KEY WEST -- Heads high as they sang the Cuban national anthem, more than 70 people aboard six vessels set sail just before 1 a.m. Saturday from Key West to international waters off Havana in the Democracy Movement's 13th flotilla.

A little more than eight hours later, they formed a circle with their crafts, dropped flower wreaths into the water and prayed for the souls of 41 men, women and children who drowned July 13, 1994, when Cuban patrol boats sank the tugboat 13 de Marzo as it chugged toward the U.S. not far from Havana Harbor.

Democracy Movement leader Ramon Saul Sanchez said the aim was to realize ``a ceremony for those who have died trying to escape Cuba and those who have been executed by the government.''

As the flotilla returned about 6:30 p.m. to rousing applause from waiting supporters, Sanchez said the flotilla had been a success. Luis Sánchez, one of those aboard the group's flagship Democracia soaked Agustín ``Gus'' García, another group member, with water. ``This is Cuban water,'' he said. ``This is what you asked me to bring you.''

The group carried mirrors to send signals -- and proof of their presence and solidarity -- to Cubans on the island. A pilot who flew over the flotilla in one of six planes said skies were cloudy and a haze over Havana probably shrouded the signals.

But Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Murphy, who got continuous reports from Coast Guard crews on the scene, said there were flashes of light from the island.

Flotilla participants -- most, if not all, Cuban exiles who haven't seen their homeland since they left -- did see the silhouettes of buildings along the Malecon seawall. It was an emotional sight for Ramon Verdes, one of about 10 people aboard the Little Jannet, the first boat to set out and the first to return about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

``I felt so close to mi patria [my fatherland], but at the same time so far because I cannot enter,'' Verdes, 54, said. ``I hope this is the last flotilla where that happens and that the next time, we disembark in Havana.''

The peaceful demonstration -- which was also meant to support hunger strikers on the island who are calling for democracy and the release of political prisoners -- took place 12 1/2 miles from the Cuban coast. Movement leaders pledged Friday that they would stay in international waters. In the past, the U.S. government has seized two of the group's boats after Sanchez voiced intentions of entering Cuban waters, recognized as beginning 12 miles from the coast.

Friday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement urging flotilla organizers to stay out of Cuban territory.

``The Cuban government has publicly reiterated their warning that they will continue to use the measures they deem necessary to defend their sovereign territory and impede unauthorized entry into Cuban waters or air space,'' State Department official James Foley said in the statement.

Herald wire services also contributed to this story.