No Clearance, No Passport & Going to Trinidad

[daddle]

If you want to leave SA simply leave. Go straight out far offshore. Don't call them if you have a problem. Make your next stop a free country where missing papers are not a big deal. Deal with the problems as they arise. Live a little. Hope SA customs does not follow CF.

[captain58sailin]

I generally find that it is best not to burden the "Authorities" with anymore information than absolutely needed. Having said that, I agree with hellosailor, why pick a fight you can't win? IF you are hell bent for election to do this, leave in the middle of the night and don't look back.

[salticrak]

I may have Visa issues in the none too distant future.i have been living in Australia for nigh on 9 years on every kind of temporary visa that some shiny ass has come up with here.I have been put thru the wringer/hoops and spent a kings ransom on "doing the right thing.'' Visa wise.

My problem is that in this time i have been building a catamaran and am near to completion, a launch in Feb is most likely. i am awaiting a decision on a permanent visa but due to some health issues my chances of gaining residency may be a bit more challenging.

I am not some dodgy drug runner, i owe not a single dollar to no man but may find that i will have to leave under the radar from Aus if my visa is denied.Having dealt with immigration for the last five years i can tell you that this process is soul destroying and mighty stressful.

I will get the boat registered in Australia as all my family are citizens.One of them will be part owner for the paper work.If my permanent visa is denied and i want to go voyaging over the horizon, what would you do in my situation?

all the best paul.

[tartansail]

I agree with the general point that p!ssing off the authorities is rarely a winning solution. However, this isn't the first boat I've heard of that has had trouble with Brazilian authorities. I was following the blog of a retired Canadian couple who sailed from Vancouver to Florida before putting their boat up for sale. They occasionally posted here. They seemed to work hard to know and play by the rules. IIRC, they spent a few days trying to check into Brazil with multiple hassles along the way. They finally decided to just leave and head directly for the Carib without either checking in or out. I don't recall if they just used their previous zarpe, but they seemed to have made it through their Caribbean port of arrival OK.

When I was in Brazil working -- mostly Sao Paulo and Rio, it was clear that the boundary between safe and dangerous areas was very sharp. I was driving with some Brazilian friends who wouldn't let me stop the car at red lights in certain areas because of concerns about getting jumped. They assured me that the local cops expected this to happen and wouldn't bat an eye. One of my colleagues was from Fortaleza. She encouraged us to come and visit but also said that we should always travel with a local to navigate the neighborhoods safely. I love Brazil and Brazilians and keep looking for work to take me back, but I don't doubt the stories of theft and perceived danger.

[daddle]

Salticrak - Head for Malaysia or Philippines. Maybe Indonesia. Have a good simple explanation handy, stick to it, dress snappy. Authorities there don't seem to care about documents. The Philippine official didn't want to see my Palau exit papers that I paid dearly for. In Malaysia they made a big fuss about clearing out on Monday and leaving at dawn on Tuesday but completely missed that the boat leaving was not the same boat that arrived. Heh.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Selected Risks

Hello everyone. Very interesting thread. I found it whilst trying to figure out a devious plan for getting my boat out of South Africa without clearance (to be honest). I am a British citizen and went to SA by air to buy a flicka 20 which I intend to sail over to the carribean. It is registered in SA, but they are very strict on letting boats of 20ft leave (unless they are visiting of course). They do not understand that the Flicka20 is more than capable to handle the big ocean. Here locals have to have lots of safety equipment and all manor of sailing qualifications before they can clear out. All I want to do is get out of here. Does anyone know a loop hole. I'm not sure how the customs thing works. Perhaps I could get a British registration and pretend i was visiting, but then would the SA customs nab me when I try to clear out? Can anyone advise? Should i post this somewhere else (sorry, I'm new).

Get a Bill of Sale (as your evidence of ownership) and then put the boat on the UK SSR (cheap and simple) and just forget about the SA boat reg paperwork......and then just sail away . UK Passport holders don't need permission to leave the UK (on a boat or by any other means) - when you arrive somewhere just say you sailed direct from the UK.

Obviously going back to SA may cause some problems (especially that you never left!), but if that not a concern then IMO f#ck 'em .

[Therapy]

Start a new thread..

[Gabrieln]

I'm brazilian and hate to say that is not easy to travel around here. It's a most unpredictable country. You never know if the authorities will help or make everything unbearably difficult.
Immigration has been specially hard on spanish citizens because we've been treated disrespectfully for years but, now, there's a lot of spanish coming to work here. They think it's some kind of payback.
Anyway, there's lots of clubs and marinas that would be honored to help a fellow cruiser.
And, certainly, the embassy/consulate here must have quiet a estruture.

[mcarling]

To clarify one point that was discussed earlier in the thread: Every EU member state consulate in the world is required by EU law to provide consular assistance to any EU citizen whose own country does not have a local consulate. So, a Spanish citizen may get a replacement passport from, for example, a Greek consulate in a city which has a Greek consulate but not a Spanish consulate.

One should always travel with multiple photocopies of one's passport(s) kept separately. Having a photocopy will facilitate getting a replacement passport. Also leave a photocopy with someone at home who can fax or email it. I keep high resolution scans on every electronic device: MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone in addition to one paper copy of each passport in the boat.