USA Paperwork and stuff

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pugwash60

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Apologies, this has probably been covered many times but when I search on it nothing relevant seems to come up.
Do I need a visa if I'm intending to arrive on a boat or can I just appear?
Are there 'ports of entry' or can I arrive anywhere and then sort it out?
Do I need anything other than small boat registration, passport and insurance?
Is it the same with Canada? I'm British as is the boat, (no, come to think of it she's French but British registered.)
I'm on Blue Calor gas, I'm presuming I need a new regulator for US gas but does the gas work on stoves without issue?
How about electric, do marinas have 220 or only 110 and if only 110 can I just take a builders yellow transformer and plug it in the wrong way around to get 220? If I plug my immersion heater into 110 will it work at half power?
Anything else to think about? Red Diesel?
Thanks.
 
You need a B1B2 visa if arriving on a boat. Google will provide all the steps necessary to get one. It takes at least two months to jump through all the hoops. Just take a deep breath and do it.
Once you have a B1B2 visa, any port of entry is fine, including all USA protectorates. A B1B2 visa usually lasts for 10 years.
Canada - no idea,
220 volt - no chance in the land of the free.
Calor gas - no. You'll need an adapter just to get your tank refilled. There's a certification issue too in some places. Budget on buying USA compliant tanks.

Too many other questions, sorry, need my bed now.

Edit. Propane and butane use different size jets on your stove/oven. Your friendly chandlry should have both in stock.
If you just arrive without a B1B2 visa, you'll be about as welcome as a shoe bomber on a PanAm flight.
Just remember that in the Land-of-the-free, no one is actually free, especially foreigners.
Good luck.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
P.s. make sure you apply for a multiple entry B1B2 visa. IIRC there isnt much difference in the price.
 
Following on from Stingo's useful advice above, every crew member on your boat will require a multiple entry B1/B2 visa. Re applying for it, if you have not left Britain yet, it would be best to apply for it while still there.
Once you leave Britain it becomes very difficult to find somewhere where you can get a visa - if you cross to the Caribbean Barbados is the only island where you can get a visa. And after applying online you have to turn up in person to be interviewed, and then possibly wait a few days to get your passport back, complete with nice visa within.
I think that when you are approaching the USA you have to give the local authorities at your intended arrival port fairly generous notice of your arrival - at least 24 hours or more? (It is 25 years since I last sailed into a port on the mainland USA).
 
Barbados or Trinidad (unless things have changed since 2014). The issue with applying in Trinidad is that it takes approximately two months to process and no one deserves to be stuck in Trinidad for that long. As Bajansailor says, just do it before you leave the UK., including getting all your crew to jump through the same hoops.
By the way, a USA compliant passport photo (you'll need a few) is different in size to a UK compliant passport photo.
 
Ref supplies eg diesel, food etc. All that stuff is very, very easy to find in the USA and is cheap; especially chlorinated chicken. Non-chlorinated chicken is not possible to find.
 
Definately B1/B2 visa if arriving in anyway other than by commercial carrier. Once your passport has been stamped you usually get 6 months stay, leaving to Canada or Mexico does not reset the time period. When you got o London for the interview you MUST take plenty of proof of ties to the UK, such as bank statements, mortgage contract, a letter from work for when you are expected to return and a valid reason of why you can't use the visa waiver so I'd probably take a rough passage plan of where you want to stop and for how long, with boat ownership details. Previous travel to certain countries will disqualify you outright I believe and expect to be without your passport for couple of weeks waiting for the visa to be put in. If you overstay or contravene the visa you can expect a 10 year ban.

I believe some marinas provide 220v but I don't know how common it is as we have private docks with 415v 3 phase. You can buy generators with both voltages reasonably cheap here but not sure how popular that would make you. 220V is available in homes for things like washing machines and achieved by combining the 2 hot wires. Don't forget the frequency here is 60Hz not 50Hz. Also a lower voltage means a higher current draw.

An old thread about the same here - http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?474547-Step-up-transformer-for-US-craising-in-a-220v-boat.

You can buy gas bottles at most grocery stores and gas (petrol) stations, I'm not sure that anyone would inspect your set up so I'd probably makes sure the jets are right for the gas and then buy a regulator here, as everywhere else an outdoor or DIY store will no doubt be much cheaper than a chandlery.

Pretty sure all marine diesel is red, probably cheaper than the UK but here in California, probably the most expensive state, road diesel is around $4 a gallon, again we have our own tanks so I don't know what marinas charge.

On the west coast the understanding of IRPCS seems to be very lacking, I don't know about the east coast though and be aware that there are 'Inland' rules here are which are are different to the Interational rules and remember the bouyage (IALA) is reversed

W.
 
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PilotWolf said:
I believe some marinas provide 220v but I don't know how common it is as we have private docks with 415v 3 phase. You can buy generators with both voltages reasonably cheap here but not sure how popular that would make you. 220V is available in homes for things like washing machines and achieved by combining the 2 hot wires. Don't forget the frequency here is 60Hz not 50Hz. Also a lower voltage means a higher current draw.
Click to expand...

