#ACROSS THE PACIFIC DOWNLOAD#
Download CBP Form 1300 and insist on a government stamp, any stamp. Customs does not normally issue a zarpe, or outbound clearance papers, yet these are required for entry into nearly any other nation. Bureaucrats love the pomp and splendor of shiny paper, and your precious original boat documents can stay safely on the vessel. Make very high-resolution photocopies of your passports and ship’s papers. Albeit increasingly expensive, cruising permits are normally obtainable upon arrival, but check the cruising websites and forums for current and accurate information. But some, such as Australia, will hit you with a hefty fine for showing up without one. Many countries require no visas if your stay is relatively short, or issue visas upon arrival.
Check the visa requirements carefully because the devil is in the details, especially if you have a multinational crew. Next, list every country that you may wish to stop in and those in peripheral waters. Many countries will not issue visas to passports within six months of expiry. First, ensure that every crewmember’s passport is as current as possible. The modern cruiser must be prepared in advance to face a host of legal requirements. Gone are the whimsical days of letting the winds blow you where they may. Is the dream and determination shared equally, or will the plan unravel with the first gale? Does a westward passage commit one to a circumnavigation, or are there strategic exit points? Does the voyage rely on a financial structure subject to change? Are you most comfortable as part of a rally, with a “buddy boat” or as a lone wolf? Is the vessel truly stem-to-stern, keel-to-masthead ready? Remember, a day’s work at the dock is worth a week’s under way. But before one gets into the minutia of details, they should first step back and consider the bigger picture of sailing across the Pacific.
Voyage Planning for Sailing the South PacificĪ successful Pacific passage will rely on meticulous planning, based on current information tempered with flexibility, because, by nature, cruising has it vagaries. The very size of the Pacific presents unique challenges, but so too do its strong currents, powerful storms, hazardous coral outcrops and remote low-lying islands. While the dreadful grind of the ice pack in the Far North and the towering graybeards of the Southern Ocean have their devotees, most sailing fantasies turn toward the seductive strum of the ukulele, the swaying palms and the white-sand beaches of the exotic South Pacific.įerdinand Magellan may have been a bit optimistic when he named a body of water that encompasses nearly one-third of Earth Mar Pacifico (peaceful ocean), for, like all oceans, it depends. Having said that, we do have our favorites. From a sailor’s point of view, excluding landlocked bodies of water, the rest of the brine is a contiguous path to glorious global adventure. The definitions and delineations of a sea versus an ocean are complex, contested and best left to the learned geographers to debate.
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