Sailing to a new country can be daunting for the first few times. It’s best to understand the process and learn tips and tricks before you go. So, what’s the procedure to book in? How about booking out? What information to do you need to supply? Where can things go terribly wrong? Are there any tips to make the process easier, faster and less painful? What about spear guns, real guns, and pets? What about booking into the US of A?! That’s a big topic in its own right. Watch the video and then read below for a checklist on what we bring with us every time we enter and leave a country.
How To's
Clearing Into Countries Cheat Sheet
You’ll be surprised by the different questions that you’ll get asked when booking into foreign countries. Some require very little information and others want to know everything down to your blood type. Some countries have a couple forms and others have several forms and want three carbon copies of each form. And I’m not kidding when I say ‘carbon copies.’ In Trinidad they still use that blue carbon paper rather than a photocopier! Here’s the template that we use on Britican. We have a display book that holds all our documents mentioned in our Sailing To A New Country Checklist. On the front page, we have our easy reference Clearing Into Countries Cheat Sheet.
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
Liveaboard Cruiser Insider – Kelly From CruisingMomBlog.com
Find out what type of boat other cruisers have, who they’re sailing with, what motivated them to leave land, their biggest learning curve, sailing with kids and advice for sailing mom’s. In this edition of Liveaboard Cruiser Insider you’ll get all this and more from Kelly Hauquitz, the author of CruisingMomBlog.com.
What fears are causing you NOT to live the sailing dream?
Are you totally 100% up for living the sailing dream or do you have some niggles or fears that are causing you concern? Do you lay awake worried wondering how you’re going to make your plans a reality? Are you more specifically worried about health matters or what will happen if you get sick/injured – perhaps speculating worst case scenarios? Maybe you are thinking, ‘it’s a great idea to set sail but it won’t work for me because of ________’. It’s amazing how fears can cause us to put our life on hold or make it very uncomfortable.
Recently I had what seemed to be a serious medical scare. I appeared to be having a heart attack while anchored off a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. After a series of events (dinghy ride, ambulance, hospital stay, private plane ride, another ambulance, another hospital, another plane ride, another hospital), I discovered that my issue was minor and there were easy solutions to ensure good health. I’m now back on the boat and feel great.
But the question I want to explore is whether or not the experience has caused me to become more or less fearful about sailing around the world. And what lesson might you learn based on my experience? Read on…
Questions Answered About Livaboard Life
On on our new homepage video, we list the most common questions we get asked. They include: what do we do when we see pirates, what’s the best boat to go cruising in, how much does it cost to buy a boat/live the cruising life, how do we do our passage plans, what’s it like sailing in storms and sailing at night, what’s life like for a kid on a boat, how do we manage our provisioning and cooking, how do we run a blog/youtube channel/social media (and make money) from remote locations and how can we help you to convince your partner to go sailing. Get all these questions answered about liveaboard life below.
Britican Update – Kim Lives
Just over a month ago I had a heart complication while anchored off a deserted island. Long story short, I made it to a hospital on a populated island, was then sent by plane to a larger populated island. After five days spent in a Caribbean hospital and I was told to fly up to London to see a cardiologist. The ordeal is now completely over as we’ve made it back to the Caribbean. Watch the video for the full update and then carry on reading below…
Will You Make These Boat Cleaning Mistakes?
Cleaning?! Yawn! Who wants to clean while they’re sailing off into the sunset, snorkeling incredible reefs or falling asleep to the soft waves lapping on the hull? Well…after you neglect a routine cleaning system on your boat you’ll soon want to jump ship. Watching the sun go down with a waft of mold permeating your nostrils, snorkeling with disintegrating snorkel gear and having a bug infestation isn’t a nice visualization, is it?! Don’t make the boat cleaning mistakes I made. Read on…
Boat Cleaning Tasks – Template & Calendar Example
The boat cleaning tasks template might seem like a simple spreadsheet but you’ll be amazed by its effectiveness. Whether it’s just you and your partner or you and a group of guests, you can use this tasks template to provide each occupant with the responsibilities necessary to keep your boat clean and tidy.
The boat cleaning calendar is far from simplistic and takes quite a bit of effort to keep it going. Some jobs are not too laborious whereas others are a real bore. Make a commitment to yourself to enforce that the calendar job gets done each day. After a couple of months, you’ll reap the benefits of a clean boat and reduction in monstrous cleaning jobs.
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
Three Things That All Liveaboards Must Know
I’m ashamed to admit it but until recently, I wasn’t 100% sure about how to deploy our life raft. If you’re not familiar with what a life raft is, it’s a backup floatation device that can be used for survival if the boat sinks. It blows up to look like a neon orange floating tent and is packed with water, flares, and a range of other life-saving items. Before I get ahead of myself, this article is about three things that all liveaboards must know…And I mean MUST KNOW. Read more here…
Boat Safety Manual
Members only! As mentioned in my article, Three Things That All Liveaboards Must Know, I offer a free copy of the Britican Boat Safety Manual for members to use. This 15-page document will provide a template for your own boat safety manual. You’ll have to chop and change according to your own boat but the bulk of the information is standard.
The document covers a basic boat operating manual in addition to procedures for Man Over Board, fire, steering malfunctions, engine failure, collision, taking on water, the location of all thru-hull fittings, how to deploy the life raft, medical emergencies, grounding, and other procedures and boat rules. This manual can be used if you’re getting your boat coded for chartering purposes or to simply have in your navigation desk as a reference for the crew, guests, and passengers.
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
