Not that I would do anything illegal-customs

With all the growing expense of zig-zagging from USVI to BVI, how many of you have ever been challenged by a customs officer while out at sea/on a mooring?


uh oh, someones knocking at my door....

We have on 2 separate occasions. Once at Cooper Island and once at Salt Island.

Once at Norman Island.

I have been boarded and searched with dogs. Checked all passports and fishing license. Friendly, but they expect co-operation. Was at Cooper at the time. Extraordinarily unwise to even consider failure to follow customs/immigration protocol, especially on the US side. They take the job seriously.

Kevin

As long as this was brought up, I'm curious. Lets say you start in the BVI. You've got your paperwork showing you are checked in. So you go to USVI and check in. If you then just come back to BVI, how would they know you ever left?

Not that I would do this, just curious.

We were not boarded either time. They just asked for our boat documentation and asked how many we had on board.

In order to clear into the USVI you normally have to have paperwork showing you cleared out from somewhere. In practice I don't think the customs guys in Cruz even ask but that is the procedure. I know several people who do exactly what you mention and have not had issues. With my travel requirements I don't want to get on a immigration bad list so I follow the rules.
G

I'm not sure if the USVI and BVI immigration offices have the technology, but I know for sure that the US and Canada have the technology to share vessel check-in information.

I've been busted not checking into the US upon return from Canada by boat. My issue came weeks after I was back in the form of a paper warning; not from the US visually seeing me return.

[quote]maytrix said:
As long as this was brought up, I'm curious. Lets say you start in the BVI. You've got your paperwork showing you are checked in. So you go to USVI and check in. If you then just come back to BVI, how would they know you ever left?
The chances are slim that you would get caught but not impossible.
You are supposed to checkout of the BVI and check into the USVI
then check back into the BVI.

Many people who work on boats get accused of not checking out, and end up with visa issues, even though they did check out properly. It may not happen right away, but when they see your record come up on the screen, they can ask about it. You had better have documentation showing check ins and check outs.

Have I ever been questioned by authorities about clearance?? Let me tell you a true story .
I was driving a private power vessel not on charter with friends aboard to Virgin Gorda from STT on a very rough, bad weather day - I went up the S.side of St. John and in the lee of Norman Is. slowed down to idle - in forward not neutral- to rearrange things and let the passengers move around a bit, smoke and get a beverage - and was boarded by BVI Customs almost immediately - the vessel was not stopped, moored or anchored and I was at the helm and underway at all times until they hailed me.
They went all over the vessel, checked everyones documents and boat papers and assessed us over $500 in 'fines' or said they would seize the vessel and take my passengers to jail and arrest me as Captain for failing to clear in.
I tried to explain that we were en-route to VG to clear in as our destination and had only slowed down, not stopped, to rearrange things in preparation for the passage after some rough water and wet weather on the 1st part of the trip.
They said that since I slowed down just outside the Bight I was planning to enter there and had not cleared in - that was not my intent but could not convince them of my plan to go straight to VG and clear in there.
Lets just say they were less than polite and my passengers actually felt somewhat threatened - I am a long time resident of the USVI and a licensed Captain for decades here but felt my fighting them in Tortola for the rest of the day if they seized the boat would be futile and expensive even if I was somehow declared innocent so we all pooled what cash we had and they settled for about $550 and -- gave me a receipt and clearance papers and a stern warning about how wrong I was and just lucky this time not to be arrested.
The day was ruined for my passengers for a VG trip and they just wanted to go back to the USVI - after going into the old Bones on Norman for a few drinks - paid with a credit card as we had only small change left in cash we returned to the USVI.
As to the OP question: Would I try to do the International trips illegally?? I suggest not.

I call that extortion.

Are you people who say you are stopped in BVI, not Local Sailor, are you being stopped by U.S. or BVI customs? Especially Norman and Salt

We were heading into Charlotte Harbor and were stopped by USCG for a safety inspection. We never stopped moving at 5 kts, boarded underway and was told to hold course. The girl, an obvious rookie (she looked 18) did the inspection, clipboard in hand. The only item missing was the trash disposal sticker, which they gave us and we proudly posted.

I was boarded on a mooring ball by a BVI official boat. Honestly don't remember if it was a customs or police boat.

Sounds like a shakedown one would expect in Mexico rather than the BVI.

That does sound like a rough shakedown.

Isn't this why though you are supposed to clear in at the closest customs, which would have been Soper's? By traveling through their waters to clear in, I can certainly understand why they'd raise questions, but clearly they could have handled it differently.

