Ensenada to San Diego

[h20man]

Originally Posted by wholybee

FWIW, when I checked into San Diego. I entered everything into the app in Ensenada, but stopped short of submitting my arrival. I got a late start out of Ensenada and arrived in San Diego late, around 11pm if I recall. I stopped at the Customs dock.

I then reported my arrival, and expecting customs to do their thing in the morning, I went to bed. Not 5 minutes later, I got a phone call, was asked a few basic questions, and was granted entry. No video chat or inspection. Then I went back to bed.

Then things went downhill. About an hour later, the police knock on my boat. They ask why I am there. I tell them that I just arrived, and am here (at the customs dock) to clear customs. "Great you are in the right place, when is your appointment with them?" I tell them that I checked in with the ROAM app. They are totally confused and have never heard of such a thing. They look at my passport and boat document, and call customs. After a few minutes they return and tell me, "Customs confirms you are cleared in. You need to leave the dock, immediately." I politely tell them no problem, please advise me where to go. It is now 1am, and I can't check into any marina at 1am. "Well, you can't anchor unless you make an appointment 48 hours in advance and get a permit." (incidentally, those permits are purchased in person in San Diego, not online) Again, I tell them that I am will to go anywhere they tell me, but I need somewhere to go.

Luckily, I happened to remember that as I was entering San Diego, I heard a USCG broadcast advising of a gale warning the next morning. I mentioned this. The officer becomes argumentative and says that they are notified of any gale warnings. I say I don't recall where it was for, but for sure I did hear the broadcast. He gets on the phone again.

He comes back "I have confirmed that there is a gale warning. When there is a gale, we have to give safe harbor to any vessels that need it, so you can enter the anchorage and anchor without a permit."

Anyway, be damn sure you have a plan for where to go once you get to San Diego. I suggest reserving a slip at a marina, an be sure to arrive before the Marina closes for the day.

@Warren..

Absolutely.. forgot to mention.

The customs dock is just for check in.. and after you are expected to leave immediately post check in.



The city has short term docks one can go to:


https://reservations.portofsandiego....ting/index.asp


BUT.. you must set up an account and owner info and.. stuff ahead of time.
Do it and you can reserve a slip by the day so you have a place to stay post check in.

[donradcliffe]

It used to be that the police dock was really busy early in the morning, as there were several big party fishing boats that came to check in from the Coronado Islands. In the last year, everyone has started using ROAM, and the dock is pretty deserted. In March I stayed there 3 hours waiting for a new owner to come pick up his boat, and the cops ignored me.

[adventuren1]

That's what my biggest fear is, a SNAFU in San Diego that gets me stuck. This time of year it will be dark or very near it. Fortunately I am very familiar with San Diego at night. The receipt we have for the DTOPS is blank in the decal number spot. The ROAM accepted the account number in that field so I'm remaining positive! I had a similar experience when I first got NEXUS. I will take your advice and have a slip reservation. Thanks.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by h20man

@Warren..

Absolutely.. forgot to mention.

The customs dock is just for check in.. and after you are expected to leave immediately post check in.



The city has short term docks one can go to:


https://reservations.portofsandiego....ting/index.asp


BUT.. you must set up an account and owner info and.. stuff ahead of time.
Do it and you can reserve a slip by the day so you have a place to stay post check in.

I attempted that from Ensenada a couple days in advance. Maybe it was just my bad luck, but despite what the website said, they were not setting up accounts via email. It needed to be in person. So that ruled out the anchorage and the city docks.

Also, I was told that no one actually checks or manages the city docks, and they are often full with boats that don't belong there, so you might reserve a slip and find it isn't available when you get there. I think the only safe solution is to have a slip reserved at a private marina.

You should be ok with the sticker number. I did have an issue with the number once, when I was checking into Puerto Rico. Customs called me, I found the confirmation email from when I bought the sticker, and read some numbers off the confirmation. That was fine with them and there were no issues.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by wholybee

I attempted that from Ensenada a couple days in advance. Maybe it was just my bad luck, but despite what the website said, they were not setting up accounts via email. It needed to be in person. So that ruled out the anchorage and the city docks.

Also, I was told that no one actually checks or manages the city docks, and they are often full with boats that don't belong there, so you might reserve a slip and find it isn't available when you get there. I think the only safe solution is to have a slip reserved at a private marina.

You should be ok with the sticker number. I did have an issue with the number once, when I was checking into Puerto Rico. Customs called me, I found the confirmation email from when I bought the sticker, and read some numbers off the confirmation. That was fine with them and there were no issues.

Because they have their email in the clear on the web it may be overspammed..


I did call them from, Ensenada.. and then emailed whilst I was on the line:


from their web site:

Our office is avaialble 7 days a week, from 1000 - 1800. For inquiries and reservations for new accounts please email moorings@portofsandiego.org All current account holders will be directed to make reservations online.
Please allow 24hrs for us to get back to your requests. Same day requests will NOT be granted.
For general information and questions, boaters can email moorings@portofsandiego.org or call 619.686.6227