Florida mayor plans to ride raft from Cuba to Key West

A Florida mayor is planning to build and then ride a homemade raft from Cuba to Florida to see for himself what it takes to make the perilous journey many Cuban migrants undertake.

De Bary Mayor Clint Johnson has plans to fly to Cuba in mid-April. Once he arrives, he will build the raft with the help of local contacts, and then row to Key West — weather permitting.

Johnson, who is visiting Cuba on a journalist visa, will be blogging about the journey. On Thursday, he posted a video of a test run of a homemade raft on Lake Monroe, near his hometown in Florida.

The test ran into some problems: Johnson tweeted that he was moving slowly across the lake after the oar locks broke.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Johnson says his plans were inspired by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who recently posted on Instagram when his cruise ship encountered a raft full of migrants.

View this post on Instagram

In addition to better understanding what migrants go through to reach the U.S., Johnson says he is doing this so he can weigh the pros and cons of opening up immigration.

"The journey [Cuban migrants] take is largely unreported and there is very little information on exactly what these men, women and children go through to get here," Johnson said on his website.

In the last three months of 2015, more than 1,500 Cubans attempted to immigrate to the U.S. via raft. Most of them were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Rafts have long been the makeshift solution for getting out of the country; it is illegal for Cubans to construct or board a boat without permission from the Cuban government. 

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Johnson expects the journey to take two days — although it could take over a week if things go wrong.

“I want to show the most respect possible to the people who have done this before and best share this experience," Johnson told The Guardian. "I don’t want to turn this into a publicity stunt.”

The U.S. Coast Guard has warned Johnson against making the trip, though that has not deterred him.

"I appreciate and respect the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast recent concern for my personal safety & the safety of possible responders," Johnson posted on Facebook. "I will continue to be as cooperative as possible in the final planning stages."

Johnson's journey comes as the U.S. and Cuba begin to normalize relations. President Barack Obama plans to visit Havana on March 21, U.S. carriers will begin daily commercial flights by the fall, and formerly strict regulations on Americans who want to visit Cuba have been relaxed.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.