Category Archives: Predeparture Preparations

MOVIE TRAILER – by Ronan(10) and Ryan (11)

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Ronan (10) and Ryan (11) made a “movie trailer” for our Caribbean cruising adventures. We added it to our “VIDEOS” page at: https://pilotsdiscretion.com/videos/. We are also sharing it here, below. I think we found our new videographers! They had a lot of fun making it. We hope you enjoy watching it! Click on the below image to play.

We have also created a dedicated YouTube channel  where we have compiled the videos from our blog, and uploaded additional videos from our journey.  To view the videos click on the link below (or copy and paste into browser):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94z5hCIrRiEvY8MTJegTbA.

El Morro, Old San Juan, PR

Passport Renewal Procedures for U.S. Minors Cruising the Caribbean – by Theresa

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Passport

Passport

If you are cruising, or thinking of cruising the Caribbean with minor (under 16)  U.S. citizens, be sure to  check the expiration dates of their passports and leave plenty of time to navigate the renewal process. As a practicing immigration attorney, I routinely track and monitor expiration dates of clients’ immigration documents. Recently, while cruising geographically halfway down the Caribbean chain, we had the pleasure of navigating passport renewals for our minor crew aboard, Ryan and Ronan.

Unlike U.S. adult citizens , whose passports are valid for 10 years, minor U.S. citizens’ passports are only valid for five years. Since some countries require at least six months remaining validity on a passport to allow entry, this effectively limits the duration of a minor’s passport to 4.5 years. In addition, while U.S. adult citizens have the option to renew their passports by mail, U.S. citizen minors must physically present themselves, their renewal application, and original supporting documents, along with both of their parents, at a US passport agency. Not surprisingly, other than the U.S. territories in St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, there are no U.S. passport agencies located in the Caribbean. Logistically, this requires a trip to the United States, or a U.S. territory, either by boat or by plane. These are all factors to consider when planning one’s cruising itinerary.

Standard and Expedited Passport Renewal Procedures (6-8 weeks)

DS-11

DS-11

As mentioned above, to renew a U.S. citizen minor’s passport, the passport application (Form DS-11), and original supporting documents, must be submitted in person at a passport agency or authorized passport application acceptance facility. The child and both parents must be present. There is an option to have only one parent appear with the child(ren), so long as that parent has signed and notarized authorized consent from the other parent on Department of State Form DS-3053. This option at least allows for one parent to stay with and attend to the boat.

If you do not happen to be cruising with all of the required original documentation, i.e. birth and marriage certificates, you will need additional time to order them online, by phone, or by fax and have them shipped to you. The processing times and fees to order the original documents vary from state to state and agency. It cost us $10-$30 per document (additional fees to expedite) and took between 2 to 10 weeks for delivery. The time required was variable from agency to agency. As they say in the commercials, “your experience may vary.”

Standard

Standard

The current standard processing times for a passport renewal is 6-8 weeks. The passport agency personnel takes and holds the minor’s original documents, including their passport, while the application is pending. Original documents, the old/canceled passport, and the newly issued passport are returned upon completion of the application process 6 to 8 weeks after filing. This generally is not a problem for landlubbers, however for minors cruising the Caribbean, no passport means they cannot leave the United States and  return to their boat for 6 to 8 weeks! For an additional fee of $60 , you can request “expedited” processing and the passport agency will aim to complete processing in 2-3 weeks, however there are no guarantees. If there are any problems with the application, fees, or supporting documents the process will be delayed.  Whichever route you choose, suitable long-term accommodations will be required. For additional information regarding passport renewal procedures for minor U.S. citizens go to the Department of State website at: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/under-16.html .

Emergency Passport Renewal Procedures (24-48 hours)

Emergency

Emergency

If relinquishing your child’s passport and ability to travel for 6-8 weeks while the renewal application is being processed does not sound appealing, there is an alternative “emergency passport application” process. To apply for an emergency passport, all of the above standard processing requirements must be met. In addition, you must be able to document, via confirmed flight itinerary, international travel within two weeks of the date of the  scheduled passport appointment at a Regional Passport Agency. Only certain locations will process emergency passport applications. You can locate these locations on the U.S. Department of States website at: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/where-to-apply/agencies.html.  Again, not surprisingly, other than Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory,  there are no locations located in the Caribbean. The most convenient office location that we found, relative to our boat’s position, was in fact, San Juan,  Puerto Rico.  We left the boat in St. Martin and flew to Puerto Rico. We scheduled the earliest available appointment at 7:30 am and received the passports that same afternoon!

The passport office in San Juan, Puerto Rico is located directly across the street from Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, which is a nice place to stroll while waiting for your application to be processed.

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Koi Pond, Gardens, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Koi Pond, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Gardens, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

Anticipating it might have taken more than a day to process the renewals, we scheduled to be in Puerto Rico for several days. We made the most of our visit by touring Old San Juan and El Morro Fort.

