps we gained just a tiny bit of context surrounding this history of boats like the Analuisa. Needless to say, on multiple occasions I turned to a friend and expressed my amazement that people are able to survive crossing the straits in some of the makeshift vessels you see pictures of. And of course many don't, or are interdicted along the way or at their destination...
"Coast Guard crews have interdicted 90 Cuban migrants during fiscal year 2010, which began Oct. 1. The Coast Guard interdicted 335 Cuban migrants during the same period in fiscal year 2009 and 630 for the entire fiscal year."
The Analuisa on exhibit at Mystic Seaport
Imagine the worst turbulence you've felt on a plane than add a side to side rolling motion and keep that constant for a couple days. And this wasn't even a real storm. These small 10-12 foot waves caused 48 hours of non-stop rolling back and forth that can't quite get captured in a photo or video clip. I learned that any picture of waves in no way shows true depth or height. We were in a tall ship...but the waves often washed over the sides...so anyone who came on deck had to clip it to a line running the length of the deck. [My story about gimbled tables to come soon].
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