What constitutes ‘entry’ to Schengen ?

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Bathdave

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Apologies if I have missed something in all the copious postings about B****t and the implications for boaters ….

I have looked through the RYA and govt sites and can’t find anything ….

so what constitutes ‘entry’ to Schengen ?

I presume you can sail through french territorial waters without flying a Q flag and going to a port of entry

can you anchor in French waters but not go ashore ?

Does the day count work around where you are midnight (as it does in the U.K. for tax purposes) or is it any part of a day that counts towards your 90 in180?

can you go ashore on a day trip if you enter and leave on the same day and are gone by midnight?
 
I’d have thought on passage works but if you anchor then get boarded how would you prove you hadn’t gone ashore illegally?
 
lustyd said:
I’d have thought on passage works but if you anchor then get boarded how would you prove you hadn’t gone ashore illegally?
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My understanding is that innocent passage (passing through but not stopping) is most likely OK but stopping to anchor would start the 90 day clock and could cause a problem as not a specified port of entry.
 
We 'Transit' France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany ( not all in the same journey) on our way to and from Denmark. Which seems permissible so I don't understand why transiting through French waters would be treated any differently by the authorities.
 
There's what's legal and what's reality. As said, anchoring brings innocent passage to an end but I was boarded at anchor by Spanish Customs in May, having left Portugal and not 'entered' Spain officially (autopilot failure caused an unplanned stop) and they were completely indifferent. I also flew out of France in July without an entry stamp (Police aux Frontiers don't work weekends) and no one batted an eyelid. Whether this becomes more of an issue as authorities become au fait with the implications of Brexit is another matter.
 
Quiddle said:
There's what's legal and what's reality. As said, anchoring brings innocent passage to an end but I was boarded at anchor by Spanish Customs in May, having left Portugal and not 'entered' Spain officially (autopilot failure caused an unplanned stop) and they were completely indifferent. I also flew out of France in July without an entry stamp (Police aux Frontiers don't work weekends) and no one batted an eyelid. Whether this becomes more of an issue as authorities become au fait with the implications of Brexit is another matter.
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Portugal and Spain are both in Schengen. So you did not leave Schengen and you did not enter it again.
I often sail across the French/Spanish border and have never ever done anything to enter/leave one or the other. (British ship flying red duster).
 
The answers to the first 2 questions are very definitely yes and no in that order. I'll leave the other questions to others to answer.
 
Quiddle said:
There's what's legal and what's reality. As said, anchoring brings innocent passage to an end but I was boarded at anchor by Spanish Customs in May, having left Portugal and not 'entered' Spain officially (autopilot failure caused an unplanned stop) and they were completely indifferent. I also flew out of France in July without an entry stamp (Police aux Frontiers don't work weekends) and no one batted an eyelid. Whether this becomes more of an issue as authorities become au fait with the implications of Brexit is another matter.
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I suspect ETIAS will present problems for travel once it's up and running. European Travel Information Authorisation System (europa.eu)
 
Quiddle said:
There's what's legal and what's reality. As said, anchoring brings innocent passage to an end but I was boarded at anchor by Spanish Customs in May, having left Portugal and not 'entered' Spain officially (autopilot failure caused an unplanned stop) and they were completely indifferent. I also flew out of France in July without an entry stamp (Police aux Frontiers don't work weekends) and no one batted an eyelid. Whether this becomes more of an issue as authorities become au fait with the implications of Brexit is another matter.
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Automated as of next year, and from the documents on the website, any time during a 24 hour period counts as 1 day. towards the 90.
 
Graham376 said:
My understanding is that innocent passage (passing through but not stopping) is most likely OK but stopping to anchor would start the 90 day clock and could cause a problem as not a specified port of entry.
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can anyone point me to a definitive legal, EU or govt website, or other evidence ?
 
Graham376 said:
Can't point you to those without searching but maybe you're best looking at other forums with third country sailors who've known the rules for years. Nothing has changed in EU, just that we're now outsiders.
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I'm based in Turkey and my boat has a Turkish flag. I regularly traverse Greek coastal waters on my way from one Turkish anchorage to another. I've always taken this to be innocent passage and never had any concerns about it until last year. Boats from Turkey were banned from entry to Greece re Covid and some locals said this included any entry to Greek waters. I called the Greek coastguard in Samos to be certain and they confirmed that we had an absolute right of passage but are prohibited from stopping or anchoring in Greek waters.
 
westernman said:
Portugal and Spain are both in Schengen. So you did not leave Schengen and you did not enter it again.
I often sail across the French/Spanish border and have never ever done anything to enter/leave one or the other. (British ship flying red duster).
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Sort of true, but I have Portuguese residency and wasn't stamped entering Portugal as it exempts me from Schengen limitations in that country. So, the Spanish had no idea when I'd arrived in either Spain or Schengen, nor did they ask.
 
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