Were back.. Back in the USA. 

BUT..it seams they don’t want us.

Let’s start at the beginning.. As I posted earlier this year my Visa got cancelled and I had to leave US Territory within 30 days, what we did by checking out in Ketchikan and enter Canada. In Vancouver I applied for a new Visa and got it granted without any problems. 

Everything was good, I thought..

When we checked in in Bellingham the trouble started again.

The Customs and Border Protection Oficcer B. Started questioning my intensions to visit and leave the US or immigrate. He came to ZERO with two heavily armed officers and started asking a lot of question. Everytime I tried to explain our situation he said:” You have to understand that I have to decide to give you a limited time to stay or send you back to Canada tonight and cancel your visa again ” 
We had to answer all his questions, doesn’t matter how personal they were. He had the power and he let us feel that.

After a long interview he called his supervisor and discussed our case. When he came back he granted us 2 Month time but no cruising license. That means we have to check in and out in every district we sail to. Which is a lot of paperwork and a lot of fees as well.

And we can skip our plans to travel and enjoy the beauty of the Westcoast. Now we have to hurry, make longer legs and sail passed destination we wanted to visit. That sucks!

What we don’t understand is why a great nation like Amerika treats their visitors like criminals.

We never committed any crimes, we never asked for a single dollar, we spend a lot of money in the US economy during our refit of ZERO and our travelling and just wanted another 6 month of time to cruise the Westcoast and finish some work on ZERO. 

Do we ask for too much?

I am personally very disappointed about the American Officials and hope noone ever treats you like that. It must be another species of Humans because any other American we met wad very nice, it just a couple officials who ruins it.

At the moment we don’t know how to deal with that at all. 

If you have any idea which might help us, please let us know.

Ahoi from Bellingham, over and out.



14 thoughts on “Bad News from Bellingham 

  1. Sorry to hear you are having difficulties with US Border Officials. At least you have 2 months to cruise the west coast. I would encourage you to check in with US CGBP in a big city on the west coast and see if you can get an extension. They will usually grant tis if you have boat repairs to make.
    In the meantime I encourage you to check out the
    – Port Townsend Wooden Boat festival that is near you this weekend. A good chance to meet up with the real sailing community. I’m driving down from Vancouver for the weekend.
    -Baja Haha sailing rally leaves San Diego around Oct 31’st . 150 boats all headed to Cabo. A chance to meet some new friend
    – Finally my invitation holds if you make it to San Francisco and need a slip for a few nights at the WestPoint harbor Marina. It would be great to compare notes on our two Hudson 50’s.
    Best regards
    Dale

  2. Well sir, they may have done you a favor. Usually around this time of year in the northwest, the weather flops from nice to incessant rain (we seem to be already experiencing it). Last year around this time we had a series of harsh storms roll through that brought 45MPH sustained winds with 90MPH gusts with them. It’ll be like this usually just about all the way down to Santa Cruz (I’ve ridden out some really fierce storms in the mountains above Santa Cruz). I’ve lived all up & down the west coast from Santa Cruz to Seattle… This really isn’t the time to visit. I’d beat sheets south to Mexico post=haste and head back north in the spring. Just sayin’…

  3. Christian.

    Like everyone else’s comments, I’m disspointed in our government to give you such a difficult time. However, I think you are on the right path by consulting an attorney. Hopefully one that understands visa’s and dealing with immigration law.

    I did consult with my dad who has experience in dealing with beurocracies. (Fighting them). You win by following there procedures, and when they don’t do what they say, you escalate up a level, and then another level. Generally they have processes to do that. He also recommended going to the German embassy/consolet closestest to you in the USA for help.

    Good luck in solving this issue and look forward to hearing more sailing adventures from Zero. You have me motivated to devise a plan to travel the world now too. I never would have thought sailing to Hawaii was possible for me.

