Non-stop to Bahamas from Halifax, Canada - in late fall: Suicide? Advice please.

[SteveSadler]

Bermuda is the easy route. And a great island to stop for a while.
Just pay attention to the forecasts and pick your time.
Hurricanes are in the spotlight for weeks before they make it to Bermuda.
I would go earlier than later as N Atlantic lows form fast and are less predictable than Hurricanes.
Dark and stormy's are waiting for you.

[CSailor]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I really would not write Trump. Even Obama probably wouldn't have helped. Unfortunately, your overstaying the visa put you on the wrong list. This has been true for a long time. It's hard to fix. You really don't want them to pay attention to you.
...

The rhumb line from Halifax to Bermuda is 500 miles from Hatteras in much safer waters. The Bermuda route also means only one "distress" stop. It will be very hard to go down the US coast without needing to stop several times. They aren't going to believe you.
...
Finally, are you positive the Bahamas will accept you? I would have expected Bermuda to be less trouble than the Bahamas.Their immigration is quite formal and not all rules are consistently applied (or well understood). In any case, remember you will need $300 in cash to get a cruising permit for the boat.

Too late on the first point: although we haven't released a letter to Pres. Trump, or approached US authorities yet, analytics shows a lot of activity on Elena's site, from a static IP in Quantico, Virginia owned by the Department of Homeland Security. Sure bet we're on that list now!

Then again, we refuse to become criminals or victims to bolster some pathetic Canadian optics, anymore. We respect USA and appreciate its people more than you can imagine; we've experienced nothing but genuine concern, interest, and sincerity from Americans while we were there with DHS permission, AND when we were trapped, paperless (undocumented) in Charleston by whatever craven game Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada is playing with my stateless partner of 11 years.

Snap Judgement day was Dec 25, 2016, Christmas day, Charleston, SC: either become illegal and lie low, hoping for a refugee travel document from IRCC (Elena had applied for the renewal months earlier) to get us into Bahamas; OR sail to Halifax, undocumented, facing arrest if blown ashore, or needing USCG assistance, and do it in the dead of winter.

We chose to live. We explained the situation to IRCC, we pleaded with them, they played the most outrageous games. We wanted to go to US authorities, to ask for help, Passport Canada warned us not to, threatened us with terrible consequences. The games never really ended. We think it has something to do with Elena being LGBT and thus 'invisible' - she looks and behaves like regular folk. She's not the right refugee/immigrant optics for IRCC or Canada.

The same sort of absurd, games have kept her from getting Canadian citizenship... she's been stateless for 11 years since fleeing Russia. Her application for citizenship was submitted six years ago. She passed the citizenship test 3 years ago... nothing.

With a passport, with rights, none of this would have happened to Elena, or I. We think some jaded government union employee came off a 2 hour smoke-break at Passport Canada, took one look at Elena's application for a refugee travel document renewal, saw that she is self sufficient, and traveling on a yacht in nice places (as in: not rotting in Canada), and said, "This Ruskie dyke is living better than me!" and chucked her application documents into the farthest corner. From then on, it just becomes a kind of sick game to see how f*cked they can get us.

Regardless, it happened. It's how we became inadmissible.

There's a lot more too it, but the gist is, when you roll the dice for 11 years and they always come up snake-eyes, you wonder if they just might be loaded.

Point two: The Bermuda route has it's advantages, we completely agree. We have all the sat-comm and nav gear to make it work, and the boat is bristling with offshore gear (we used it to flee from Russia in the first place), and we have a mondo drogue (sea anchor), and we can cuss to make a longshoreman blush.

Trouble is, selling it to Elena... we've been wandering the oceans for 11 years, we want a place that we can point to and say, "we come from there! That is home." We want to be in a country that doesn't force us to part, that grants us the same rights as others, that doesn't play games with our lives for optics, that doesn't force us to sea, that lets us follow our dreams. I guess what we're trying to say, is that we want to come home to America.

Point Three: Bahamas, yes it will admit Elena for 30 days (and hundreds of dollars) it buys time... sadly we've done our research. Boy did we do our research. It was our last hope before Passport Canada took that from us, a long time and many sea-miles ago, on Christmas day, in our beloved Charleston.

[boatpoker]

Don't get it. I have several Russian friends (including a gay couple) who emigrated from Russia to Canada and are now Canadian citizens. What happened that Elena had to "flee" Russia ?

[CarlF]

If your preferred outcome is to return to the US then I'd haul the boat and rent a place in Halifax for the winter - shouldn't cost much. Then hire a lawyer in the US to help you fix your US visa problem. As you've seen, immigration law is not a good area for a "do it yourself" approach.

[CSailor]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Don't get it. I have several Russian friends (including a gay couple) who emigrated from Russia to Canada and are now Canadian citizens. What happened that Elena had to "flee" Russia ?

She was attacked by her parents, passport stolen, threatened by cops... lots of info on her site and tons of media.

Her site: http://www.cadenza.ca - Talking to the Moon

and go ahead and google something like "Escape from Russia" + Elena, or +sailboat or checkout the "In Media" page on her site.

As for why she isn't a citizen yet, that's what we'd like to know too. As for the kind of crap IRCC or whatever it's calling itself now, is throwing in our way, check out the PRESS RELEASE on the PRESS KIT page of the NEWS tab of her site.

