Beaufort, NC to Lake Worth, FL - Have I left the USA?

[PuttingDoctor]

I think the main point has been missed. As long as you don’t make landfall in a foreign port you technically have not left the USA in the eyes of CBP.

[jmschmidt]

The only one that counts is 12nm, that is the territorial limit. It used to be 3nm for centuries but George Bush, the elder, got ticked off with the Soviet intel trawler anchored 3nm plus 100 meters outside the Pearl Harbor channel in Hawaii and invoked a 12nm limit which he did not have the authority to do at the time. It was soon there after made international law. Hawaii Air Guard guys used to buzz the Ruskies at 100' off the deck.

Many countries designated greater limits (Soviets, Libya, etc.) and if you entered that area they would shoot you down or force you down (Korean Air, twice) or board you, take your boat and put you in prison (USS Pueblo).

The 200nm economic zone only applies if you are engaged in commercial activity; ocean mining, fishing, oil exploration, etc. Many countries sell licenses to ships form other nations to operate in their zones.

[gulfcoastsailor]

It’s simple: if you did not clear a foreign immigration you did not leave the 🇺🇸..

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by gulfcoastsailor

It’s simple: if you did not clear a foreign immigration you did not leave the 🇺🇸..

That may be simple but it isn't correct. If you cleared in and/or out of a foreign country then you would have to clear into the US. If you stopped in a foreign country without clearing you would also have to clear in.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

The only one that counts is 12nm, that is the territorial limit.......

Passing outside the 12nm limit does not mean you are required to clear back into the country. It has nothing to do with it.

[joefults]

You have not left the USA until you check in to a foreign country.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by joefults

You have not left the USA until you check in to a foreign country.

Nope. If you go ashore in another country, whether you check in or not, you are required to clear into the USA.

[Island Time O25]

AFAIK the rule is - if you sailed out of US waters into int'l waters and then back into US waters you dont need to clear in. Sailing into foreign waters, even without landing, triggers the clearing in requirement.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

AFAIK the rule is - if you sailed out of US waters into int'l waters and then back into US waters you dont need to clear in. Sailing into foreign waters, even without landing, triggers the clearing in requirement.

S
Simply sailing into foreign waters does not trigger a need to clear back into the US. This happens often in the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca where the US and Canadian waters touch each other. Heres what Customs says:

Pursuant to 19 CFR 4.2, any small vessel arriving to the United States from a foreign port or place to include any small vessel which has visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside the territorial sea, are required to report their arrival to CBP immediately (see 19 U.S.C. 1433).

[boat driver]

Originally Posted by SVRocinante

Good day all

Apologies for what might be a silly question, but here goes:

Sailing from Beaufort, NC to Lake Worth FL takes us outside the U.S. Territorial Sea (12nm), outside the U.S. Contiguous Zone (24nm) but inside the U.S. Economic Zone (200nm).

As a Documented, U.S. flagged vessel, am I required to check in and out of the country?

Thanks,

You are sailing from one US port to another- provided you have not visited another port/ received any foreign products (did not replenish at the grocery buoy ) then you are simply transiting US port to US port. In similarity this ultimately is the basis for a Jones Act commercial vessel.

[joefults]

If you do not check in to another country, the USA has no way of knowing that you went there, so you do not have to check back in to the USA. Even if you did check in to another country and did not check in to the USA your only problem would be the next time you did come back to the USA from a foreign country, the passport stamps from the foreign country would show you left and did not check back in. If you go to Cuba and ask them to not stamp your passport (which we always needed to do in the past) you definitely did not check back in to the USA on your way back.

[Moontide]

The requirement to "check in" is based on your last contact location. If last contact was US then never need to check in when coming "back" into the US.

Note that if you make physical contact with a non US vessel, even in international waters, it triggers the requirement to check in. Technically if you meet up with a foreign vessel while at sea and exchange lobster, or rum, you are supposed to check in when arriving back in the US.



If you sail through another countries waters (12 mile limit I believe) then you might need to check in, even if you did not stop. Not sure on that aspect.



Having said

[SVRocinante]

Thanks all, appreciate all the great feedback!

[Mainstreet]

Just add to the mix and confusion and for the benefit of Canadian and other foreign flagged vessels under a US Cruising Permit, we are required to report “the coastwise movement of a (Canadian) or foreign vessel” every time we move from one US port to another. These “Ports” are not just, for argument ‘s sake,a single city such as Savannah for instance, but the surrounding area considered to be under that “port’s” jurisdiction. So if you’re sailing from Beaufort NC to Lake Worth as a foreign vessel under a cruising permit, you are obligated to call in on arrival. If you then continued down the ICW to Lauderdale, you would have to call in and report again. Given the confusion the resides in homeland security about where these ports begin and end, in practice we always call into report ANY coastwise movement and let the officer tell us whether it’s necessary or not.

[hzz9g1]

As long as you do not enter another county you do not have to check back into the country....example....Florida to Puerto Rico,,,, and back,,,,exceptions to this are travel to Canada and back