Checking in/out round the world

[TQA]

You guys should have cleared in at Culebra; apart from a two day wait for some poor underling to fly over from San Juan. All smiles and a "welcome to Puerto Rico". For real charm school graduates, try JFK airport.

2 hour queue just to get to immigration last month in Miami. Just the pits!

Airline staff running around like crazy trying to help those with connections.

 

[GHA]

Always worth getting an exit stamp..
No idea how but somehow I managed to leave Antigua without an exit stamp. Nice enough bunch in customs and immigration, just didn't get a stamp somehow. Then a year or so later coming up the Thames just after the Olympics customs give the boat a complete going over as I'd no proof to hand that I'd left the Caribbean a year and a half before, or where I'd been since the entry stamp to Antigua , all the receipts were electronic. So with keeping an eye on things.


Another mistake in the Brazil, my visa was OK but the boat was 2 days overdue leaving, grim looking immigration official, hmm, should be a big fine for this...... Then laughter, STAMP! You must go very quickly sir, your boat left 2 days ago!



A

 

[temptress]

So you'll be writing off a whole country based upon one story? Blimey, where else are you not going?

It is not one story. There are many many documented cases of Antigua being a pain. This months Caribbean Compass has a series of letters on the subject. It would seem that Antigua is better avoided. Plenty of other nice places near by anyway.

 

[Mudisox]

I remember going into a small port in Atlantic Portugal and being the first yacht in that year and only the 4th in 3 years. The recording book was almost empty. The official took forever and I reflected that if this was his whole raison d'etre, it was a whole lot better than him being on the dole. Surely we all go voyaging to de-stress. Does it really matter if it takes all morning to clear in/out? Akin to getting that extra 0.1kt out of the boat. And the money- surely they are entitled to get us rich foreigners to pay for the view. We want to go there for whatever reason is important to us.

 

[BrianH]

Surely we all go voyaging to de-stress. Does it really matter if it takes all morning to clear in/out? Akin to getting that extra 0.1kt out of the boat.

I agree in principle but events can occur that can affect the issue. I am the first to argue we should never sail to a timetable but in the case above (San Juan) I had already been delayed two days because of visa problems in the USVI and my crew had discount tickets leaving Puerto Plata DR in two days from our intended clearance in Puerto Rico. Yes, perhaps I should have insisted they fly from San Juan to the DR, but they were poor and we did it easily non-stop with a brisk and fair wind anyway.

 

[oldvarnish]

They told us that they approached every customs and immigration office in the same way, they kept smiling, remained calm and patient, were polite and respectful to everyone, and they had no problems at all - anywhere.

That was precisely my approach with the infamous Argentine and Brazilian authorities - no problems. It works.

 

[sailorgirl]

That was precisely my approach with the infamous Argentine and Brazilian authorities - no problems. It works.

A smile always works or talk to them about football - one official in the Cape Verdes was wearing a Chelsea football shirt. Our skipper and a crew member doing the check in were gone for ages so the rest of us thought they must be having problems, turns out they spent 30+ mins talking about CFC management and then about a minute stamping passports or whatever!

In Grenada we got scammed in the nicest way into buying both immigration and customs a beer before they did the paperwork!

 

[KellysEye]

> It would seem that Antigua is better avoided.

I wouldn't it's a fantastic place just don't clear in in English Harbour use Jolly Harbour. Green island is pretty and anchor behind the long reef and there is nothing between you and Africa other than the reef. The bays on the west coast are worth visiting and you can pop up to Barbuda and the ten mile sand beach on the west coast. Go to the Admirals Inn in English harbour and order their Butternut Squash soup, it's to die for. And much more.

 

[michael_w]

> just don't clear in in English Harbour use Jolly Harbour.

The nice officials at Jolly Harbour are the ones who stiffed me with their "exit tax" scam...

 

[dratsea]

To leave Panama I needed a fumigation certificate $20. But it was accepted on Easter Island and saved us having to pay around $100 for an inspection so just go with the flow!