Travel no passport

[davidwiley75]

Is it possible to sail from Florida to California without a passport?
Thanks

[john61ct]

In theory not an issue going the long way, but practically speaking you will need to check in for fuel & supplies.

I bet the Canal requires one.

Even just along any stretch of US coastline, no **passport** specifically needed, but

As someone who presents as a native born USian, ideally white and appearing wealthy? no problem. . .

Brown or hispanic, or otherwise presenting as outside the middle+ class mainstream?

best to at least carry other solid forms of ID, otherwise could possibly get inconvenient.

[davidwiley75]

Thank you much

[Trvlmedic]

Being about two weeks away from completing the opposite journey of California to Florida, my short answer is "NO".

I cannot imagine where this question comes from unless you are playing Harrison Ford's part in the "Fugitive" and have some legal baggage and/or Tommy Lee Jones chasing you. LOL.

At some point you are going to need food and fuel at a minimum which requires check in. Even if you stay on the boat the entire time, there are officials that board for various inspections. The Panama Canal Authority does come aboard as the admeasurer and advisors for transit.

Don't mean to burst your bubble but good luck.

[davidwiley75]

Just asking and umm I appreciate the information.

[chrisr]

suppose if you go non-stop via cape horn no passport would be required

difficult but it's been done many times

big questions is whether getting the passport is going to be easier...

cheers,

[davidwiley75]

I understand, although I will see what I can find regarding the passage. I will be on a Islander 37
Thank you

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by chrisr

suppose if you go non-stop via cape horn no passport would be required

difficult but it's been done many times

big questions is whether getting the passport is going to be easier...

cheers,

Even around the horn, you likely will need a passport, if the authorities find you returning from off shore. Until you can prove otherwise, they will assume you had contact with other countries. Without a passport, it would look very suspicious and many of your constitutional rights are suspended at border crossings.

You might slip through but I wouldn't count on it.

PS: you also likely would need to stay clear of territorial waters of other countries or you are likely to be visited and asked for your passport.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by davidwiley75

Is it possible to sail from Florida to California without a passport?
Thanks

Possible, yes. Practical, no. You would need to do the passage nonstop; a very, very unlikely scenario.

On second thought it would be easy. Put the boat on a trailer and have it hauled to Cal.

[GoneDiving]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Even around the horn, you likely will need a passport, if the authorities find you returning from off shore. Until you can prove otherwise, they will assume you had contact with other countries. Without a passport, it would look very suspicious and many of your constitutional rights are suspended at border crossings.

You might slip through but I wouldn't count on it.

PS: you also likely would need to stay clear of territorial waters of other countries or you are likely to be visited and asked for your passport.

I certainly wouldnt recommend relying on it but I've arrived in one country without technically leaving another. Papua New Guinea Immigration refused to come to work over Christmas and my shift was returning to Australia. Aus Immigaration was contacted and their attitude was "we dont care how you left as long as you are legal to enter Australia." We arrived and cleared inbound immigration without incident.

Note:
There were 20 guys all arriving off a regular, scheduled flight
PNG immigration is known as having "moments"
This was not post 9/11 USA

Applying for a passport seems much easier to me

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by GoneDiving

I certainly wouldnt recommend relying on it but I've arrived in one country without technically leaving another. Papua New Guinea Immigration refused to come to work over Christmas and my shift was returning to Australia. Aus Immigaration was contacted and their attitude was "we dont care how you left as long as you are legal to enter Australia." We arrived and cleared inbound immigration without incident.

Note:
There were 20 guys all arriving off a regular, scheduled flight
PNG immigration is known as having "moments"
This was not post 9/11 USA

Applying for a passport seems much easier to me

Yeah, but I assume they wanted to see passports on arrival to know you are legitimate to enter the country. The only question in your case was did have clearance to leave the other country...

Growing up near Detroit, we've often crossed into Canadian waters and back (never landing or anchoring in Canada)...there it's common place and not likely to draw interest has hundreds of boats do it every weekend. They do have security systems watching though and technically, they can pull you over and verify your status but as long as you aren't doing something unusual, they usually don't make much of a fuss about it.