  4. Captain Christian, As an Anerican citizen I am appalled at the actions of the few. Since 9/11 the world has changed, yet major events continue to happen under the authorities noses. Recent terrorist attacks had been under surveillance of the FBI and yet those horrible attacks still happened. Please my friend, don’t let the actions of a few “power hungry wannabes” destroy your love for America. I am retired military and have seen a lot. The world has changed. If you sail around Florida I’ll invite you and crew to my home and show you how a Americans treat our friends!!!! I hope you can bring this to an amicable end. Sounds like some issues my wife had entering Australia. So Captain it’s not limited in scope to America. Let’s go friends and fans of Captain Christian let’s pull together and see if we can find a good solution!! God Bless

  5. Just tell them you’re from Mexico and not only will they let you in with open arms they’ll offer you benefits

  6. I’m so sorry that you have been having problems. Please don’t donate to the Clinton Foundation, it won’t help.. Most of the customs and border protection officials are Trump supporters 😉 They take their job way too seriously and are just grown up bullies 🙁 Most Americans are nice and love to meet people from other countries. Maybe they will be nicer in Seattle or Oregon.. try to go to Ports that have a friendly reputation (maybe an online search would help)! Best of Luck!! Aloha ❤️

    1. Thanks Xine, I won’t support neither of them for sure.. I knowctgatvthe American people don’t agree with that. But that makes me even more confused.. I hope the Users office can help me.
      We just want to meet more of the awesome American, like we met so far..

    2. Trump supporters only care about the illegals, which Christian certainly is not.

  7. I do not know very much about these procedures with sailing. Perhaps there is a way of appealing and complaining about their actions. There should be a custom’s office in Seattle.
    Perhaps go there and tell them what happened. Seattle has a reputation for being somewhat peaceful and welcoming atmosphere. It may be that they are trying to make money also. They sound overbearing and abusing their authority. There should be an official complaint procedure. It may be better to not deal with it in Bellingham, Instead try Seattle for the complaint.

  8. Hey Christian, I’m very sorry your having an issue coming to the US! That really bums me out as a citizen who would love to share their country! Im trying to research the issue a bit to see if I can help in any way. The only thing I’ve seen so far is that 15 days must pass from the expiration of the cruising permit before A new one can be issued. This is the exerpt I found:

    Under CBP policy, non-U.S. residents are not eligible for successive cruising licenses. A new license will not be issued unless the following two conditions have been met: (1) at least 15 days have elapsed since the previous license either expired or was surrendered, and (2) the vessel arrives in the U.S. from a foreign port or place. (Customs Directive 3130-006A) CBP will want to see foreign clearance paperwork as evidence that you are arriving from a foreign location.

    Non-residents are cautioned to plan carefully so that the mandatory 15-day period does not fall in the middle of a planned stay in U.S. waters. It may make sense to surrender your cruising license to a CBP Officer when you leave U.S. waters and then obtain a new one when you re-enter the U.S. Traveling outside of U.S. waters while your cruising license is still in effect does NOT fulfill the 15-day requirement.

    I hope that’s all it takes! I’ll keep. Digging and let you know if I find anything else!

    Fair winds and following seas

    1. Thanks a lot Dale,
      Our cruising license expired in June so this shouldn’t be a problem. They didn’t grant me a new one because they didn’t want me in their country. The say I’m not a visitor.

  9. I also am not surprised at all by the actions of the US Customs. I was very worried about you cutting it so close on your 30 day extension in Alaska….I don’t think that would have gone well had you been late. Since 911 for all basic purposes the USA has been at war and there is a lot of pressure to keep a close eye on any foreign visitors. They basically wanted you to skedaddle in Alaska and you took your sweet time….I don’t blame you but I suspect and expected them to

    Would they grant your first mate a cruising license if you were not aboard Christian? If she sailed to Mexico with some crew to help her? You took a plane to Mexico and went surfing while you wait. You mention fees, whats cheap;er….perhaps just get offshore out of US territorial waters and scram….stock up and go to sea…that’s what I’d do since I think its questionable what other custom agents might do if you check in to other cities.

  10. Sorry to hear of the problems you are having. I am not surprised though,, government employees are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They enjoy creating problems rather than solving a problem. Please put them out of your mind don’t let them ruin your day. Most Americans are helpful friendly people. If you would make a donation to the Clinton Foundation all your problems would vanish……just a little humor….lol I really enjoy your videos. Well done and thanks..

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