Sailing on your own boat to a foreign country is, for may cruisers, the whole point of the cruising life. Making landfall after a passage, even if it’s just overnight, always gives a thrill, a sense of satisfaction for a passage safely completed combined with the excitement of discovery.
But, part of the romance is also the nuts and bolts of dealing with checking into a new and perhaps strange land where you don’t know the routine, don’t speak the language, perhaps, and don’t know the local laws. There are a lot of things to trip over on this path.
That’s why preparing yourself, your crew, your boat and especially your paperwork well in advance is critical to making a successful entry in a foreign country.
Sue Richards is the editor of the website Noonsite.com, which is the only and therefore the best source for cruising sailors on all that you need to know to cruise to and enter sailing destinations around the world.
The site was created by Jimmy Cornell, the famed sailor, cruiser, author, lecturer and rally impresario. He has sailed around the world more times than I can count and compiled enough cruising information to write the World Cruising Handbook. This became the original content of the website and is now updated regularly.
Sue Richards oversees that process and has written a useful introductory guide for those planning to sail to foreign lands that was republished on the American Sailing Association’s website.
