Hey all: Just wondered if anyone knew what the skinny is on the Canadian Citizen cruising on their 50' foot troller are thinking about taking a trip over to Cuba. Can they go without any problems or will the be boarded, searched and seized by the US Coastguard or whomever just like the US citizen etc. Thanks all.

Interesting question. The problems for US sailors are on the way back, not on the way to Cuba. But if you're planning to return to the U.S. I don't see why you should be subjected to US Coast Guard search as it's U.S. who are not allowed to spend money in Cuba and the searches are intended to prove otherwise. IMHO, a look at your passport and you should be enough to send you on your way, of course, things don't always happen as they should. For example, it used to be US citizens didn't have problems sailing there with a note provided by Marina Hemingway saying stay was fully hosted. Unfortunately, that's changed. Richard at Latitude 38 has done a few sailing trips from the US to Cuba and is well connected with cruisers worldwide. You might drop an email to richard@latitude38.com and see if he's heard any nasty (or positive) US Coast guard experiences from non-US citizens taking their boats to Cuba from the US.

The folks planning this might be a good resource for you as well. Looks like a lot of your countrymen will be at marinas in Cuba next month.
http://www.internationalchallenge.org/cuba/