Thread: Cubans Cross FLA Straits In Converted Cab

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... /506080510

Published Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Cubans Cross Fla. Striats in Converted Cab

The Associated Press
MIAMI
A vintage blue taxicab converted into a seagoing vessel and carrying several Cuban immigrants was intercepted Tuesday off Key West by the Coast Guard, a television station reported.

Footage from NBC-6 in Miami showed Coast Guard officers boarding the blue vehicle, which had been modified with a boat prow in front and appeared to have at least four immigrants aboard.

The Coast Guard declined to comment. "Under U.S. government policy, we cannot discuss migrant interdiction operations until disposition is complete," said Petty Officer Sandra Bartlett. That process often takes days, she said.

Under U.S. immigration policy, Cubans who reach U.S. shores generally are allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually returned.

In 2003, immigrants tried to cross the Florida Straits aboard a green 1951 Chevrolet pickup, which a man named Luis Grass had converted into a boat. They were intercepted and sent back to Cuba. The Coast Guard then sunk the craft.

In 2004 Grass made a second attempt to get to the United States illegally - this time aboard a Buick sedan powering another homemade barge.

Grass and his family had more success sticking to land: on March 12 they entered the U.S. though the Texas-Mexico border and were allowed to stay.

Grass and his family had more success sticking to land: on March 12 they entered the U.S. though the Texas-Mexico border and were allowed to stay.

What else needs to be said?

If they didn't stop him he could have been the first person to drive from Cuba to the United States. :P





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A vintage blue taxicab converted into a seagoing vessel and carrying several Cuban immigrants was intercepted Tuesday off Key West by the Coast Guard, a television station reported.

Havana to Miami by Taxi? That HAD to be one heck of a fare on the meter . . .

That's actually a nice looking car, too bad the Coast Guard most likely sunk it.

Hey I found the earlier stories with pictures when they tried crossing with the truck and the Buick.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html




Cubans try floating vintage car to Florida

MIAMI (AP) --Two Cubans who tried to sail to Florida in a truck converted to a pontoon boat last year are making another attempt, this time piloting a seagoing 1950s-era Buick with four other adults and five children, relatives said.

Marciel Basanta Lopez and Luis Grass Rodriguez, who were sent back to Cuba in July after they failed to reach Florida in a converted 1951 Chevrolet pickup, were at the helm of the newest vehicle-boat conversioldren. The car is very safe."

The Coast Guard refused on Wednesday to confirm the status of the tailfinned car or the origin of photos of it in the water that were broadcast on television Tuesday. U.S. policy prevents the disclosure of information on such cases until they are resolved, such as by sending the participants back to their home countries, Petty Officer Sandra Bartlett said.

Under U.S. immigration policy, Cubans who reach U.S. shores are allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually returned.

The Miami Herald said the 1959 Buick was nearly halfway to Key West by Tuesday evening. Key West is 90 miles from Havana, but it was not immediately clear where on Cuba the group had set out to sea.

The Buick's doors had been sealed to keep water out and it was powered by its original V-8 motor, said Eduardo Perez Grass, who was among those on the earlier attempt to reach the United States on the floating truck.

He said the others on board were Luis Grass' wife, Isora Hernandez, and their son Angel; Marciel Basanta and his wife, Mirlena, along with their two children; and a family he identified only as Rafael and Nidia and their two children.

Relatives in Cuba told Basanta's cousin, Kiriat Lopez, who lives in Lake Worth, that they knew the men were planning a second escape attempt.

"My cousin isn't crazy. He wants to be free," Lopez told the newspaper. "That's how crazy he is."

In the Havana neighborhood of San Miguel de Padron, Grass' sister said she was awaiting news.

"They are very brave," Valentina Grass told the Herald. "When you are so sure of what you have to do you cannot be afraid."

Last summer, the two men were joined by seven other men, two women and one small child.

The Chevy pickup they used then was kept afloat by empty 55-gallon drums attached to the bottom as pontoons. A propeller attached to the drive shaft pushed it along at about 8 mph.

After the Coast Guard intercepted them about 40 miles off Key West, the pickup was sunk to keep it from becoming a hazard to other vessels.

Everyone returned to Cuba after the modified truck voyage had since applied for permission to immigrate legally to the United States. But Luis Grass and Ariel Diego were the only two people whose requests were being considered by American consular officials here.

Luis Grass couldn't wait, his nephew said.

Although he had that alternative, Luis was desperate," Eduardo Perez Grass said. "They could still tell him 'no' and he didn't want to live in this country. Or perhaps he wouldn't be able to take his wife."


http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/ ... .truck.ap/

Cubans found at sea on '51 Chevy

MIAMI, Florida (AP) --Cuban migrants fashioned a boat out of a 1951 Chevy pickup truck and "drove" it to within 40 miles (64 kilometers) of the United States before they were spotted, taken off and returned to the island, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The dozen migrants, some sheltered in the truck cab or under a yellow tarp covering the bed, were noticed last week by a U.S. Customs aircraft south of Key West, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Doss said.

A propeller attached to the drive shaft of the green vintage pickup was pushing it along at about 8 mph (13 kph), Doss said. The truck-raft was kept afloat by empty 55-gallon (208 liters) drums attached to the bottom as pontoons.

Migrants have been found on rafts or small boats made out of refrigerators, bathtubs, surfboards and inner tubes, but the truck was believed to be a first.

"We haven't come across any vehicles like that before," Doss said.

The truck was sunk as a hazard to ocean navigation.

The Cubans were returned Sunday, Doss said. Under U.S. law, Cubans who reach U.S. shores are allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually returned.