|
French checking PWC
licenses; Customs
mixed on reporting
in |
From Liz Teage, a
freelance chef on a
charter yacht in the
Med:
After a busy charter,
we’re finally back in
Antibes. The charter was
Nice-St.
Tropez-Monaco-Corsica-Sardinia-Capri-Naples
and back – all in 10
days. The cruising tax
of 10,000 euros per
season that the
Sardinians are charging
was not charged to us as
a commercial registered
charter yacht. However,
private yachts are said
to be getting charged.
How long this lasts
remains to be seen.
Also, the introduction
last year by the French
that all riders of Jet
Skies or similar
personal watercraft must
be licensed is being
upheld and checked. The
Italians are pulling
guests up and asking
they wear helmets while
on these craft.
Thierry Voisin
of Partnership in Nice,
replies:
Regarding Jet Ski rules
in French waters, the
position of the
authorities is as
follows: the rule of the
flag will prevail.
That means, for example,
that if a Jet Ski is
British registered, the
British regulation will
be applied concerning a
license. If the Jet Ski
is American registered,
the American rules will
be enforced.
We heard from a lot of
captains about our
front-page story last
month about the
requirement that all
foreign-flagged yachts
must report in to U.S.
Customs each time they
move. Here are a few
comments:
From Capt. Rusty
Allen of M/Y Cracker
Bay:
Regarding the recent
revelation of reporting
in to U.S. Customs while
traveling in the United
States, I had a nice
conversation about this
with the homeland
security representative
at your immigration
seminar a few months
ago.
This reporting-in
requirement has been the
rule for years, but he
admitted that it was not
being implemented due to
budget cuts. He wouldn’t
say this while you were
taking notes, but said
it in a sidebar
discussion with me.
I tried to report in
when I was in
Ogdensburg, N.Y., and
they got downright nasty
about it. They said they
didn’t know anything
about the requirement,
even when I quoted to
them the pamphlet number
and rule.
From Capt. Peter
Vazquez aboard M/Y
Blind Faith:
As the captain of a
foreign-flagged yacht, I
read your recent story
regarding U.S. custom’s
reporting-in rule with
great interest. Capt.
Doc and The Triton did
us all a great favor in
detailing that
experience.
We recently returned to
the United States from
the Bahamas and made our
entry at Savannah, Ga.
First let me report that
the customs/immigrations
officials that met our
yacht were outstanding.
They arrived promptly
and made our foreign
crew feel very
comfortable regarding
visas, procedures, etc.
They were polite,
friendly and very
knowledgeable about
yacht crews in general.
From Savannah, we
proceeded up the East
Coast stopping in
various ports such as
Charleston and
Southport, S.C.;
Beaufort, N.C.; up the
Potomac River to
Washington, D.C.; and
eventually to Newport,
R.I. for the charter
show.
We reported in at all of
these ports. Some of the
cities clearly
understood the
reporting-in procedures,
but a couple did not
know exactly why we were
reporting in.
Also, we were never
given any clearance
numbers at these ports.
Most of them said they
do not do that; instead,
we just took down the
officers’ names and
entered that info into
our log book for future
reference.
With respect to phone
numbers, on more than
one occasion we had to
call at least two or
three numbers before we
got the right one. Even
at Newport, we called
the local number and
were given another
number in Maine. We
called that number to
report into Newport.
While these procedures
have actually been in
effect for quite some
time, it has just been
recently that they are
being enforced. A close
look at our cruising
permit as detailed in
your article does
clearly state this
procedure.
Hopefully, these
procedures and phone
numbers will eventually
be made easier and
clearer for us all.
Thanks again for the
great informative
article.
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