On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:37:25 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:37:37 -0400, krj
wrote:

International cruising is not difficult. For the Bahamas you stop at the
first port with customs

As long as you do not stop or fish, you can fly the Q flag and
continue on to your chosen port of entry. This is true in the US
also.

FWIW
When we sailed to Sdydney, Australia from New Zealand years ago, we
flew the yellow Q flag. I don't think we have flown it since and I am
sure that most other cruising sailors fly it either. As to the
courtesy flag, we always fly that as we sail into a country's waters.
Sometimes we have even been sewing it up as we neared Customs.
Different countries have different fees and requirements that can be
looked up on Noonsite (www.noonsite.com) which is a great resource for
cruising sailors.

We always used to stamp out through Immigration, Port Clearance etc
but since Greece, we just sail away as nobody had ever asked us for
the Port Clearance document from the last port of call. Friends
usually do the same. The Caribbean is different. Apparently they all
want it (I have only entered Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad).

A lot has been written about small nations annoyance if someone
doesn't fly a courtesy flag. When I asked the Australian Customs
Officers who came on board what would happen if I didn't fly their
flag, the response was "We'll burn your bloody boat - Mate!!"
In my work with Malaysian Marine Customs, they couldn't care less
about yacht's courtesy flags; neither do those colleagues in
Indonesian Customs that I have asked. A quick look around the
anchorage at Langkawi island where yachts sail down from Thailand to
do a border run for visa purposes will often show the tricolour Thai
flag flown, not the Malaysian Crescent and stripes. In fact the only
time I have stopped a yacht under weigh about his lack of National
Flag and courtesy flag was when I thought it was a friend I knew and I
wished to give him a "hard time". The boat was unmarked at the stern
from which direction we approached. It wasn't he but the poor sod
raised the courtesy flag and then his National flag (Gibraltar) up
side down in his haste. I calmy called over the megaphone "your
national flag is upside down Sir. Are you in distress?

Incidentally, yachts can enter Malaysia with no paperwork being
required and can stay forever. People however get a 3 month visa
stamped in their passports. A border run to Thailand or over
toSingapore gives another 3 months and so on. Indonesia requires a
"Cruising Cait" which can cost, through an agent, up to $600 to
arrange. It allows the boat only 2 months in their waters and must be
shown at every port.

Peter
N.Z. Yacht Herodotus