The vessels Democracia, the Human Rights and the Sea King headed toward Cuba amid chants of ``Viva Cuba libre!' and the Cuban national anthem.
``It's sad. I'm so close but at the same time it's so far away,'' said Ricardo Dartayet, a 15-year-old Miami boy who came with his father. He said he has several relatives in Cuba, but never has visited the island.
``I would love to go to Cuba, but only if Fidel (Castro, the Cuban president) is not there,'' he said.
The flotilla, organized by the exile group Democracy Movement, looked as though it might be delayed while organizers waited for approval from the State Department. Coast Guard personnel repeatedly circled the boats.
There were questions about whether the flotilla would attempt to enter Cuban waters. Democracy Movement leader Ramon Saul Sanchez would not commit to observing the 12-mile boundary.
``We always reserve the right to enter our homeland, our territory, our waters,'' he said before leaving.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter stayed within about 200 yards as the flotilla began its trip about 2 a.m. It was not clear whether the group would be accompanied the entire way, but Coast Guard patrols were planned near Cuban waters as a precaution.
``The U.S. government supports the freedom to demonstrate and the freedom to express opinion,'' Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Marcus Woodring said. ``What the U.S. does not support is the creation of international incidents.''
Cuban exiles want to draw attention to the 41 refugees who drowned when Cuban vessels rammed their boat in the Straits of Florida, as well as four compatriots shot out of the skies by Cuban MiG fighters in 1996.
Cuban government vessels rammed and sank the refugees' tugboat 13 de Marzo in July 1994.
The Democracy Movement planned to toss 41 white Styrofoam crosses into the water along with hundreds of white carnations and roses. Mirrors were brought to flash messages toward ``El Malecon,'' a popular sea wall in Cuba.
``It's a symbolic way to unite a people divided by a wall of intolerance,'' Sanchez said. ``It is a means to tell the Cuban people that we don't forget them.''
Three planes flown by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group whose four members were killed, planned to release canisters of orange smoke today at the spot where the two unarmed Cessnas were shot down two years ago.
The attack, which the Havana government said resulted when the civilian aircraft violated Cuban airspace, was denounced by the U.N. Security Council as a violation of international law. The United States said the incident, recorded on U.S. Customs radar, happened over international waters.
Jose Basulto, the Brothers president, said members planned to fly along the route taken by the planes that were shot down and send smoke signals for Havana to see.
``As free Cubans, we choose to go there because it is our right. Castro can't deny us that,'' said Basulto, whose group was formed to rescue refugees in the 90 miles of open water between Cuba and Florida. ``He may be able to shoot us down, but we are free Cubans.''
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press