BobnLesley
Well-known member
Not wishing to hijack the 'Food & Drink' thread any further, I thought I'd start a fresh one to cover memorable (good or bad) interactions; be they with national/international officialdom, or just the local marina.
A favourite for me was also in Jolly harbour, Antigua when I stepped into the Customs office after a period of breezy weather and a public holiday/long weekend; that morning dozens of yachts were wanting to leave and it was absolute pandemonium, with skippers shouting over each other and all but fighting each other for attention. On the up-side, there was TV at high level in one corner showing a West Indies v Pakistan cricket match, so I settled for watching that until things eased up a bit . Perhaps five minutes later an Officer was squeezing through the melee and enquired if I was 'an arrival or a departure?' and I told him we were arriving, so in no hurry and more than happy just to watch the cricket for a while. Whereupon he led me through the crowd, around the desk and into an office in the rear, explaining that there was a 'much better TV in here' and that if anyone asked what I was doing there, just tell them 'Officer Mac says it's OK'. Officer Mac returned only a couple of minutes later with blank arrival forms for me to fill-in whilst I was watching the cricket and again 10 minutes later to collect those along with the boat documents/passports and fifteen minutes after that he was back again with everything done and dusted, he'd even been into the Customs office next door and got our passports stamped! As there were now only another three or four overs until the end of the morning session I enquired if it'd be OK for me to stay and watch those too? "Sure Mon, stay as long as you want."
When I left - certainly less than an hour after arriving - I'd estimate that more than half of the faces in the crowded front office were the same ones that'd been there when I arrived.
My number one tip for clearing into/out of Caribbbean countries: Know who that island's most famous cricketer(s) are/were and a few details about them; drop that knowledge into your conversations with the Officers.
A favourite for me was also in Jolly harbour, Antigua when I stepped into the Customs office after a period of breezy weather and a public holiday/long weekend; that morning dozens of yachts were wanting to leave and it was absolute pandemonium, with skippers shouting over each other and all but fighting each other for attention. On the up-side, there was TV at high level in one corner showing a West Indies v Pakistan cricket match, so I settled for watching that until things eased up a bit . Perhaps five minutes later an Officer was squeezing through the melee and enquired if I was 'an arrival or a departure?' and I told him we were arriving, so in no hurry and more than happy just to watch the cricket for a while. Whereupon he led me through the crowd, around the desk and into an office in the rear, explaining that there was a 'much better TV in here' and that if anyone asked what I was doing there, just tell them 'Officer Mac says it's OK'. Officer Mac returned only a couple of minutes later with blank arrival forms for me to fill-in whilst I was watching the cricket and again 10 minutes later to collect those along with the boat documents/passports and fifteen minutes after that he was back again with everything done and dusted, he'd even been into the Customs office next door and got our passports stamped! As there were now only another three or four overs until the end of the morning session I enquired if it'd be OK for me to stay and watch those too? "Sure Mon, stay as long as you want."
When I left - certainly less than an hour after arriving - I'd estimate that more than half of the faces in the crowded front office were the same ones that'd been there when I arrived.
My number one tip for clearing into/out of Caribbbean countries: Know who that island's most famous cricketer(s) are/were and a few details about them; drop that knowledge into your conversations with the Officers.