Clearance

There are only specific ports in a country where customs clearance and immigration are performed. We discovered that staying clear of the larger ports where possible made this process much easier and cheaper. Generally, the busier shipping ports are international, but some smaller ports also have this ability. Sometimes, Customs officers will travel to the smaller ports to clear vessels in or out, and the skipper needs to travel elsewhere for immigration clearance.

The larger, busier commercial ports were more expensive to tie to the wharf. Anchoring sites, if any, were far from the officials' offices, which made for a long walk. On the other hand, the small harbours and the officials were more yacht-friendly.

There is a routine to follow when entering another country; a prescribed size of flags, where they are allowed to fly, where to await customs, etc. There are three flags a yacht must fly when entering a foreign country.

• From the stern, a yacht must fly the flag(ensign) from their country of registration.

• The yellow "Q" flag requests "free Pratique." It is flown from the Starboard spreader. The captain declares that all onboard are healthy and requests port state control and customs onboard. Only once the clearing process is finished can the "Q" flag be taken down.

• The courtesy flag of the country visited. International law indicates that the courtesy flag should go up when the "Q" flag comes down. However, some officials thought it should have been flying when we entered the port.

Hence, being registered in England, Franda II should have flown the English flag. But the crew had written Russell New Zealand on a board and screwed it to the "name" board that had England on the stern. So, Franda II incorrectly flew the New Zealand flag.

Franda II found that some country's officials could become quite upset if we did not fly their country's courtesy flag upon entering their country. So we habitually flew the courtesy flag and the "Q" flag below it upon entering the country's waters.

Legally, the size of the courtesy flag that must be flown is determined by 1/2 inch of length for every foot of mast height above water. Franda II's courtesy flags may have been smaller than 65 feet off the water required. About 32 X 16 inches (81 X 40 cm). The standard purchased size is 12X18 inches (45X30cm)

Franda II flew this flag from the forwardmost mast on the starboard side, hoisted up to just below the lower set of cross trees. Below this flew the Yellow Q flag.

Back in the 70s and early 80s, flags were expensive to buy and difficult to source, so most often, we girls would sew the flags in the country or two before arriving. Some flags, like the French flag, were very simple to make. A rectangle comprises thirds, red, white and blue verticle stripes. Others were more intricate and time-consuming, like the New Hebrides Condominium flag, which had the French flag and Union Jack flying on a blue background. Unfortunately, there was no "Google", so we carried a reference book ", Flags of the World", to research different flags.

Customs would typically be the first to visit, requiring knowledge of any "prohibited items", guns, drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. The captain would fill out and sign the appropriate forms or get one of his daughters to complete the documents. The customs officials often peruse the passports, looking at the previous countries we had visited. They always wanted to confirm where the yacht had come from by finding the last "exit" stamp.

Next, immigration would either arrive or Doug and one other would go ashore to find them. It was here that more paperwork was done, often in triplicate. Franda II supplied their own carbon paper and frequently left it behind in the office. It saved writing it out 3 times, and we gained some goodwill by leaving it for the officials.

Questions of how long would they be in the country? Why were they there? Where else were they going? What port would they exit the country from? Sometimes, the questioning went on over a glass of tea or two; the officer practised their English. Finally, the officer would be content with the paperwork and answers. Then, passports would be well-thumbed, the last port of call found, and finally stamped. Sometimes, they used a visa-type stamp that restricted the crew to a period in the country or an exit date written in by hand. Others were simple stamps with the country name, port name, and a handwritten entry date.

No country's entry was the same as another. In some countries, there was strict protocol. The visiting yacht would tie to a particular buoy and contact customs via Radiotelephone on a specific channel. After being visited and cleared by customs, the yacht could tie ashore or anchor out before the captain went to immigration. At other ports, the captain would have to go uptown and wander around to find the required officials.

Customs never searched the yacht, and the official seldom showed interest in leaving the main saloon.
Doug was as honest as he felt was safe, declaring the guns, excess alcohol and cigarettes. Some countries' officials were stricter than others. Some did not care too much about what Franda II carried.

If needed to visit the official's office, one or two of the crew would accompany Doug to help with the paperwork. Doug did not like filling in forms!! He would make "small talk" with the official while "the crew" would dutifully fill in the documents. The "girls" became familiar with the forms and knew all six passport numbers.

Although all forms differed in layout, they asked all the same questions. The documents were usually in both English and the local language. Occasionally, the forms did not contain English, so the official would help fill them in—sometimes with limited English or even sign language! It could be a very entertaining few hours.