I would suspect a boat arriving in S. Cal. from the south and trying to slip into a marina might draw interest as it would be normally represent someone entering the country from another country. If they do decide to check you out, eventually, they will probably let you in but as it's unusual to arrive this way without a passport, expect lots of questions and your boat to be torn apart as they verify you aren't up to something illegal.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Even around the horn, you likely will need a passport, if the authorities find you returning from off shore. Until you can prove otherwise, they will assume you had contact with other countries. Without a passport, it would look very suspicious and many of your constitutional rights are suspended at border crossings.

You might slip through but I wouldn't count on it.

PS: you also likely would need to stay clear of territorial waters of other countries or you are likely to be visited and asked for your passport.

any vessel has the right for peaceful transit through territorial waters without visa etc provided that you do not stop anywhere. you may be asked who you are, where you are going etc but otherwise can expect to be left alone

of course this right is likely to be violated in the case of eg north korea or such...

cheers,

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by chrisr

any vessel has the right for peaceful transit through territorial waters without visa etc provided that you do not stop anywhere. you may be asked who you are, where you are going etc but otherwise can expect to be left alone

of course this right is likely to be violated in the case of eg north korea or such...

cheers,

Yes, but asking who you are, can also include asking about your passport info, exit paperwork, etc... and they likely will question if you are a "peaceful transit" when you can't show something as simple as a passport...after that it gets messy.

Crossing the international line in the Detroit River is much different from sailing along the coast of southern Chile in terms of reasonably being able to claim you forgot your passport at home.

PS: They can put the burden on you to prove you were only transiting and never stopped.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Yes, but asking who you are, can also include asking about your passport info, exit paperwork, etc... and they likely will question if you are a "peaceful transit" when you can't show something as simple as a passport...after that it gets messy.

Crossing the international line in the Detroit River is much different from sailing along the coast of southern Chile in terms of reasonably being able to claim you forgot your passport at home.

PS: They can put the burden on you to prove you were only transiting and never stopped.

my experience is mainly commercial (10 years at sea / master class 1) however the same rules apply to small craft. the littoral state is interested in the VESSEL (port of registry, clearance papers, destination) and not the crew. i've numerous times been asked for vessel details and once or twice for master's name...but never anything else

and yes, i agree : if you are clearly loitering (taking 12 weeks for a 2 week passage etc) then you may expect further questions, but i think we are getting a bit off topic

my reference to a non-stop transit via cape horn as a way of avoiding getting a passport was very much tongue in cheek. such would be clearly stupid - although i maintain would be possible if your vessel had appropriate international registration / port clearance etc.

cheers,

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by chrisr

my experience is mainly commercial (10 years at sea / master class 1) however the same rules apply to small craft. the littoral state is interested in the VESSEL (port of registry, clearance papers, destination) and not the crew. i've numerous times been asked for vessel details and once or twice for master's name...but never anything else

and yes, i agree : if you are clearly loitering (taking 12 weeks for a 2 week passage etc) then you may expect further questions, but i think we are getting a bit off topic

my reference to a non-stop transit via cape horn as a way of avoiding getting a passport was very much tongue in cheek. such would be clearly stupid - although i maintain would be possible if your vessel had appropriate international registration / port clearance etc.

cheers,

Yeah I know it wasn't a serious idea...but even as an outlandish idea, it really has major potential issues.

I'm assuming in your commercial work, the paperwork was all in order and you were following a logical route from port to port...there was no reason to dig in further and in the modern world, they likely can check on your origin and destination information electronically.

Once the OP starts stumbling over questions and tries to explain why he is taking an unusual route or an usual amount of time, good chance they start asking more questions.

I've ran into this in my line of work reviewing studies. If everything is in order and looks reasonable, you do a cursory review, maybe a few minor comments to address and move on. If you hit a few obvious issues early in the review, you tend to review in detail and quickly uncover more issues...often it spirals out of control and becomes a mess.