Scott, although you were given a lot of hassle by Canadian customs, I believe you would have been in even more trouble if you mentioned that you had anchored at Sidney Spit the night before. That meant you had "landed" on Canadian soil without checking in. Check the regulations; I don't think you were allowed to even anchor before presenting to customs. Murray Kullan 1970 42' Monk Trawler

Correct - You can't touch bottom or shore without clearing customs. Murry wrote-- <Check the regulations; I don't think you were allowed to even anchor before presenting to customs.>

murray <big.mur@shaw.ca> writes: >Scott, although you were given a lot of hassle by Canadian customs, I >believe you would have been in even more trouble if you mentioned that >you had anchored at Sidney Spit the night before. That meant you had >"landed" on Canadian soil without checking in. Check the regulations; I >don't think you were allowed to even anchor before presenting to >customs. Actually, I specifically checked this with Customs when I made the reporting call and they told me that I did not have to clear customs until I landed. When we anchored at Sidney Spit we did not go ashore. When I did land in Nanaimo I was careful to tell them we had anchored at Sidney Spit and did not have a problem. I wondered about this myself but the tug captain I was with told me it was common practice to anchor out when arriving late. And in all fairness it's hard to call what Customs did to me "hassle". Perhaps "not so gentle and completely deserved re-education" :-) Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.