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#1
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Clearing in & out
"Don W." wrote:
To summarize as I understand it: When you clear into most countries you are required to declare any firearms, and in many countries they are impounded until you clear out. I'm admittedly ignorant of these laws. What's involved in clearing in/out? When do/don't you need to do it? Do you have to clear into each country you sail by without stopping if you come within xx of land? If you anchor off shore and paddle in to (say) get a tooth filled and buy some lemons do you need to declare everything left aboard (eg, your gun, camera and jewelry) even if it's never brought ashore? TIA Howard |
#2
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Clearing in & out
Vito wrote: I'm admittedly ignorant of these laws. What's involved in clearing in/out? When do/don't you need to do it? Do you have to clear into each country you sail by without stopping if you come within xx of land? If you anchor off shore and paddle in to (say) get a tooth filled and buy some lemons do you need to declare everything left aboard (eg, your gun, camera and jewelry) even if it's never brought ashore? Normally when you arrive in a country you must hoist a quarantine flag and a port official either comes to the boat or the captain goes ashore with all the passports and ships papers. The process can be simple or astoundingly frustrating depending on the country, the attitude of the clearing official and how popular the port is with cruisers. Most places you must declare weapons but the contents of the boat are not normally listed. You must not venture on shore any more than necessary to clear customs. In an emergency some places might let you clear after the emergency is handled but a tooth ache would definitely not qualify. When you leave most countries require you to clear out and issue a Zarpe which is a certification that you left in good standing. Some countries want to see the Zarpe from your last port before you can clear in. As to sailing through without landing, that is a good question. Most places clearing is not necessary if you are just passing through their waters but I would be interested to know what the Bahamian policy is on that. On deliveries back from the BVI we usually break it into 4 long legs stopping at Boqueron, PR, Luperon, DR and Georgetown. If it is going to cost us $500 to stop in Georgetown we will probably just sail right on through. If they still want our money we will have to go up the Old Bahamas Channel and the west side of the bank. Sure hope Cuba opens up before then 'cause Cap Haitian to Ft. Lauderdale is a long slog. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com |
#3
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Clearing in & out
Glenn has put in pretty well -- any generalization is going to be
false. In Western Samoa we had six officials aboard to clear us in (IIRC: Health, Agriculture, Immigration, Customs, Security, Harbormaster) and it was largely a formality, done in ten minutes. Fiji took 38 different pieces of paper to clear in and out (about 80 copies all told -- don't forget the carbon paper). In Spain, on the other hand, we couldn't find an offical interested in doing anything. In about 40% of the countries, they come to the boat. In the balance, the Captain, alone, goes ashore -- in Singapore the office is all the way across the island from the marina we were in -- good rapid transit there, though. In maybe 30% the boat is never "in" the country, so you go through passport control at the port gate each time you go ashore. These usually require you to stay in one or a very limited number of ports -- no cruising. As for passing through, the right of free passage is a basic international law, so that generally you can pass through a strait without stopping and without checking into the country that owns both sides. This is well established in some places (the Bosporus, for example), but, again, take nothing for granted. We've stopped overnight several places without checking in, but the general rule is that if the hook is down, you'd better have checked in. Exceptions are sometimes tolerated where the wind dictates a particular route (the easternmost Marquesas, for example), but Fiji, with the same situation in the Lau group, is very tough on it. Jim Woodward www.mvfintry.com Glenn Ashmore wrote in message ... Vito wrote: I'm admittedly ignorant of these laws. What's involved in clearing in/out? When do/don't you need to do it? Do you have to clear into each country you sail by without stopping if you come within xx of land? If you anchor off shore and paddle in to (say) get a tooth filled and buy some lemons do you need to declare everything left aboard (eg, your gun, camera and jewelry) even if it's never brought ashore? Normally when you arrive in a country you must hoist a quarantine flag and a port official either comes to the boat or the captain goes ashore with all the passports and ships papers. The process can be simple or astoundingly frustrating depending on the country, the attitude of the clearing official and how popular the port is with cruisers. Most places you must declare weapons but the contents of the boat are not normally listed. You must not venture on shore any more than necessary to clear customs. In an emergency some places might let you clear after the emergency is handled but a tooth ache would definitely not qualify. When you leave most countries require you to clear out and issue a Zarpe which is a certification that you left in good standing. Some countries want to see the Zarpe from your last port before you can clear in. As to sailing through without landing, that is a good question. Most places clearing is not necessary if you are just passing through their waters but I would be interested to know what the Bahamian policy is on that. On deliveries back from the BVI we usually break it into 4 long legs stopping at Boqueron, PR, Luperon, DR and Georgetown. If it is going to cost us $500 to stop in Georgetown we will probably just sail right on through. If they still want our money we will have to go up the Old Bahamas Channel and the west side of the bank. Sure hope Cuba opens up before then 'cause Cap Haitian to Ft. Lauderdale is a long slog. |
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