Rubber stamps for officialdom

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yerreps

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Hi, Folks,

I've read in the past that a boat's personalised rubber stamp can be an aid in clearing into/out of some ports where bureaucracy rules. Has anyone here found them to be useful?

If so, what's the optimum size and layout? I'm off to the Caribbean shortly and would appreciate anything which will enable me to spend more time at the bar and less in the customs office!

Tom
 
Yes, it is true, a rubber stamp for your vessel works wonders. The size that I went for is the same as is stamped, by the jobsworth at immigration, in your pasport. That is two and a bit inches by about an inch or so.

Include the name of your vessel, SSR number and the home port. Oh, and I have a dark red ink pad, looks "official". There are self inking units available now. Should be even better !

73s de
Johnth
 
JohnTH said:
Yes, it is true, a rubber stamp for your vessel works wonders. The size that I went for is the same as is stamped, by the jobsworth at immigration, in your pasport. That is two and a bit inches by about an inch or so.

Include the name of your vessel, SSR number and the home port. Oh, and I have a dark red ink pad, looks "official". There are self inking units available now. Should be even better !

73s de
Johnth
Click to expand...

What a good idea, I hadn't thought of doing that..........
 
It is quite amazing how something as simple as a rubber stamp officialises something so well in so many places. I would suggest a date stamp though perhaps oval with the yachts name over the top section and the Part 1 No or SSR No on the bottom. To make it fully official you stamp the paper then sign across the stamp.

I remember once paying a hotel bill in Poland pre collaps e of evil empire and not only did each cashier have a little merry go round with a fine selection of stamps for mine the cashier delved into a drawer anbd brought out the reserve supply which was spread over the desk and a few choice ones selected for application to my receipt. It clearly worked as the receipt was acccepted as proof I had spent the right kind of money and allowed me to change money back into sterling.

Happy days
 
On a practical note. The print shop will will make up the stamp from your artwork, which is best done on computer and can be quite complex if you wish, you may want to experiment with font styles and include graphics, eg sail logo. Do not forget your own name as skipper.
 
Rubber Stamp

Yes, we had a "ship's stamp" made recently (at Staples - a bit pricey but you can get them much cheaper by mail order) It is not self inking, therefore cheaper.

The more info you have on the stamp the more 'official' it looks - up to a point.

Name (s/y or m/y prefix)
Country or Port of registry (we are SSR so its 'England')
Call sign
SSR no. (or Official no. if you are part 1)
LOA
Beam
HP

Size 40 x 20 or 50 x 25.

Might be useful if you are sailing 'foreign'

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Michael.
 
Bought a DIY kit from Staples - produced a very good self-inking stamp with the usual info on it. I didn't meet any hostile officials, but the chaps in Cabo Verde certainly seemed to approve of it.
 
alahol2 said:
They can also be usefully employed as an 'ex libris' stamp inside the cover of your sailing books. A gentle reminder to the borrower of where the book should be returned.
Click to expand...

I designed and bought two self-inking stamps - one for some friends that were off to the Carib - they stamped & then gave the copy of _We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea_ to a local kid they met out there who was learning English <awwh>

The second friend keeps his boat in the Solent, and as well as using it ex libris has used it to stamp the biceps of a 12 year old (& his father & the rest of the crew ;-) at the conclusion of a trip.
 
Amazing idea to help through the paperwork and maybe redress the balance between yottie and official.
However... I pity the next boat the official meets. "Where is your official Yacht Stamp", he asks. "What stamp?" comes the reply. Immediate "yacht-arrest" (similar to house-arrest but floating) until stamp can be produced - prompting much whittling of stamp from those wooden bungs we keep in the bilges.
 
Living in France, I have noticed the humourous possibilities for stamps. Having looked at quite a lot of Chinese artwork, the 'chops' on the base were the signitures of the artists.
A

BTW, for cheap cards and STAMPS. look at vistaprint.com Turned up a week later
 
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(Non Boaty)

Over here in "former soviet land" the local authorities always insisted on stamps on everything. ( getting a bit easier now though)

10 years ago we could not get a document signed off without a stamp, so made one on paint shop, then printed it over the document, it was obvious what we had done, but they needed to see a stamp and they got one one the document, made them happy.
We have also resorted on one occassion to doing a rubbing over a coin with a pen top, made it look like embossed stamp, signed over it, worked OK.

We then invested in a proper embossing "stamp" . Worked wonders, they loved it.

I guess Refueller might have some similar stories from his region about officialdom and red tape.
 
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What shape is your stamp?

In my time living in Germany - which I think of as the home of stamps - I discovered that round stamps beat square ones. In my early days there, if you went to have stamp made, you actually had to have documentary evidence of your right to that stamp - especially for a round one.

Particularly appealing are the huge stamps which stamp a form on the page, which is then completed by stamping smaller stamps in the boxes.
 
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