Pilotage Fees for Canada ?

[stillbuilding]

I will be wanting to sail from HK around the Nth Pacific via Japan, Alaska, Canada, US, Hawai etc. I seem to recall some magazine articles indicating very steep pilotage fees are applicable for Canada. Anyone have up to date info?

[knottybuoyz]

As far as I know they only apply to commercial vessels entering the St. Lawrence River and Seaway as well as the Port of Vancouver. What kind of boat are you sailing?

[Capt Phil]

knottybouyz is correct, I believe. Pilotage fees are only for commercial vessels over a certain tonnage limit, usually of sufficient size to require a pilot. Unless you are sailing a hell of a large vessel, like thousands of tons, you should be OK. I drove commercial vessels (tugs and seine boats) up to 150 tons in and out of Vancouver for years and never required a pilot or paid a pilotage fee. Not sure where you plan to make landfall in Alaska but a good idea to check on where the US Customs and Immigration facilities are at the time of year you are cruising. They used to man some Alaska locations only during the summer months. Major ports like Valdez and Dutch Harbor and perhaps Haines operated all year round. Similarly, entering Canada from the North, Prince Rupert used to be the only year round Port of Entry but there may be a summer schedule on the northern BC coast I'm not aware of as a result of popularity of the cruiser traffic headed north in the summer months. You should also be aware of the gun laws passing through Canadian waters which are far more restrictive than the US. Have a safe cruise. The scenery will blow your mind but watch out for cruise ships plying the inside passage between Alaska and Vancouver!

[stillbuilding]

Thanks for those comments - very helpful.

[Lodesman]

Pilotage applies to commercial vessels over 350 gross tons or recreational vessels over 500 grt. Pacific Pilotage Authority Canada - Welcome

[cal40john]

Maybe you were thinking Washington State, $300 exemption fee from getting a pilot.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ate-13623.html

More about cruising permits in U.S.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ers-34028.html

[Capt Phil]

Stillbuilding... further to the comments of cal40john, read his link to Foreign Yacht Cruising US Waters. It is a good one. When you enter the US on a foreign flag yacht, you must apply for a cruising permit which used to be issued for 1 year from date of entry into the US. This was renewable every year by leaving the US for 2 weeks and re-entering and obtaining another years' permit. No limit on how many times you can do this. They may have relaxed the requirement to leave for two weeks and I have heard of some foreign cruisers obtaining the permit by going down and reapplying without leaving but check this out thoroughly. The regulations do state that you must notify the appropriate authority when moving from one port to another in the US. I have done this many times skippering a yacht registered in the Cayman Islands and usually a phone call would suffice but with the advent of e-mail, I found this a preferable communication as I would have a record of the notification. When you are cruising, it is not always in an area where there are offices to notify your vessels' movements but each office has a geographical area for which they are responsible. For example, Los Angeles handles most of the Channel Islands in Southern California. I have found the staff who handle your vessels' movements to always be courteous and helpful and willing to offer great advice. This requirement is not dissimilar to Mexico where you must obtain a 'Zarpa' (sp?) from the Port Captain when you leave a port in Mexico for another location within Mexican waters. The Port Captain in your arriving port will ask you for it. The Mexican Authorities have become much stricter on this in recent years. When you leave Mexican waters, you must obtain a 'Dispatcho' from the Port Captain in your last port of call. When dealing with maritime officials face to face in either the US or Mexico, it really pays to spruce up your appearance. I can't tell you the number of times I have entered a Port Captain or Migracion office in Mexico and the cruisers awaiting their paperwork looked like Cheech and Chong after a bad week on the town. I always dressed in a clean white shirt with my Captain bars and my skippers' hat. Always went to the front of the line! Cheers, Capt Phil

[svSeaglass]

Stillbuilding,

We just left Hong Kong and now are in Singapore heading north to Phuket. We will be returning to the us via the route you just explained. We have little data on the best route to take out of japan to Alaska.

Any advice and links to blogs of completed passages would be helpful.

Thanks

-sea glass

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, sea glass.

[highseas]

SY Jennifer blog/Japan to Alaska