Cuban surfers take off on hand-me-down boards

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Cuban surfing has come a long way. Now the communist nation’s surfers can ride the waves on boards donated from abroad rather than having to build them out of wood and refrigerator foam, according to this CNN video dispatch from the country.

The Havana Surf Club is an unofficial organization that has a site that people from abroad read and use to send donations. The Club is described as ‘’underground’ by its president and founder Eduardo Valdes, but is fighting for government recognition. Might that be forthcoming now that other parts of the island seem to be opening up? Without a government-backed association, Cuban surfers can’t compete internationally.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City