My father ran charters out of USVI in the late 70's-until Hugo came through. I can remember him making one point perfectly clear. When headed to the BVI, clear in at the first/closest port of entry, regardless of your final destination or they will make your life a living hell if they catch you. Seems more than one boat was seized and chained back in the day, and your US lawyers are pretty much useless within the BVI legal system. They can bleed you dry $$$ wise while you try to sort it out.

Curious if you have Nexus Cards for crossing over and back?

It was a US customs boat and officers with BVI police on board. In Cooper we were on a mooring ball. We were anchored at Salt.

LocalSailor said he came around the south side of St. John and then the lee of Norman. West End would still be the closest POE. If he had stayed out on the drop and come in by Round Rock an argument could be made for Spanish Town.

I have Nexus and Global Entry because I fly every week for work but I almost never have a full crew with Nexus so I don't depend on that. On the west end of Lake Erie there are several video phones that can be used for reporting into the U.S. but in Cleveland there is only 1 and it's in a marina that doesn't have good transient dockage for bigger boats so most people docking in Cleveland skip the check-in process. Checking in to Canada is simple because they provide an 800 number to just call and report in. They also patrol the transient docks and you are expect to have your reporting number displayed on the dockside of the vessel if you are a non-Canadian flagged vessel.

And I imagine that is why customs had an issue. How do they know what someones intentions are. IF you go to the first/closest port of entry, intentions are clear. If you don't, they are subject to interpretation and that is never a good thing.

I would be willing to wager the farm, BVI customs have no clue what Nexus is, nor do I. Global Entry is TSA not customs

Story from a Facebook friend today, Captain of their day boat 'Eau La La' was detained and boat seized checking into Jost. I know one of the passengers who's a business owner on St. John. The Captain checked in the boat and himself, but not the passengers. Now the passengers are working on getting back to the USVI.

Cheers, RickG

I just went through the application process. Global entry is U.S. Customs, but you also get the benefit of TSA preclearance. Global Entry allows you to clear customs by electronic kiosk at select customs and border patrol entry airports.

does it help at all at EIS? We never got TSA pre check because we live in a small town with only commuter aircraft and never any TSA lines. I read up on Global Entry and stand corrected it's CBP. It looks excellent if you are an international frequent flyer. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I've spent many a day sitting at White Bay watching day boats come in directly from STT. On occasion there have been police and customs folks sitting by the fence at SDB writing down boat names and counting heads. Never saw anyone approached by them, but they were certainly collecting info.

That's a good thing. We've had problems at White Bay with some of those idiots that come from the Island of Misfit Toys, and, aside from their animal etiquette, if they're not following the rules, they deserve to get busted.

It would be nice if the BVI C & I had the same rules as the USA has at the Mexican border <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

And have you ever been in Red Hook and watched the people pile up their Cost-U-Less and Home-Po goodies in their go-fast boats at 8pm? I'm sorry, but there are scoflaws on both sides of the border. And name-calling does not help.
Signed, Misfit Toy...

I just re-read my post and my intention wasn't to point fingers at St. Thomas. The island of "Misfit Toys" is any island that has that group of ex-pats who are running away from something, like child support, arrest warrants, the IRS. They also seem to have left their manners where they came from <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

US citizens in the USVI aren't expats, the USVI are under the American flag

Good point, but you get my drift.

The storie is still evolving. The passengers were detained for a five hours, then released. They got back to Cruz Bay with a local fisherman. "Jailed, fined $10K, boat seized" is what I heard from one of the participants, who also named the captain. There was also a lot of discussion about the practice of charging a customs fee, not checking in the passengers and pocketing the $40 per passenger.

If I see anything official I'll post a link.

We took the southern route from Coral Bay to VG/Gun Creek in January. After localsailior's story, it makes me wonder if that route is too risky.

Cheers, RickG

Rick: There was a time when NO one checked in to go to Jost for the day, but anyone who still does it really is a misfit toy. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> The captain (paid?)checked himself in but nobody else? Something doesn't add up.

Tradewinds: Yes, St Thomians are all here because we're not all there. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

With regards to stopping at the first port of entry, wouldn't Speedy's have to stop at West End instead of going straight to Virgin Gorda, and the Tortola ferries would have to stop at Cruz Bay?

And how is this not insulting?

Nutmeg, that saying was said in the late 70's and it wasn't about St Thomas it was about St John
Another was St John the worlds largest outdoor asylum.

Umm!! It's an opinion. Why rush to say it's a total Insult?
It's open for discussion,,,,, remember this is a forum <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Here is a FB post from one of the detained passengers. https://www.facebook.com/kkaloplastos

Regarding Speedy's, I would think since that is a scheduled run and they know his destination in advance, he could continue on. Some random boat sailing through, they don't know where they are headed.

It's totally meant to be insulting for those who are insulted by it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

It was a fun and interesting end to the trip