Artifacts such as old, weathered oars, sea-worn wood and rope, fashioned into reflections of his life's journey...

In July, 1992, one month and a day after his seventeenth birthday, Alfonso gathered a few provisions and braced himself for the treacherous voyage ahead. He and two cousins set off in their makeshift vessel constructed of a car frame, welded scrap metal and repurposed light poles. 

To make their craft waterproof, they covered it with the only material they could find-- bright red paint, a relic of the Soviet presence on the island. For nearly five days, the Cuban refugees sailed their unlikely and rather conspicuous craft across the Florida Straits -- 90 miles towards Miami, where ultimately they landed safely.