Sunday, August 31, 2014
Stats:
Stats:
Thessalon to Drummond Island 9:30 - 2:00 18.2 Knots
We awoke to a strange light shining in our eyes. What could it be? After some initial apprehension and deliberation,
Yes! It was SUNSHINE!!!! After a weather check to confirm, we cast off
and putt-putt-putted out of Thessalon.
Great little place to stop and if you do, say hi to Ronny for us.
The crossing to Drummond Island was short and without
incident. We weren’t sure about checking
into the States. We had any documentation we thought they could possibly want
spread out on the coffee table (Jeff was pretty sure I wouldn’t need the record
of my shots, but I threw it out there anyway).
We hailed Harbour Island Yacht Haven on 16 (they don’t use
VHF 68 for marinas like we do in Canada) and they instructed us to pull
in. We saw a guy in uniform standing on
the gas dock so we pulled in there. He
asked a few questions and then asked for our passports, boat registration,
customs sticker and our cruising permit.
Duh, cruising permit? Wasn’t that
what he was supposed to give us?
After some polite discussion (he was a really nice guy and
wanted to help us out) it became apparent that he wasn’t exactly sure what we
needed (which was surprising, as this is a very well-used port for Canadian boats entering the States. This, he explained, is a “C” level check in point, he thought we had to go to an “A”
level on in Sault Ste. Marie – 70 miles away). It was all very confusing.
He finally gave us a print out of the contact information for the “A” level office in Miami, a sticky note with a check-in reference number handwritten on it, and sent us on our way. He didn’t even board the boat (I washed the floor for nothing). We’ll see. Hopefully we won’t have trouble down the road. (post-note: Don't do this!!! This eventually became a huge problem for us. We trusted that border agent and followed his instructions. When we called the office in Miami as instructed they FLIPPED! Call the Customs and Border Patrol folks first and find out exactly what you need. They will prepare a cruising permit for you, have it waiting for you at the border and give you instructions on what to do with it.)
He finally gave us a print out of the contact information for the “A” level office in Miami, a sticky note with a check-in reference number handwritten on it, and sent us on our way. He didn’t even board the boat (I washed the floor for nothing). We’ll see. Hopefully we won’t have trouble down the road. (post-note: Don't do this!!! This eventually became a huge problem for us. We trusted that border agent and followed his instructions. When we called the office in Miami as instructed they FLIPPED! Call the Customs and Border Patrol folks first and find out exactly what you need. They will prepare a cruising permit for you, have it waiting for you at the border and give you instructions on what to do with it.)
Afterwards, we chugged the mile or so over to Harbour
Island, which has a big, well-protected anchorage, and met up with our friends
on Panda Bear, Fairways and Eos for cocktails.
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| Our chart plotter showing us crossing the America/Canadian border in the water. We actually saw a white flag bobbing in the water and assumed it was marking the border. Not sure if we're right. |
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