Boat deliveries between Canada and US occurring?

[Kawini]

Good morning.

Does anyone out there know whether boats are being moved from Canada to the US or vice-versa by commercial delivery captains?

I'm not clear whether such commercial deliveries are still occurring while the border is closed to non-essential travel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IRENE]

Yes.

 

[Kawini]

That’s great to hear.

If anyone has a name and contact info for currently working delivery captains for a short trip between BC and WA, I’d love to have it. Thanks in advance.

 

[firehoser75]

Where I moor in Nanaimo, BC, there have been several US boat deliveries by large vessel, and the owner's had to make arrangements for short term moorage at the Port Authority and then movement to somewhere else. To the best of my knowledge, owners have not been allowed entry into Canada to move or pickup their boat. Anyone who would like specific info, I could contact the NPA marina manager for any info he may have on this subject. He is directly connected to the local Port Authority so may have additional info. I would suspect that "delivery Captains" would not be allowed entry into Canada from the US, as I would guess that it would not be considered an "essential service or trip"???
PM me, if interested.

 

[roddy]

Think captain would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival to the US then 2 weeks upon their return to Canada .

 

[SteveK]

Think captain would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival to the US then 2 weeks upon their return to Canada .

Interesting point, I wonder if they waive it like for truck drivers and send them back across line

 

[roddy]

Yes they wave it for truck, train and commercial vessels if they dont show symtoms. They are specifly written into agreement.
Think yacht delivery is not mentioned...
So 2 weeks quarantine if allowed at all.

 

[boatpoker]

Not happening on the east side. The border is closed to pleasurecraft, The New York State canal system is still closed and the St.Lawrence Seaway is also closed to pleasure craft. + the aforementioned quarantine is an issue.

I've got two boats in Florida and one in Georgia I contracted to bring to Lake Ontario and no way to get them here....... yet.

PS. As announced by our government today, all marinas in Ontario will be open on Saturday.

 

[magna 6882]

I have a new boat in surrey bc and ask today what was the plan. I may not understand the quarantine but i understood them to say they would pick up a captain at the boarder and take him to the boat then he would bring the boat to Blaine harbor.

 

[AlanT]

Think captain would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival to the US then 2 weeks upon their return to Canada .

I am in the middle of arranging for a newly purchased boat to be delivered to me in the US from Vancouver area Canada. We finally figured out how to crack this problem. With the approval of both sets of customs/immigration officials our brokers (my buyers broker and the sellers broker) and my customs broker have come up with a proposed solution that legally avoids the quarantine. Not to say that it is cheap!

The Canadian Seller's hired Canadian captain will drive the boat I am buying (Boat A) from Canada to a US port followed by a second "chase boat" (Boat B) also captained by a Canadian. Boat A will tie up in the US port but captain will not step ashore. Instead he will leave Boat A and transfer to boat B which will then return to Canada. Neither delivery captains will have stepped ashore in the US. Consequently we are informed that they will not need to go through customs/immigration in the Canada on his return. (This according to both sets of officials who will be admitting the vessel). Essentially it is being treated no differently than a Canadian boat sailing into US waters before returning to a Canadian port without having landed in the US.

I hope this helps. I would strongly suggest getting a customs agent involved in the process if you decide to proceed on this basis.

It hasn't happened yet, but is scheduled for less than two weeks away. I will board the boat in the US and drive her home. I will let you know how it all turns out!

~A

 

[Larry M]

Alan: Congratulations on figuring out how to get your boat back to your home port.

 

[firehoser75]

Alan,
That process makes sense to me. Only a very little bit of "stretching" the usual rules and certainly can be viewed as meeting the spirit of the various laws. Too bad you had to incur the additional expense, but at least you will get access to your boat.
Kawini is in a different predicament. He wants to take a US boat back to Washington temporarily with himself, a US citizen operating it, but wants to be able to either take or arrange for the boat to go back to Canada before Washington taxes take affect. At least that is my understanding, adding to the complexity.

