Dealing with the Not-So-Pretty Side of Sailing Off to Distant Ports in Search of...

[anglooff]

A few up to date cruising guides of your intended area/s will provide 99% of the information you need regarding procedures and local information. Part of the pleasure of cruising in new areas is the anticipation of arrival in a new environment which the guides will help you achieve. In my experience no brides were needed or paid. If you had all the necessary papers required etc., then the process was easy. If you have low second language skills then perhaps you should seek someone to help...Normally the guides will often give names and contact numbers...however we live in an internet age and often the procedures etc are in the national website.

Don't pay bribes you will piss off more officials than you please. You will certainly piss off the next cruiser who arrives with all his paperwork in order. As others have stated politeness coupled to a sense of humour and atleast the minimum of research will soon negate any general worries you may have.

Regards

Alan

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by anglooff

A few up to date cruising guides of your intended area/s will provide 99% of the information you need regarding procedures and local information. Part of the pleasure of cruising in new areas is the anticipation of arrival in a new environment which the guides will help you achieve. In my experience no brides were needed or paid. If you had all the necessary papers required etc., then the process was easy. If you have low second language skills then perhaps you should seek someone to help...Normally the guides will often give names and contact numbers...however we live in an internet age and often the procedures etc are in the national website.

Don't pay bribes you will piss off more officials than you please. You will certainly piss off the next cruiser who arrives with all his paperwork in order. As others have stated politeness coupled to a sense of humour and atleast the minimum of research will soon negate any general worries you may have.

Regards

Alan

I would rather give them the "bride" and keep my money!lol...I guess one would call it a bribe if the one wanting something was to make the offer...which would be very foolish indeed...what is it called when the cop or public offical instagates the process ...a "fee"... and I have never seen a cop that makes 50.00 a month get "pissed off" after he or she asks for a "fee"..It would be better if we didnt have to do it but the person who ask the ? allready knows its not the same in the 3rd world places he or she seems to be headed for ... by all means wait... dont ever offer...good luck, be safe DVC

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by anglooff

A
Don't pay bribes you will piss off more officials than you please. You will certainly piss off the next cruiser who arrives with all his paperwork in order.
Alan

As I stated before the only time I was ever "threatened" for a bribe was in a communist country. Every other time the officials were polite, friendly,...and slow. If I wanted them to finish today, after a quick look around they suggested it might go quicker with an extra fee. Totally my choice.

Another time I got a speeding ticket, was I speeding? Yes. No problem; go to the police station and wait in a 3rd world jail until a judge shows up the next monday to negotiate my fine... Or for $40 US cash payable now, (20 years ago prices may have gone up), the nice police officer can wave me on with a polite warning.

Are all 3rd world dictatorships corrupt, no. Nor are all the officials in those that are. Just be prepared that things are done differently in different countries. Be flexible, get local knowledge. And politeness and a little available cash will get you out of most situations. Or you can file a case with a higher up, and wait in jail for the outcome.

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Actually very good advice if you are the sort that only sees the negatives and not the positives.
- - Long term cruising or circumnavigating is not for those with a bad or negative attitude. You need both a positive attitude (and sometimes it really gets tested) and a desire to see the real world yourself, not through somebody else's eyes or camera.
- - Long term cruising is a proposition loaded with endless problems and irritations as the saying "cruising is just sailing from one repair spot to another repair location." But all of that is said in humor and jest despite it being all too true for many cruisers.
- - There is the other side of the experience which can provide such a rich experience and satisfaction to a lifetime of curiosity about the "rest of the world" that the difficult times are pushed back into a corner of your psyche where they are hidden but are not forgotten.
- - The "bad" experiences can be generally avoided by research and diligent gathering of current information about prospective destinations and then just not going there if they are reportedly rotten places for a cruiser.
- - In reality there are so many "good" places to cruise to that going to the really bad ones doesn't make sense unless you are a masochist.
- - However, sometimes you have little or no choice but to stop in some of the bad places in which case you just grin and bear it until you can leave again for some more of the great places.

In case you didn't see it I was SARCASTIC: I don't understand people complaining about border's regulation in other countries.
I have travelled in very strange place in my life, both for pleasure and b'ness, and I have seen it all in term of strange regulation...
So I was saying to those complaining to stay home if they don't like it...

[osirissail]

You may have intended to be sarcastic - but in actuality you were quite seriously "on target" with the advice. Cruisers with bad attitudes only make it less pleasant for the rest of us when we transit after the "bad attitude guy" has pissed off the local officials. And the last thing we want to hear during "sundowners" is somebody "ragging off" about getting ripped off by the officials.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

As I stated before the only time I was ever "threatened" for a bribe was in a communist country. Every other time the officials were polite, friendly,...and slow. If I wanted them to finish today, after a quick look around they suggested it might go quicker with an extra fee. Totally my choice.

Another time I got a speeding ticket, was I speeding? Yes. No problem; go to the police station and wait in a 3rd world jail until a judge shows up the next monday to negotiate my fine... Or for $40 US cash payable now, (20 years ago prices may have gone up), the nice police officer can wave me on with a polite warning.

Are all 3rd world dictatorships corrupt, no. Nor are all the officials in those that are. Just be prepared that things are done differently in different countries. Be flexible, get local knowledge. And politeness and a little available cash will get you out of most situations. Or you can file a case with a higher up, and wait in jail for the outcome.

Yea I got pulled in Mexico but was not speeding and when I got out my money and asked if ten would do he reached in and said this will do and took anouther ten..we all laughed and he gave us an escort out of town which was a good thing as we were in Larado Neuvo and they were kidnappen people and putting them in a house and when one man paid his way out he said that it was run like a business...set you in a room blindfolded and when they made a deal with your family and got money they let you go ...said he was there 3 days and that at least six people were brought in during his tenure ...he said, they were all Mexicans that lived in the U.S. and visiting family in Mexico..Ive been called everything from injun to mexican to Iranian so I guess the cop did me a favor with the escort...crazy world we live in ..go figure...or maybe he didnt want any other cops to get a hold of his "cash cow"... its all fun and games..DVC

[Matt Johnson]

I love this thread. I have feared running into the issues of the "officials" before I cast off, but after reading this, I see it can be a good experience. It sounds like if you walk in with a smile, paperwork in order, and a bit of patience, all is ok.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!