Before you go to Cuba: Bora Bora Express

When adverse winds force Charlie Sutton and the crew of the Bora Bora Express into Marina Hemingway, they are excited at the opportunity to explore a forbidden communist country. The young captain is delighted to immerse himself in a new culture. But soon, through the eyes of his friends, he realizes they are all under constant surveillance and comes to the conclusion that he is vacationing in a prison. He meets many women but Valentina, an eighteen-year-old prostitute, steals his heart. Navigating a world of poverty and repression, Charlie comes to respect and admire the resilience of the Cuban people. Unfortunately, he naively allows himself to participate in a criminal act that forces him to engineer an escape back to America. Vali too has run afoul of the law and locked away on a seventeen year sentence in a bleak maximum security prison under Byzantine conditions. Charlie must figure out how to return to the island, break her out of jail and re-engineer a daring escape to get them both off the island. A thrilling adventure based on author Jeff Hartdorn's personal experiences, Before You Go to Cuba is a cautionary tale to anyone considering taking a trip to a newly opened communist nation.

Jeff Hartdorn is a resident of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. He has traveled to seventy-three countries, so far. He was an advocate for out-of-state property owners and wrote newsletters for twenty-two years. An avid sailor and spearfisherman, he is currently working on several patents. After an injury and facing one hundred days in bed, he promised his ninety-five-year old mother he would write a book. Hartdorn has lived with the Cuban people, and many of the day-to day details in Bora Bora Express are based on his personal experience- as are many of Charlie Sutton's more hair-raising escapades.