 

[AlanT]

Alan,
That process makes sense to me. Only a very little bit of "stretching" the usual rules and certainly can be viewed as meeting the spirit of the various laws. Too bad you had to incur the additional expense, but at least you will get access to your boat.
Kawini is in a different predicament. He wants to take a US boat back to Washington temporarily with himself, a US citizen operating it, but wants to be able to either take or arrange for the boat to go back to Canada before Washington taxes take affect. At least that is my understanding, adding to the complexity.

I did say it was expensive, but I didn't say who would bear the expense. The seller is responsible to get the boat to a US port in this particular transaction. Phew.

 

[firehoser75]

Alan,
Wow, good news for you and from your perspective, a good contract. I thought most sales were done, as is and where is?? When I bought my boat located in La Conner, WA. I had to go and get it from the dock in La Conner, and I only had a short time frame to remove the boat from Washington waters to avoid Wash. taxes. No Virus then, thank goodness!!
Maybe your broker deserves a big 'THANKS" for getting that into the transaction??

 

[Jeff F]

Maybe your broker deserves a big 'THANKS" for getting that into the transaction??

Sounds like a great effort by many. Nice to see flexibility from immigration authorities on both sides.

 

[Forever Friday]

Boat transfer, Canada to US

Boat A will tie up in the US port but captain will not step ashore. Instead he will leave Boat A and transfer to boat B which will then return to Canada. Neither delivery captains will have stepped ashore in the US. Consequently we are informed that they will not need to go through customs/immigration in the Canada on his return. (This according to both sets of officials who will be admitting the vessel). Essentially it is being treated no differently than a Canadian boat sailing into US waters before returning to a Canadian port without having landed in the US.



~A

You might wish to completely confirm your information. Your quoted scenario of "not being treated any differently than a Canadian boat sailing into US waters Before returning to a Canadian port without having landed in the US." I think you may find that US Customs will have a different point of view. The boat HAS landed on US soil, and the Captain (not the boat's owner--but the one who sailed her from Canada) has brought her there. The Captain must clear customs...and I don't believe this can be accomplished without climbing down on the dock and likely going to the Custom's booth. That said, returning in a chase boat to Canada, the returning Captain may or may not have to quarantine (it sounds like it is up to the discretion of the individual Customs Officer.)

Hopefully I'm wrong...but doubt it.
Cheers,
Mike
M/V Forever Friday

 

[SteveK]

(This according to both sets of officials who will be admitting the vessel)

If one/both is an on duty customs agent then they have made a large concession using common sense.

 

[sunchaser]

You might wish to completely confirm your information. Your quoted scenario of "not being treated any differently than a Canadian boat sailing into US waters Before returning to a Canadian port without having landed in the US." I think you may find that US Customs will have a different point of view. The boat HAS landed on US soil, and the Captain (not the boat's owner--but the one who sailed her from Canada) has brought her there. The Captain must clear customs...and I don't believe this can be accomplished without climbing down on the dock and likely going to the Custom's booth. That said, returning in a chase boat to Canada, the returning Captain may or may not have to quarantine (it sounds like it is up to the discretion of the individual Customs Officer.)

Hopefully I'm wrong...but doubt it.
Cheers,
Mike
M/V Forever Friday

Alan T said both sets of Customs officials signed off.

 

[boatpoker]

Alan T said both sets of Customs officials signed off.

Hope those are the guys on duty when this happens.
All US/Can proximate border contacts on the water must be reported to customs.

 

[sunchaser]

Hope those are the guys on duty when this happens.
All US/Can proximate border contacts on the water must be reported to customs.

Anybody who buys a Weldon is pretty savvy in my book. Keep us posted AT.

 

[cbouch]

If you can pull this off you are much luckier than I ...I have tried the captain approach as you suggested, also c-tow in Canada passing it off to boat us towing with the bottom line from both Canadian customs and us customs is absolutely NO. I only wanted to move the boat from one side of the st Lawrence River to the others..the tow boat operators actually knew the customs authorities on each side and were not able to convince them that it made sense. Be careful and get it all in writing..they could tie your boat up for months and actually sieze it...just saying...I have now contracted for seasonal docks on both sides of the river as they are hard to find in the season. Ps. I even thought of having someone untie it when the wind was blowing in the right direction.. u.s. customs said it would have to be returned to ?? good luck!!

