This ship report is close enough to the center (likely from within a band, and somewhat less influenced by the pressure gradient interaction with the High than say, Miami) such that, along with the significantly improved satellite appearance tonight .. along with any other data that comes in tonight, may actually nudge NHC's hand at upgrading Noel at 2AM. It is clear that Noel's LLC has been close enough to offshore of the southern Cuban coastline, or perhaps infrequently even just barely offshore, that Noel has most likely been able to draw a fair amount of energy up from the Caribbean, despite being largely over land.

Here's the impressive ship report from 0100Z
SHIP 0100Z 25.30N 77.40W E 49.9 knots 29.71"

If this gets verified to having occurred within a squall it's probably fair to say that some of the outer bands are producing winds up to 60MPH (at least within the region still getting some extra kick from the pressure gradient).