Questions for the Dream

[micheck]

While I tackle the ever growing to do lists to plan, rebuild and outfit my older boat - I need a DREAM to always sit before me and pull me on. However, this dream of the South Pacific and beyond brings small (and not so small) questions for which I don't know the answers or probably the whole questions. So, in no particular order:

1: Demonstrate Insurance? Are we talking boat replacement property insurance (if a typhoon ate it) or are we talking liability (if the mast fell on the customs officer) It may be difficult to get property insurance on my 40 year old boat in the South Pacific. Liability insurance ...?

2: Demonstrate medical insurance

3: Demonstrate a return air ticket for all crew or post an equivalent bond? How do you provide this while moving slowly through the South Pacific - most of the 'open travel' type tickets I have looked at are expensive, good for a short time period with poor refund options and not usable in a lot of places (no airline) The bond appears rather expensive when considering bond fees and currency exchange fees besides being unwieldy (bank availability and operating schedule)

4: Demonstrate sufficient funds to provide for yourself during your stay - How? wad of travelers checks - bank balance - ball of cash - credit card balance ... and how much? Since I am retired - details of my monthly pensions?

5: Demonstrate Captain seamanship competency

6: It is recommended that one declare everything??? to departure and entering customs so you won't have problems with needing all of the receipts for everything

7: Are you able to provision a boat with staples at the beginning of your trip and not run afoul of local agricultural inspectors destroying your provisions because the provisions did not say 'canned in Australia' ... or how do you handle provisioning?

8: Like many who are chronologically challenged, I require a array of prescriptions for blood pressure and cholesterol. Will I run into problems with a large quantity of prescriptions (with the proper prescriptions and Doctor explanations) I plan also to have a first aid kit with antibiotics and pain medications (also with prescriptions and explanations) - these quantities will not be large unlike the maintenance prescriptions. Am I in for a big hassle? How do you handle it?

9: In addition to the boat's federal registration, ownership title???, detailed crew list, individual passports, visas???, itineraries and radio licenses - what else is needed regarding paperwork I can prepare beforehand?

10: I am planning on having a long-range radio communication setup - should that be a Ham set or SSB or are there legal options whereby I can use both frequencies with one radio. Also is a $500 modem still required between the radio and my netbook computer (or have folks figured out how to simulate a slow modem inside the computer with the high end audio cards or the inexpensive internal or USB modems the computers now have)

11: It is recommended I provide a small cache of gifts to thank people I meet for favors and kindnesses - while I am comfortable with small lighters, ball point pens and pencils and cards and notes on letterhead all imprinted with the boat's name, port, captain and address/website..., I do wonder how the inspectors will treat such gifts as garden seeds, fishing line/hooks and seasonings.

12: Remembering that I do not have an unlimited budget, are there recommendations for books and websites that would answer my questions so that I wouldn't overwhelm you with my questions


Charles

[DamonVT]

Hi Charles, a book I like that addresses a number of your questions is Hal Roth's How to Sail Around the World. Lin and Larry Parday also write about long distance cruising, but I haven't read any of their stuff. Personally, I don't have any answers and will have some of the same questions in some years. Good luck!

[HDChopper]

Ya I am wondering about #4 #7 #8 myself ! I have been doing a good bit of reading an have yet found all my questions for myself ....

Good luck micheck ..

[eherlihy]

Guys,

I recommend that you pick up a copy of Beth Leonard's Voyagers Handbook: Essential Guide to Blue Water Cruising. Most, if not all, of your questions are answered within. Chapter 20: "Dealing with Bureaucracy" addresses most of what you ask.

[sailingdog]

Make sure you get the SECOND edition of the book though.

[HDChopper]

Thanks all , now another book on my list ...

[labatt]

You might also want to check out http://www.noonsite.com/

[Omatako]

Hi Charles

I'm not going to go down the list (I may butt in later on some other issues) but . . . .

7) New Zealand and Australia are a little different to most other places. They are islands that are complete countries in their own right. Now I know that goes for most island nations but the difference is that these two countries have a profound desire to stop their islands from being contaminated by all and sundry. The other Island countries don't really care. In my limited cruising experience (my name isn't Pardy) we never ever had any official ask us what we had on board other than weapons, tobacco, liquor and dope. And I've been to quite a few different islands/groups in my limited sailing and coincidentally I live in New Zealand.

Just a light hearted example of how paranoid they are here: We came from Raratonga which is a largely NZ supported island group (the Cooks), we had a can of nuts on the boat that was still sealed. The officials took them away from us even after we pointed them to the label which said "Packed in New Zealand".

8) We carry a formidable first aid kit on board at all times (I'm a little accident prone). We arrived in the Christmas Islands (Indian Ocean) which is an Australian protectorate. The customs/immigration fellows spent two hours swabbing every surface in my boat with cotton buds and proceeded to drug-test all of them in the cockpit. They completely missed or ignored the 9 vials of pure morphine that were in the med kit. Street value was probably quite considerable. In addition, my wife has some medical issues and carries ten times her normal prescription of several different prescription drugs with never a word said by any officialdom. So I don't get nervous at all about what's in the kit.

YMMV