Higher current draw applies only to devices which are smart enough to adjust to a lower voltage. A simple heater won't. Worse, the current drawn will decrease in proportion to the lower voltage, which means the power (volts times amps) will decrease by the square of the ratio. Hence half voltage gives a fourth of the heat.

Mike.
 
PilotWolf said:
220V is available in homes for things like washing machines and achieved by combining the 2 hot wires.

An old thread about the same here - http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?474547-Step-up-transformer-for-US-craising-in-a-220v-boat.
Click to expand...

I read that stuff about phases in that linked thread too. But am baffled. If those are phases from a three-phase source they are at 120 degrees to each other, not 180 degrees. Hence voltage between phases is not doubled but rather less (though I forget the ratio and cannot be bothered to look it up!). So what is the truth?

It also sounds jolly dangerous! Given that 110 volts was chosen to be less dangerous than 220V (after all that fuss about AC vs DDC, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Current_War), it seems a bit unfortunate...

Mike.

Mike.
 
All good advice (I'm planning on going there in 2020/21)
My initial bright idea for the mains voltage issue was to equip myself with a building site transformer ( used to step UK 240v ac down to 110v ac for using power tools on site) and use it the wrong way round. It would definitely work, but how well.. and would it get hot?
 
Ohlin Karcher said:
All good advice (I'm planning on going there in 2020/21)
My initial bright idea for the mains voltage issue was to equip myself with a building site transformer ( used to step UK 240v ac down to 110v ac for using power tools on site) and use it the wrong way round. It would definitely work, but how well.. and would it get hot?
Click to expand...

Edited to add something useful: 3KVA step up transformers are £109 on the internet, so that's what I will take.
I would install it in the boat, so it doesn't look like a random bodge-up which might concern marina staff..

Another thing, different states have different requirements for things like safety equipment, insurance etc, some research will be needed. Anyone been up the ICW?
 
American AC supply is 60Hz, so anything European with a motor won't run well.

The 220V from two legs of the three phase is what they do! Otherwise the amperage for tumbledriers, AC units, water heaters would be too much.

But at 220v, the wiring is still all cobbled together with 'wire nuts'.
 
Motor_Sailor said:
American AC supply is 60Hz, so anything European with a motor won't run well.

The 220V from two legs of the three phase is what they do! Otherwise the amperage for tumbledriers, AC units, water heaters would be too much.
Click to expand...

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phase_electric_power

"The conductors between a voltage source and a load are called lines, and the voltage between any two lines is called line voltage. The voltage measured between any line and neutral is called phase voltage.[3] For example, for a 208Y/120 volt service, the line voltage is 208 Volts, and the phase voltage is 120 Volts. "

208V is short of 240V.

Mike
 
I entered Canada in 2015 by yacht and there were no visa entry requirements other than arriving in a port of entry. This was with a British, Canadian and French National on board. Upon arrival we discovered that the customs office had shut down 3 years ago. However it was still a port of entry, all i had to do was ring the customs hotline ,they asked me about 3 questions said have a wonderful stay, gave me a number and that was it. Everyone was more than helpful.
However in not one of my proudest moments of organisation we exited in October via the canals to try and access the Hudson river, I did not have a visa and was turned away at the border crossing and told to go back to Canada as they did not have the facilities to process us. Apart from nearly getting shot by the border guard at the closest road crossing who found it a little strange that 3 oilskin clad people were walking down the highway towards the American border, I dont think it was the oilskins just the fact that nobody walks in America, after explaining our predicament and him holstering his gun, we were photoed ,fingerprinted and back to the border crossing with little hassle. we traveled the canal and Hudson river system to New York, the only real pain was having to ring every time we moved port to advise border force of our location. The guy on the other end of the phone was completely uninterested, but it was a requirement. I do not know whether this requirement is still in force or weather it applies to the ICW.
 
Be aware that customs [Customs & Border Protection] and immigration offices now called are often miles from any marina/dock. The rules and procedures have been changed recently. This is the current official advice [ I think ]

https://www.noonsite.com/place/usa/formalities/#clearance-section

We bought a 110 v charger and ran the boat off 12 volts plus an inverter.

Make sure you get a cruising licence.

I would advise you to be meticulous about reporting your arrival and noting the name/number of the CBP officer you first speak to. Also make sure you know the address you have to report to. If told to do something odd [ believe me it happens when dealing with the authorities in the USA as a cruiser. ] get chapter and verse plus the name and number of the person you speak to.

Keep a written record of all dealings with CBP.

I did the ICW from Key West to Washington DC. and enjoyed it. Bug screens and bicycles are essential. Membership of a boat towing organisation is a good idea and essential if you draw 6 ft +.

Active Captain is a good resource for the ICW.

Be VERY cautious if you run any of the inlets to the ICW.

Some marinas and tourist offices have courtesy cars and allow you to use them for shopping runs.
 
Thanks very much everyone, it looks like I may need to get a visa and do some hoop jumping, what a bore.
The Canadians sound a lot less hassle.
 
We got our B1/B2 visas very quickly (about 8 days) 2 years ago on Belmopan Belize, you can also get the Visas in Guatemala City but it takes much longer.

One other point
The visa rules are reciprocal between countries, A UK passport you will get 10 years, an Australian Passport you will get 5 years
 
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