Use of Q Flag

[joeelliott]

I AM PLANNING A TRIP, VIA SAILING CHARTER, FROM GRENADA TO ST VINCENT’S RETURNING TO GRENADA. IF I ARRIVE TOO LATE TO CLEAR CUSTOMS IN CAN0UAN ON THE RETURN, WHAT DO I DO? PUT UP THE Q FLAG WITH NO ONE GOING ASHORE AND CHECK IN IN THE MORNING, OR CAN I LEAVE EARLY IN THE MORNING AND CONTINUE ON TO ST GEORGE AND CHECK IN THERE??

[Orion Jim]

https://www.noonsite.com/place/grenada/formalities/

You should find all you require here.

[joeelliott]

I AM PLANNING A TRIP, VIA SAILING CHARTER, FROM GRENADA TO ST VINCENT’S RETURNING TO GRENADA. IF I ARRIVE TOO LATE TO CLEAR CUSTOMS IN CAN0UAN ON THE RETURN, CAN I PUT UP THE Q FLAG WITH NO ONE GOING ASHORE AND CHECK IN IN THE MORNING, OR CAN I LEAVE EARLY IN THE MORNING, BEFORE THE CUSTOMS OFFICE OPENS IN CANOUAN AND CONTINUE ON TO ST GEORGE AND CHECK IN THERE?? THANKS

[barnakiel]

You fly Q you say "I am requesting clearance".


How will the officers know nobody went ashore? Why request clearance if you do not intend to visit the island.



Etc.


You can do what you want but the risk is yours. Officers are only humans. Some turn a blind eye others will try to justify their salary. You never know who is watching you.


If you 'arrive late' and have no intention of checking in, why not just sail by, stay offshore and check in next morning, right at George.



Cheers,
b.

[jmorrison146]

Why not ask them?

[joeelliott]

I did ask and the response was not to arrive after the office closed. Arriving after the customs office closes is always a possibility, the day we would arrive the office closes at 13:30. This is a vacation charter and although we are competent to sail through the night we would prefer not to. If we are not in the process of clearing should we not fly the Q flag??

[nhschneider]

Whenever we would check in with Immigration in a foreign port, we would always tell the official checking us in that we had just arrived that morning, even if we had been there several days. No one ever questioned us and we never had to pay overtime fees. We always flew our ‘Q’ flag prior to checking in but most of the time officials ignored it.

Our experience in the Caribbean was that most officials were very relaxed about formalities.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[sck5]

It is relaxed in SVG and Grenada. I routinely anchored and put up the Q flag and everyone was perfectly OK with it so long as nobody went ashore until we checked in. Once in Anguilla I went ashore just as the Customs people were leaving for home (a bit early) and they told me to come back tomorrow. I said "But then I cant go ashore for dinner tonight" and they said to just go ahead and deal with the bureaucracy in the morning.

There are exceptions to the relaxed nature of most islands - Antigua in particular want you to follow the rules exactly. But even there they are OK with anchoring and flying the Q flag until you can get ashore to clear in.

[lovinlifebda]

Not sure if I am reading your post correctly, sounds like you are maybe going to check in at Canouan on your return to Grenada, Canouan belongs to SVG. Perhaps you meant Carriacou...Tyrell Bay has customs. If arriving late I would not put up the Q flag and draw attention to myself and would leave before customs opens. I would not go ashore if not checked in, yes things are pretty casual but why push it. If you continue on to St Georges the next day instead of checking in at Tyrell don’t offer up any unsolicited information to the customs officer but if they ask where you have been tell them the truth. Worst you should get is a little lecture.
Anchoring without checking in is done all the time, it is not legal but is fairly common practice when moving thru the Eastern Caribbean. Best practice is to always check in, second best is to be anchored in a port of entry which Tyrell Bay is.

[sck5]

A note from the real world. Boats arrive in port after Customs goes home ALL THE TIME. The rules allow for it. You put up the Q flag (which to most of us means "I havent cleared customs yet") and go in the morning. There is nothing at all wrong with it.

I cruised up and down the Eastern Carib for years and not once did any official ever check to see that there was a boat in the harbour corresponding to the papers I showed them. Not once did they ask to see the people whose passports I cleared in. They just want you to be polite and make a good faith effort to follow the rules. If in doubt, ask them what to do. They will tell you.

Only re-entering the US was my boat ever inspected and then only to see if I had any uncooked food that wasnt in a factory sealed container. I got my eggs confiscated and sent to the burn bag because I forgot to boil them first.

Relax. Try to obey the rules. The Customs guys dont expect you to sail in circles all night waiting for them to get to the office. They may not be there on time anyway. Its the Caribbean. They also really dont care if it took you two days to get from SVG to Grenada. Where were you all that time? They really dont care so long as your forms are properly filled out.

[belizesailor]

Hey Joe...no need to SCREAM IN UPPER CASE.

[LittleWing77]

Yes, I see (thankfully) Joe did switch from upper case. People don't realise how offensive Caps Lock can come across.

Thanks, Joe!

[joeelliott]

Thanks for all the relevant responses. Regarding the comment " Caps are offensive " please get a live.

[LittleWing77]

Okay, I will get a life - when you learn to spell. And do your homework on the purpose of a Q-Flag and international clear-in procedures.

LittleWing

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by joeelliott

Thanks for all the relevant responses. Regarding the comment " Caps are offensive " please get a live.

In the virtual world, all caps is offensive, without body language cues caps is considered yelling.

It’s not offensive like yelling in real life, but when interacting socially online there are still codes of conduct to be followed.