How To Live Aboard A Boat #2, Clearing Customs

Here are some more tips for those planning on living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean and cruising in those waters.

For the original Hubpages article. "How To Live Aboard A Boat" see the link below in the resources section below this article.  

This article has to do with clearing into customs and immigration when you sail into a new port.

I was fortunate enough to spend three years living and cruising on my 32' Pearson Vanguard in the Caribbean and South and Central American Waters. In that time I had to clear in and out of customs in many different island countries.

One aspect that no cruiser looks forward to is clearing into customs. Every island country has its own rules and some regulations can seem quite absurd considering you may have only sailed a couple of miles to get to the new nation

. Nevertheless, the man in the uniform holds the key to you coming into his country and you must try your best to comply.

As you arrive in to new waters you should fly the yellow "quarantine" flag indicating that you have not cleared customs and after clearing customs fly the courtesy flag of that country. Make sure you fly it right side up as not to be an insult.

Before you sail to a new place, such as the Dominican Republic have the courtesy flags ready so you don't get fleeced by the customs agents who will want to sell you one.

In Samana, in the Dominican Republic we had to pay thirty US dollars for a Dominican courtesy flag to get our permit. Otherwise we would not have been granted entry. The Dominican Republic (as of 2006) is one of the few places where you have to clear in and out of each port, instead of getting one permit for the entire country.

Guns and weapons.

We chose not to carry a gun on-board. In some places like Jamaica you can be sent to jail for years just for a few bullets, as has occurred to American boaters in the past. There are plenty of ways to defend yourself, including spear guns and flare guns that are legal.

If you choose to carry a pistol or shotgun you must declare it in every port you visit and surrender it to the local police. If you hide it and it is found you can be charged with smuggling guns. It is just not worth it in my opinion.

Carrying a few "bribes" can come in handy. It may seem like you are giving in to a corrupt system to give agents "gifts" but you will find that this is just how things are done. After visiting with some seasoned cruisers we decided to buy dozens of little Brugal rum bottles in the Dominican Republic for fifty cents each and give them as gifts to the customs agents that we encountered in the Windwards, Leewards and on down through Venezuela to Panama.

Where some cruisers had been fleeced for up to a hundred dollars for some made up infraction or "fee of the day", we had no problems, thanks partly to the gifts. We also bought some very nice looking brass pens at Costco back in the states. The pens only cost $2.00 but looked like they might be worth much more and we presented these as gifts to customs agents when checking in at every port.

Clearing out of customs is as important as clearing in and the officers in the next port will be looking for your clearance from your last port of call.

The most important rule to remember, one that some Americans forget, is that this is not your country and the island customs agents want you to acknowledge that fact and give them respect.

Once you do this most will be welcoming and helpful. A little humility and respect go a long way in smoothing things over. Sometimes though, despite your best intentions you will find some customs and immigration agents to be rude and surly.

Once in Prickly Bay Grenada I encountered this. The person in his office before me, the wealthy owner of a 48' motor yacht, was treated very respectfully but the agent took one look at me and immediately disliked me because of my long hair and surfer clothes and treated me very rudely.

Sometimes you just can't win in such a situation but arguing and escalating will only make things worse and your choice can be to sit and put up with it and play their game, or take the dinghy back to the boat, pull up anchor and sail away.

In that case I chose to put up with it and once I had cleared customs we ended up spending a very enjoyable week in Grenada.