Has it been that long?

After 38 days First Light is anchored in US waters—Maud Bay in Michigan to be exact. We dropped anchor here and cleared US Customs. An event that was hassle free and very professional. I suspect that was due to a combination of the Customs Officer doing the work and Deb's preparation. We had nothing onboard that would raise a Custom's eyebrow.  As always when dealing with officialdom, answer what they ask without embellishing. Be polite but don't try to be too friendly. Do what you can to make their day easier so they will not make yours harder. And, in my case, let Deb do the talking while just standing nearby and smiling. My anti-authoritarian streak rides far too close to the surface way too much of the time. I'm sure deep in the annals of psychology there is a name for my condition. (Other than “pain in the ass”.)  It was also made easier because we used the Customs app. Well before 1300 I was pulling down the quarantine flag and hoisting the American Flap back up to its rightful place.

Bye bye Sault St. Marie! It's been a wonderful visit.

Sunrise at Roberta Bondar Marina in Sault St. Marie, ON

Still, like many days, today was just a bit frustrating. We got settled in while there were hours of daylight left on a day that was perfect for making miles. There had not been a whitecap in sight. A little rain was the only weather challenge and that wasn't even enough to drive us out of the flybridge (which leaks like a screen door) for the lower helm station. So, why stop here? Because there is no place to stop between here and Mackinac Island that isn't at least 10 nm off the open water track. The track time from here to the island is around 6 hours. If we went about half way there today, anchored, and came back out to finish tomorrow? The total track time to the Island would be about 8 hours. So we decided to just loaf a bit today and head out with First Light at first light in the morning.

That turned out to be a fortuitous choice. The weather apps all agreed that today was going to be light and variable all day today. I just checked the Pocket Gribs app and it still claims the same. Sitting here at anchor the our wind gauge is regularly clocking gusts of 15 knots. Fortunately the wind is coming in from over the land that is about 1/4 nm off our bow and not the 5.5 nm off our starboard side. But out on our route to Mackinac Island? That would be 15 knots of wind working with 30 miles of fetch and right on the bow. 

It isn't likely we will ever have the boat in Canada again. For all of its difficulties, I'm glad we made the trip. The parts of Canada we explored, boat and train, are just spectacular. The people we met along the way were all good folks. I don't know that I would ever make such a trip again. But I'm glad we did it once at least.

I'll miss the color of the water here. It's almost like the Bahamas.

The light changes so quickly. Five minutes later this sunset became the photo below.

Why we came this way...

It has been a long time since I've been in Canada. I think the last time was decades ago when the Head Honcho of the operation I was flying a King Air for had a sister who lived in Canada. Yes, corporate big wigs use their “corporate” airplanes to do things like visit family, go on vacations, and send kids to far away cities to go on shopping sprees. Of course they don't pay taxes on “corporate” planes like you and I do on our personal transportation, cars, boats, bicycles and such. But don't tell them I told you so. They think they have “earned” it.

During my flying days, clearing customs was, occasionally, a bit of a pain. It has always been a breeze going from the US into other countries. But getting back into the US? I have had every nook and cranny of the airplane I was flying inspected, with every bit of luggage opened and searched. I have sat, with passengers in the airplane, for more than an hour waiting for the Customs people (who knew we were coming and what time we were landing) to show up. Fortunately, one of the things I learned a long time ago was that, no matter how aggressive or threatening the Customs agent might be, responding with a smile, a “yes sir”, and a willingness to cooperate no matter what is the only way to go. Only once did I walk right up to that line. While clearing customs in a corporate jet after “business” in the Bahamas, the Miami, FL Customs Official handed me paperwork written in Spanish. I looked at him, managed a smile, but said, “Sir, I just landed in America in a US Registered airplane. I carry a US issued pilot's license. Do I look or sound like someone who is fluent in Spanish?” He gave me a hard look but went and got paperwork written in the only language I know. (Most of my adult life I have worked with and been around people who are bi-lingual. I have daughters and grand kids who are bi-lingual. Deb is Bi-lingual. I am always a bit embarrassed that I can only speak one language. I did study both German and Spanish in High School. Flunked out of both in less than a semester. In later years, I tried learning Spanish again. It made my brain hurt. English will have to do.)

Anyway, when we got in the slip at the check-in point in Kingston, Canada I stayed on the boat while Deb went to call the Customs folks. Two reasons for that. The first is, when it comes to personal interactions with people in authority (and people in general) Deb is far better at it than I am. Moreover, I don't have a clue as to what kind of stores we have on the boat. Deb works magic in the galley and I eat better than most of the people on the planet. But if they started asking me about vegetables, fruit, meat, and what country it came from, I would certainly come across as a possible mindless “mule” helming a boat full of smack with a band of potential terrorists on board. If asked how much alcohol we had on board, about the best answer I would come up is “enough.” 

The morning after clearing Customs, I managed to back out of the slip without bumping into anything, and we headed West. (I'm pretty sure it was the tightest slip in the most crowded marina I have ever tangled with in First Light.) The original plan was a pretty short day to an anchorage about half way to Trenton. But I wanted to go a little further given that the weather was near perfect and the vista was spectacular. Deb agreed and we changed plans and went further. The next anchorage we went further to didn't look that inviting. So we changed plans again and went a little further. The next spot on the charts turned out to be a really nice anchorage just a couple of hours from our stop at the head of our next series of locks.

This morning we woke to a perfect day in a perfect venue. This is why we came this way.

This part of the Loop belongs to sailboats for sure.

A lot of the islands have ferries that run back and forth to the mainland all day.

I had no idea that Canada was such a large producer of cement and aggregates.

We've seen so many cement plants on this trip.

There's simply no way to capture the grandeur of this anchorage on film.

Regulation Heads Up and Travel to the Bahamas

A member of one of the sailing groups that I belong to on Facebook recently had a very troubling experience when checking back in to the US from the Bahamas. They had traveled to Brunswick, GA and used the CBP Roam app to check in with Customs, a process we have used quite successfully in the past. Within five minutes of checking in with the app, they received a phone call from Customs stating that they would be inspecting the vessel as soon as it arrived in the marina in Brunswick. Upon boarding, the Customs agents discovered a spoiled head of lettuce in the trash can in the galley and informed them that it was regulated trash and would have to be collected by the disposal facility in Jacksonville, FL (the nearest incinerator) at a cost to them of $1100.00. The trash had to be bagged in a 3 mil trash bag and placed in a rigid container that was sealed. 

***It is important to note that at all times the agents were courteous and helpful in educating the cruisers of the regulations***

 They were given the following document: 

It's also important to note that these enforcements seem to be pretty arbitrary. Many folks check in every day in Florida with no issue at all, and even many have checked in to Brunswick with no issue.

Here is an additional link that has helpful information:

What food items can I bring into the United States for personal use?

There is a lot of specific information on fruits and vegetables at this link:

Don't pack a pest 

Here are some of the highlights:

Most surprising to us was also the inclusion of some musical instruments to the list:

In addition to the food and garbage regulations, it's important to remember that there are still restrictions to travel in the Bahamas due to Covid. Here is the most recent update on those regulations:

Covid 19 Entry Requirements

 

If you have all your ducks in a row, travel to the Bahamas is definitely still worth it, but an $1100 surprise like happened to the folks mentioned above can severely dampen the enjoyment, so be sure to be prepared before you make that weather window to cross.