| Thanks for the understanding. At the time we felt terrible, both dogs were loved by us. They were great companions. One of them Isabelle (the 110 lbs dog) loved jumping off the boat to swim with the dolphins. She had attitude. The dolphins loved driving her nuts.
The former British protectorates I visited followed the rules without thought or reason. They would enforce the rules without knowing the reasons behind them. In Grand Cayman if you didn't call the port captain within 30 minutes of entering their waters you were fined and possibly searched. One 50 ft boat was seized due to this. During the legal wrangling the boat ended up sinking during Hurricane Ivan. The hatches were left open. Now all of a sudden the owner could have his boat back.
In Cuba (at the smaller entry ports) all the officials, crisply dressed in uniforms, come all at the same time to your boat. They politely ask to be granted permission to come aboard. Then they take their shoes off and within 15 minutes everything is done in a polite courteous manner. Then they change into their regular clothes and you spend the rest of the day playing dominoes with them.
Most of the officials in Latin American countries were enjoyable to deal with. It could take a lot of time but they were usually flexible and helpful. Trying a few words of Spanish always made things go smoother. Repeating the same words louder and louder in English had a markedly negative impact on the process.
It took us 2 weeks once to track down and visit all the officials we needed to see in one place, by the time we cleared in we left. They were all either busy with a family problem, running a business on the side or had decided to take the day off. My wife after 2 frustrating weeks pinned one official against a wall till he agreed to do the paperwork that day. He seemed to enjoy it.
The San Blass Islands once upon a time didn't seem to care if you didn't check in. The officials were so relaxed I fell asleep once waiting for them to find some usable carbon paper, the typewriter and the appropriate forms. They never did give me a cruising permit, they couldn’t find a blank one. One boat stayed there for 7 years without clearing in.
In Columbia just after you anchor a guy looking like a used car salesman is rowed out to your boat in a decrepit dingy to pickup your passports and boat papers. A day later your papers are back all without seeing one official.
You can even arrange for a nominal fee to have your passport visit another country for a day or two to obtain a new visa.
A lot of that has been changing or so I hear. More and more rules and ever increasing fees. I think they have been learning from us. I believe Globalisation has not been good to cruisers. |