What is freedom worth to you?

The next morning we dinghy'd over to Tin Tin Key, when we had come in the night before, I had noticed what appeared to be Cuban chugs on the beach.

There were.  And one was 'fresh' so to speak.  Still smelled of gas and diesel and still turned over the engine as Tim found out.

For those of you not familiar with the phrase Cuban Chug, they are hand made (in secret) boats that Cuban refugees make, then without modern electronics, barely any steering and usually 10-12 people on a 20 foot boat, they make the 90 nm crossing to the United States.  According to the Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy, if the USCG finds you at sea, you will be returned to Cuba, if you make it to US territorial soil, you will be granted amnesty.

Many people who come over often have somebody ready to meet them, so they will abandon the chug and it will wash up somewheres.  For some reason, many get off course and wind up either at the Dry Tortugas or the Marquesas Keys.  Since it is US territorial land and part of Florida, they have made it.  From there either fisherman call it it or take them into Key West for processing, or a contact picks them up.

Many people are starting to complain about the chugs littering the more deserted islands.  Tim and I thought they were fascinating--imagine what these people are going through, and the desperation it took to make such a risky journey--it makes you appreciates the simple freedoms we have in life.

The rest is pictorial with my comments in the captions.

Tim in front of our 'fresh' chug.

The entire smelled of gas and diesel, was full of junk from their trip.
The life preservers were in Chinese.

All the backpacks were empty. This chug was a wood framed with
an aluminum or steel frame bolted over it.
I read they paint them blue and then have a blue tarp, so if they hear a plane, they
cover themselves and try to blend with the ocean.

It's hard to see, but those are the remains of some Cuban crackers.
Evidently having a picnic while waiting for their ride.

Anti-nausea medicine.

More anti-nausea medicine.

Large bag of what used to be rice.
I read that they used sea water and engine heat to cook.

Ruggerini air cooled diesel engine.  Evidently the company went defunct in 1999.
The web was all over the place on info.  I think at least parts are made in China now.

Below are the remains of some older chugs.  These were not as well made, they looked to more like inflatables.