Our last trip in Feb. we saw a private boat go past Great Bay beach.

The boat ended up docking at Treasure Beach (Calabash/Frenchmans) for a few days. When we hiked to the tip of the bluff in Great Bay we could see the boat docked, although I don't think you can see it in this picture.

So my question is:
When a private owner of a boat sails to Jamaica (or any island) do they have to check in at a main hub like Port Kaiser or MoBay then go around to wherever they want or do they just go around the island and wait for the customs people patrolling on boats to find them? Or do they just have to contact customs and say "hey, we're gonna stop here for a few days".

Another question I have is:
When they boats like this are out to sea, do they still pull their dingy boat behind them or do they pull it on board? I'd think that rough seas would set it free.

wow all good questions....I have a friend who sailed the world....I might just try to contact her and her husband in New Zeland where they finally docked for good. They love it there and sold their boat!

A private yacht must clear customs in Mobay or Kingston. Best place is the Mobay yacht club or the Royal Yacht Club of KIngston.

You call harbor control on Ch 16 and hoist a "Q" flag (for quarantine). After you tie up the owner or captain is the only one allowed ashore to meet with immigration and customs.

You pay an entry fee and declare anything you have aboard which is followed by a short search of the boat for contraband or weapons. If you do carry a gun aboard it is held by customs until you leave the island.

You are then issued paperwork and a Jamaican courtesy flag which you fly from your back stay or an antenna pole.

After that you are free to cruise the island and make landfall or anchor pretty much anywhere.

wow all good questions....I have a friend who sailed the world....I might just try to contact her and her husband in New Zeland where they finally docked for good. They love it there and sold their boat!

one great holiday! bareboat charter. ><cat out of guaudaloupe,toured dominica ,st.lucea,martinique, les saints. In our case,captain(lol) went ashore with documents, to be cleared. once cleared ,rest of boat could go ashore.fun way to see the islands.was an all male crew.fun ., but not as much as it would have been with a few women aboard. Jamaica is tuff for cruising , lots of reefs,bad rep,not that many good anchorages. my dream as well. sailing in retirement. almost ready

When I was young I wanted to sail around the world. I had friends in St Thomas living on a big sail boat. I packed my sail bag and headed down there. It was meant to charter but the owner was too drunk to organize anything, so we were able to spend some months on board sailing around the Virgin Islands. At the time, It was easy for me to get work cooking on boats and I had a job lined up on a boat going to Tahiti.

However, we finally left the shelter of the Virgins and went to St Barts. I woke in the night with water pouring into my mouth - we hit rough seas and my port hole was cracked open. I felt as sick as I have ever felt in my life. I was sea sick for three days non -stop. I couldn't move from the back of the boat, rain, shine, night, day, I laid at the stern heaving.

That did it - St Barts was lovely, and we next went to St Martain - but instead of sailing back to St Thomas I caught a plane home. I will never go through that again.

Take Dramamine BEFORE you leave - if you are already sick it will not work!

Loving this thread!

My youngest daughter spend 13 months sailing on a tallship visiting over 30 countries by sea, and 2 1/2 years sailing on the Bluenose II out of Nova Scotia.Her log book adds up to 61,000 nautical miles. She never got sick but saw a guy on Pitcarin Island get "land sick".She said the guy was sick for a whole day.The longest I've been at sea without land was 4 days when I was fishing tuna on the "Hellhole" outside George's Bank 125 miles south of Nova Scotia.If I was young the Deadleast Catch is where I would be,but I'm not sure if 10 months on the Bering Sea would be "that" much fun.No pirates but the worst thing that happened me was the back of my boat being hit with a water spout.It put about 10,000 gallons of water in the boat,took quite awhile to pump it out !!! Oh yes ,all the crew had to change their drawers after that...hehehe !!!

I love this thread too! I love boats!

OT - Man - I knew you would have some stories! Your daughter must be quite a gal! Wow! I am impressed!

Ohliz, you are something else! Halibut fishing in Alaska!

Land Sick? I never heard of that. Once when i went sailing, (i think it was out of newport RI) I got really sick just when we hit the fun seas. We finally got to land I thought it would go away but it seemed to get worse instead of better. The land wouldn't stop moving. It took at least a day for things to settle down.

A house boat would be nice, but hurricane season is too long and ferocious in the Caribbean , I imagine it would be too difficult to go through year after year. Think how hard Jajewele says it is just to keep a house close to the sea in Ja. I wouldn't want to wish a house boat on anyone.

I dream about house boats when walking around Marina Del Rey all of the time - one can be had at a good price. Renting the slip is another story ...... And if there were ever a tsunami .....

This is Great! Smooth Sailing fellow Boardies!