Salvaging sunken treasure takes precedence over human life in Cuba

Castro's Cuba, shipwrecks and gold
Salvaging sunken treasure takes precedence over human life in Cuba
By Judi McLeod
Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Being lost at sea in the coastal waters of Castro’s Cuba is the wrong
place to be. The communist regime of Fidel Castro leaves the shipwrecked
to the mercy of sharks and rogue waves.

Stranded in Cuba for almost two weeks after their shipwreck, a Canadian
couple made a tearful reunion with family members at Toronto’s Pearson
Airport on Saturday.

Kelly Aitchison and husband, Rob, were sailing a 25-metre yacht, the
Downtown, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. From St. Martin, when for reasons
unknown, the yacht sank about three kilometers off the coast of Cayo
Coco, along Cuba’s northern shore, on Feb. 13.

Waiting hours for a promised rescue that never came from Cuban
officials, the seafaring couple and two crewmembers finally made their
way to the beach in a dingy. On their arrival, the Canadians were
promptly picked up by Cuban officials, who seized their passports and
refused to let them leave the country.

Officials wanted assurance that the boat owner’s insurance would cover
the cost of salvaging the boat and demanded the Aitchisons retain a
lawyer. Under that kind of pressure, the couple signed a contract with a
law firm and booked a flight out of Cuba on the weekend.

"It was harrowing but we got out," Aitchison said of the misadventure.

Vowing to never return there herself, she said she would not recommend
Cuba to travelers.

Meanwhile, lost at sea for more than a month after their boat engine
failed, a couple from the Pacific Island of Kiribati is finally flying
home today (March 1).

"The story of how this couple survived more than a month at sea is
miraculous," said Continental Micronesia staff vice president of
marketing and sales Walter Dias. (eTNTravelWireNews). "It’s also a
heartwarming story of the warmth and hospitality of the Pacific
Islanders who took this couple in. Being part of this tradition of
hospitality in the islands is why we wanted to help them," said Dias.

The couple is leaving Chuuk on their homeward journey with complimentary
air travel, courtesy of Continental Micronesia.

Continental Micronesia is headquartered in Guam and operates a Pacific
hub from the A.B. Won Pat Guam International Airport.

On Dec. 30, 2005, the couple took their 19-foot wooden boat with a 40
h.p. outboard motor from Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, to an outer
island to pick up a relative. But just as they were a few miles way from
their relative’s island, the outboard motor died. Things got more
worrisome when trade winds pushed them far away from land. The Kiribati
government called a search and rescue operation, but it was not
successful and hopes for the couples’ survival began to wane.

The couple drifted for more than a month on open water, ending almost
two thousand kilometers away from their home country of Kiribati.
Mercifully, a fishing vessel’s helicopter pilot spotted the wooden boat
close to the island of Kapingamarangi, south of Pohnpei. The chopper
picked up the couple and brought them back to the mother ship, which in
turn took them to Chuuk.

Part of this story is the several good Samaritans who nursed the couple
back to health on the island of Chuuk
The joy of the couples’ 10-year-old son, who has been waiting in Tarawas