 

[mbevins]

Living on the Detroit River since the dawn of man I can tell you this is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Jeff F]

I agree that this wouldn't happen in normal times, but these aren't normal times.

From what I can gather most ports of entry in Canada from the great lakes east have been closed, and entries are being routed to a few major ports. And they're tasked with allowing the flow of goods while minimizing the flow of people and the spread of the virus. I'm sure they're improvising, but let's recognize and celebrate creative solutions that achieve the goal, especially when it occurs in apparent coordination between countries.

This isn't a one-off need. Sounds like a similar method could be used in a couple of spots on the great lakes.

 

[jemcne7]

I know that our marina in Sidney BC Canada is not able to deliver or pick-up boats to/from Friday Harbour WA where they have customers waiting on having work done here.

Good morning.

Does anyone out there know whether boats are being moved from Canada to the US or vice-versa by commercial delivery captains?

I'm not clear whether such commercial deliveries are still occurring while the border is closed to non-essential travel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AlanT]

You might wish to completely confirm your information. Your quoted scenario of "not being treated any differently than a Canadian boat sailing into US waters Before returning to a Canadian port without having landed in the US." I think you may find that US Customs will have a different point of view. The boat HAS landed on US soil, and the Captain (not the boat's owner--but the one who sailed her from Canada) has brought her there. The Captain must clear customs...and I don't believe this can be accomplished without climbing down on the dock and likely going to the Custom's booth. That said, returning in a chase boat to Canada, the returning Captain may or may not have to quarantine (it sounds like it is up to the discretion of the individual Customs Officer.)

Hopefully I'm wrong...but doubt it.
Cheers,
Mike
M/V Forever Friday

I hope you are wrong too! We are scheduled just over a week out now. I will report results good or bad after then.

 

[Portage_Bay]

Have you considered working with a customs broker? That's their business and they know all the ins and outs. Customs is used to working with them and trusts them.

 

[Kawini]

I’ll be following this with great interest.

I was talking with a yacht broker on the docks in Port Sidney yesterday. He mentioned to me that a beautiful Beneateau Sense that had been on the sales dock had recently sold to someone in Washington. The buyer wants the boat delivered to Washington. Even though this was a legitimate commercial transaction (not a simple move), the broker said that he was unable to find a way to deliver the boat from BC to Washington. I told the broker that a poster on this forum had figured out logistics, and he seemed extremely skeptical after his experience at trying to unite the Beneateau with its new owner in Washington.

On a related note, the scuttle butt in Sidney is that a couple of over-earnest Americans “surreptitiously” crossed Haro Strait from Roche Harbor to Van Isla Marina in Sidney in a dinghy last week in an effort to get onto their Canada-moored boat during the border closure. They were apprehended in the marina by the Canadian CBP, and have been told that they are now persona non grata in Canada and that they will be unable to enter the country for the rest of their lives. That’s some strong medicine !

 

[koliver]

I’ll be following this with great interest.

On a related note, the scuttle butt in Sidney is that a couple of over-earnest Americans “surreptitiously” crossed Haro Strait from Roche Harbor to Van Isla Marina in Sidney in a dinghy last week in an effort to get onto their Canada-moored boat during the border closure. They were apprehended in the marina by the Canadian CBP, and have been told that they are now persona non grata in Canada and that they will be unable to enter the country for the rest of their lives. That’s some strong medicine !

Parsing the above for relevance to this thread:

Anyone entering the country without checking in at Customs, exactly what your delivery Captain is said to be planning, and also your chase boat's full crew, will be subject to the full force of the violated Country's laws.

I would be very surprised to find the US penalty for illegal entry to be less stringent than ours in Canada.

Without a clear statement, in writing, from the US Homeland Security, all who participate in this innovative scheme will be risking their personal security. The new boat owner will be risking his new property.

 

[hollywood8118]

How about is the boat was taken legally "offshore" by a Canadian crew and meet up with a US crew and transfer the boat to the waiting US crew , similar to the offshore title transfers that take place? Basically the same thing without ever tying the boat up to the US dock
HOLLYWOOD

 

[DDW]

I would be very surprised to find the US penalty for illegal entry to be less stringent than ours in Canada.

Actually when we have persons crossing our southern border illegally they are simply returned or offered citizenship.