[CSailor]

Originally Posted by CarlF

If your preferred outcome is to return to the US then I'd haul the boat and rent a place in Halifax for the winter - shouldn't cost much. Then hire a lawyer in the US to help you fix your US visa problem. As you've seen, immigration law is not a good area for a "do it yourself" approach.

Hired lots of lawyers... why we don't have a home anymore, pretty much down to our last kopeks here.

As for preferred outcome... we just want to keep the boat, keep what's left of our dignity, be together, and go on with our lives. We've lost a lot of years of our lives to this most Canadian of games. We don't want to imprison ourselves in Halifax through the winter, and waste even more life and hearbeats. We're not going to keep taking ship, so we're clearly not right for Canada. As for USA, Americans have turned out to be the most "real" and least f*cked up people we've encountered.

It might also have something to do with my sister, a major gold-digger: she left her tycoon, NHL owner hubby for kd lang taking him for billions. Blonde trophy wife dumps him for a woman; he flees with what's left of his empire to the UK - probably didn't play out well in the Canadian halls of money and power. Now there's me... wanting a miserable little refugee travel document from the Cad gov for my partner... don't know, just thinking out loud here.

[boatpoker]

I dunno, something not adding up here. If my passport was stolen I'd apply for a new one in the country of which I was a citizen.

[kazo]

After five failed applications over 12 months, Ivanovna received her refugee travel document Monday from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Couple get travel document to set sail | The Chronicle Herald

sounds like 2 days ago...

[seandepagnier]

I have the same wind problem. I'm trying to go south, I'm in Maine, and it keeps blowing SW too much!!

I'm about to build a wood stove.. I just need to find a steel pipe and an empty gas bottle. This worked great in new zealand south island winter.

As far as the US: what a freaking horrible country! People are so wasteful here it's is disgusting. I could go on for pages. I think canada isn't much better, wouldn't want to call either place "home"

[Suijin]

Head down the coast and put in somewhere in NC, probably Beaufort/Morehead for groceries/whatever. Anchor out. Chances of anyone actually asking for papers are slim to virtually none given the number of snowbirds headed south this time of year. If they do, you stopped for groceries or medical attention. Take a couple of days to rest then set out and a straight shot down to the Bahamas. You'll be virtually coastal the whole way and actually not far off a the rhumb line.

As noted, going to Bermuda is 500+ miles offshore. It would make more sense if you were headed to the Virgins but you're not.

[kazo]

...Anchor out. Chances of anyone actually asking for papers are slim to virtually none given the number of snowbirds headed south this time of year. If they do, you stopped for groceries or medical attention. Take a couple of days to rest then set out and a straight shot down to the Bahamas. You'll be virtually coastal the whole way and actually not far off a the rhumb line...

my understanding is that the 'papers' are not an issue anymore (?)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novasco...nt-to-set-sail

[leboyd]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I have the same wind problem. I'm trying to go south, I'm in Maine, and it keeps blowing SW too much!!

I'm about to build a wood stove.. I just need to find a steel pipe and an empty gas bottle. This worked great in new zealand south island winter.

As far as the US: what a freaking horrible country! People are so wasteful here it's is disgusting. I could go on for pages. I think canada isn't much better, wouldn't want to call either place "home"

I'm personally hoping the winds turn well in your favor as soon as possible. Fair winds.

[GordMay]

... It might also have something to do with my sister, a major gold-digger: she left her tycoon, NHL owner hubby for kd lang taking him for billions. Blonde trophy wife dumps him for a woman; he flees with what's left of his empire to the UK - probably didn't play out well in the Canadian halls of money and power ...

Interesting, but this reads slightly differently ➥ k.d. Lang dating married woman whose Canadian oil tycoon husband is worth $2.2 BILLION | Daily Mail Online

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Morgan Stone

She was attacked by her parents, passport stolen, threatened by cops... lots of info on her site and tons of media.

Her site: ГоворÑ�щаÑ� Ñ� луной — иÑ�ториÑ� одной любви в Ñ�овременном мире - Talking to the Moon

and go ahead and google something like "Escape from Russia" + Elena, or +sailboat or checkout the "In Media" page on her site.

As for why she isn't a citizen yet, that's what we'd like to know too. As for the kind of crap IRCC or whatever it's calling itself now, is throwing in our way, check out the PRESS RELEASE on the PRESS KIT page of the NEWS tab of her site.

Hi Meg,

Sounds like you and Elena are in a real bureaucratic quagmire. Very interesting story for anyone not having to deal with it. Good luck digging out.

I looked at Elena's website and if I may, have a question. Maybe I missed something but the website shows you sailing from Europe to British Columbia but I found nothing that showed how you got a boat from BC to Halifax. So what happened in between?

If it was me, this late in the year unless I could leave immediately (only waiting out hurrican Nate to see where it goes) I would not make this trip offshore. If I couldn't figure out how to coastal hop through the US until much farther south I would figure a way to wait it out in Canada. The best idea I've seen so far is to haul the boat and find a place to stay in Canada until spring. I guess you could try to winter on the boat but it could be chilly. Since Elena is from Russia maybe she's acclimated.

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I have the same wind problem. I'm trying to go south, I'm in Maine, and it keeps blowing SW too much!!

I'm about to build a wood stove.. I just need to find a steel pipe and an empty gas bottle. This worked great in new zealand south island winter.

As far as the US: what a freaking horrible country! People are so wasteful here it's is disgusting. I could go on for pages. I think canada isn't much better, wouldn't want to call either place "home"

Forget south. East is your quickest way out of my horrible and disgusting country.