San Juan Gate
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
Spot the Iguanas
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
Shotcrete, El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
Ryan & Ronan, El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
Old meets new, El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
Light House, El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR
El Morro, Old San Juan, PR

All of this process may seem intimidating at first. To be fair, we found all of the folks that we interacted with at the various agencies to be both professional and genuinely interested in helping us address our somewhat unusual traveling constraints (at least from the perspective of our landlubber friends). The key to a successful outcome is proper advance planning.

Pet Import Requirements in the Caribbean – by Theresa

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Patton driving the dinghy

Patton driving the dinghy

We have been receiving a lot of inquiries through our site recently about the customs and immigration issues associated with bringing our Cocker Spaniel “Patton” along with us as we have cruised throughout the Caribbean. As such, we have updated Patton’s page to include a compilation of helpful contact details and information for various island nations that we have visited in the Caribbean over the last year and a half (2014 – 2016). For those interested in cruising the Caribbean with their four legged friends check out Patton’s page under the “About Us – Patton – Customs and Immigration” on the header above or visit:  https://pilotsdiscretion.com/about/patton/customs-and-immigration-issues-specific-to-bringing-patton-along/ or send us a reply message below.

This is total BS! (Boat stuff) – by Randy

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Those of you that have been regular followers of our blog may recall that we have an insurance requirement that keeps us south of 12 degrees, 30 minutes latitude during the Atlantic hurricane season (1 June – 1 November). With that constraint in mind, we have been operating under the assumption that we would be leaving Grenada to head north sometime around the 1st of November. We did have a last minute need to return to Florida so that our youngest son, Ronan could get what turned out to be routine oral surgery and as a result our departure was delayed for about a week. With Ronan’s successful procedure behind us, the crew of the Pilots’ Discretion has been tugging at the dock lines for weeks as we have watched minor routine maintenance issues, proceeding on ‘island time,’ adding a few days here, a week there to our anticipated departure date. Given that my entire professional career revolved around standards for an on time departure measured in minutes rather than days or weeks, you can imagine that my normally jovial, easy going manner is being severely tested as our crew calmly listens to the seemingly never ending “explanations” for the next delay.

Caribbean mapOur latest delay is the result of a corrupted data card (the source for the navigational information that is sent to our multiple chart plotters around the boat). When we discovered the failed data card we called the local marine electronics dealer to inquire as to the availability of a replacement card. “Easy, no problem at all mon, we have them in stock, come on down,” was the reply from the happy go lucky, local merchant. This is not going to be an issue at all, I thought. Wrong! Navionics MSDAfter taking a bus to the other side of the island, waiting in line for 45 minutes for a clerk, it was finally my turn. He happily gave me the data card that he had and I unhappily noticed that it was a CF card and not the required MSD card. He was not clear on what the difference was but after I explained that his card format was incompatible with our electronics he looked at me and told me ” this might be a problem mon.” We have tracked down the required part, it is safely in a warehouse in Trinidad, an island 80 nautical miles to our south. All systems are fully engaged at full speed to get the required part to our boat in Grenada. Meanwhile, our crew is content to continue to enjoy our unexpected additional time in our summer home. I am reminded that we truly are on “island time mon.” It is our goal to get north to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia for Christmas. We will keep you all posted on our progress via this blog. In the meantime, the crew of the Pilots’ Discretion wishes you all a Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

(2014) Ryan swapping the quarantine flag & courtesey flag, West End Bahamas

Quarantine and Courtesy Flags – by Theresa

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Yellow Q (Quarantine) Flag

Yellow Q (Quarantine) Flag

One of our many pre-departure preparation items was the purchasing of the yellow Q (quarantine) flag, along with courtesy flags for each of the countries that we would be visiting, either intentionally, or potentially due to some change of course or boat maintenance requirement. International law mandates that vessels fly the yellow quarantine flag upon entering territorial waters of another country. The yellow Q flag must remain flying until the vessel and its crew clear customs and immigration at which point it is taken down and replaced with the host country’s courtesy flag.

Since our vessel is registered and flagged in the United States, in accordance with proper flag etiquette, we proudly fly Old Glory from the highest place of honor on our vessel, her stern. IMG_0059.JPG

Courtesy flags are flown at the next highest place of honor, e.g. a starboard halyard, or in our case a jack staff on our bow.

Flag Duty

Flag Duty

As a supplement to the boys’ homeschooling, we have assigned them the duty of raising and lowering the quarantine and courtesy flags as appropriate to our immigration status and our host country du jour.

We have also assigned them the task of researching and keeping a journal about the meaning of the flag for each country that we visit. This week they learned that the aquamarine stripes at the top and bottom of the Bahamian National Flag depict the colors of the Bahamian skies and water while the yellow stripe in the middle represents the shore. The black triangle on the left of the flag signifies unity. The courtesy flag for the Bahamas have the Bahamas National Flag on the top left corner of a red flag with a cross on it.