Renting Fidel Castro’s Yacht for 5,000 Dollars a Day

Renting Fidel Castro's Yacht for 5,000 Dollars a Day / Juan Juan Almeida

Juan Juan Almeida, 24 August 2016 — Renting Fidel Castro's yacht will be
the new publicity backdrop that will be the next thing to enter the
arena in order to convert the "Acuarama II," as it is named, into an
appetizing bait.

For some time, the auto rental business, Grancar, has been renting a
couple of replicas of his legendary Russian limousine; unpublished
photos of the ex-Comandante en Jefe are sold in various auctions as
collection pieces, and now, exceeding all imagination and surpassing a
whole flotilla of boats designed for the good life, the new boat
bamboozle that the tourist group Gaviota will offer emerges: a
sophisticated trip in the boat of the modest, humble and simple leader,
Fidel.

With such purpose and in order to satisfy the most demanding of tastes,
as General Raúl Castro puts it, "without haste but without pause," using
polyurethane of great consistency for protection and beautification, in
its usual berth, the tidal basin of Caleta del Rosario, the hull was
cleaned up and repaired (Code P-6, according to the nomenclature of
NATO), along with the four diesel engines, model M-50 F-2, of 1200
horsepower. The rest of the reconstruction was done, with rigor and
commercial conscience, from July 9, 2014 up to April 1, 2016.

Expert carpenters, specialists in boat furniture, worked without a
break, while the ship was in drydock at a border guard unit of
Barlovento Bay west of Havana. There, respecting the original design in
its most minute detail, they changed the woodwork and applied an extra
marine varnish of high strength to the new doors and the whole interior
oak; they changed the nuts and bolts and the upholstery coverings. They
also installed two new refrigerator housings and re-equipped the radio,
navigation equipment and control room with the ultimate in advanced
technology.

A new boat, a new life. At 89.63 feet (27.3 meters) in length, 4 heads,
first-class cabins, air conditioning, televisions, a bar and satellite
navigation, the rent comes to about $780/hour. However, a tiny discount
will be given only to special clients. We are talking about up to $5,000
dollars for the first 8 hours. Whoever rents it can enjoy a romantic
escapade, a family reunion, a party with friends, a dream of a fishing
trip, a work reunion or a wedding celebration in a pretentious
environment that for years was reserved exclusively for the ex-communist
leader and his high-class guests.

As now few things amaze me, who knows if in the next few days the news
surprises us that, as a new source of income, foreign tourists can visit
Punto Cero and bring back as a souvenir a photo with the Comandante.

The truth is that, for now, while many people continue trapped in an
absurd, aberrant and almost infinite cycle of anger, vengeance, violence
and false patriotism, Fidel Castro continues to be the most profitable
commercial trademark that the Cuban Revolution has.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Source: Renting Fidel Castro's Yacht for 5,000 Dollars a Day / Juan Juan
Almeida – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/renting-fidel-castros-yacht-for-5000-dollars-a-day-juan-juan-almeida/