KEY WEST, Fla. -- Authorities say 24 Cuban migrants built a boat out of a Mercedes Benz and washed ashore across from the Key West International Airport on Friday.

Ray Jensen, a wedding photographer on assignment nearby, grabbed pictures of the makeshift boat being pulled from the water and hauled away.

The two dozen Cubans arrived on the eve of historic change in their country as longtime dictator Fidel Castro announced he was stepping down. Elections will be held Sunday, and Castro's brother, Raul, will take control of the nation.

The U.S. has a "wet foot/dry foot" policy regarding Cuban exiles. If the migrants make it to shore, they are allowed to stay in the U.S. If they are discovered en route, the Coast Guard returns them to Cuba.