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A group of four American kayakers set off on Wednesday (July 12) to cross the Florida Straits in kayaks - covering 113 miles (180 kilometres) from Havana to Key West, Florida.
The team, which includes members Andy Cochrane and Wyatt Roscoe, hopes to make the journey in 30 or 40 hours.
The kayakers, accompanied by crew from "Sunluvers Charters" yacht, left from Havana's Hemingway International Nautical Club, marking the 15th nautical event of the year.
In June, President Donald Trump ordered tighter restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and a clampdown on U.S. business dealings with the Caribbean island's military, saying he was canceling former President Barack Obama's "terrible and misguided deal" with Havana. Trump signed a presidential directive rolling back parts of Obama's historic opening to the country after a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two former Cold War foes. But Trump left in place many of Obama's changes, including the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana.