Typical Plan East Coast USA

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

That's useful.


Canada... We have family in Torronto so we might go that direction.


I'm not sure we'll ever take the boat back to Europe. We're late to sailing, in our 60's and bought the boat in Lymington at the begining of 2019. Since leaving the UK in March 2019 we have never turned back or entered the same harbour twice.

Another option might be to go up the Hudson River to Albany thr out the Erie Canal and up to Toronto on the Great Lakes.

There ia a good cruising guide The DownEast Circle or something by Cheryl Barr.

That would take you by Toronto and you could stip there or continue doen the St Lawrence. A more sheltered route that takes you past Quebec Coty if that interest you.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I would consider a trip to the Canadian Maritimes in your 2nd summer. Nova Scotia is marvelous - especially the incredible Bras d’Or lakes. If you are a real adventurer you can go onto Newfoundland.

The season is short so it would be hard to do Maine in the same summer.

One option is to go south for the winter to the Bahamas. For 10 years I have been happily spending summers in Maine and Winters in the Bahamas. The ICW makes shuttling between the two quite easy.

Alternatively, you could haul the boat for the winter in Maine and take some time off from cruising.

For a sailboat, the trip up the Saint Lawrence is not wonderful - a lot of motoring and you have to unstep the mast for part. And you still have to haul the boat for winter and wait the next spring for the ice to break up.

The only problem here is if he wants to put the boat up for sale. He needs to get it back out of Newfoundland to get a decent price or timely sale.

That means at least back to Halifax. IMHO.

The trip from Halifax back to the Stares can be a low wind or contrary wind slog. The St Lawrence is up stream.

If NOT crossing back then end no further North than Halifax.

But that is a personal opinion, others amy differ.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by hpeer

There is one bridge on the ICW in Miami under 65’, i think it is 55’. The rest are nominal 65’ but may be a bit leas at high tide or after a heavy rain. .................

This Julia Tuttle Bridge is 56' at MHW instead of the controlled 65' thanks to a bit of dyslexic engineering. You can get about two additional feet of clearance by passing outside the lower blue steel center span and then a couple more feet at lower tide; however, no need to stress. It's easily bypassed by using the Port Everglades inlet at Fort Lauderdale and Governors Cut at Miami. This is only about a 20 mile run compared to what I believe is about 17 miles on the ICW.

[mickand]

A B1/B2 visa will normally only give you US entry for 6 months. On arrival, you'll be issued with an I94 Immigration Record.
Canada is not an option for a different Country to visit to hopefully agree another 6 months. Coming back to the US from Canada will not give you a further I94 as Canada is not considered a 'foreign' Country.
However, you can scoot to the Bahamas and back to hopefully gain a further 6 months, but this is at the behest of the Immigration Officer you deal with on entry, although it's normally granted.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by mickand

Coming back to the US from Canada will not give you a further I94 as Canada is not considered a 'foreign' Country.

?? [emoji848]

[hasse_A]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

We're planning to cross the Atlantic from the EU. ...looking for ideas? What's a good typical sailing plan for the East Coast USA arriving from the Caribbean in March? We've got a B1/B2 visa with up to 12 months at a time in the US.

Be aware that the B1/B2 visa gives you a 6 months stay at entrance and to get 12 months allowance you need to ask for an extension some time before the original 6 months expire. The form I-539 is used for this. This extension comes with the cost of $455/person.

The vessel will be fine for 12 months, if from a country that they give a cruising permit to. If the vessel does not have a cruising permit you need to check in and out with the CPB for every movement. Each costing $19 payed with a check bought at a post office (with a fee). I suggest that if you leave for Canada that you surrender you cruising permit and receive a new one when you again enter the US. You will then get another 12 months permit. You need to be out of the US for a minimum of 15 days to get this new permit.

The boat and the crew are treated totally separate so you need to plan ahead so you don't violate the rules. For instance you can not be in the US the day after what is stated in your I-94 (Arrival-Departure Record), then you will have done an overstay. This date is not changed if you for instance stay in Canada for a number of months during the time you have been given allowed according to your initial admittance.

I have noticed that if you enter by a private vessel arrival records are stated but not when departing. We have several consecutive entries lacking corresponding departures. I have not to this date got an answer of how long you need to be out of the US having a B1/B2 visa to be given a new 6 month period allowance. It's probably up to the officer you meet.

Before setting of to the US Download the CBP ROAM to your phone and read up on how to enter information, and do read up on the rules.

[timetorelax]

Amazing Plan !

[goeasy123]

The Dummies Guide to Sailing the US! Thanks everyone. Very useful.

[Stu Jackson]

The Erie Canal is not that deep.

[goeasy123]

Originally Posted by mickand

A B1/B2 visa will normally only give you US entry for 6 months. On arrival, you'll be issued with an I94 Immigration Record.
Canada is not an option for a different Country to visit to hopefully agree another 6 months. Coming back to the US from Canada will not give you a further I94 as Canada is not considered a 'foreign' Country.
However, you can scoot to the Bahamas and back to hopefully gain a further 6 months, but this is at the behest of the Immigration Officer you deal with on entry, although it's normally granted.

I take it the said 'scoot' doesn't have to be on the boat? Could we fly home to the UK for a month and then fly back exiting and entering through airport immigration?
Would we be advised to have a agent to do this kind of stuff for us or is it relatively straight forward.... I know using a agent for some EU countries changes the dynmaic with front line immigration and you can get a better result.

[hasse_A]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

I take it the said 'scoot' doesn't have to be on the boat? Could we fly home to the UK for a month and then fly back exiting and entering through airport immigration?
Would we be advised to have a agent to do this kind of stuff for us or is it relatively straight forward.... I know using a agent for some EU countries changes the dynmaic with front line immigration and you can get a better result.

We have done multiple entries/departures to the US, both by air and by private vessel and have never used an agent. It's absolutely not necessary.

If you fly home to the UK and then later reenter the US without a return ticket immigration will be asking some questions and it's a good idea to have your boat papers to show them and explain that you are departing in your private vessel. The last time we arrived in New York we where upheld some time as the officer had to go away and find a more experienced college and ask him how to handle the situation.

I would expect the clock to be reset if you spend a month in the UK and return to the US but as I wrote earlier I have never gotten a strait answer to this question from any of the CBP-officers I have asked. It's up to the officer standing in front of you.

As I understand reading comments on the web, it is better to spend the time in your country of residence compared to Canada, Mexico, Bahamas etc. 2 months is better than 1 month. I find it very frustrating not to know in advance.

Be aware that the end day of your allowed stay is hard set. You can not surrender your I-94 as you can with the cruising permit. Trust me, I have tried.

It works like this.
You enter day 1 and get 180 days of allowed stay.
You then depart day 2 staying just overnight.
Then, almost 6 months later you enter again on day 180.
You stay 1 day and it's now day 181 resulting in an overstay since you stayed past the last day given in your previous entry.
This I have confirmed with an officer in Newport RI.

[s/v Jedi]

Well, I can surrender my cruising permit as I like so it must be different from location to location.

Arriving from the Caribbean, I recommend to include the Turks & Caicos, followed by a trip along all the Bahamas Islands until you arrive in the Abacos in the second half of May.

From there I would skip the “glamour” of South Florida and go straight to Port Canaveral where you need to book a marina slip, for a visit to the Kennedy Space Center (unless you did that already) Next I would head out and sail to St Augustine as it is a beautiful city to explore (and dinner in the Columbia Restaurant).

From there, honestly I would go out and go straight to Newport RI. Unless you like shallow water. There’s nice places in between but very time consuming to see them.

[hasse_A]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Well, I can surrender my cruising permit as I like so it must be different from location to location.

Yes, you can surrender your cruising permit and that is what I wrote.
Thing is, you can NOT surrender your I-94. Read my post again.

[s/v Jedi]

Oh, about entering the US: you need the ROAM app to do that.

Also, the boat gets up to one year (you can request a shorter permit if you want a new one later) but you only get 6 months. When you fly out and back just tell the immigration officer you are on the way to your boat to continue your trip; have the cruising permit at hand. The minimum time you have to leave is 72 hours but I’ve seen people come back an hour later at the Canadian border and there was no problem.

I believe as a European it is much easier than as a Canadian.

I recommend to keep your own log of entry/departure dates because the official one on the I94 website will be incomplete when you enter/depart by sea, especially with your own boat.

I find the CBP officers in Port Canaveral very relaxed and think the further south in Florida the more trouble you can get in with them

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by hasse_A

Yes, you can surrender your cruising permit and that is what I wrote.
Thing is, you can NOT surrender your I-94. Read my post again.

You are right, I mixed it up.

I am sure you can not surrender it, but you simply get a new one. I just checked and I got a brand new one even though the old one wasn’t expired. My previous entry was Feb 10 so I-94 until Aug 9. The system says I got a new I-94 with my July 21 entry and it’s valid thru Jan 20

It’s all okay if you don’t try something illegal etc.